“You’re fucked, kiddo…”

  I could have yielded then. It would have been the smart move. It would have been the right move. But only a few yards away, Chowwick was straining against his higher-leveled opponent. Chowwick believed that we were on the path to something, something that exceeded anything we could have imagined at the outset of the Falling. He was battling now when he too would be better served kneeling. He was standing against strength vaster than his own for the bare chance at winning those Key Fragments.

  With Magneblade gone, I was suddenly facing two opponents. One was a Sword marginally higher-leveled than I was. The other was an Axe, greater in level and with type advantage. Jythorne was damaged already, weakened. I tried to rationalize with myself that that meant I only faced a single opponent, really. I tried to tell myself that I had Axe-break to make the difference against Snowfang.

  So I didn’t yield.

  The first moment was shockingly and completely to my advantage. Both of them had clearly expected to see me kneel considering my position now that Magneblade had been incapacitated. The shock let me move on Snowfang before he could fully react. My CUT was quick and desperate, fueled by panic and urgency. Snowfang moved at the last second, pulsing his shield, deflecting the worst of the damage. Still, a rent opened in his chest plate, crackling light bleeding from the wound to his suit.

  Enki’s voice: “My my! I didn’t expect it, such impetuosity! I approve, kiddo, I really, really do. This is how levels are earned, how legends are built. They mock you now for strutting around with the Blood Prince nickname, but you can give them a reason not to.”

  Snowfang reeled back from the blow. I turned my blade at the height of my follow-through, twisting my body to maintain its momentum, bringing it sailing back down. His axe haft came up to block the blow, the explosion of kinetic energy smashing his arms down, opening him for an explosive jab near the collarbone. I had hoped to pierce the suit, but I compensated with another gash in his armor. Snowfang reeled back. I prepared Axe-break. I couldn’t miss this time.

  Enki’s voice was somewhere between bored and annoyed: “Behind you.”

  I aborted Axe-break, twisted, and pulsed shield while rocketing CUT to deflect Jythorne’s blade. He was in better shape than I had thought. That or he was finding a reserve of energy in the desperate need to keep Snowfang on his feet. He had Assess, probably higher-leveled than mine; he could well know I had Axe-break, even if he hadn’t heard of my conquest against Indy.

  I had no choice but to turn to face him. I turned my back to Snowfang. I was inviting him to seize his prey. I was betting on Enki.

  I hacked CUT down on Jythorne twice more, driving his sword down. Yes, I could overpower him in his wounded state, I could see that. I just couldn’t get the opportunity.

  Enki’s voice: “Are you stupid? Behind you! BEHIND YOU!”

  I turned and unleashed Axe-break. My blade immolated the air between us in molten light. But only the air.

  I cursed. Snowfang was a veteran; he had understood the danger of overcommitting, had expected the possibility of the feint. He dodged back, and Axe-break was wasted.

  I felt panic trying to rise up inside me. Too many times I had let that force rule me. Not this time. Not this time.

  Things were worse now. I’d fired my shot and wasted it; I wouldn’t have another chance with Axe-break. I needed to find a way to impact the battle without it.

  Snowfang was a few feet away after employing AGILITY to escape me. I rounded on the vulnerable Jythorne again. He had been darting toward me anyway. If I could just put him down…

  Our swords flashed in the dark air, creating swirling cascades of snowflakes with the air our blades displaced. I flew at him, fueled by need. Our swords sparked and sang, but I couldn’t find the opening to finish him.

  Snowfang came again. I focused everything I had on keeping him at bay. His type-advantaged attacks were smothering. I used SHIELD and BEAM liberally, sparing no consideration to exhausting either attribute. I put everything I could into keeping him back.

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  Jythorne watched me flailing. He watched my efforts become panicked. He watched me retreating backward. Maybe he could see that the direction of my retreat was bringing me closer to Chowwick. Maybe he could imagine that Chowwick and I would trade opponents. He couldn’t like the idea of Snowfang going from an opponent he was type-advantaged against to one that had the same advantage over him. Maybe Jythorne just wanted to bring a swift end to the fight. Maybe the predator in him could see my flailing panic and just wanted to seize on it.

  He came at me from the side, an all-out attack, sparing no thought to his defense.

  I smiled. Even though I had Snowfang before me, an opponent I had no hope of defeating, I cherished watching Jythorne fall for my facade. How many times had Lance fooled me into overcommitting? It was my turn.

  The two blows fell almost simultaneously. I twisted and blazed CUT into the charging Jythorne. At the same time, Snowfang’s axe lashed into my side. Snowfang hadn’t expected me to expose myself; the jab had been a probing one. The results of both strikes were still devastating. My CUT traced a line from Jythorne’s left eye, across his face and body, to his lower ribs on the opposite side. The kinetics that exploded between sword and suit sent him hurtling away. Snowfang’s axe had a similar effect on me. The glancing blow, amplified by type advantage, lifted me into the air. I could feel the heat of my shattered suit, the crushing pain of the injury.

  As I hit the snow, my vision hazing, a notification filled my HUD.

  Level 30

  That must have meant that I’d subdued Jythorne. I had a gasping moment of hope.

  I thought, Level 30 means a new skill! Maybe something I can use against Snowfang.

  Enki said, You’re gonna need it. He’ll grind you into pulp if it doesn’t.

  I tumbled in the snow, my body contorting with pain, my suit shuddering as it adapted to the new wound.

  New Skill: Synergy

  I thought, Synergy? What the hell is that? Can I use it on Snowfang?

  Enki spoke quickly, I’ll tell you later, it’s awesome, but it’s worth less than cold piss against that behemoth.

  I cursed as I came to a stop in the deep snow. I could hear and feel the crunching of Snowfang’s racing boots compressing the snow as he charged me.

  I thought, I’m dead then. I have to yield.

  The rhythmic crunching grew closer. I couldn’t see him raising his axe, eager to finish me before I could defend myself, but I knew it was so.

  Enki said, Not so fast, kid! Leveling up resets your cooldowns.

  It took me an embarrassingly long moment to understand what Enki meant.

  The snow rose above me as I struggled to rise. It framed my vision, framed the snowflake-laden sky. In milliseconds, Snowfang’s axe would appear in that window from my snowy resting place.

  Realization snapped into place. Cooldowns were reset. I could use Axe-break again.

  I swung my sword up. I swung it blindly. The snow around me was flattened by the aura of Axe-break. I could have been wasting it, but I had no choice but to pre-fire. There was no time to find my feet. If I waited until I could see Snowfang, then that terrible axe would fall before I could act. I could yield, or I could cast the attack at where I hoped and expected him to be.

  The recoil of my blade striking home rattled my sword free from shaking hands. I dropped the weapon into the snow. I couldn’t see Snowfang as more powdered snow volcanoed into the air from the impact of the released energy.

  I’d hit him.

  I’d dropped my sword.

  I scrambled in the snow, trying to find it, inches, feet of snow hiding it. I knew how stupid I looked, crawling around looking for my weapon.

  There—the glow of the blade refracting through layers of ice crystals. My fingers brushed the hilt. I took it. I used AGILITY to fly to my feet. I had no sense of Snowfang’s position. I hoped he was diminished.

  Using AGILITY in my injured state caused lightning bolts of pain to arc through my body.

  I landed on my feet, gasping, suppressing a whimper. But I landed, ready, prepared to face the Buffalo Axe.

  I needn’t have hurried so.

  Snowfang lay in a tangled heap in the snow. Light blazed from the wounds in his armor. The snow near the wounds melted and steamed.

  I had to process what I had done. I was rooted for a moment as I tried to comprehend it. I had just defeated two Griidlords. Two peers of similar level. On my own. Granted, Jythorne had been wounded, but Snowfang’s type advantage more than made up for that.

  I turned to help Chowwick, but Bonefrost was already sinking to a knee. He had seen Snowfang go down. Whether intimidated by what I had done or simply able to do the math and understand that he was suddenly fighting an impossible fight, he yielded.

  Chowwick stood, chest heaving, hands on hips. But he looked at me. He let his helm fold away so I could see the ferocious smile. I could see the pride in his eyes.

  Chowwick and Enki spoke at the same moment. One voice from within, one from without, the same words from both.

  “Fucking hell! Look what you just did.”