Alden barely managed to raise a shield before streams of hellfire slammed into it. Alden’s adversary stared up at him. The man’s face twisted into a grimace of pain and rage as he channeled his rings’ power. Alden’s golden counterattack was slapped away with contemptuous ease.

He grimaced and dodged another stream of hellfire. The rings were killing the man a little with each attack.

Unfortunately, he wasn’t dying fast enough to help Alden.

Six golden blades spun out, streaking toward the dying man from multiple angles.

His opponent roared and a pulse of hellfire burned them all to nothing. Alden blasted him again, finally getting through his defenses. Skin bubbled and sloughed off the man’s chest.

The ring wielder roared at the sky. He seemed incapable of rational speech. A black skull formed between his hands before streaking toward Alden. He threw desperate power into his shield an instant before the skull hit and exploded. Alden’s skin blistered and burned. His stomach churned, but his shield held. When the flames faded Alden saw he had been blown back ten feet.

His snarling opponent drew more power for another attack. Before he could release it Imogen flew up from behind him and buried her ax in his skull. On the roof the dead man looked at peace, his pain-twisted features now smooth and calm. Alden sighed his relief.

Imogen flew past him. “Switch!”

Switch?

Imogen’s opponent galloped through the sky towards Alden.

His relief gone, Alden conjured blades and sent them flying at the girl and her horse. She bashed half of them out of the sky, but the rest struck the horse in the belly and legs. The girl screamed like he’d hit her.

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They must be linked somehow. What affected one affected the other. That was good to know.

She swiped her scythe through the air and a wave of hellfire shot toward Alden. It seemed weaker than her earlier attacks. He flew under the flames and sent more blades spinning toward her. They struck a dark fire shield and shattered.

That explained it. The girl had reserved some of her power for defense. Alden wasn’t certain whether he should be grateful or not. At least he didn’t have to face her full strength with each blast.

A golden lance of power struck the shield from above. Lon came flying down out of the sun. A second and third blast got deflected. Alden sent more blades. The first four splintered, but the last pierced the girl’s chest with enough force that the tip emerged from her back.

She didn’t make a sound or appear bothered by a three-inch-wide wound in her chest. The scythe went up and a ring of hellfire blasted out in every direction. Alden and Lon went flying out of control.

Imogen braced Alden a second later, stopping his tumble before he flew too far.

“She’s already dead,” Imogen said. “The scythe is just using the body like a puppet.”

“We need to cut her strings.”

Imogen nodded. “You read my mind. You want to do the sword or the shield?”

“I’ll do the shield. You were always better at cutting than me.”

The black flames burned out. Lon had been blown fifty feet away, but he looked unharmed. A few wisps of smoke rose from Lon’s clothes and hair. Mostly unharmed, anyway.

“Ready?” Imogen had conjured a golden ax that fairly thrummed with soul force.

Alden nodded and said a silent prayer that he had enough soul force left to sever the connection between the scythe and its bearer.

Imogen dove like a falcon, her body a blur as she powered down at the girl. The scythe went up. A second too late.

The golden ax crashed through the girl’s hellfire barrier and sliced her hand off at the wrist. The weapon clattered to the roof below.

The girl raised such a howl that Alden almost forgot to shield the scythe. He conjured a golden hemisphere around the weapon.

The horse bucked and the girl continued to howl. For someone that didn’t breathe she certainly could raise a racket. Cracks formed as the scythe fought to reestablish the link with its puppet.

Alden clenched his teeth and sent more energy into the shield. It wasn’t going to be enough. In a second or two the shield would collapse and the fight resume. He simply didn’t have enough strength to hold it.