Karina and May went down the steps of the stairs. They left the first castle behind. The place, engulfed in the darkness, seemed to close in on the girls while they ran.

  “Don’t you think at least one of us should go back and help him? I don’t know, May. I mean, I know what I said, but actually doing it and leaving Wren behind. It seems so wrong!” Karina protested.

  “I know, K. Trust me, I feel it too. But he stayed behind to give us a chance to escape. If we go back, we’re going to put to waste the chance he created for us. And after all, Wren is pretty strong. I’m sure he will soon be here with us, as soon as he defeats that disciple.”

  But Karina didn’t answer; instead, she focused ahead and kept running. May smiled to herself and ran behind her friend. From afar, they could already distinguish the outside of the second castle. Especially because it was much bigger than the first castle. Somehow, it seemed poised to fall in the middle of the abyss. Like a monster that looked inside a window too big to fit its head.

  “Look, we’re almost here. Do you think the discipline here is strong, too? I mean, if there’s a disciple here, too. We can’t be sure about that.”

  “I don’t know. Can I hope that it will be empty?”

  “Oh, K, I wouldn’t be that hopeful. But you never know, right?”

  The castle had big walls, decorated with windows that were ornate with diverse patterns. Its side had complex buttresses that apparently helped sustain the whole place. Columns and piers pointed up, and it made the castle look like it had claws that came out of it.

  “It sure has a Gothic vibe, right, May?”

  “Yeah, I guess you could say so. I wonder why it is so much bigger than the previous one. If I had to deduce before seeing the castles, I would think they would all be the same size.”

  “I don’t know, maybe it is because of the place they decided to build it. I mean, I never thought I would see castles inside the walls of a hole. So, anything is possible at this point.”

  “I think you’re right. But tell me something, K. Do you feel if the disciple is there or not? And how strong are they?”

  Karina pondered for a minute; she tried to feel the presence and energy inside the castle.

  “There’s someone there, I think. I don’t know for sure, but the energy inside here is crazy. It feels like everything is in disarray.”

  “Yeah, you’re right. I can’t feel anything. That’s something I’ve been thinking about. These disciples, they’re very good at hiding their magical energy.”

  “Now that you say it… It’s odd. I guess I never met a wizard or witch that could hide their powers that well.”

  “Yeah, me neither. I believe there’s more to it. We simply haven’t discovered it yet.”

  They got closer to the castle and its menacing figures, as the questions still spiraled in their heads.

  ---

  Wren had a plan in his head; whether it was a good plan or not, it would soon be discovered.

  “Why do you keep getting up and fighting? I can tell you’re in a lot of pain; you should give up already.” Katharina said as she swung her staff and missed the hunter’s head by an inch.

  Wren didn’t even answer the woman. Not that he didn’t want to reaffirm his purpose and determination. More like everything in the battle demanded his complete focus. To be able to avoid the attacks, heal himself, and do his plan, all at once. A few weeks ago, that would have been impossible. But somehow now, he kept doing that over and over. The time in the maze, enough for him to train and test different things. Wren didn’t think he would have to put them into practice so soon.

  Katharina snapped her fingers again and again, and every time she did that, Wren expected different results. A boulder flew at maximum speed right at him. His body was pressed against the ceiling. The sensation of having his body and bones being compressed from the inside out. He had endured it all. And although he couldn’t predict the movement of her attacks yet. Even if he couldn’t tell how her powers worked. In a way, he started to see a pattern, albeit he wasn’t completely conscious of it yet. It started similarly to muscular memory. After all, his body kept enduring and receiving the effects of the disciple’s power.

  “You see? You don’t even have the strength to speak. How pitiful that is. But here you are. Looking at me with those eyes. It’s like an annoying bug. I’ll crush you completely.”

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  This time, when the woman tried to manipulate the gravity once again, Wren jumped far back. A pulling force grabbed his leg, and he lost balance. He fell to the floor, but it was different than before. The attack didn’t hit him completely. The only thing that could explain it was…

  “I get it now. Your attack isn’t as powerful as I had thought, not when you know it has a limited range. Am I right? This is the reason you weren’t able to kill me back then. You didn’t think I would have endured it for more than a second.”

  “Bold of you to feel that confident because you deciphered it. Let me tell you something, you’re not the first one to notice it. But everyone who discovered it still had the same fate in the end.”

  Wren smiled and jumped back. He kept the distance, an easy thing for him to do. After all, his powers were way more suited for running and keeping the distance than for fighting.

  But Katharina launched boulders and lifted huge blocks of stone in his direction. Wren had to jump, dash, and turn. And he kept doing it, attack after attack. And even if it felt like he had a chance to survive, his stamina started to drop dangerously low.

  “Just a little more, and all the pieces for the plan will be on the table.”

  ---

  A part of Wren’s mind went back to a moment he had with May. While both of them were trapped in the maze.

  “Once again, Wren, why do you wanna learn this kind of spell?”

  “I told you, May. Sometimes I feel like my usual spells lack offensive power. There will be enemies that I won’t be able to fight with the wind and gust.”

  “I don’t necessarily agree. I believe your magical power is quite versatile.”

  “Oh, come on, May. Just teach me this one thing. It won’t hurt.”

  “It’s that… Alright, I’ll teach you. Just do as I do. I know you’re mostly a non-verbal magic user.”

  And May moved her arms with grace. To Wren, it seemed like a dance. He tried to copy her movements, although he didn’t have the same grace as the girl. But in a way, he was able to do the spell, but in a Wren way.

  ---

  The man jumped and moved. At this point, most of the castle was destroyed. Debris fell from the ceiling. And holes opened in the ground. Most of the servants trembled and tried to protect themselves from the destruction. With his plan in the works, Wren thought that he didn’t want these people to be caught in the effects of it. So, he ran close to them, and when the boulders flew in their direction, they fled from the castle.

  “This is annoying. Do you think this will give you a chance? I can feel that your stamina is running out. Your magical power is low. While I’m here, still full of energy.”

  Wren didn’t pay attention to the woman, as he felt it was a critical moment. If the plan were to succeed, he needed to be careful. Because now would be the moment to go on the offensive. As so, the man dashed in the direction of Katharina. He jumped from one boulder to another and to the falling pillars. The surprise delayed the woman’s reaction. And she was able only to defend with the staff.

  He took advantage of the moment, and Wren swung his leg with a gust of wind, which pushed the disciple back. But he didn’t have time to breathe, as he dashed again. He didn’t want to give the woman time to collect herself. Close to her, he jumped and pressed his palms to the ground. He kicked her from down up and launched a wind current upwards. Katharina flew in the direction of the ceiling, but before the impact, she stopped herself with the gravity control. As she descended, she laughed.

  “Poor, Wren. That was your big move? You put all your thought and magical power into this? I’ll admit, the surprise factor was something. But if you thought for a minute that that would be enough…” Her words were cut short as she noticed that the boy smiled.

  “You know, for someone that powerful, you’re not very smart, right?” And the man placed one hand in the direction of the woman and the other in the direction of the entrance. “You see, I had this hypothesis about your disciples. You can read our intent and movement, but you can’t decipher the consequences of each movement.”

  “And what does that mean?” Katharina asked, angry, while she fell, trapped in an air current.

  “It means that since the start of our fighting, I’ve been slowly but surely transforming the air properties inside here. You see, most of the air is actually composed of nitrogen. But with every attack I made, I changed it a little, making the proportion of oxygen increase.” Wren smiled. “I needed to be careful, or else you would notice, and I would pass out. But now it’s perfect.”

  “Don’t you think you’re going to defeat me with just oxygen, boy. I believe you saw I’m stronger than a little breeze.”

  “Yeah, you would be right, until a few weeks ago. Because of elemental magic, air and wind were everything I could do. I’m not very good at other stuff, so I never minded training it. But you guys trapped me here, and that bothered me. This is the reason I asked a good friend of mine to teach me a trick or two with fire. I’m not very good with it yet, but considering how much oxygen there is in the room right now…”

  “You wouldn’t dare! This thing will blow the whole place up! You will die too, you know that?”

  “Well, this is the only way I can defeat you. And if it takes my life in the process.” Wren repeated the movements with one hand that he learned from May. “I guess I would have fulfilled my role.”

  A spark appeared in Wren’s palm, and the flame swirled and ascended. Katharina tried to deflect it, but it was too late. The fire spread in a mere second, and the whole place exploded. The ceiling blew up, and most of the pillars fell to the ground. The body of the disciple fell too with a thud, seared. The sounds of the explosion echoed through the hole.

  Wren went flying through the exit, and he fell headfirst into the stairs. Alive, as he used the little magic he had left to boost him out of the temple. He watched as ashes flew by him and a dust cloud rose from where the temple originally was.

  “I hope I didn’t kill any of the servants… Not that I know whether they were evil too or not, but it’s better not to take the risk.”

  Wren tried to drag himself down the stairs in the direction he knew May and Karina had gone. But his body was too tired to obey, and his magical power was low.

  “I need to get to my friends, I need to help them…” These were the last words Wren muttered before he passed out from exhaustion.