The agile Three Arms dashed forward with surprising speed, his limbs moving in a fluid rhythm. His daggers shined in the dim light of the square as he pulled them free. The daggers spinned in his hands and then he launched them one after another at the Skara wielding the stone club.

  The first dagger flew true but was deflected with a sickening clang as it struck the Skara’s thick red scales, the sharp steel bending uselessly against the creature’s hardened skin. The Skara growled in irritation, but Three Arms was already moving, his nimble form slipping to the side.

  The second dagger, however, found its mark. It sank into the Skara’s side with a wet thunk. A thin line of green blood trickled from the wound. The Skara let out a furious roar as it swung the heavy club around in retaliation.

  Three Arms jumped back, his feet light on the ground, dodging the attack like a shadow. He darted to the left, the massive club again narrowly missing him as the Skara swung it with terrifying speed. The club cut through the air, but Three Arms was already gone, his smaller frame making him almost impossible to catch.

  The Skara had strength, but Three Arms had speed. Three Arms was weaving and slipping, getting in close for just a moment to throw another dagger, then retreating just as quickly, always staying one step ahead.

  The demon swung again, and Three Arms slid beneath the arc of the club, as he dashed to the other side of the Skara. The more the Skara missed, the angrier it became, and the more reckless its attacks became.

  The Skara swung sideways again, its club rising like a hammer, aiming for Three Arms' head. But just before the blow could land, the golem rolled to the side, one arm on the ground, two arms up high with daggers. In a fluid motion, Three Arms tossed the daggers and both found their mark. More green blood flowed from the raging demon.

  Three Arms was winning.

  Kael’s attention shifted, his focus pulling to the other fight. The Skara with the battle axe charged at Gerry, its massive form cutting through the air with horrifying speed. Each strike was filled with hate, the greataxe raised high, aiming for the head.

  But Gerry, with only one arm, was at a severe disadvantage. His remaining sword was steady in his grasp, his stance solid, but every blow he deflected sent a tremor through his body.

  He blocked the first strike, but the weight of the axe carried through, forcing him back. The Skara swung again, this time with a wide, horizontal arc meant to cleave through Gerry’s remaining defenses.

  Jello came and tried to distract the Skara by darting beneath its feet, attempting to trip it. But the Skara, leapt over the slime’s attempt, its feet clearing Jello’s outstretched form with ease.

  Kael’s eyes flicked between the Skara and his companions, his mind racing. This wasn’t enough. He needed something more.

  Then, in the heat of the moment, Kael remembered.

  Lorran.

  The Master from Avaris’s conclave that had lost his hand due to Avaris. His arms had an odd, slime-like consistency that was flexible, stretching and twisting around the Factory’s control room. That thought sent a shock through Kael’s mind. Could it work?

  Without wasting another moment, Kael’s gaze locked onto Jello. He reached out, his focus sharp. “Jello,” Kael said telepathically, his voice low and urgent. “Grab onto Gerry’s severed arm and attach yourself to him.”

  Jello hesitated for a moment, its gelatinous form quivering as it processed the command. Then, without another thought, Jello moved into action. The slime wobbled toward the severed arm of the golem, still clutching the sword. His gelatinous form shifted and stretched as he wrapped around Gerry’s arm.

  Kael watched as Jello, encasing the steel arm, began to move again, albeit in an unsteady, wobbly fashion. This was new, untested and unorthodox, and it was Kael’s biggest hope.

  Jello extended itself upward, the slime arm now attached to Gerry’s right side, clinging to the stump where his arm had been. The arm that was once solid and unyielding was now flexible and wobbly, with an elasticity to it, a loose stretch.

  Just as Kael’s mind processed the transformation, the oculothrax that was playing distraction, swooped down, its large eye intent on distracting Gerry once more.

  Gerry swung his newly formed right arm and thrust it forward. The arm moved like a living whip, its stretched form reaching high in the air, the sword flashing like lightning. With one swift motion, it sliced through the oculothrax’s body, cutting it clean in half before it had a chance to react. Its two halves fell to the ground below, its eye lifeless.

  The Skara roared again and charged at Gerry-Jello. The greataxe was a whirlwind of fury, swinging in wide, desperate arcs, each strike designed to obliterate its opponent. But Gerry stood firm, along with his new upgrade.

  Jello was no longer just a slime. It had become an extension of Gerry, a weapon and a partner in the fight. The hybrid arm, a fusion of flexible slime and mechanical strength, parried the attacks with ease, its adaptability making it far more dangerous than any blow either could make alone.

  With Jello's arm parrying the Skara’s furious attacks, the golem's body was free to maneuver, shifting to find the opening it needed.

  The Skara’s Frenzied Strikes came fast, each swing more wild than the last, its axe cutting through the air with a sound that could split stone.

  But with Jello gripping tightly to the hybrid arm, it moved like liquid, deflecting and parrying, the sword in Gerry’s remaining hand keeping a steady guard. The fluidity of the movement allowed them to move as one, a deadly duo that could respond to the Skara’s every blow.

  The Skara snarled in frustration, every swing of its battle axe seemed to miss or intercepted. It was a dangerous foe, yes, but Gerry and Jello had become something else entirely. They were no longer two separate entities. They were one.

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  But the Skara, relentless as ever, wasn’t done. With a roar, it jumped high into the air, preparing for an Impact Drop that could crush them both. The battle axe raised above its head. Its edge gleaming as it aimed to cleave through them in one devastating strike.

  But what the Skara failed to account for—what it failed to remember—was that while Gerry and Jello fought as one, they were still separate. And in that moment, Jello let go. The hybrid arm released its hold, and in that instant, Gerry and Jello separated.

  The Skara’s greataxe came crashing down, but it landed between them, missing its mark by a hair’s breadth. The creature landed heavily on the ground, its massive body trembling from the impact of its own attack. It seemed to stand frozen for just a second, confused by the separation.

  That hesitation was all Gerry needed.

  Gerry charged forward, his remaining arm swinging the sword in a wide arc, aimed directly at the Skara’s exposed side. The sword slid into the demon’s stomach with a sickening squelch, the blade sinking deep into the demon’s flesh.

  The Skara roared in pain, the greataxe slipping from its grasp, green blood pouring from its wound.

  But Kael knew it wasn’t dead. Not yet.

  Jello, with Gerry’s remaining arm and sword still in him, jumped high. Although, it wasn’t just a strike to the side.

  In one jump, Jello pierced the Skara’s chin with the sword, the blade cutting through the bone and muscle with a sickening crack. The sword continued its journey upward, emerging from the top of the Skara’s skull with a spray of blood. The Skara’s roar was cut short, its body crumpling to the ground with a heavy thud, the life draining from its massive frame as it fell.

  With Gerry and Jello victorious, Kael’s eyes switched back to the fight on the opposite side, the clash of steel and stone reverberating through the air as Three Arms continued to weave and dodge.

  The Skara with the stone club swung its massive weapon with increasing fury, each blow coming closer and closer, the force of the swings shaking the ground beneath them.

  Three Arms danced just out of reach, his movements fluid, but there was no denying the growing danger. The Skara had increased his speed, the attacks coming quicker now, sharper, with a viciousness that told Kael this creature was getting stronger, more powerful.

  Each swing of the club, each violent attempt to land a blow, seemed closer than the last. Three Arms would dodge by inches, the club’s edge grazing his shoulder, a whisper away from delivering a devastating blow. The demon had become more precise, more deadly with each passing moment.

  Gerry and Jello were at the far end of the square, rushing to Three Arm’s aid, but Kael feared it might be too slow. Blue was hovering in the air above, unsure how it could assist. It was a distraction, an annoyance to the enemy but it struggled with the Skara. Blue’s light flickered with uncertainty, the wisp indecisive.

  Seeing the success of slime-golem hybrids, Kael had another idea.

  “Blue,” Kael whispered, “help Three Arms. Go to him. Get inside.”

  Blue didn’t hesitate. The wisp zipped through the air, darting towards Three Arms, evading a swing of the club and slipped into the delicate gears of Three Arm’s body. Blue settled into Three Arms’s heart crystal, the core of the golem’s power.

  There, the connection sparked.

  Three Arms’ body shuddered, the gears in his limbs clicking into place with an explosive energy that sent a wave of speed through the golem’s frame. The reaction was immediate.

  His movements, fast and furious, now became sharp, faster, a blur of mechanical speed. The daggers that had once only grazed their target now pierced deeper, cutting through the Skara’s scales with ease.

  Three Arms dashed forward, faster than Kael had ever seen him move. The Skara’s club swung wildly through the air in an attempt to intercept him. But Three Arms was already a step ahead. He weaved between the blows, each dodge faster.

  The Skara growled in frustration, its eyes flashing with fury as it lifted the club for another strike. The creature was fast—faster than Kael had expected—but Three Arms was faster still.

  Three Arms threw two daggers, both blades sinking into the Skara’s flank with a sickening thunk. The Skara roared in pain, its blood leaking out from the wounds, but it didn’t slow its assault. The demon swung the club in another arc, aiming to crush the golem once and for all.

  But Three Arms wasn’t there to be hit. He was already moving again, dodging the Skara’s attack and springing onto the club itself as it crashed to the ground.

  The Skara’s eyes widened in disbelief as Three Arms ran up the massive club, using it as leverage to propel himself higher, faster.

  In an instant, Three Arms reached the Skara’s head. With one dagger in each of his arms, the golem struck. The first dagger plunged into the Skara’s right eye, the force of the blow driving deep into the creature’s skull. The second dagger followed swiftly, piercing the left eye with a sickening squelch.

  The Skara’s roar of pain was cut off as Three Arms, with his third arm, drove the final dagger down onto the top of the Skara’s head. The blade sank deep, straight through the skull.

  The demon's body went rigid for a moment before it crumpled to the ground, lifeless, its massive form collapsing into a heap of red scales and green blood. The stone club remained erect, with Three Arms standing victorious on its hilt.

  Kael let out a slow breath. Three Arms had done it. Gerry and Jello had done it.

  The two Skara, each a deadly force in their own right, had fallen. One to the swift work of Three Arms and Blue, the other to the teamwork of Gerry and Jello.

  As Kael crouched among the trees, his eyes flicked from the Skara corpses to the door of the hut. The door to the hut creaked open. Kael’s breath caught in his throat as he tensed, his gaze fixed on the figure that emerged.

  The Master stood tall, cloaked in black and red robes that fluttered around him. The hood was drawn low, obscuring the figure's face. What struck Kael immediately, though, was the similarity. The green skin. And in his arms, was a book, worn and tattered.

  A spellbook.

  The Master was not just a warrior or a tactician. He was a magician.

  The air crackled with energy as the Master walked forward and raised his hands, his green skin glowing in the dim light. A ball of swirling green energy formed between the Master’s palms, the brightness growing steadily.

  "Kael," the Master spoke, his voice sharp and filled with venom. "I know it’s you. You think you are all that with your 'Play of the week'—your little tricks, your silly illusions. I am better. I will kill you."

  Kael’s eyes narrowed. The Master knew him. Heard of him.

  The Master’s voice cut through the air as he unleashed the power he had been building. Several green bolts shot out from the swirling ball of energy, the streaks of light moving like darts of lightning across the clearing. The bolts arced toward Gerry, Jello, and Three Arms.

  Three Arms moved easily, his frame agile and swift as he dodged the bolts. But Jello was not as fortunate. One of the bolts struck true, hitting Jello square in his rotund body. The impact sent a ripple through the slime’s body, chunks of its gelatinous form splattering across the battlefield. Pieces of it reformed slowly but clearly weaker after the spell.

  Kael signalled to Mush and the other ice slimes who were stationed on the roof of the hut, their cold forms hidden. The slimes responded instantly, their icy bodies shifting as they fired. A volley of sharp, crystalline icicles launched into the air, the sharp points gleaming in the faint light as they arced toward the Master.

  One icicle pierced through the air, hitting the Master square in the back. Another followed, and then a third, all striking with deadly accuracy. The icicles sliced through his robes and his skin, each one piercing from the back to the front, embedding deep within him. A gasp of pain escaped the Master’s lips, and his hands trembled as he staggered backward, trying to pull the ice from his body.

  The Master had made the mistake of revealing himself, Kael thought with ice-cold satisfaction.

  ******