The skeleton tilted his head, almost as if to think of what to say. He looked at the rune in the air and scoffed. “I was going to frame you for the death of the princesses. Sadly it didn’t work and they continued to run. Now imagine my surprise when I learned that her father came to find her so soon after. It was as if Pan blessed us. Neither you or the humans would’ve survived the following war.”

He suddenly stopped talking, slamming his sword in the table to keep himself under control. It seemed like he had more to say but had difficulty not to.

With that, the satyr would chuckle. “The rune of truth. It takes a long long time to create but very handy. Zoala won’t be happy when she learns that I used one of the last remaining ones.”

While he thought that he had won, the skeleton took his sword back out of the wood, pointing it to him. “In the name of Pan, I challenge you to a dual.”

The words had just left his mouth of he and the satyr both disappeared. Emma gasped, almost falling off Jackson when this happened. Everyone turned to look at her. As she looked back at them, she realized that nobody seemed to be shocked at the sudden disappearance.

Before she could ask them what just happened, she too disappeared together with the satyr’s son.

The satyr and the skeleton had landed in what looked like a castle ruin. It was built like a square. On every corner was a big round room but due to it being a ruin, no roof. There was a wall connecting all the round rooms, leaving a big area open in the middle of the walls. The satyr and the skeleton had appeared on either side of the big open area as there was nothing but a big tower in between them. In this tower is where Emma found herself. She looked down at the ruin, seeing a staircase running up in every round room, leading to a crosswalk that ran over the walls. Even if this wasn’t a ruin, the castle would’ve been a horrible one.

Emma didn’t understand what had happened right now, but just a second after she wanted to try and find an exit to go down, the son of the satyr appeared next to her. She tilted her head, looking at him with big eyes. “What the hell is going on right here?”

He looked around for a couple of seconds, going to the window and looking down. “Ah, this is the duel ruin. Did your father not explain this to you?” As he asked that, concern could be heard in his voice. “He should’ve told you.”

Emma would shake her head. She was scared at first but seeing how calm the son was, she would calm down a bit. “Never has he said anything about any of this.”

He would nod, looking down as something was happening to the two figures down below. A green glow surrounded them both, both getting a sigil above their head. He didn’t know either of those so he didn’t point it out to her. In the meantime Emma had come next to him, leaning to look down as well.

The son would take a deep breath, not really wanting to explain it. “Okay look. Any royal member can challenge someone of royal blood to a duel. This duel is then activated by Pan and all the participating members get moved to her where they will battle it out. Each person can invite someone to look at the battle. We are the spectators and can’t intervene to their fight. As you can see, there’s no way down. Anyway, both participants get seven rune stones which float around their heads. Some runes that Pan gives are to give them power to cast the other runic stones that contain creatures to help them fight. It’s turn based as well. Pan chooses who starts. Every turn you can only summon one power orb. This is to prevent from the participants to cast too strong creatures too fast. This battle is often done in no longer than five minutes.”

Emma would look around the room and indeed noticed no stairs to go down the tower. “Good thing I’m not scared of heights then.” She purposefully didn’t react to the story he told not wanting to show that she absolutely didn’t understand a single word that he just had said. What bothered her most was the little she knew about this. “Why didn’t father tell me this. And why allows Pan this to happen?”

To this, the son did have an answer, leaning against a wall as he looked at the sky through one of the windows. “Because it happened in the past that children challenge their family for fun, not realizing it’s serious or that after a challenge is called, only one can survive. Because of this, families started to opt for not telling their kids this secret. In terms of why… Well… amusement?”

While they talked, the battle down below had started, both satyr and skeleton having their runes around their heads.

The Satyr looked to the runes stones flying around his head. He didn’t know what most meant but as he looked at them, he could see flashes and visions of what these runes did. Through this, he saw that he had given the power of life and death. He felt his hand get warm as it started to glow gold like, showing that he was allowed to start.

As an eight rune appeared, he would grab a runestone, throwing it up in the air, creating a green orb that continued to orbit around him but higher. The golden glow disappeared from his hand and went to the skeleton. Seeing as neither combatant had done anything yet, they both stood their grounds.

As the skeleton got the golden glow, he would look at his runestones. He got the power of death. Not only death, but poison at that. He started to laugh, his teeth clacking as he knew what this meant, a painful death. He ended his turn by grabbing a runestone and creating a black orb instead.

With the skeleton being done, the satyr grabbed two runestones. The first one also created a black orb as the second one wasn’t just throw and release. He knelt down, stretching out one hand to draw power from both his orbs, putting it in the runestone before slamming it into the ground. Where the stone had hit the ground, a thick forest started to grow. His half of the courtyard turned into this forest, a flower appearing next to him. As the petals opened up, a runestone was seen lying in it, flying up to be added to the other runestones.

There were good things and bad things about this for the skeleton. The good thing was that no creature was summoned yet. The bad thing was that the Satyr now had more cover to hide in and had another rune stone from the flower. He grabbed his second runestone, throwing it in the air as he got a second black orb. With these orbs he did… nothing. He was patient.

Seeing that the skeleton didn’t summon anything yet was good news, or so he thought. He would grab another runestone, the one he gotten from the flower, summoning another black orb. He now had three orbs in total. He then took his fifth rune, this time holding it up before just dropping it. All his orbs seemed to fly to the rune, going in it as a human started to form. It started like a baby, but quickly grew bigger and bigger. Each time a power orb was used, it seemed to dim out but still was there. It only came back when it was your turn.

Even though it wasn’t his turn yet, the skeleton saw the creature forming. He grabbed a runestone, fueling it with one of his orbs and aimed it to the forming man. Even though he was all the way on the other side, the beam still hit the man in his heart. The man wasn’t even fully formed as he already started to scream, slowly shrinking back into the stone that he came from. When he was fully in again, the stone exploded. “Give up Tyron! Beg to Pan to let you live and maybe he listens!”

The satyr who was called Tyron couldn’t do much to stop it, feeling the stone explode at his feet. It wasn’t the shards that hit him that caused pain either, but there was a black soul, flying out of the broken pieces, flying into his chest. He let out a groan, stumbling back on his hooves as a black spot appeared where the spirit had entered him. “Ah… poison…”

As the first casualty had fallen, Emma would yelp seeing the spirit hit Tyron. “What! I thought you said he could only use those runestones in his own turn!”

The son would hesitate, slowly nodding. “There are exceptions but it’s difficult. When you’re on the field, you’ll understand.” He still didn’t want to explain it, knowing it would take hours to explain every single possibility that can take place.

While they were busy talking, the skeleton had started his turn, already getting his power orb back. He then grabbed a runestone, adding another black power orb to the others. Then he grabbed his fifth runestone, putting his three power orbs in them, dropping the rune. Instead of it turning into a scorpion, it turned into a scorpion. He didn’t even need to say anything as it ran off towards Tyron, disappearing from view.

Tyron had seen the skeleton summon the scorpion but not where it went. Not wanting to stay behind on creatures, he would grabbed three runestones. One of them he threw it in the air to add a green orb as he dropped the other two. The one runestone absorbed a green orb while the other absorbed two black power orbs. The one with the green orb turned into an elf, wielding two swords while the other one also turned into an elf but this time with antlers.

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As this was a game of luck to some extent, the skeleton would realize that his power orbs ended here. He hadn’t gotten another one since. Being the one allowed to take his turn, he would take his time to think. After a bit, he took three runestones. The first one he would put one power orb in. It started to glow before exploding in his hand into three black power robs. Unlike the ones he already had flying circles around his head, these would stay in front of him, shimmering to show that these were temporary. He used all three plus his second permanent orb to drop it on the ground. The ground now split open as a red-green cobra started to crawl out. It was one of the bigger cobra’s he had ever seen and immediately left to go to Tyron. He now had one power orb left, putting it into the third runestone. As soon as he did, he saw Tyron’s runestones appear in front of him, softly shimmering. He took one of them, making it crumble into dust as the others disappeared from in front of him.

Tyron saw the snake being summoned and slowly moved back. The elves followed him as well, their eyes scanning through the freshly made forest for the scorpion as the snake still had a fair way to go. Tyron had gone to the right, through a door that lead to one of the four big round rooms. With how much he had already casted, he was running low on runes. As he was looking for which one to use now, Pan had given him just as he had done a couple of times before. For now he grabbed another one which turned to dust when he grabbed it. “No!”

That was the rune that the skeleton had destroyed. Being angry, he would take the newest rune and looked at his bladed elf. The elf understood what he wanted, kneeling down and putting his swords on the ground. He closed his eyes, almost as if he was praying. A green orb coming out of him. The elf was still alive but also exhausted now. Not that that mattered to Tyron, using the green orb together with his own to summon the newest creature. He dropped the stone, taking a step back. Out of the stone came a big armored man, his armor being black holding a black sword. He was almost twice as big as Tyron. His helmet rocking two horns as he two eyes could barely be seen, sending out an aura deadly to any divine creature. He walked through the door into the courtyard, going straight to the skeleton.

Seeing this monster come towards him, the skeleton suddenly didn’t feel so sure. He looked at the remaining four runes. The last rune he had gotten was the exact same as two others, giving him little to no options to do stuff. The fourth rune could be helpful if he had more power. “Shit… Sorry cobra, seems like you have to die.” He didn’t know where the cobra was, but with a psychic connection, he would order the snake to attack Tyron. Even though the snake wasn’t too strong, he would take one of the three of the same runes and used a power orb on it. It turned to dust, but the snake’s fangs grew as even more poison started to drip out. As the armored guy had left the door open, the snake would jump forwards, mouth open with fangs forwards.

The big armored entity saw the snake flying towards the door. Before the snake could go through, he would stomp on the tail of the snake. The snake hissed, falling on the ground and turning around to sink his enlarged fangs into the leg of the armor. The man yelled in pain as his insides burned, the teeth easily piercing the black armor. He kicked the snake in the face, instantly killing it, but he himself fell on one knee, poison filling his body. It wasn’t going to kill him but it did hurt him badly.

Before Tyron could do anything else and while the snake was fighting the big entity, the skeleton would grab another rune that made three more orbs. Sadly just like last time, these orbs don’t last and can only be used once. Then, he put all his power into one rune, causing the dead snake was just killed from being kicked to turn back into a rune, flying towards the skeleton who caught it. The stone that absorbed the five orbs didn’t disappear like the other rune stones, staying in his hand before flying back in the air to be used again.

Tyron let out a sigh of relief because of the armored man having killed the snake. The snake wouldn’t have killed him, but it would’ve hurt him a lot if it had bitten Tyron. Wanting to have a advantage, he would climb up the stairs going around the round room to the top. While he was going up, he took another power stone, adding a singular black power orb to it and just like his adversary, made three temporary power orbs. Using those three plus his four remaining orbs. The elf once more knelt down, summoning a green power orb that now made a total of eight, adding it all to another runestone. Tyron dropped the rune onto the ground while running further up the stairs. The ground started to shake as a crack appeared in the ground. It went to the edge of the castle arena until it got out of his side. When he got on the wall, he could see what was happening. Right next of the castle came a huge hole, a big creature climbing out of it. It had spikes all over his back, his skin had no hair anywhere. Claws as big as big as Tyron was long with tentacle coming out of his mouth. A primal roar sounded through the battlefield. “Yes! Take that Mortel!” As the big beast bursted through the outer wall into the courtyard, Tyron looked at the elf with horns, motioning for him to go as well. The elf jumped down the wall, running towards Mortel right as the armored guy also reached him.

Mortel saw both the armor and the elf run towards him. Not only that, in the distance was also a huge primal beast coming straight for him. He wasn’t so sure on what to do, not that he had much time with the armored man swinging at him. He ducked underneath the sword and rolled away. This didn’t help much as the elf had already reached him. He might not have a weapon but he was fast, hitting him with the antlers. It knocked a tooth off Mortel’s jaw, making him stagger back. Before he could retaliate, the creature disappeared, appearing next to Tyron. The armor would swing at him once more. Even though he was big, the poison from the snake was still hurting him. So when he hit Mortel with his sword, it didn’t do as much damage then he would have done before the poison. He also disappeared, returning to Tyron. Now that he was finally not getting hit, he would summon his fourth power orb that he had just gotten from Pan. “Finally some power.” He used it to summon the snake back as it was one of his only options. The snake seemed to be his only shot, even against the primal beast. He had a problem now though. He didn’t have any more power orbs to power up the snake like last time and the primal beast was getting closer, leaving a path of destruction.

Tyron felt a bit more relieved seeing that Mortel was struggling. Although as he then looked at the remaining power stones, his heart dropped. He didn’t really have many more stone to his exposal. He pulled out another triple orb generation but quickly put it back away as it wasn’t going to do anything for him. The only other rune he had also didn’t really make him smile but he summoned it anyway. A monk slowly emerged after four power orbs went in. The monk seemed to have rotten flesh as if a disease was living inside of him. Pestilence had arrived and was awaiting Tyron’s command.

The big beast had arrived at Mortel, towering over him. The snake he just summoned fled, leaving Mortel on his own to deal with the primal beast. The huge animal bow down, grabbing Mortel with his mouth tentacles, pulling him in. Mortel tried to struggle, the tentacles starting to make his bones creak as the teeth pierced his bones. He yelled in pain before also that creature disappeared before appearing back next to Tyron and saving him. This way of combat ensure pain and injuries without instantly killing the combatants. Mortel now ran away and going into the opposite round room that Tyron had gone into. Pieces of bone were hanging loose as he tried to carry one of his ribs without dropping it. As soon as he closed the door, he looked at the rib before dropping it. There was no point to keeping it. When he looked to his runestones once more, he saw more stones that he should’ve right now. “I guess Pan felt bad for letting Tyron start first.” He took out another cobra rune, summoning another cobra. The first cobra who had fled from the big creature had found his ways up the stairs sneaking towards Tyron and the two elves. As everyone was looking at Mortel, he snuck by the 2 elves and the armored man as nobody was paying attention and none of them could stop him now. Right before biting Tyron, his teeth grew once more, courtesy to Mortel casting the second rune of the three copies.

As Tyron got bitten by the snake, the teeth would go deep inside of his leg. Black poison started to spread through his body, making him squirm and fall down. A new runestone appeared which he immediately took, using all the green orbs he had together with the elf mana to summon a humanoid spirit fairy. It flew a bit before sitting down onto the wood. “P-Protect me!” Everyone around him immediately took guard, looking to only way that he could be attacked from seeing as the colossal beast had broken the wall and therefor the other path. The colossal beast on the other hand would charged back at Mortel, although this time much faster.

Mortel was taking a breather before climbing onto the stairs to the top which looked weird since he didn’t have longues. Once he arrived there, he saw the huge animal come to him once more. He didn’t know what to do as his brain that didn’t exist wasn’t working. Like a deer in headlights was he standing there. Then something unexpected happened. The scorpion he had summoned in the start of the battle never saw an opening to attack Tyron. He had come back and attacked the huge beast, slowing him down in his tracks. This didn’t do much, but the beast was distracted. It tried to stamp on the scorpion but didn’t seem to be able to due to how small it was in comparison.

Tyron saw what was happening, realizing that was a huge problem. He would look at the monk and then at the elf that had given him green orbs multiple times, helping him a lot. “Sorry loyal servant.” He started to gather his black orbs, giving them to the monk. He opened his eyes, starting to let out a loud monastery like singing and humming. His eyes didn’t have any pupils anymore and stared into the soul of Tyron before everyone on the battlefield fell down. Both of the elves started to writhe on the ground, their bodies started to wither away as pestilence corrupted their body. The big armored guy also fell down, clutching the part of his armor where his heart was. With first the poison and now this, he perished as well. The little scorpion didn’t even last a second, dropping dead in front of the now satisfied beast. Even the big animal seemed to have his flesh wither a bit. Enraged he would charge forwards again. Then there was Tyron and Mortel left to be affected by the pestilence. Both of them felt it take a spot in their bodies, making them weaker.

Mortel was on one knee. He was holding his skull, feeling pestilence rolling over him. Even though he was already nothing but bones, this was something magical. As he was distracted by the sickness, the animal had reached him. It smashed into the wall making it collapse and taking Mortel down with it. Enraged he would start to dance on the rubble, not knowing where Mortel was.

While Tyron had difficulty seeing what was happening, he felt a sudden pain once more in his leg. He looked down, seeing that the snake was able to survive the pestilence and had made his way back up the stairs. With his teeth now deep in his leg for a second time, he would feel the poison spread through his body. It was weirdly warm, making him feel a burning pain but as it hurt, it also felt soothing. The pain was still higher than the soothing warmth, making him scream as he grabbed parts of his body that continued to burn. His scream stopping quickly after the snake had disappeared. With a flash, both the now dead Tyron and the healed skeleton appeared back in the forest, a soft but demonic laugh coming from Mortel as he had won.