“What the hell…” Kenrich said softly.

  “I’ve heard of makeup running, but this is a little much,” Fae said, slightly amused.

  The woman continued looking towards them with her features starting to drip on the dark, stone floor. She then started to laugh in a deep yet velvety voice. It was an attractive laugh.

  “So, are you trying to mug us, or…?” Violet asked, annoyed.

  The melting was finally starting to slow, and they got a good look at who they were dealing with, or rather, who this person was with.

  “That mask!” Violet suddenly gasped.

  Violet and Kenrich both jumped back away from the figure and got into fighting stances.

  “Woah, it’s one of those masked guys you two were talking about,” Fae said with her hand on her chin. “Guess we don’t get out of here without a fight, huh? Fine with me.”

  Rather than following Kenrich and Violet’s lead of putting distance between them, Fae immediately closed the gap to the masked man.

  “Be careful, Fae! That mask is almost full! They’re strong!” Violet yelled.

  The only weapon Fae had was her new parrying dagger, but with the results of solidity training finally showing some results, she cared little. Being able to use her fists like stone hammers makes the potential disadvantage a lot less bothersome. This did not stop her from using her blade first though. Fae began thrusting her dagger towards the masked man in quick bursts towards the middle of their body, but not a single blow landed as the figure dodged them all easily using nothing but fancy footwork. They were very graceful in their movements. Fae continued trying to make contact with the man, this time throwing in a couple kicks towards their legs, but the results were exactly the same.

  “You’ve got nice moves, young lady! Must’ve had a rough childhood to be this good at combat so young!” the masked man said in a familiar voice.

  “Right back at ya!” Fae said with a laugh. “Mind standing still? I’m getting a bit tired of this song and dance.”

  “You can’t be tired already! We’ve barely even started!” the man said humorously.

  “Ken… It’s the guy from when we left Lampeer, right?” Violet asked.

  “No doubt about it. Is he alone?”

  “It’s dark in here so it’s hard to say. We know he’s an important guy though, so let’s take him out so the grunts won’t have a chance-”

  “Uwagh!”

  *Crash!*

  Before Violet could finish her thought, a large object shot past them and flew into the back wall around twenty feet behind them.

  “Fae!” Kenrich yelled, running to the back wall.

  When he made it there, she was slumped over in a sitting position with blood running slowly down her forehead.

  “Are you okay?!” Kenrich yelled, fumbling with his pockets.

  “*sputter* Uhnnn…” Fae grunted, slightly shifting her weight.

  “Is she okay?!” Violet said, looking over Kenrich’s shoulder.

  “She’s breathing. Here, Fae. Hold on to this-”

  Kenrich put a healing stone from his pocket into her limp hand. Gravity was the only thing keeping it in place, but it was still working nonetheless as the green glow began illuminating a small area of the dark chamber.

  “Oof. Looks like I might’ve gone a little overboard.”

  Kenrich and Violet felt a hand on each of their shoulders and saw that the masked man was also looking down on an injured Fae. Violet immediately solidified her hand and swung it towards their face, but she whiffed and lost her balance a bit. The masked man gave Violet a gentle push, planting her on her backside.

  “I was just checking on her,” the man said. “I really didn’t mean to hit her that hard. I just thought that training under the ‘tween’ queen would’ve produced, I don’t know… A stronger product?”

  “Shut the fuck up!” Violet yelled getting back to her feet. “C’mon, Ken! We gotta take him out!”

  “I’m right behind you!”

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  “Two-on-one hardly seems fair, but fine. I’ll make sure to pull my punches a bit,” the man said.

  “Jackass!” Violet yelled before lunging at him and attempting to deliver a swift kick to his side.

  The kick did not land. Neither did the next. Or the next. Kenrich attempted to get some hits of his own in, but it was the exact same result. It was as if the man was liquid. No matter what they threw at him, it only hit air. It was like he could see every move before they threw it.

  “How sad… You two are boring as well,” the man said with an exaggerated yawn. “I’ve accomplished what I needed to, so I guess I should end this. Wouldn’t want to waste both of our nights.”

  “What the hell are you talking about, psycho?” Violet said, backing off. Kenrich followed her lead and put some distance between their assailant.

  “Well, I’m not here for the ring, I know you don’t have it with you right now, and that was a very wise move, but it also means that if I kill you… it would be your true end. Ah! I love the drama!”

  “I can tell by the way you talk,” Violet said. “Knew from when we first met on the road to Fril that you were a drama queen.”

  “Haha! I like you, Violet! An Admian soldier turned traitor, now traveling with a miner from the boonies and a deceased teenager. Quite the interesting timeline. You know, if you really wanted to keep the ring away from the Admain government, then you should come work for us. I’ll even hire the ragamuffins you carry around with you. Good deal, huh?”

  “We’d never join your fucking cult!” Kenrich yelled.

  “Ah, ah, ah,” the man said, wagging his finger. “I wasn’t asking you. It’s obvious that you’re not the leader here, so leave these decisions to your commanding officer!”

  “We’d never join your fucking cult!” Violet yelled in a deep voice, trying to impersonate Kenrich. “That answer your question?”

  “Such a shame. I guess there’s no need for me to play nice anymore then-”

  As he was saying those last few words, he rushed at Violet at a speed much faster than she had ever seen before. Definitely faster than someone using a speed stone. He struck Violet with a fist right in her stomach. Spit flew from Violet’s mouth as she was launched into the air from the impact. She smashed against the ceiling before falling back down onto the hard ground a few feet from where Kenrich was standing. Kenrich looked at Violet’s body sprawled out on the ground. Her black hair was a mess. Her arm looked broken. He was not sure if she was breathing. His eyes began to flicker.

  “I really don’t know my own strength,” the man laughed while shaking his head. “I really don’t want to kill you all, but I’m treading a fine line at the moment. Do me a favor and stand still, will you? I only wish to knock you out. It’ll only hurt a bit, I promise.”

  The flickering continued.

  “Wow, your eyes are lighting up. I can’t say I’ve seen such a thing. It is rather dark in here, isn’t it?”

  The flickering became faster.

  “Sorry, for playing rough, but it’s time to wrap this up. Stand still now!”

  The masked man threw a fist reminiscent of a cannonball straight at Kenrich’s chest but stopped right before the moment of contact. Kenrich’s eyes were now a solid, burning orange.

  “Fascinating! You would have blocked that blow had I gone through with it! Not many in the world could manage something like that. Does it have something to do with these firefly-esque eyes of yours?”

  Kenrich did not answer and seemed as if he could not. He turned his head towards Violet, whose body laid in the same position as before. Looking back at the masked man, Kenrich rushed straight towards him with a trail of fire following him.

  “Woah! Fire’s dangerous, young man! You could really hurt someone!”

  The man jumped away from Kenrich’s advance, but he was hot on his trail. It plain to see that the masked man did not want to get too close. Kenrich continued throwing blows at the masked man who was dodging them, but with much less grace than before.

  “You should’ve told me you had skills like these! We could’ve had an honest battle from the start! I now know how you managed to escape capture for so long.”

  The battle continued with flaming fists being thrown, illuminating the dark, and more perfect dodges by the masked man as they danced around in the dark room. The masked man had not tried to land any blows yet, but Kenrich, in his flaming rage, continued his onslaught without slowing down for even a second.

  “Now I’m very glad I stuck around! Feels like I really have the full picture. I like to be thorough with these kinds of things,” the man said, jumping back away from Kenrich. “I appreciate you lighting up our venue, but I can’t repay your kindness sadly. I’m positive this is the last trick you could possibly have up your sleeve, so time to put you back in your place.”

  The masked man ran up to Kenrich at a blinding speed. Kenrich was able to track the man’s movements, but it was much too late. A swift kick to the chest sent Kenrich flying into the back wall much like Fae earlier.

  “There’s no way that broke you, right? You can’t intimidate me with all that fire and fall after just one little kick.”

  The man walked up to a downed Kenrich who was sitting in the dark rubble of the wall he renovated with the force of the crash. His eyes were flickering again.

  “There go those eyes again. Don’t tell me I deactivated your firefly abilities with my little love tap?”

  His eyes started flickering faster, before turning a solid orange once again. Kenrich shot up from his seated position and rushed at the masked man once again.

  “There he is! There’s my special guy! Still swinging yourself around randomly, huh? Didn’t anyone ever tell you the definition of insanity?”

  The attacks and explosions generated from Kenrich’s body were starting to get more violent now. The walls began to shake, and the holes created in the wall started to get wider as the attacks persisted. Noticing the foundation of the room becoming weaker by the second, the masked man became more aggressive.

  “If you keep this up, you’re going to bury all of your friends with us, big guy. I think it’s time to stop playing nice with you. Consider it a gift for keeping me entertained this long.”

  What happened next was anyone’s guess. The next thing Kenrich knew, he was sandwiched in between Violet and Fae in a dark alley. He saw that Violet and Fae were still knocked out, but before he could attempt to wake them, he noticed a piece of paper in his lap. It read:

  Sorry for the way things ended. It’s not you, it’s me. Just kidding, it was definitely you. Your friends will live and that’s only because I let them, so do me a favor, get stronger. Next time, I won’t hold the same patience. See you on the battlefield, Kenrich. Probably sooner than you think.

  With love, Grant