Vaela ran to the doorway, Surah and Adyr right behind her. Hermit stood several paces in, staff at the ready. The naked man charged, sword extended outward.

Vaela cringed back, even though his attention was focused on Hermit. Her fingers flew to her belt, the vials strapped around her waist. What was going on here? Jace was supposed to be Hermit’s ally–so he’d claimed.

The man lunged at Hermit, sword aimed for his chest.

Hermit stepped to the side, clear of the blade, and swept the man’s legs out from under him. The man fell to the ground and Hermit’s staff cracked into his head. The man went limp and the sword clattered to the ground.

Hermit kicked the sword back towards the bed and it skittered until it hit the wall near the head of the bed. “Really, Jace? And please tell me you weren’t considering Marking him, were you?”

The slovenly man whipped off the covers, revealing his ample body, and he hopped out of bed with a laugh. “Hermit, old man! How are you?” He scooped the sword from the ground and walked around the bed.

Vaela drew back, her fingers still over her vials. Jace? She looked down at the unconscious man then back to the rounder man now holding the sword. Was he the “Created”? The holy being they were supposedly seeking out?

Hermit leaned on his staff, waving a hand. “Oh, fine, fine. Keeping busy, you know.” He nodded to the unconscious man’s body. “Give me a hand?”

Jace tossed the sword on the bed, while Hermit laid his staff down. Together, they grabbed the man by the wrists and ankles and carried him to the side of the room. His body dropped to the floor with a fleshy slap and they reconvened in the middle of the room, each retrieving their weapons.

Hermit widened his stance and lowered his weapon. “Ran into Inky a few days ago.”

Jace’s eyebrows raised, a polite expression of interest. “Ah. And how was that?” He leapt forward, the sword blurring in a thrust.

Hermit knocked it aside and countered. Jace caught the strike on the flat of his blade and circled around Hermit. He slashed twice rapidly and Hermit blocked with equal speed. Hermit backed up a step and shrugged. “Okay, I suppose. He’s still a little weak. It’s only been half a century or so.”

Jace pulled his sword back, holding it vertical and shook his head. “Has it really only been fifty years?” He laughed and delivered a barrage of jabs.

Hermit fended off Jace’s attacks, but slowly ceded ground. His attempts to return to the middle of the room were met by Jace’s skillful maneuvering. Step by step, Hermit was shepherded towards a corner.

Vaela jolted out of the reverie of watching the fight. The fat man’s grace had been almost hypnotic–especially against Hermit, easily the best fighter she’d ever seen. As inconceivable as it seemed, she was faced with the real possibility that this naked fellow might actually beat Hermit. Did he actually intend to hurt Hermit? Despite the ferocious fighting, they seemed like friends.

Hermit scooted back again and his foot touched the wall. He and Jace faced each other, weapons raised but not striking, a respite in the storm. Hermit jerked his chin towards the unconscious man’s body they’d discarded. “I can’t have you Marking the first man you sleep with. I’ve big plans this time around.”

Jace slid forward a small step. Sweat coated his body, but his sword held steady, pointed at Hermit. “Hatched a special plan, have you? Like last time’s plan?”

Hermit winced. “Okay, okay, there were extenuating circumstances.”

“It was a disaster.”

“We won!”

“Everyone died. You almost destroyed Dome itself.”

Hermit sighed and nodded. “I know. This time is different, though.” He peered at Jace and shook his staff with each word. “I mean it.” Jace cocked his head to the side. Hermit lowered the tip of his staff a smidge. “We need to meet with Alnea and Seratia… and find a Storer.”

Jace stabbed at Hermit. They traded another series of blows. Boxed into the corner, Hermit’s staff no longer held the advantage of longer range. Instead, he was barely able to use it–merely blocking Jace’s strikes with no attacks of his own. Jace’s sword outpaced Hermit’s staff and the blade flew past his staff, directly for Hermit’s head.

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

Vaela let out a shout and flung out her arm. Hermit jerked his head to the side, barely avoiding the sword. Friends or not, this was no game. Vaela tightened her grip on her stick, blood pounding through her fingers. That strike could have easily killed Hermit. Even his ability to Fade would falter before a direct strike to the head. She had to do something.

Jace whipped his sword back and struck again. This one Hermit parried with his staff. Adyr stepped beside Vaela and tightly nodded. They both raced across the room. Vaela cut in front of Adyr and raised her stick. She was the one with the weapon, after all. As she neared Jace, he turned slightly and in the blink of an eye, his sword pointed at her. She slammed to a stop, still several paces from him.

Jace studied her and Adyr. Vaela eyed his sword and brought her stick into a more defensive-seeming position. She still hadn’t got the hang of all the fancy footwork and hand placement with fighting. Her fingers reached down to her vials. Would she have time to drink one if he truly meant her harm?

Jace’s eyes flicked to her belt and an eyebrow shot up. Adyr circled to the side and snatched a candlestick from a table. Ice crept from her hand and wrapped around the handle in thick layers, so dense it was almost opaque. The Ice crept up the length of the candle until it reached the wick. The flame extinguished with a hiss and her Ice sharpened into a tip, leaving her with a short Spear. She raised it at Jace and crept back, on the other side of Vaela. Her entire weight sank into each step, perfectly balanced, as if she was coiled to spring forward at any second.

Jace nodded to her Ice weapon, a hint of smile on his lips, and he turned, leveling his blade at Hermit once again. “I see you’ve already Chosen your fighter. What’s your game, old Shade?”

With Jace’s sweaty back facing her, Vaela felt awkward holding her stick up. He seemed utterly unconcerned that both she and Adyr were pointing weapons at him. Then again, Hermit had outfought the two of them and Jace had already demonstrated he was a superior fighter compared to Hermit.

Hermit grinned a wicked smile. “Something new. Something that they will hate–if they ever found out about it.” He pushed his foot off the wall and struck. Jace slipped out of the way, his large frame moving with impressive agility. Adyr shouted and closed the rest of the distance. She thrust her short Spear at Jace. He danced around her arm, stepping inside her guard, and threw her with her momentum into Hermit. Vaela charged and swiped at him. He blocked her stick and kicked her back.

The strike knocked her off her feet and she tumbled back, falling to the ground. Hermit tried to untangle himself from Adyr and partially rose back to his feet. Before he regained his footing, Jace’s sword darted forward.

The blade cut through Hermit’s robe and jabbed into his chest. Shadow spiderwebbed under Hermit’s skin and Jace slashed his sword down. It tore through the robe, all the way to Hermit’s abdomen. With a twist of his wrist, Jace flicked the blade across Hermit’s side and slightly back up towards his ribs. The resulting cut in the fabric formed a ‘J’.

Hermit’s torso crawled with Shadow writhing under the surface of his brown skin. A thin line of blood marked the strike. Jace stepped back and thrust his sword overhead. “Haha! Victory.”

Hermit pulled Adyr off of him and plucked one of the edges of his robe. He glared at Jace. “You’re paying for this, you know.” He walked out of the corner, up to Jace. “This was my favorite robe.”

Jace burst out laughing and he tossed the sword on the bed. He and Hermit embraced each other in a rough hug and he pounded Hermit on the back. “I’ll adorn you in the finest silk you’ve ever felt, old friend.”

Vaela clambered to her feet and shoved her stick between them. She pried Hermit away and thrust her stick in her face. “What, in the bloody Pits, is going on here?” She looked back and forth between him and Jace. “Are you two friends? Enemies? Lovers?” She slammed the butt of her stick down on the ground and pounded for emphasis. “I. Want. Answers!”

Jace grinned and circled around her, his eyes playing up and down her body. He completed his lap, stopping in front of her, and clapped his hands. “Hermit, you’ve outdone yourself. A Forger as your Champion? I don’t know what you’re up to, but I love it already!”

Vaela glanced between Jace and Hermit. Champion? What was this creep talking about? She stepped around Jace and tapped her stick to Hermit’s chest. “No nonsense. What’s going on?”

A drop of blood ran down Hermit’s chest and he absently mopped it up with his robe. “Oh, very well.” He walked to the bed and flopped down. “Let’s see. To stop the Twisted, each of us chooses a Champion to fight in our stead.” Vaela, Adyr, and Surah crowded around him and he spread his hands. “We feel it only fair that the humans of Dome get to decide their own fate.”

Surah nodded. “That’s nice of you.”

Vaela glared at Surah. Was he actually buying into all this insanity? Surah shrugged at her and she sighed. Maybe he was, maybe he wasn’t. Either way, Surah would just roll with whatever happened and look good doing it. She fiddled with her stick and returned her attention to Hermit. “I see that you’re counting yourself among those who get to “Choose”... as one of the Created.”

Hermit winced and shook his head. “Oh, no, I’m not one of the Created.”

Good. Vaela’s chest loosened a little and she exhaled slowly through her nose.

Jace’s feet padded from behind them and he pushed past them. With a laugh, he lounged on the bed next to Hermit and threw an arm around him. “Of course not. You’re something different. The Dark Other.”

Adyr gasped, her hands flying to her mouth. Vaela jerked and whipped her stick back up to point at Hermit. He rolled his eyes and pushed the end of her stick down. “Oh, relax. It’s not as dramatic as you think.”

Vaela licked her lips and the room narrowed, almost like she was seeing it from high above. “Wh-what…?”

Hermit rose and put a hand on her shoulder. “It’s simple. I’m an all-powerful Being, you’re my Champion.”