Hugh kicked out, sweeping the medmage’s legs out from under him. Steinlein crashed down. Hugh buried his gladius in Steinlein’s gut, casually, almost in passing, and rolled to the left just in time to avoid Ted’s mace. The knight-protector chased him.

Steinlein shuddered on the floor. His legs shook. The gaping wound in his stomach gushed blood.

I had no feelings left anymore. Just cold quiet hate.

Hugh charged Ted like a cornered tiger. They clashed, mace to shield, muscling each other across the floor. Hugh dug his feet into the floor and pushed, knocking Ted back. The knight-protector spun his mace, aiming at Hugh’s head. Hugh swung his shield to counter, putting all his enormous strength into the blow. The shield connected, knocking Ted’s mace aside. For a fraction of a second, the knight-protector was wide open. Hugh swung and opened a second mouth in Ted’s stomach. Ted sagged against the wall and slid down.

Mauro charged into the room, bloody and smeared with soot. Blood dripped from his short, wide sword. “I can’t hold them. Pull the . . .” He saw the bodies. His eyes bulged. He dropped his sword.

“Don’t!” I yelled.

Mauro bellowed and ripped off his shirt. Tattoos wound along his torso, dense swirls of dark ink in precise patterns. He clapped his hands together like a sumo wrestler. His skin turned black. The edges of his tattoos flared bright red, shifting slightly, as if his obsidian skin had cracked along their lines, revealing a glimpse of the lava underneath. Heat bathed me, rolling off him in waves.

Hugh shrugged his shoulders. “Come on, big man. Let’s see what you’ve got.”

Mauro charged. Hugh swung out of the way and sliced at Mauro’s stomach with the gladius. The blade glanced off. Mauro drove his shoulder into Hugh. The preceptor flew a few feet and bounced off the wall. Mauro lunged at him, roaring. Hugh spun out of the way, avoiding being trapped.

Hugh was better with a sword, but I had once seen Mauro lift a car when a cat was trapped under it. Do it, you can do it.

Hugh stabbed the gladius at Mauro’s side. The blade slid off. Hugh dropped the gladius and drove his fist into Mauro’s throat. It was a hard, powerful punch. Hugh’s skin sizzled. He stumbled back. Hot enough for you, you asshole?

Mauro locked his hands on Hugh’s throat and drove him into the wall. Hugh’s back slapped the stone with a satisfying thud. Mauro slammed him again and again.

“Snap his neck,” I yelled.

Mauro smashed Hugh into the stone again, shaking him back and forth. He didn’t hear me. He was too far gone.