The next moment was a blur to Daimona. Her eyes had locked in on Bash’s jeering face, and it was like a dark shroud had been thrown over everything else. The rival captain’s final words rang over and over inside Daimona’s skull, a rallying mantra driving her to rush towards her enemy with her fists at the ready.

  Then, the tendon monster shifted, blocking Daimona’s assault with its chest. She shifted onto her left food, only to suffer a swift smack across her jaw with the creature’s open hand. The world spun with sparks and stars as Daimona reeled back from the attack. It pulled its free hand into a fist, ducking down and springing back up under Daimona’s chin. The momentum was enough to send her less than a foot into the air, but she quickly pulled her legs up and rolled backwards, creating distance between herself and her enemy. Her head snapped up, just in time to see Will shoot three rapid bullets directly at Bash. The creature threw its arm out, and a webbed wing of yellowed-white stone formed between its arm and its waist. All three shots centered exactly where Bash’s head had been, perfect holes made in the shield. As it crumbled, Daimona noticed the creature stumble, and seeing her opportunity, she surged forward and elbowed the monster as hard as she could in the gut and shoved with all her might.

  Off balance, the creature clawed at the air, forcing Bash to back away from its flailing arms. She cried out as Will fired a fourth shot, hitting her in the middle of her forehead. A light flickered there, and a web of electricity spread from the spot and covered Bash’s body. She fell at the same time as her monster, their faces turned towards one another as Daimona punched a hole through the side of the monster. Its tongue lolled out to the side as she punched through it again, determined to turn whatever brains it had to stew inside its mocking skull.

  But as she pulled her fist back, the tendons that made up the monster’s intimidating form began to unravel, writhing like snakes and quickly wrapping around Daimona’s wrists. They tied around her, restricting her movement and forcing her to watch as the creature began to reform itself. It began to laugh, a wet, viscous noise that sounded like someone dropping a ball of mud on cold concrete. Will fired shot after shot behind her, but the tendons caught each bullet and rendered his attacks useless.

  Suddenly, a geyser of bright, orange light flooded the sky. It came from the other side of the tower, and time seemed to slow as Daimona recognized it as the direction she had left her brother in. The show of blinding mana couldn’t have come from just Kell-- no, Daimona could feel her brother’s mana pushing the blaze higher and higher, painting the horizon with his voice.

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  We’re going to win, he seemed to be saying. Don’t let up now.

  His words weren’t the only things brought by the flare. As Daimona stared over the edge of the tower, a familiar figure rose over it, silver kindjal in one hand and a bloodthirsty grin plastered across her face.

  “Daimona!” Irina called lightly. “It is good to see you.”

  “Irina!” Daimona replied. The creature snapped its head to look at Irina, needle-thin teeth bared.

  “No!!” Bash cried out, fighting her electric restraints. But her monster had already moved, grabbing Irina by the throat as she charged towards it.

  “Regenerative,” Irina remarked between strangled gasps. “That would be impressive...”

  She twirled her kindjal in her hand, then slammed it into the outstretched forearm of the creature. More bone-plated armor to meet it, but the kindjal shattered upon impact, shredding itself into ribbons and rolling out in long silver threads across the creature’s skin. Then, with a flick of her wrist, the ribbons contracted, slicing the monster into thin sleeves of flesh and red. It fell in a heap on the ground, completely unrecognizable from the form it had held before.

  “Against someone else,” Irina finished with a satisfied sigh.

  Will ran towards them, a victorious smile worn proudly on his face. “Thank you for the save there,” he said to Irina, clapping a hand on her shoulder. She shrugged it off, dusting his hand away with a somewhat disgusted look.

  Daimona stomped towards Bash. The rival captain looked pale with panic, her eyes wide and frantic as they searched Daimona’s. “A-about your brother--”

  “Don’t bother,” Daimona spat.

  “Daimona, wait--” Will interjected, but she wasn’t listening to him anymore. This was her victory now. Will could have the accolades, the awards, whatever was meant to come after bootcamp. Daimona would have this.

  She grabbed Bash roughly by the collar, ignoring the jolts of electricity still keeping the captain bound. And for a fleeting moment, Daimona saw the corners of Bash’s mouth twitch upwards, a final smile before Daimona violently threw her down into the stone ceiling of the tower. Bash’s body twitched, once, then twice, then it went completely still as blood pooled from her cracked skull.