The hay on the floor in front of Kiri began to stir, as mounds of earth – one, two, then three – pushed upwards like wriggling serpents. The weathered planks of wood on the walls around her rattled, the nails holding them in place shrieking as they were pulled from their anchors. In the air above and to the sides of the shifter, wisps of fire materialised, dancing in swirls around each other whilst casting flickers of orange light across the earth and hay before gradually swelling into large balls of flame. From what she knew of Mira, it was about the extent of her abilities. Only the very best mages could fashion multiple attacks simultaneously, but Mira was even a cut above them. First among equals in Aleria.

  The shifter was predictable. Mira was a skilled mage, and if she ever needed to face off against Kiri or any other Champion for that matter, she would have tested them. Felt her opponent out. A poke here. A prod there. Test their reflexes. Test them for skills that she may not know about. Test her ability to adapt. She wouldn’t underestimate her opponent. Wouldn’t show the extent of her power from the off. Wouldn’t waste mana. In a fight with the real Mira, Kiri knew it wouldn’t be easy, even with her Imprint. But without the talent of the real Mira, this imposter relied on sheer power. The imposter was right – most Assassins wouldn’t stand a chance against a powerful mage, but single combat wasn’t like dungeon raiding. You couldn’t just stand there and blast out powerful spells. And Kiri wasn’t like most Assassins.

  In any case, the approach suited her. She really just wanted to get this over and done with. The hint of berries wafted from her pouch. The hay beneath her rustled as she adjusted her feet, and bent her legs slightly at the knees. This was a game of cat and mouse. What the imposter didn’t realise was that she was the mouse. The mounds of earth writhed ahead of her, coiling, readying to strike. Around her, the planks of wood strained against their fixings, the nails quietly screeching as they continued to be pulled against their will. The three fireballs above the imposter’s head pulsed with a quiet anticipation. Mira was waiting for her move. She was waiting for Mira’s.

  Mira moved first. The mounds of earth struck out like serpents in the sand, soil flinging past her face as the dirt whipped through the air. The planks ripped free of the beams they had been attached too, splintered wood scattering through the barn as they hurtled towards Kiri. The fireballs shot towards her like shooting stars in a meteor shower. She wouldn’t be able to avoid it all. She knew that. The imposter knew that. But it was all part of Kiri’s show.

  She used [Shadowstep]. It was almost as if time slowed to a fraction of a heartbeat, as she stepped to the side. When time returned to normal, two of the mounds crashed through the empty space where she had stood and into the wall behind her. She activated [Dash] and sprinted to the left, along the length of the wall towards one of the planks careening towards her. The third mound of earth had adjusted course and followed her like its meal was getting away, the fireballs veering sharply as they followed closely behind.

  As the plank almost reached her, she skidded to an abrupt halt, kicking up strands of hay as she squatted down and activated [Lunge]. Her calves contracted, her spine coiled, as she launched herself towards the wall to her left, spinning in the air so she landed with the soles of her boots on the weathered wood. Immediately, she pushed off, somersaulting in a graceful arc over the plank that had been hurtling towards her, but instead found itself on a collision course with the third mound of earth. The plank and the earth crashed into each other with a clattering impact, scattering dirt and wood across the hay-strewn barn floor, as Kiri landed on her hands, rolled with the fall and was up again in one fluid motion.

  The fireballs sped through the air like enraged hornets and she sprinted again. Fake Mira stood near the centre of the barn, watching her as she ran alongside the wall avoiding bales of hay. Mira was readying the next set of attacks. Kiri smiled, and turned sharply, in the direction of the shifter. She can’t have been more than 15 paces away. Four mounds of earth writhed out of the ground, as the air cooled in the barn with the formation of several ice crystals in the air shaped into pointed spearheads.

  Kiri activated [Shadowstrike]. Time grinded momentarily to a complete halt, the world around her blurring in a mess of colours that drained to dull browns and greys, like clay gone wrong on a spinning potter’s wheel. Kiri waded through a realm of ash and charcoal, towards Mira, who looked like a smidgen of paint on a canvas, ruined by water. The ice-spears, the fireballs, the earth serpents all blended into the surrounding monotony like smudged brushstrokes in different shades of muted browns. She slunk past the featureless Mira, positioned herself behind her as the world returned to vibrant reality.

  Mira gasped as Kiri jammed both her daggers into the imposter’s back, but the shield was still up, the daggers rattling the unseen barrier. It was no matter.

  “Your move,” Kiri whispered with a smile. “You haven’t hit me yet. Time is ticking.” The magic halted for a moment, fireballs suspended in motion before they could reach them, the earth serpents frozen in their writhing, the ice-spears hanging inert in the air. The imposter had choices to make. Such a position wasn’t unusual in a Mage-Assassin bout. In truth, Kiri would have usually jumped away as soon as her attack missed, but she wanted to goad the imposter into attacking her. She needed her to. The imposter was probably considering what would give her the best chance of putting distance between the two of them.

  Suddenly, something slithered around Kiri, coiling tight around her waist. Before she could look down, it yanked her backwards. She crashed to the floor, her daggers flying from her grasp, hay and dust billowing around her before gently settling on her prone form and the ground nearby.

  From the corner of her eye, she saw it was a rope around her waist, pinning her to the floor. She wondered how the magic could have got past her Imprint, but now was not the time to think about that. More importantly, she’d landed on the pouch with the muffins inside. A silent groan escaped her lips. She’d been looking forward to those. She knew they’d get squashed but she hoped she’d be able to salvage the situation. Later. Now she needed to deal with the imposter. She tilted her head towards Mira, who stood a few paces away and smiled a cruel smile at her.

  “Shall we test my theory now? Ten attacks? Or twelve?”

  The fireballs that had been suspended in motion were released from their leash. They shot through the air with all the fury of merciless suns, leaving a trail of blazing flame in their wake as they hurtled towards Kiri. The dim interior of the barn flared as the fireballs engulfed her, yet she felt nothing. She breathed a gentle sigh of relief. The Imprint was active. The magic didn’t bypass it. The rope was something else. Something she hadn’t considered. The flames around her dissipated into ghostly orange wisps.

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  The earth mounds followed almost immediately and as they struck, the ice-spears tore through the air. All hit her in various places. Arms. Torso. Head. At least, that’s how it would seem to those watching. In actuality, the ice-spears struck an unseen barrier, not even a finger-width from Kiri’s body. Where they struck, they simply vanished. First, the point of the spears and then the rest, as if being consumed by an invisible beast until the spears had evaporated into nonexistence. The serpentine mounds of earth fared no better, tufts of dirt devoured by her magic-eating Imprint. That’s how it was supposed to work. It left behind nothing of the magic. No shards. No fragments. No mist. No flames. It all simply disappeared into nothingness.

  She’d even tested it with physical objects, and found as long as magic was being used, the object would bounce off the invisible barrier. Except for the rope. She would need to look into that but at least it was working as intended for the magic. Of course, like any Imprint gained, the price to pay for them was high. And they weren’t the sort of price people willingly paid.

  “Was it ten?” the imposter taunted, flicking her fingers to launch two more of the several ice-spears that hung in the air. Both were devoured. Kiri remained motionless on the ground, looking around for her toys. The rope was coiled tight. Movement was difficult but Poppy was just within reach. She squirmed as she reached for the dagger.

  “Very interesting. Maybe you have an ability or artifact I’m unaware of,” Mira said as she came a little closer. Kiri watched her, even as she stretched as much as she could. If the imposter took her time, she could outlast Kiri’s Imprint. And in the vulnerable position she was in, she’d be dead. She couldn’t allow that to happen. She had muffins to eat. She stretched her arm further, grasped at Poppy with her fingers.

  “No matter. Let’s end this now. I have somewhere I need to be.”

  Fake Mira unleashed a barrage of attacks. Ice-spears. Fireballs. Earth mounds. Burning hay. More planks rattled from the aged walls, ripping free, nails flying in all directions. Most hit the barrier and disappeared like the attacks before. Except the odd nail or two, which bounced off Kiri’s leather armour. Like the rope, it was an oddity she’d need to understand but as long as the Imprint was active against the magic, she’d be fine. She stretched for Poppy, muscles straining, tendons silently screaming as she tried to extend them farther than they wanted to go. Her fingers scraped on the wooden floor, grasping at Poppy’s hilt. Fireballs crashed into her arms and faded in a swirl of flames as the imposter sought to keep her from her weapon.

  Finally, with her left arm feeling like it had been pulled by a horse, her fingers brushed the hilt. Clutching some more, she managed to get a slight hold. Slowly, she clawed Poppy towards her until the hilt was in her grasp. The barrage was slowing down. Good. That meant Mira’s mana was almost used. Stupid shapeshifter. Kiri supposed it was unfair that she had the advantage that she did. The shapeshifter wouldn’t have known that. But whether a Mage, or a Warrior, or an Assassin like herself, you needed real experience in combat. Shapeshifters didn’t have that. Too reliant on their disgusting ways of stealing other people’s looks and abilities. To think this one thought she could kill a Champion, just because she had stolen the abilities of one.

  With Poppy in her hand, she sliced the rope holding her down and faced fake Mira. The barrage was coming to an end. Kiri activated the artifact she had specially had inserted into the dagger.

  [Epic Artifact: Fang of Jalaxia]

  [On use, grants the user the ability for their next two attacks to bypass magical protection

  Cooldown: Fifteen minutes]

  It wasn’t a fang at all. It was a gem, in a light shade of blue mixed with green, set into Poppy’s hilt. As the last of the imposter’s attacks faded, Kiri aimed the bracer of her right hand at the shifter, who looked stunned that she was still alive, but Kiri wasn’t about to let her advantage go. She touched the bracer, and within a second, a slim blade, with a small hilt materialised above her forearm and raced towards the shocked imposter. Another followed immediately. Both hit Mira’s shins, causing her to scream in agony, but Kiri was already on the move, jumping up and activating [Shadowstrike].

  Appearing behind the shifter in an instant, Kiri used her other arm to grab the shifter around the neck and used [Rupture], allowing her to drive Poppy into the shifter’s right kidney. Another scream from the shifter, another smile from Kiri.

  “Do you realise now?” Kiri whispered into the shapeshifter’s ear. “I was never trapped in here with you.

  “You were trapped in here with me.”

  She jammed Poppy over and over into the shapeshifter’s back, spurts of blood splattering the hay around their feet, sliding over the front of her leather tunic. Eventually, she let the imposter go, watching fake Mira crumble to the floor in a pool of blood, gurgling as she gasped for her last breaths.

  Kiri knelt down and straddled the shifter’s chest. She placed her left hand behind the shifter’s head and grabbed her by the nape of her neck, forcing her to look Kiri in the eyes. The shifter had a look of terror and shame.

  “With all those stolen memories of my sister,” Kiri said to the imposter, “it seems there’s something you didn’t realise about me.” She slammed Poppy down into the shifter’s forehead. Her eyes rolled upwards, as if trying to make sense of the sensation of metal piercing its brain.

  “I’m the mage killer, bitch.”

  She let the shifter’s head fall back with a thud. She pulled Poppy out of the shifter’s head and wiped the blade down on the front of the shifter’s silk dress, until not a blemish of blood remained. She stood up, sheathing the dagger and looking around for Rosie. She saw her, pointed tip peeking out from beneath strands of hay against the wall. She walked over and picked Rosie up, sheathing her also, before disengaging her bracer link.

  She leant against the closest wall and slid down, settling on the hay-strewn floor with her back resting against the rough wood. She sprawled her legs out in front of her and grabbed the pouch at her side. Inside, as expected, the muffins had been reduced to a mess of chunks, crumbs and crushed berries. With a small sigh, she scooped some into her palm and chucked it into her mouth.

  “Still tasty,” she muttered to herself as she looked upon the dead shifter. She still looked like Mira, though that should change soon. It just occurred to her that she didn’t know what that would do to Mira, having the link be cut in such a way. It was never a consideration for her before. Surely, Alina or one of the others would have said something to her if it was the wrong thing to do. Surely. She frowned as she nibbled on the last of the muffin crumbs in her hands. She poured some more into her palm with a berry or two.

  She thought of her map and her screen came up, showing her location on a circular map. She chucked the muffin chunks and the berries into her mouth and chewed. A little arrow pointing east marked the edge of the map. Her tracking knife. East. A small village lay that way too. Perrinvale. She was roughly two leagues south of the Academy.

  She glanced at the dead shifter. One down. One to go. And hopefully that one would lead her to the real Mira and Celeste. But right now, she needed some energy.

  She scooped more of the muffin crumbs into her hand and silently chewed. She wondered how Tyler and Alina were doing.

  She hoped she’d be back with them soon.