The explosion erupted forth, channeling the power away from my body, but not all of it. Even with the careful control of my own mana and my familiars, physics reared its ugly head. When the world turned yellow pressure ruptured my ear drums and I dropped to my knees.

  It burned and my blood boiled as the supercharged air sought to cleanse me from myself. It invaded my channels but met the mana inside my body and paused. When the two collided the hesitation was enough for my mana to pacify and restrain the flames from invading further.

  With my eyes closed and total silence, I focused on my sputtering chest as I tried to inhale. áine’s mana soothed my charred skin and renewed what I lost through the heat. Her mana could only prod against the fire-aspected mana but it forced it back and allowed my own to sweep it aside so she could heal.

  Seconds passed and something snapped together, jarring my breath. The next inhale was too deep and I sucked in a lungful of smoke and ash. The poisonous air forced áine to expel it along with an angry slap against my cheek.

  “Sorry, sorry. Give me a second,” I offered.

  She huffed.

  Holding my breath for the moment, I expanded my awareness outside my body. Through the maelstrom, mana signature winked out of my perception while others spiked and followed the same fate. My eyes stayed closed, and I tried to channel mana into the air to pull the smoke away from my body but a twinge inside my chest brought me low.

  It was painful but more like a sore muscle than a broken bone. I forced myself up and tried again, powering through the aching of my channels. Slowly, the wind stirred. It moved glacially so I confined it to just around my head and began filtering the smoke. My level of control wasn’t nearly refined enough to target the individual particles, but with Sturmrorex’s help moving chunks was viable. More akin to a toddler grabbing fistfuls of dirt and tossing it aside, we managed to sieve through enough smoke to breathe mostly clean air.

  Taking a second breath brought sweet release to my lungs and I relaxed my shoulders.

  “Better. How are we doing Zharia?” I asked.

  When no response came, I probed my thoughts and attempted to see through Zharia’s memories but there was only silence. My chest tightened and I gripped the link, searching.

  My hands extended and I gently touched Zharia’s back. As I pulled her closer I could feel the flames still radiating off her body even though she was unconscious. My senses told me she was unharmed; spent and exhausted. But unharmed. There was strain inside her channels, her body beginning to lose some of its cohesion; nothing that would affect her beyond some temporary exhaustion. Sighing with relief, I stroked her head and gave her a gentle squeeze before undoing her skill.

  She chirped something unintelligible but a flutter of satisfaction flashed through the link before she melded into my chest. With her returned to my soulspace I decided I had enough rest.

  Time to check the damage. If what my senses told me was true, the free-for-all could be over.

  I sucked air through my teeth as the glaring light from the slabs scorched my retinas. Dozens upon dozens glowed with flickering mana that zapped the air and strangled the shadows. As I turned my head, the only slabs that remained dark were the ones covered by bodies.

  “Myol, might murder me for this…”

  Surprisingly, not everyone was a charred and broken mess. Those closest to the explosion were undoubtedly the most damaged. Burnt skin, ashen clothes, balding fur and hair; I counted eighteen near-corpses. The worst by far laid five feet away, his back still smoldering as a ring of red light sought to suppress the mana.

  He might actually be dead…

  While the bastard had attacked me, fully ready to torture me along with the other mutts, I wasn’t about let him die. Beyond not needing that on my conscience, it wasn’t worth giving the idiots the satisfaction of having me disqualified.

  Taking over the reins of controlling the air pocket around my head, Sturmrorex channeled his second nature to produce a wall of fat droplets that I sent over with a gust of wind. Where they landed it sizzled and popped. Zharia’s flames proved resilient, but I wasn’t aiming to extinguish them myself, merely weakening the mana enough for the healer’s skill to take over.

  Once the red ring fully engulfed the Three and crushed the flames from sprouting, I turned my attention to those that survived the explosion.

  By my count, seven people stood–those furthest from the blast–with only four having made it out damaged but alive. The other three had some form of barrier or defensive skill running–leaving them untouched.

  Beyond the seven, four mana signatures caught my attention. One that made me pause. Upon closer inspection, it felt familiar and if it wasn’t for the muddling of my mana channels I could have dived deeper but I tuned it out and turned to face the three faces I was hoping to see buried in the sand–preferably face first.

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  “Would it have been that hard to croak? Seriously, you wasted my big epic moment and haaaad to stay alive. Can’t you guys do anything right?” I yelled out.

  Gray stone crumbled away revealing the shattered remnants of a barrier made of red crystal. There was smoke and black lines but the damage was patchy enough to see beyond it.

  Four swayed on her knees as Two supported her with his arm. At her side, One crouched low with his arms extended. They shaked and blood trickled down his nose as the defensive skill gave way. The backlash sent him crashing forward but he managed to prop himself up before hitting the earth. As his chest rose the smoke forced a hacking cough from his lips.

  A search for my spear revealed nothing as there were too many bodies strewn about for me to find it. Shrugging, I stood up and stretched, my back cracking in four places as áine fixed the minor damage along my spine.

  “What?” I said, pausing at the wild-eyed stare from Two. “Something on my face?”

  “Y-you! You’re insane!” he screamed. One garbled something before hacking blood into the sand below. Two ignored his companion and raised a shaky finger in my direction. “We could have died!”

  “But you’re not, are you?”

  “Wh-what? Tha-that’s…”

  Even if my gut felt unstable, I moved closer. Two’s shaking increased as I neared, his other hand grasping for a weapon that was no longer in reach. When I stopped, I loomed over him and the rest of the dogs.

  My fingers twitched, and he flinched.

  “Oh come on, surely you don’t think I’d be sympathetic for someone like you? Right? Let’s not forget you tried to torture me. What’s a little pain when you’re oh so willing to twist a knife in my stomach. If anything I’d say you got off lightly. I mean, look at your friend over there, that looks like it hurts.”

  Another twitch and Two snapped. He lunged to the side, abandoning Four as he dived for a sword. When he rolled to his feet she crashed to the ground without his support and nearly bowled over One.

  Two brandished the blade like a spear, his mana moving to engulf the scorched iron with transparent quills.

  “I see through you! You can’t fool me! You’re as damaged as they are, you’re cold, aren’t you? That much mana… You’re running on empty!”

  He jumped forward but my hand grabbed the back of One’s neck.

  “Empty?” I said slowly. Dragging One’s heavier frame upward strained my arm but I managed and adjusted my grip so that my hand supported his chin by wrapping around his throat. One by one, my claws dug into his flesh and squeezed. “What makes you think that?”

  Two hesitated but he snarled. “You’re bluffing. I’m no fool, you can barely stand!”

  My mask conjured a pair of eyes that pandered to my feet before slowing moving upward and toward the hand holding the first dog up. Two’s mouth twitched but no sound came out, clearly struggling to find a retort for his blunder.

  “Riiight. Then let me fill you in on a little secret. In fact, let’s make sure the rest of you understand this lesson.”

  There was strain but I lifted One aloft and dangled him by his feet. A task that nearly turned against me as the man was too tall. His feet hovered a foot off the ground but I got the message across.

  “Put him down,” Two snapped.

  “The lesson,” I said, ignoring him. One strained against my grip, too weak to pry my fingers away. It was then a sharp pain radiated from my leg and I glanced toward the sword sticking from my thigh. Controlling my voice, I turned and met One’s eyes taking in the hatred rooted inside them as I spoke. “Is that I’m nowhere near mana fatigue. In fact, why don’t I prove it. What was it you said? Put him down? Have it your way.”

  The sand flashed blue as electricity jolted across my scales and through the pads of my fingers. One convulsed, his muscles freezing and then I cut the flow, letting him collapse in my grip. With casual ease, I tossed him aside and yanked his blade from my leg. áine sealed the injury and fixed it without trouble.

  Cold disinterest was a tool. Useful, but not enough. Even now, one of the uninjured combatants stared with more calculating caution than fear. A part of me balked at the notion, and the urge to bring them to their knees rose to the forefront of my subconscious.

  Fuck it. I’m already playing up the melodrama. Go big or go home.

  With the air having time to clear, I stopped channeling focus into providing an air pocket and built a charge around my feet.

  Two’s shaking had only increased and the blade wobbled enough that his skill struggled to maintain its effect over the weapon. His jaw dropped open, a growl built in his throat.

  Then I was in front of him. He swung his sword, more on instinct than conscious thought. His hand moved before his eyes. I let it pass over me. When the swing overextended, I raised my claw to his face and spread my fingers wide.

  Electricity danced in my palm. His pale skin took on a shade of cyan while bloodshot eyes bulged out of their sockets. He tried to raise his other arm, his mana flaring as the quills erupted around his chest. It was too late. I built the charge and…

  “And we have our winners! Before you stand the ten fighters moving on to the final bracket! A round of applause for these potential champions!” the announcer roared.

  Accompanying the declaration the bracelet around my wrist buzzed in constant beeps. It turned bright green and flashed through the shades as the vibrations intensified.

  Oh come on. I was having my edgy moment!

  I scanned the battlefield and saw that all seven of the fighters I noticed earlier were up.

  If they didn’t croak, who did?

  A shadow raced across the corner of my vision and I spun. My tail wrapped around the weapon catching it from slipping.

  “You know,” Sereza sighed. She sauntered into view, her daggers sheathed along her belt. “I expected something crazy, but that was a bit much.”

  “Sereza?” Upon closer inspection of the thing thrown my way, I recognized my spear and used it as a crutch to lean on. “You were in here? What the hells?:”

  Sereza stopped beside me, shaking her head. “I was in the back of the line. I thought you noticed me with your senses.”

  “Too muddled. I’m a cheater, not a freak.”

  “Uhuh.”

  I shook my head and pointed an accusing finger. “If you were here, why didn’t you help me? I was being tortured, you know.”

  “You started taunting them and let yourself be bound. Do I need to mention the evil cackling? And I did help. Though, it didn’t seem to matter. A second more and he was done for,” she said bitterly.

  Who?

  She pointed behind me and I finally noticed that Two was on the ground. A puddle of water floated around his body, hovering two inches from the slab. He convulsed with foam leaking from the edges of his mouth.

  “Huh, when did that happen?”

  “You didn’t notice the shaking?”

  I scratched my head and chuckled. “I mean I did, but I kind of thought it was him being scared. When did you poison him?”

  “Before the explosion. They left there backs wide open.”

  “Ah. Thanks anyways!” I said, patting her on the back. “Let’s go celebrate with some sandwiches!”

  Sereza mumbled something that I chose to ignore and I started skipping toward the exit tunnels.

  Now if only there wasn’t a grumpy muscle lady waiting to tear my head off!