As Bones charges, I slip into shadow and reposition before stepping out of my realm and releasing three arrows. My skeleton companion anticipates my attack and meets me with a bone fist punching down from the sky. I sidestep the undead ground pound, allowing my legs to absorb the ripples sent by his fists. Bones cuts one arrow with a lucky swing of his ax. The other two pierces through his chest. Other than staggering the dungeon boss, the arrows do little else. Unfortunately, dodging his fist cut me off from firing perfect shots.

I shadow phase through two more hell punches, one uppercut, and a haymaker aimed at my usual escape route. Bones still thinks I'm a one-trick pony. Now, I have multiple avenues of retreating. He may be strong, but I have the iron heart of a coward. I keep retreating from his combination of summoned punches and thrown axes until I gain an advantage. Unfortunately, the bone lord uses the time to summon five minions. I almost laugh at their pathetic nature until I sense the mana overflowing their frames. Two of my arrows unhead two bomb runners, which doesn't actually stop them from running.

I disappear again and close the gap between Bones, ignoring his bombers. Bo is dismissed. The bard has to use three arms to stop my back attack when I step out of shadow. Before he can swing his fourth ax, I give him a boot to the back causing him to stumble forward. I'm before him, stepping out of shadow as he regains his footing. I faint high and swing low. A fist intercepts my attack. Death chills at my neck. Hundreds of bony hands reach from the earth, followed by a rain of spears and a rush of bombers. I wait for the cover of explosions to cloak myself and lunge out of the danger zone while drawing Bo. I focus my shot this time and shoot a volley of five arrows.

Only one arrow hits. All five explode. Bones is tossed back through the air. Two arms fly in a separate direction, and the ground is covered in shattered pieces of his armor. I shoot another five arrows at the boss. Wising up to my attack, Bones steals my turtle technique and doubles down on the shell plating, easily absorbing my shots. Inside the shell, laughing intensifies and then doubles.

When the shell drops, a somewhat broken Bones stands next to Roxi. The two smirk like they pulled off the cleverest of tricks. I counter by stepping into shadow. Even in the safety of my own realm, I feel the combined power of life, death, and earth trying to dominate me.

I shift my secondary focus from shadow to mind mana, pushing out the energy to counter their domains. With shadow in my passive focus, I won't be able to maneuver as fast as I have been. However, I don't feel like I'm losing an advantage; instead, I'm switching to a new one. Covered in the comforts and protection of my mana, I draw two steel blades, call for my warlock companion, and sprint toward my smug targets.

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When I jump out of shadow I can feel all the opposing mana trying to lock me down. I resist it with all my willpower and fall through, slashing at Bones. Roxi and her trees try to intercept me, only to get swept up by a wyvern, bringing her own domain of shadow to the growing dead forest. My strike cuts through Bones' right arm. My mana intercepts the bone arrows shooting at my back and punches away bombers and warriors of bone. I block an ax swing and counter with a slash, swing, and stab. Bones turtles again, but dark purple mana and natural sword energy cut deep into his shield. My stab punches through entirely, skewering the skeleton.

Bones grabs my blade with his one arm and pulls me into his shell, which begins absorbing me. I push out wildly with my mana, but this is no domain I'm resisting. This is just a skeleton shell infused with entirely too much death mana. The dull gray energy pulses with a raw desire to consume life. I retreat to shadow and find that I'm still strapped to a death bomb. Touche Bones. I drop the shadow, force my shelled body next to the mocking skeleton, knock him over, and land myself on top of him. Protect. All my focus goes into amplifying my mental shell, and I send every desire to not explode into it. Bones struggles for a bit, and then we both explode.

Pressure, heat, and pain crush me. I feel bones snap under the pressure. My head rattled several times. Air is knocked out of my lungs, and it takes several long seconds before I can breathe. There are stars in my eyes, and I think I smell burning. It's another thirty seconds of pain and confusion before I can open my eyes. I'm lying on gritty ground. But it isn't a deep, gritty ground that swallows a prone body. This one is less shallow and sandy. I peep out of one eye to confirm. I'm not in the desert. I feel dead, but I'm not. I lived.

My arm is broken, for sure. Maybe even my foot, hip, and back. I can't stay down. I'll lose if I don't get up. I just can't, at least not like this. Embrace. Mind mana comes to my aid, wrapping my broken parts in a solid cast of thoughts. With my broken bones secured, I use another thought bubble to lift myself to my feet. The pain is immense, but I'm able to get to a standing position. With one leg and a stiff neck, I search for my foe. With my death mana active, I begin healing my injuries.

Bones' bomb has done a number on the battlefield. All dead trees and skeletons in a thirty-foot radius have been cleared. In fact, there are no more skeletons around. Come to think of it, there is no more death energy or earth. I see no signs of Bones, and when I locate Gene, she isn't fighting Roxi. In fact, there are no signs of Fury or Nette. Things around here are quiet. Too quiet.