Eric and the two Issho-Ni priests crashed back onto the high road at a dead sprint, startling Megan and Michael, who were both just getting back to their feet. Their robes were badly singed in places from the widespread flames, but apart from looking a little winded, they were unharmed. They looked more shocked to see Eric alive than anything, and Megan called him to a stop at once.

“How did you survive that?” She asked. “We just barely reacted in time to divert the flames away from us!”

“They made a barrier,” Eric said, pointing to the two priests behind him, who were crouched, hands on their knees, breathing heavily. “But they can’t stand another one, and Hunter got caught. So we’re trying to find cover.”

Michael shook his head and sighed. “Surely you know you won’t have enough time.”

By way of explanation, he pointed at the figure flying above them. “That’s the Primeval.”

“I could figure that out myself, thank you,” Eric growled. “And he can do it three more times.”

“We can’t counter the flames,” Megan said. While Michael and Eric were glaring at each other for several seconds, precious time they didn’t have to waste, she’d been thinking. “Our best bet is to disperse the flames again.”

“We could muster a barrier,” Michael offered, glancing at her. His words were softer when directed at her. “We can make antimagic barriers, can’t we? They’ll work better.”

But Megan was already shaking her head in refusal. “Didn’t you notice? Those flames aren’t magical.”

Eric felt his jaw drop. “You’re telling me that those flames are natural?”

“They are. They’re just compressed. I’m guessing he stored and compressed them elsewhere, then brought them over. That was just him undoing his spell and releasing them to the ground.”

Magic was, as he’d thought countless times before, hopelessly complex. He would have never guessed at the exact composition of that spell if he’d had a year to think it through. Megan explained further. “That’s why the priests are tired out. You can stop the flames from touching you, but you can’t avoid the heat or the exhaustion that comes with it.”

Michael nodded as if he understood, but Eric was still lost. “But you can disperse them better if you don’t use a barrier?”

She nodded as well, and between her hands, she conjured a spinning ball of flames. When she released it, it expanded, and Eric felt an ice-cold wind wash over him. It revived him for a moment, even if he felt like his skin was going to freeze over. “That’s cold.”

“That’s the point,” she said dryly but offered him a slim smile to take the sting out of the comment. “We’ll have to be near perfect on our timing with two people, but I think we got the hang of it by now.”

“More of that long training that only took a week in reality?” Eric asked. They both grinned, which told him he’d guessed right. “Okay, if you think you can do it without using too much mana, then we should do that, right?”

“As much as I hate to agree with him, he is right,” Michael said. He tilted his head to the side, as if listening to someone else, then added, “Damien said we should prepare to counterattack though.”

Megan’s face paled a bit more at that comment. “We can’t get that high if we also want to attack. We’d have to focus on flying.”

Then she too listened intently, presumably as Alice made some comment, then said, “Oh, that’s a good point.”

“What’s a good point?” Eric asked. He was beginning to feel left behind by the pace of the planning as the Infernals spoke where he couldn’t hear. “Hard to keep up if I can’t hear half the conversation.”

Megan gave him a sympathetic smile, and Michael snorted quietly. Both mages were already conjuring fastly spinning spheres of wind in their hands. Eric glanced into the air above them and saw the figure turned in their direction. It had been nearly a minute since his last attack. Whether it was the Primeval or Averin, they were obviously going to target the three of them. He grabbed the arms of the priests and pull them in close. “Hang in there.”

“Get ready,” Megan warned, her sphere nearly too big to hold on to. Her arms were shaking with the effort of keeping it compressed. “Now!”

She and Michael released their spheres of wind, which expanded. It was only freezing for a moment before the flames came down. The two mages had timed it perfectly so that the spheres were still growing, catching the flames more than a dozen feet away from them. Even at this distance, the air around them was unpleasantly hot, like sitting too close to a fire. Nowhere near as bad as the first attack.

The flames were repulsed completely, and Michael and Megan looked unbothered by the burden of their spells. Not for the first time, Eric found himself quietly grateful to be friends with a high-level mage like Megan. He got to his feet as the last of the flames died away, his swords ready to attack. “Good work. What’s the plan for the counterattack?”

“You’re the plan,” Megan told him. Then, before he could ask what she meant, she added, “As soon as he uses the last flame ring, I’m going to teleport you up there. Take this pouch and throw it over him. Both of you will fall, but Michael and I will catch you.”

He quickly sheathed one sword and took the pouch she offered him, glancing inside. Some kind of electric-blue powder sat in it. As soon as it was opened, Michael let out a hiss of annoyance. “Close it, you fool!”

Eric did so, gripping the opening tightly. Something about the mere presence of the powder had annoyed both mages. “What is it?”

“It’s Mana Bane,” Megan said shortly. But before she could explain further, the flames were rushing in again. They were caught slightly off-guard despite waiting for it, and the spheres of wind barely formed in time. Less than five feet away now, Eric could feel the scorching heat of the flames. Some even made it through, licking at them before Michael batted them away with another gust of wind. It caught Eric and threw him out of the protective sphere just as the flames faded, but he still got badly burned on one arm.

“Michael!” Megan shouted in reproach. “Watch out!”

“He’s fine,” Michael grumbled. Eric checked to make sure he was still holding the pouch. Thankfully, it wasn’t damaged, but the arm holding it was bright red and blistered.

Megan muttered something under her breath, and the two guys guessed, correctly, that it wasn’t a flattering comment directed at her fellow mage. She put one light hand on Eric’s burned forearm and muttered an incantation. At once, he felt a soothing coolness slip over his skin, and the blisters vanished, showing slightly pink skin. It was still sensitive to the touch, but the worst of it had been siphoned away.

“I’ll heal it properly when we’re done,” she promised him, looking guilty. “But for now, I need all the time and mana I can afford.”

“It’s fine,” he told her, throwing half a glare in Michael’s direction. “Thank you.”

“Not a problem,” she said easily. “We can’t get this sort of excitement back on Earth, can we?”

“Well, you could in Florida,” he smirked. “Life in Alaska is pleasantly quiet, thankfully.”

She laughed at that and helped him back to his feet. “Alright. Get ready to react. The instant the flames are gone, it’ll be your turn. I won’t be able to warn you.”

Just over her shoulder, Eric could see Michael smirking, and something told him that hadn’t been a complete accident. Not a deliberate betrayal either, but he was certain that Michael had meant to cause the inconvenience. He gritted his teeth, annoyed as usual at the man’s pointless jealousy. “I’ll keep up, don’t worry about me.”

The priests patted him on the shoulder, having witnessed the exchange and understanding the underlying cause quickly. “Hang in there, Master Breeden.”

“I’m fine,” he said grimly. When one of them opened his mouth to say something else, he cut them off. “Just drop it.”

The fourth and final rush of flames was no big deal, and Megan and Michael were able to repel it easily. Eric waited, swords sheathed, ready to act. The instant the flames began to let up, Megan turned to face him. Instead of casting a spell herself, she switched places with Alice, and the Infernal grabbed his uninjured arm, dragging him over to Michael, who’d switched with Damien.

The Infernal mage conjured a powerful wind that wrapped around both Alice and Eric, launching them both skyward. In the middle of the jump, Megan reappeared, her hands dripping with mana. She immediately cast the teleportation spell, and Eric blinked, suddenly finding himself hundreds of feet in the air, still gripping the pouch tightly. The initial speed boost of Damien’s spell had been maintained, and he found himself rocketing up still. He was directly underneath Averin now, and he could see that he’d make contact too fast for the Archmage to react.

He reached out with the hand not holding the powder and grabbed onto the front of Averin’s robes. The Archmage let out a surprised yelp. “Breeden? How-”

Before he could finish the question, Eric slapped the pouch of powder onto his face. The dust got all over his eyes, into his mouth, and down the front of his robes. Immediately, the spell he was using to fly was negated, and the two of them began to plummet. Averin coughed, expelling a large amount of the dust back into Eric’s face. Squinting against the tiny grains of blue sand, Eric grinned. “Got you now, bastard.”

He tried sinking his fist into the Archmage’s face, but the inertia of their fall robbed almost all of the power of the punch. So instead, he kicked the Archmage away from him, shouting as they both fell, feeling a powerful surge of satisfaction at the decisive move. Powerful mage or not, he couldn’t survive a fall from that height. And it would take him far too long to dislodge the Mana’s Bane, so he couldn’t rely on his magic.

Eric also couldn’t use magic, not even the powers gained from his training or Hunter, but that didn’t matter. Fifty feet from the ground, he felt a powerful wind catch him, slowing his descent and jerking him to the side to avoid hitting one of the buildings. Then another column of wind caught him, turning his fall into a steep downward glide. He hit the cobbles of the high street, tripped, and fell over, rolling to absorb the shock. He was safe.

Somewhere in the near distance, he heard a heavy impact as Averin crashed down onto one of the buildings he’d destroyed. A cloud of dust and debris rose to mark the spot, reaching nearly twenty feet into the air. Eric laughed as he regained his feet, ignoring the bruised and sore parts of his body. He’d landed safely enough.

“Good catch,” he called to Megan, who stood several yards away, refusing to get near enough to the Mana’s Bane covering him. Instead, she gave him a thumbs up. “There’s no way he survived that fall.”

He saw Michael’s mouth move as he said something, but he couldn’t make out the words from so far away. What he could see was the fearful expression on Megan’s face as she heard him, and he could hear it in her voice as she shouted to him.

“He could still shift back!” She yelled. “Get away from there Eric!”

Sure enough, the building next to him crumbled away as something burst through it, and he saw the Primeval with his massive sword running into view. His eyes locked on to Eric at once, and he snarled in fury. “You little pest! You will die for that offense!”