Please calm down, everyone. While I’m sure you are delighted to hear that your classmates are safe and sound, now is not the time for idle chatter! You may gossip as much as you like, but for now, we shall continue our lesson in gestalt magic.

  |

  “Run!” shouted Evran, grabbing Kaila’s hand.

  They took off down the tunnel marked with the diamond indicating a safe zone ahead. With any luck, they would reach it before the osteomorph caught up with them. What Kaila was doing could scarcely be called running, but the elf girl was clearly pushing her body to its limits. If it had been Evran who’d exhausted his mana, he’d likely still be unconscious.

  With Evran’s hand helping her balance, they moved fairly quickly down the labyrinth corridor, though he doubted it was fast enough to outrun the osteomorph for long. His fears came true not long after, as the pursuing monster came into view behind them. The otherworldly creature stopped and let out a horrible scream as it finally caught sight of its prey. Then it charged.

  “I see it!” shouted Narro from farther ahead.

  “We can make it!” said Evran, as the monster rapidly closed the distance between the two parties. “Kai, when it catches up, keep moving. We’ll slow it down.”

  “Don’t you dare leave me all alone down here,” she said with an intense stare. Kaila didn’t want any heroics from them, a message she intended to make abundantly clear.

  “What’s the plan?” Narro asked only moments before their foe arrived.

  Evran stopped, let go of Kaila’s hand, and turned to face the pursuing enemy. “Hobble it,” he said, turning the floor in front of the charging osteomorph into a pit of mud.

  The creature had learned from the previous encounter and adjusted its path to avoid the quagmire. Evran was one step ahead, however, as he anticipated the creature adapting to his tactics. Just as he had done with the crimson aatxe during the tempest, Evran opened up the cavern floor beneath the legs of the osteomorph right before they touched the ground.

  It was such a subtle yet treacherous move. Even the smallest gap between where a creature thought its foot, or in this case, the tip of its rib-leg, would land and where it actually landed would throw off the mechanics of its gait substantially. Unfortunately, it wasn’t nearly as effective against the osteomorph’s staggered trot as it was the bounding gallop of the charging aatxe. Though it didn’t shatter its legs, the top-heavy osteomorph tripped and crashed skull-first onto the hard floor of the labyrinth.

  Not one to miss an opening, Narro launched himself at the vulnerable monster. The osteomorph brought both its scythe-like arms over to protect its skull from the attacking spellblade, but Narro’s charge was only a feint. Instead, he went for the legs.

  One slash was all it took for Narro to cut through one of the joints connecting its rear left leg to its body. Narro’s blade glowed green, enhancing its already incredible sharpness with wind magic. The large rib-like leg on which the osteomorph walked clattered onto the ground, as the creature again stumbled to regain its footing.

  The monster spun around and took a swing at Narro with its scythed arm. Narro had also learned from the previous engagement, and chose to dodge backwards rather than block. He was a hair too slow, however, and took a shallow cut to his left arm.

  Taking advantage of his opponent turning its back to him, Evran launched an extra-sharp obsidian stone shard grown from a bead in his collection. Though it cost him more mana to do so, he had hoped the increased sharpness would make a difference. His gamble paid off.

  Evran’s obsidian shard hit directly on the same joint Narro had just severed, but on the right hind leg. Though it did not fully separate the leg from the body, the damage was so severe that the leg could no longer hold the creature’s substantial weight. Its rear fell to the ground as the osteomorph desperately flailed about with its front limbs.

  “It’s down, let’s run!” shouted Evran.

  Seeing no reason to finish it off, Narro shrugged and took off running toward the safe zone. Farther ahead, they could see Kaila safely behind the barrier separating the safe zone from the labyrinth. Its teal green shimmer stirred a feeling of hope long since absent from their hearts.

  Halfway down the corridor, Evran heard a cry from the osteomorph behind them, then the unmistakable sound of the monster running towards them. He glanced back to see the creature once again on its feet and hobbling quickly towards them, its rear leg that he’d failed to separate somehow repaired.

  Evran stumbled as he turned back towards his destination, the awkward weight of Lerrum’s pack throwing off his balance. Upon regaining his footing, Evran redoubled his pace, desperate to outrun the osteomorph.

  “Keep running, Ev!” shouted Narro from ahead.

  His legs ached and his chest felt like it was about to burst, but Evran kept on sprinting at full speed. He used magic to boost not his speed, but his strength, making him more able to carry the weight of Lerrum’s pack. With what little of his mana remained, Evran forced out stone lances behind him, harrying the osteomorph that pursued him.

  Having finally made it through the barrier, Narro turned around. Only seconds away himself, Evran saw a look of horror on Narro’s face. Instinctively, Evran dove the last few meters to the barrier.

  Loose supplies flew over his head as Evran slid over the rough cavern floor. The sound of bone crunching against the barrier was all he needed to hear to confirm that he’d safely made it across in time.

  A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

  “Oh gods, Evran!” Kaila screamed, running over to him.

  “I’m fine,” he said, still trying to catch his breath. It was only when he went to stand up that he noticed something horribly wrong. He couldn’t feel his legs.

  Evran reached down with his hands and found them, confirming they were at least still attached to him. Kaila was already at his side, lifting the severed pack off of him to assess the damage. A single slash across his lower back, not horribly deep, but enough to break his spine.

  “Don’t worry, Ev, I can heal this!” she said, pulling a scroll from her belt while casting healing magic on his back to staunch the bleeding.

  On hearing that, Evran let out a sigh of relief. The spine was a particularly difficult injury to heal, even for experienced mages His first assumption was that he would be paralyzed for the remainder of their ordeal, as he thought it well beyond Kaila’s abilities. Thankfully, the girl had brought a magic scroll with her for just such an injury.

  “Uh, Narro, mind using this?” she asked sheepishly. “It’s got a steep cost in mana. Narro?”

  Evran turned to see Narro staring face to face with the osteomorph through the barrier. Normally, a monster would magically forget about their existence, but this creature still remembered them. It just stood there, staring menacingly at the spellblade. It began testing the barrier by tapping its scythed arms against it. Each bit of contact seemed to cause the monster pain as it poked and prodded. Satisfied it wasn’t able to get through, the osteomorph turned around and slowly shambled back into the depths of the labyrinth.

  “Damn it, Narro, heal his falling back already, will you?”

  “Sorry,” he said, finally turning his attention to his temporarily crippled friend.

  Taking the scroll from Kaila, Narro knelt down and began channeling mana into the spell contained within the magic circle inscribed upon it. An alternative to free-casting, magic circles allowed one to perform magic far above their level, but at the cost of doubling or tripling the mana required. For Narro, this was hardly a problem, though neither Kaila nor Evran would have struggled to use it with a few more hours of rest.

  Pain surged through Evran’s lower back, overpowering the soothing sensation of healing magic. He could feel his legs once more and was now certain they had sustained injuries as well. As the pain subsided, Evran allowed himself to relax as Narro continued to heal his back.

  “Ev…” he began, in an oddly serious tone. “How? How did it happen?”

  He was of course asking how Lerrum died. He obviously saw the end of it, but not how it started. Kaila’s ears perked up on hearing the question. She’d been busying herself with cleaning up the scattered supplies that flew from Lerrum’s ruined pack, but she stopped in anticipation of hearing Evran’s response. Kaila knew even less than Narro, not even having seen the dragon on account of her mana exhaustion.

  “We had no clue it was there,” he began. “Gods, we should have known! It probably sensed our fight with the osteomorph and just waited on the entrance for us to walk out. Lerrum… he never even saw it. He was covered in dragonfire in an instant.”

  The pain returned, and Evran felt like his heart was being crushed. His eyes filled with tears, but where he expected to sob, he could not. Then it stopped. The pain subsided, and the pressure in his chest vanished in a single breath. He felt strangely hollow, as if a core part of him and suffered too much and stopped working.

  “I tried everything… to heal him, to stop the fire. Nothing worked. I was too weak. I’m sorry.”

  Concerned, Kaila ceased gathering the supplies and shuffled over to where Evran lay. Kneeling by his head, she stroked the hair behind his round ears. “You did all that you could, Evran. It wasn’t your fault.”

  The scroll in Narro’s hand crumbled to dust, ending the healing spell. Evran rolled onto his back, wiggling his feet to confirm his recovery. He gave Narro a nod in thanks, but his prideful eyes darted away before Evran could see the tears. The three of them sat in silence for a time, mourning the loss of their friend.

  “When I first came to Aldea, I thought I was going to be strongest mage in the class, easily!” Narro declared. “On our first day, I challenged Lerrum to a duel. It was a close fight, but he won out. I thought, ‘Whatever, it was only one fight. I’d get better.’ After I failed the continuation exam, I was devastated. Despite all my gifts, and all my hard work, I would never be the mage I’d dreamed of becoming since I was a kid. I… I thought about ending it then. Just stepping off the edge and being done with it all, not having to live with the shame.”

  Evran shot Narro an apologetic look. He’d never known this about his friend, and felt awful for not helping back then.

  “The night after the test, I snuck out and went to the nearest shore, just to look over the edge, you know? Lerrum was already there, waiting for me with a pair of swords. He knew exactly how I felt, and why I was there. He threw a sword at me and said I’d have to beat him in a duel before he’d let me pass.”

  Narro laughed. “I actually won. He’d planned on beating me, then demanding I get better before I had the right to end it. You should have seen how panicked he looked! Anyway, even though he lost, his plan still worked out. I found a new path, one that I was more suited to. He saved my life that night. I’ll never forget him.”

  After a brief silence, Kaila chimed in with her story. “I didn’t really like Lerrum all that much the first few years we were here. He was good-looking and all, but we girls were getting wise to his antics. I practically begged Kestie not to get with him back then, but she wouldn’t listen. We ended up having a huge fight over it. I…”

  Kaila lowered her head in shame. She attempted to continue her story, only to have her voice crack. A few tears fell to the ground, wetting the dusty floor beneath her. The boys gave her the time she needed to regain her composure, and soon she was ready to finish her story.

  “Right after the fight, Lerrum approached me and apologized for harming our friendship, and offered to break up with Kestie to make it right. That was when I finally saw what she’d seen in him. Gods, it was a dumb plan! Kestie would’ve hated me if I did that, but somehow… somehow, it made me willing to give him a chance. I’m glad I did.”

  Kaila glanced up from the floor and stared into Evran’s eyes. “Sometimes, when you get to see a different side of someone, your feelings about them can change… quite a lot.”

  A familiar thought returned to Evran’s mind, prompted by Kaila’s epiphany. It was a thought Evran had spent a considerable amount of time and effort repressing over the last two weeks, and for good reason. Did she like him?

  He had every reason to think otherwise. Lerrum had dismissed the idea. Hell, so had Kaila. There were a few moments they’d shared in the last week that gave him pause — when she’d taught him how to use aurasight and during their party two nights back. After learning about her spying on him, he had just assumed that to have been part of some act. That was precisely why he felt so betrayed at the time. But she said those moments were genuine, and now she says her feelings could change. Evran didn’t even know how he felt anymore. Then, an old memory entered his thoughts.

  “Lerrum wasn’t my first roommate,” Evran started. “I’d been paired with Hyrrel, but he demanded a transfer in the first week. I was still suffering night terrors from my previous trip to a labyrinth, so I can’t really blame him. Anyway, lucky for me, Lerrum got in a fight with his old roommate over a girl — I forget who — but we ended up together. I was in bad shape back then. I’d just got my mother killed. My sister hated me. Hell, my childhood friend even ran away without saying a word. I was completely alone, afraid of getting attached to anyone, for fear of losing them, too. When he tried to get to know me, I straight up told Lerrum that we’d never be friends. I wasn’t ready to risk it. He just smiled back at me and said, ‘Alright, but we can still be nice to each other, right?’ That was enough. Well, you know how it turned out. Despite it all, I don’t regret it, not for a second.”