A blast of cutting wind shot forth and tore along the ground. A terrible scream rang out into the air as a man’s form suddenly shimmered into existence. He flew through the air and landed hard on the ground. The bow he had been holding was torn to shivers which landed on top of him. The reptilian man drew back his arm and charged forward with a fury. The elfkin dashed in after him low and quick, ready to strike.

  Telhari sidestepped left and right as the scaled man took large swings with his mace. The air rushed passed his face with each movement; a potentially devastating blow should either of them have landed. But after that last strike, Telhari moved suddenly to the man’s side and launched a kick into his ribs. The man cried out in pain and was launched backward several feet. Telhari drew back his leg and repositioned himself while dodging the flanking attacks from the elfkin. A longsword swept across the place where Telhari had been; and its wielder wore a look of frenzied determination. He delivered nearly half a dozen slashes and strikes in the span of a few seconds, no easy feat by any stretch of the imagination. But Telhari nevertheless dodged them all, not even needing to parry with his sword. Instead, following the final strike, Telhari flipped his blade over in his hand and thrust the pommel into the elfkin man’s face. He felt his nose crack from the impact and the man stumbled backwards.

  Telhari then sensed a tingling across his skin. He instinctively pushed himself backward as a furious swiping of metallic claws rended the space in front of him. The dark-skinned woman had a wild look in her eyes; the two gems on the back of her armaments were glowing softly.

  Enchanted winds granted her great speed. And as she spun her body around and launched toward Telhari with an open claw, a frosty mist seemed to trail behind her.

  Telhari flipped his blade to the broad side and swept it across the path of her claw strike, parrying her upwards and sending an explosion of icy wind toward the sky. Behind him, the reptilian man leapt into the air and lifted his mace high above his head, hoping to deal a crushing blow. And to the side, the elfkin man moved into striking position. Within an instant after being parried, the dark-skinned woman had drawn back both her arms and was ready to strike once again.

  The three attackers came at Telhari from all sides. It was well coordinated and deadly. A certain victory…against a normal opponent, that is.

  Telhari’s muscle tensed greatly, pulsing with the primal energy he was so accustomed to wielding. He then stomped the ground with his boot and a slab of hardened earth flipped upwards and slammed into the elfkin man, knocking him prone. As the reptilian man brought down his mace, Telhari sidestepped at the last moment. Then, he grabbed the man by the skull and slammed his head into the slab of earth. The woman cried out as she slashed at Telhari from behind; but he moved too quick for her in the end. A flash of sparks shot out into the air as his sword cleaved through the claws of her metallic armaments. She stopped her attack, stunned by what had happened. And in that moment of pause, Telhari brought his boot to her chest and launched her backward. He then felt a warmth twinge in the air— and then a burning heat.

  “Ignis maxi!”

  Up until now, the cloaked man from earlier had been keeping his distance. Biding his time. Waiting for a moment when Telhari was pinned down and his location certain so that he could incinerate him with his grandest spell.

  A swirling torrent of fire burst forth from in front of the bounty hunter, searing the grass as it shot towards Telhari. At this, the remainder of onlookers cried out and fled the area. Telhari sent a small pulse of magic into his blade and drew it in an arc cross the path of the flame. In response, the fire split asunder, rended as a piece of cloth cut by sharpened scissors. Telhari made eye contact with the man through the shuddering flame; he was wide eyed and fearful. The flames then swirled in upon themselves and vanished with a rush of hot air.

  Telhari brought his sword to his side and stared down the man. However, the man’s attention was turned from Telhari to something else.

  “Go! Quarzen!”

  Telhari flicked his eyes to the side and saw the reptilian man lunge for Ellis and Mary.

  Ellis swung his sword at the man; but the day’s activities had tired him, and in the end he was not strong enough. The man used the hardened scales of his body to block Ellis’ strike, and with a motion of his forearm he forced Ellis off of him. He then brandished his clawed hand and reached out towards Mary before she could respond.

  Ellis and Mary felt a rush of wind pass them, accompanied by a flash of gleaming metal. Telhari was now standing a little to their side, and his sword was dripping with blood. The reptilian man started down at his arms— at the space where his hands had been only a second ago.

  “AGGHHHH!”

  Quarzen staggered back and fell to the ground, screaming in pain and anger until his throat was sore. Telhari looked over them all with a cutting glance. Then, he flicked his blade, sending drops of blood spraying into the glass. His sword gleamed clean and deadly once again.

  “I believe our match is finished.”

  The cloaked man considered the state of things.

  “Mora?” he called. “You still alive?”

  The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

  The dark-skinned woman managed to bring herself to a standing position. She balled her hands into fists and willed the magic stones on her armaments to activate once again.

  “Let’s kill this fucker.”

  There then came the sound of movement and splintering earth as the elfkin man heaved himself off the ground, clutching tightly to the handles of his two weapons. The three remaining attackers then started to walk towards each other. And as they did so, a curious wind began to blow. It came first over the grass as a gentle breeze, then picked up as it rushed over them. The air then started to swirl more violently and surge upwards, blowing dirt and rock against their faces, nearly lifting them off the ground. Above them, the sky darkened as storm clouds twisted over head to cover the sun. Ellis could smell a familiar metallic scent in the air and he knew what was coming.

  “Wait!”

  The elfkin and the woman stopped at the call of their leader.

  “What is it Bazel?” the elfkin shouted back over the wind.

  “Do not move!”

  Bazel’s hand was shaking as a fear crept over him. The engraved hammer he held in his hand was a special item; one which was crafted of certain materials and enchanted for the purposes of channeling his magic. And although it’s main purpose was to focus the magic of its wielder, it also served as a means by which to sense the presence of magic. It was for this reason that he could tell — very acutely— that the clouds swirling above them were made of a deadly and near impossible kind of power.

  “What are you talking about?” the elfkin shouted. “He’s just standing there!?”

  “I mean it! Do not move!”

  “Listen to your friend,” Telhari warned. “This match is over.”

  The elfkin man ground his teeth bitterly at Telhari’s words. There was an unmistakable fear in his companion’s voice and he was tempted greatly to heed it. But, in the end, the elfkin was either too angry or too foolish to listen. And so, with a look of determination, he kicked off the ground and lunged at Telhari—

  The last thing he saw was the calm face of that man whose lineage he so fervently despised.

  The last thing he felt was a surge of unimaginable pain throughout his entire body.

  And in a flash of white light, a bolt of energy struck the elfkin man and he was vaporized instantly.

  There was only stillness now.

  A rolling thunder echoed above; and after it had faded away into the distance, there was no other sound but the heavy and fearful breathing of those remaining bounty hunters.

  The woman named Mora dropped to her knees and said nothing. Bazel let go of his enchanted hammer and fell backward onto the ground. Quarzen, the reptilian man, stared in speechless terror at the smoking crater in the ground, which still crackled with electricity.

  “Are you satisfied, now?” Telhari asked with a heavy voice.

  The bounty hunters looked at each other and then to Telhari. They then nodded their heads in unison.

  “Good.”

  Telhari brought his blade cleanly through the air and into its sheath at his back.

  Suddenly, a commotion came from beyond the gates to the training grounds. In a few moments, a small force of two dozen of the Starspawn’s soldiers came charging into the clearing. The remaining candidates jumped back to let them through.

  “Master Telhari,” Avenell panted. “I brought the other men—”

  It was at this moment that Avenell fully drank in the scene before him. He steadied his breath and looked over the faces of the shell-shocked assailants.

  “I believe everything has been handled, Mister Avenell,” Telhari said.

  Avenell swallowed hard as he eyed the severed hands which lay twitching in the grass a few feet from him.

  “Is that so?”

  Bazel crawled onto his knees and pressed his head into the dirt.

  “Our sincerest apologies for the misunderstanding!”

  The grass began to crunch as Telhari walked over to them. Beside him, Mora followed suit and bowed as she spoke.

  “Please forgive our actions!”

  They could feel Telhari’s presence above them. He then slowly bent down and spoke in a low voice.

  “I hope that this duel was as informative for you as it was for me.”

  They nodded furiously.

  “And please remember,” he added, “That I have no sympathy for those who would harm the one’s that I hold dear. Is that understood?”

  “Yes!” they cried in unison.

  “I am glad to hear it,” Telhari said as he stood up once again.

  Mora and Bazel lifted their heads as Telhari walked away from them.

  “Don’t forget to take your friend with you,” he called over his shoulder.

  Mora stood up at once and ran over to the unconscious man who lay bleeding in the corner of the training grounds. She hoisted him onto her back and brought him over to Bazel. Together, they joined with Quarzen and began to walk sheepishly toward the gate of the training ground.

  “Wait!”

  They all three froze at the sound of Telhari’s voice. None of them had the courage to turn as he approached them.

  “For the carriage home.”

  The bounty hunters stared down at the pile of coins in Telhari’s outstretched palm.

  “T-thank you…” Bazel said with a tremulous voice.

  He then slowly pocketed the coins and continued with his companions toward the training ground gate. Once beyond the threshold, they broke into a sprint and ran as fast they could, away and out of sight.

  “I trust you will be the one to explain all of this to Sir Perry?” Avenell said with a sigh.

  Telhari brushed his gloved hands against the padded vest and turned back toward Avenell and the others.

  “Of course.”