A burning sensation stung Greo's side in rolling waves... pulsing, throbbing, the pain worsened with every second that ticked by.

No, Greo thought boldly. Not here. Not like this. He had accepted his fate and had given up; he'd even said goodbye to his friends. Yet something deep within him refused to simply lay down and die. Perhaps it was the survival instinct that supposedly existed in most living creatures. Perhaps it was Greo's own stubborn nature. Perhaps it was his strength or... Perhaps it was something else, something Greo didn't realize he had. His friends... What would they say if they could see him like this, just giving him? Never before.

Never again.

Greo's fingers clawed at the dirt, dragging his beaten and battered body forward by just half an inch. He screamed as the movement tore through him. Gasping for breath, he pulled himself forward again. And again. And again.

Agony...

Tears formed in his eyes and spilled over onto his blood-streaked cheeks involuntarily. Greo gritted his teeth and hissed from the sheer agony pulsing through him. Greo wheezed, feeling something hot and sticky beneath him. Blood formed a pool beneath him which forced him to crawl through his own blood.

Fingers embedded deep into the dirt, Greo's muscles strained as he pulled himself a little farther forward. His body wailed in protest and his voice echoed it. Burning, searing pain... Black spots flickered in his fading vision as his breath came in harsh rasps. Exhaustion swept over him and his muscles became heavy, oh... so heavy.

No... Not... like... this!"

*****

Three mentors and a powerful Elite Magi dead. Kyren couldn't help but continuously glance back at Naya, who clutched Rya tightly in her arms.

Rovad glanced at the gathered Black Dragon members as they stood on the palace steps. "The Gamemakers have called us in for a special meeting, but only the representatives are allowed to go. Jeythr, now that you are back, you, Kyren, and Benjo are the three original members. Hywel, I want you to replace Greo for now, and Logan, I want you to replace Syra. These are only temporary. Let's go."

Kyren kissed Rya on the forehead as she giggled. "Don't worry, Daddy. Naya and I are gonna have lots of fun!"

"I'm sure you will, sweetheart," Kyren murmured and leaned to give Naya a kiss on the cheek. "Please keep her safe." He lowered his voice so only she could hear.

He followed Rovad, Hywel, Benjo, Jeythr, and Logan, into the palace. Inside, several dozen other Magi were already gathered. Directly across from the doors, Evina, Pimret, and Thulok stood together in a line.

Rovad led the five of them to the left of the door where they gathered to make room for the guild following them. Benjo grinned at Opal and she blew him a kiss, but Opal and her guildmates headed toward the right.

Kyren's eyes met two of his old friends'; Jae and Eiridian clutched hands, beside other members of Guild Valkyrie that Kyren barely recognized. Off in the distance, Knight's Watch eagerly awaited the Gamemakers news and Mordzar was among them. Kyren had no idea the metal mage was still alive and he wanted to say hi, but the last guild filed in and the doors closed behind them, creating silence in the entire room.

He slid his eyes over the members of Silent Phoenix, expecting to see Eriswen there, only she wasn't. Where was she?

"Thank you all for coming," Evina said, her peppy voice unusually lower in pitch and wavering slightly. "The Republic Senators advised us against this, but we wanted all of you to know the truth of the dire situation."

"Dire situation?" a man named Michael from Crimson Shadow asked.

"What's going on?" A young teen, from Miria, demanded, arms crossed and eyes narrowed.

Thulok stepped forward. "The leader of Seven Acolytes, Ra'gir, is dead, along with the three mentors - Kean, Aderri, and Laeshirra." He paused, letting the news sink in.

Gasps and whispers echoed through the crowd of Magi as each one turned to the Gamemakers in panic and terror. Kyren and Rovad had already heard the news, but none of his other guildmates had.

"What does this mean?" Benjo glanced at Rovad, who shook his head.

Hywel pursed his lips and Logan rested his hand on his sword.

"Are we not safe here?" the Guild Master of Knight's Watch asked.

"Yeah, like what's going to happen to us?" Opal's guild Master stepped forward.

"Why were they killed? And how?" Eiridan frowned and Jae crossed her arms.

"It is unknown exactly who or what has killed them but it's clear that Dark Magic was involved."

Instantly, the murmurs and whispers of the crowd shifted into silence.

"How can the Republic be vulnerable to Dark Magic?" One of the men from Iscariot Sin clenched his fists and glared at the Gamemakers.

"There hasn't been Dark Magic in years!" someone else screamed.

Yes, there has, Kyren wanted to say. His own father, Vaxon, had used it. No matter how prepared someone was, there would always be unexpected enemies. He clamped his mouth shut and watched the scene unfold.

"Along with that, a few Magi from your guilds have been reported missing. Greo and Syra from Black Dragon still have not been found. Have you found Eriswen?" Evina met the gazes of the leader of Silent Phoenix, who nodded.

"Yes, but she is still recovering."

"Because of this," Pimret started, "Thulok, Evina, and I have decided that the Magi Games this year will end in three days."

Everyone went quiet again.

"Over the next two days," said Evina, "the representatives you see here will participate in the next task, which is a campaign. This campaign will be for the people to elect their favorite Magi among you. It will distract them and keep them calm."

"So we aren't to tell anyone of this news?" the leader of Knight's Watch asked.

Thulok shook his head, stroking his beard. "No. Not even your fellow guildmates who aren't in Magi Games. If Tythan were thrown into a panic, it would give whoever is killing off Magi the chance to strike and we mustn't allow that. No, we will only inform the people if the situation becomes worse. Everyone in this room is bound to silence."

Pimret cleared his throat. "Four of your representatives will choose a fifth, the one whom they believe is the fan favorite. They will help them win votes from the people and in two days' time, we will hold a vote. On the dawn of the third day, the final battle in Magi Games will begin. As you know, it's a repetitive task; an all-out battle between each and every representative to see who comes out on top."

Everyone in the room either nodded or agreed.

From the shadows on either side of the Gamemakers, emerged two people Kyren briefly recognized, but he couldn't recall their names.

"I am Elite Magi Darathos," a human man with a thick brown beard said as he stood beside a petite elf woman.

Kyren's eyes widened. Now he knew who it was. Darathos wasn't affiliated with a guild, but he was one of the most powerful Elite Magi out there. The woman he recognized immediately as the leader of the Magi Guild Nanoryze.

"I am Verina, leader of Nanoryze. As you may know, we have protected the outer edges of the galaxy for many years. We have been sent here to investigate the deaths and find out what threat is out there. We are taking only one or two volunteers from each guild." Her eyes scanned across the crowd, before meeting Darathos' gaze.

He lifted up a hand as several people started forward. "Guild Masters, please only present your strongest Magi to us. This is serious business and lives are at stake."

Rovad turned his attention to the five Black Dragon members and looked at each of them in turn; Logan, Hywel, Kyren, Jeythr, and Benjo. "Kyren, Jeythr?"

Immediately both men nodded.

"I'm not stopping until I find Syra." Jeythr's jaw ticked as he glared at the ground.

Kyren nodded his head. "I want to find out what's going on. To keep everyone safe."

Rovad gestured to the two powerful Elite Magi standing before the crowd.

"This way," Darathos said to the volunteers. They led them to the back of the palace and out a side door. "Here's what we know."

*****

So many of their guild was gone. Syra and Greo were both still missing. Now Jeythr and Kyren left to help. Benjo didn't want to admit that his heart pounded in fear. Three mentors dead. Not to mention Ra'gir, a powerful Elite Magi. If he could be beaten, could be killed, then weren't they all in danger?

Benjo's eyes met Opal's fear-filled ones. "It'll be okay," he mouthed.

She nodded and shot him a weak smile as Rovad ushered the remaining three men out the palace doors. When they rejoined Naya, Rya, and the other members of Black Dragon, Rovad's eyes narrowed.

"Where's Kyren?" Naya asked.

"Daddy?" Rya pursed her lips with a deep frown.

"He's gone to help some of the other Magi. Do not worry." Rovad shot Rya a tense smile. "Here are the new arrangements. Hywel, you're replacing Kyren; Logan, you're replacing Jeythr, Naya, I want you to replace Greo; and Zenna, you're replacing Syra. Benjo, you're normal."

Everyone nodded in agreement. Benjo wrung his hands.

Naya, Zenna, come with me. There's something I need to tell you. You other three, start talking about the task. I'll fill these two in," Rovad said. He pulled Zenna and Naya away, Benjo suspected to tell them of the dark situation brewing and to fill them in on the task.

"Can you watch her?" Naya asked Logan.

Logan held her in his arms and she giggled at his fur.

Benjo had a hard time focusing on the campaign. A popularity contest, when people around him were dying and going missing? How could he focus? But he had to. The people needed to stay calm and be distracted.

Zenna and Naya returned and Naya took Rya from Logan. "So," Hywel began. "Out of the five of us, who do you think is the crowd favorite?"

Logan's eyes traced over them. "The crowd doesn't really know me. You've only been in a few tasks, Hywel. Naya, they don't know you either."

Naya nodded. "I agree."

Logan glanced at Zenna. "I don't think the crowd would like you."

Zenna shrugged. "I could care less about this stupid contest."

All eyes shifted to Benjo.

"Me?" Did his voice squeak?

*****

"Here's what we know," Darathos began.

Jeythr's eyes wandered away from them, down the streets of Kypha. The crowds were particularly thick today. His heart ached to see Syra darting through them to stand face-to-face with him, but the sinking feeling deep within his stomach clenched and Jeythr found that he couldn't breathe. He hadn't breathed properly since Syra had gone missing.

Before he had always suspected that her father or ex-had returned for revenge. Yet in all his searching for her, he had found nothing. Now, with four powerful Magi dead, Jeythr's heart froze in dread. What was going on? Where was Syra? What was she going through? Was she in pain? The endless questions plagued Jeythr's mind and kept him from focusing on Darathos and Verina.

"We are going to begin a powerful and ancient spell to attempt to sense where the Dark Magic is coming from," Verina said. "The rest of you may split into groups. Search through Ra'gir, Kean, Laeshirra, and Aderri's final hours to try to discover where they went. Tracking spells are not working, but you're welcome to try. Contact us with these crystal-coms if you find anything. If you should encounter an enemy, do not engage them alone."

Verina handed a crystal-com to everyone there and then she and Darathos walked off into a building to their right. It was to the side of the palace, protected by a magical shield. Jeythr suspected it was in case something in their spell went wrong; no one would be hurt.

Kyren glanced at him. "Where do you want to begin?"

"I just want to find her." Jeythr stared at Kyren with agony in his eyes.

Kyren's eyes softened and he placed a hand on Jeythr's shoulder. Jeythr wasn't sure whether it comforted him or not. All he could feel was ice in his veins; just ice. It kept him from breathing, from thinking properly, from doing and acting normal. Nothing was normal or alright until he found Syra.

*****

For the first time in her life, Syra felt truly alive. Dark Mathanos pulsed through her veins and she wickedly grinned, laughing maniacally as she threw her hands into the air. Sucking power from the leaves and plants beneath her feet, Mathanos convulged into her veins, dark green in color. Power surged inside her and she no longer had to use runes to conjure creatures as she once had.

Rather than mimic peaceful animals that Syra once had contact with, now the creatures she formed were horrible beasts. Dark green in color, they oozed with darkness and magic energy. Many of them had spikes and fangs with skin formed from energy that dribbled dark green pus and slime.

Syra laughed again, drawing more Mathanos from the forest around her. Far to the right, a group of fairies flew through the air, desperately trying to escape. Shaking her head, Syra threw her right hand in their direction.

Blackness crept upon them, dropping all the fairies to the ground. Their wings decayed and their bodies slowly turned to ashes.

"This power..." Syra murmured. "... is mine!"

*****

"It's a good idea." Hywel stroked Marsa's wings as the giant white hawk perched on his shoulder. Marsa squawked loudly at Omar, the orange monkey who perched on Benjo's shoulder.

"You sure?" Benjo asked.

Logan and Naya nodded in agreement. Surprisingly, it was Rya who answered. "Yes! Play a song, Benjo! Play a song!" She giggled.

Benjo smiled. He was happy that Naya had to bring Rya along to babysit her. Even though the child obviously wasn't a participant, she would tag along with them on the campaign. They had all decided to have Benjo start by playing a song in the town square.

"Why don't we make Benjo a poster?" Rya glanced at Naya and then at Hywel. Marsa spread her wing and lightly ruffled Rya, who giggled in response. "Marsa agrees with me, Hywel!"

"It seems she does." Hywel smiled and shook his arm. Marsa leapt from it and landed on the ground.

Rya slid from Naya's arms and plopped down beside Marsa on the stone street. She lightly petted her wings.

"I'll find some paper," Hywel said, turning toward a nearby vender's stand. Logan joined him.

Naya gestured for Benjo to stand in the center of the square. "Go on."

Benj slung his lute off his back as Omar flicked his tail out and switched shoulders for no apparent reason. Zenna had already left them to handle the campaign alone, not that anyone missed her company.

As he sat down on the fountain in the center, setting his lute comfortably in his lap, Benjo's eyes glanced over to Naya, Rya, and Marsa. The young child and giant white hawk played together. Rya would pick up a small pebble and toss it into the air. Marsa would stretch out her neck and catch it in her beak, then set it back on the ground, for Rya to repeat the whole process again.

Hywel and Logan returned, placing parchment onto a wooden slap they had purchased that looked like a desk but smaller. As soon as they set down some magically colored paint - black, blue, red, yellow, and green, Rya laughed and soaked her hand in the paint and began to draw on the poster.

Benjo shifted his left hand on the neck of the lute and then began strumming it with his right hand. Omar jumped off his shoulder and settled himself on the fountain beside him.

"Bright sun

Eye in the sky

Dim sun

Pearl in the clouds

Yellow sun

Fruit in the heavens..."

Benjo played and sang as Omar danced. Soon a crowd gathered in front of him, clapping and listening to him with smiles on their faces. Talk about distraction, he thought. An Elf woman with a harp sat on his other side and joined him, merging her voice with oohs in the background of his song in beautiful harmony.

When his first song had finished and Benjo began a second one, Naya held up the first poster Rya had made. For a child, she had drawn Benjo quite well - stick figure with a mop full of purple hair, lute on one shoulder and Omar on the other.

Rya looked up from her work on the second poster and grinned at him.

*****

With a grimace, Kyren gently pushed the door open to a house. Palace guards had spoken of another Magi gone missing, so Jeythr and Kyren decided to go to the Magi's house in Kypha to see if they could find anything.

"Did you know him?" Jeythr asked, gazing at the room.

Kyren shrugged. "I knew he wasn't participating this year. His guild lives on Serpent Island, I think, but I've seen Vargir in the crowd a few times."

Jeythr nodded.

Kyren carefully looked at every inch of the single-room home. Papers lay discarded beneath a desk along the left wall. The window was shattered, leaving glass shards on a disarrayed bed. The blankets were torn to shreds and the pillow was ripped in half and slammed against the closet in the right corner.

Bending down, Kyren reached out to touch purple glass shards with a frown. "It looks like these are from a magical crystal."

Jeythr's hand traced over the wall to the left. "There's magic residue here. Looks like Vargir tried to attack his opponent, missed and hit the wall instead."

Kyren nodded, shuffling through the crystal shards in his hands. "I think this was a crystal-com. He probably tried to call for help, but whoever attacked him shattered it."

Jeythr's eyes snapped toward Kyren's. "Who can shatter a magical crystal? I've tried to break crystals and prisms both and they're impossible to simply step on or throw."

Breaking a crystal or prism was a difficult technique. The Magi would have to draw the Mathanos back out of it first, which was difficult. Drawing Mathanos from the air was one thing. Even sending it to fill a crystal or prism was easy if you had the energy. But drawing it back out of one was nearly impossible. Kyren knew how to do it, at least in theory, but he had never done it before. He knew his father, Vaxon, had used dark techniques, and that, since Kyren was a Dark Mage, he could to, but he had never had to.

Who could have done this?

*****

Benjo had just finished playing a fun game called Pormillo with a group of dryads, nixies, fairies, and gnomes, hoping to gain their votes, when Naya, Rya, Hywel, and Logan led him through a few alleyways to the part of Kypha that had taverns with drunkards and the poorer citizens who couldn't afford to view the games much. Two other guilds, Black Shadow and Crimson Shadow, had the same idea, so their representatives were taking their "fan favorite" to campaign here. Between THIS PERSOn and THIS PERSON, Benjo had some really tough competition.

Suddenly, a group of girls darted out from a tavern laughing and joking. They spotted Benjo and one of them, a beautiful sun elf girl with bright orange hair, squealed. "Benjo! Oh, clouds above, I can't believe it's really you!"

A dryad girl squeezed her eyes shut and elbowed a little gnome girl with bright red hair next to her. "You were like, so totally awesome during the treasure task!"

"I thought you were terrible," said a dwarf woman with blonde hair, "but you're still cute anyway!"

A gray elf girl gnawed on her lower lip and looked up at Benjo bashfully from beneath thick eyelashes. "I - I just like you because of Omar," she blurted.

Omar screeched and hopped onto her shoulder. She laughed and Benjo joined her. By now, the girls surrounded him a circle and had pushed his companions away. Naya held Rya up who waved at him from behind the sun elf girl's head.

"Wanna see a neat trick, ladies?" Benjo asked. Part of him enjoyed the attention. It brought out the performer side of him, not just the side that showed when he had performed in the circus, but any time he played his lute and sang.

Each and every girl nodded their head.

Benjo stood on one foot, grabbing an apple from inside his tunic that he saved for later. "Anyone have another round object I could use?"

"I have this ball," said the redheaded little gnome.

"Thank you." Benjo winked at her. Tossing the ball into the air first with his right hand, as it spun around, he tossed the apple in the air after it and began to juggle them. He stood on one foot and then Omar formed a horizontal loop with his tail. Benjo crouched down low and began juggling them through the loop.

The girls oohed and awwed, clapping and cheering for him.

"Show us another trick!"

"Benjo, I love you!"

"Can you sing me a song, Benjo?"

"Do it again!"

They talked so quickly and chatted over each other that Benjo couldn't tell who had spoken. Behind the dryad girl's shoulder, Benjo met eyes with Opal as she stood beside her guildmates.

She glared at him, her face flaming.

Benjo gulped. He smiled at her, but when she turned away, he returned his attention to the girls. No matter what happened, he loved Opal, but the campaign was important. Then again, so was she. He would make it up to her later.

Then, he got an idea.

"Wanna hear a song?" Benjo asked.

The girls eagerly nodded.

"Yes!"

"Oh, please!"

"Yay!"

Leaving his lute, Benjo let his voice speak for itself, or in this case, sing.

"You are the only one for me

My days are brighter with you

I love you, don't you see?

I just want you to know that all I want to do

Is just to love you."

As Benjo sang, he made up the words, bringing them straight from his heart and sending them to Opal. When he met her eyes and her smile lit up her face, he knew that she had understood.

"I love you..." he finished.

*****

Desperate to be away from the campaign, Zenna had left Benjo and the others on their own. After all, she wasn't a crowd favorite and she didn't exactly know how to make others like you, so instead, she searched around for No One. Yeah, he aggravated her, but he was better than the group of losers she had just left.

"No One, you idiot, where have you been?" Zenna shoved open the door to his hotel room. Inside, the bed and nightstand were both knocked over. A wooden cup was lying on the floor, ale spilled on the smooth wooden boards. Holes lined the walls behind the bed and across from it, evidence from an intense fight.

No.

Rovad had filled her and Naya in on the missing Magi. Something was taking them and killing them. Now No One was missing too.

He couldn't be gone.

Zenna fought to control her breathing. With a wild and furious outcry, she slammed her fists into the wall with a vengeance.

"What's going on in here?" another Black Dragon Magi, a Light Mage human woman named Atheera, asked.

Zenna growled in fury, body shaking. "No One is gone."

"Yeah, so is Athira." Atheera frowned. Even though both women's names were pronounced the same, they were spelled differently. The two were exceedingly different from each other too. Athira was an annoying Shield Wizard who was also a mermaid with a voice that Zenna couldn't stand. Atheera, on the other hand, was a human girl and a Light Mage that Zenna actually didn't find as annoying as the others. "Why are you so upset? They probably just ran off to do something fun while the others are campaigning."

Zenna didn't bother to answer her; no one else was supposed to know what was going on. As she stormed passed Atheera, Zenna couldn't ignore the horrible gut feeling in the pit of her stomach.

*****

After questioning a wounded Eriswen to find out what she knew, Kyren and Jeythr had received word from Zenna that No One and Athira was both missing. Four members. Four members of Black Dragon were missing and there were rumors that Artemis from Dragon Claw was as well, along with Jae from Guild Valkyrie.

As he and Jeythr traveled along the road leading out of Kypha, he pulled Mathanos from his reserves to form darkness in his mind. It was an old spell, one he used to use frequently back on Castre, but now he was a little out of practice and it took up more energy than usual.

Eiridan? Can you hear me? Kyren thought. He, Eiridan, and Jae had communicated telepathically all the time when they were trying to defeat Vaxon and it had come in handy more than once.

I have to find her, Kyren, came his old friend's reply.

I know, Eiridan. I'm going to help you. No matter what it takes, I promise, I'll help you get her back. Kyren made a vow to his friend at that moment, not just to Eiridan but to everyone; somehow, he would find the others. Even if he could only save Jae, he would somehow find a way.

Thank you, my old friend.

"Up ahead," Jeythr said, breaking Kyren's concentration. His head pounded and for a second, the world around him spun, making Kyren wobbly on his feet as Jeythr darted ahead of him and knelt down by the side of the road.

Kyren blinked and at last, everything finally stopped spinning, but he knew he probably shouldn't use any more spells for a while. After what his body had endured with the fear spell, his Mathanos still wasn't back to normal and using darkness to communicate telepathically took up way too much of energy. If he wasn't careful, Kyren could easily kill himself.

"It's Greo!"

Kyren darted to Jeythr and knelt beside him. Greo lay on his stomach, his bare back covered in lashes that crisscrossed through his flesh. Blood formed a pool of maroon beneath him. Jeythr leaned down close. "Is he alive?" Kyren asked.

Jeythr nodded. "He's breathing. Greo... Greo, wake up...!"

Greo groaned, a gut-wrenching sound deep in his throat. Gently, Kyren and Jeythr rolled him over. Where his eyes should have been, empty, black, gaping holes took their place. His lower right side was stabbed, leaving his flesh torn open with bits of it hanging in loose flaps on either side of the hole.

Kyren swallowed deeply. "It's bad."

Jeythr nodded and formed fire in his hands. "Cauterizing it isn't ideal, but it will keep him from bleeding. If he loses any more blood, he will die."

Kyren glanced at Jeythr. "Want me to hold him?"

"Yeah," Jeythr replied. Kyren pressed his hands against Greo's shoulders, which elicited a pained cry from him. He figured one or both of his shoulders had been broken, so he grimaced but didn't move.

Jeythr lowered his hand to Greo's wound with the precision of a surgeon. The flames burned Greo's skin and closed the flaps over the hole. Greo screamed and thrashed, but his body was too weak, so Kyren easily held him down.

Jeythr and Kyren both sucked in deep breaths and then together, lifted Greo to carry him back to the city.

It took them almost half an hour before they reached the infirmary, but fortunately, thanks to Jeythr's fire, Greo was still alive when they arrived. The Healer Wizard Magi all took Greo into a private room to begin tending on his severe wounds.

Meanwhile, Kyren used his crystal-com to call Rovad. While Kyren waited for Rovad to come, he quickly called Naya.

"Hello?" she answered, laughing at something else going on that Kyren couldn't see. Her face appeared in the crystal and her voice emitted from it, as he probably did on hers.

"You alone?"

"Just a moment. No, you can't talk to Daddy yet, Rya just wait a minute," Naya said. After a pause, she turned back around so that her face was centered in the crystal. "Now I am. What's wrong, Kyren?"

"Jeythr and I found Greo. He - he's not in good shape, Naya."

Naya swallowed and even through the crystal, Kyren didn't see the worry lines creasing on her forehead. "What happened to him?"

"He keeps saying the same word Eriswen did when I questioned her: Zhol."

Naya gasped. "Zhols, but... Those are legends, right?"

Kyren shrugged. "I don't know. Look, Naya, just keep Rya with you at all times, okay? I don't like this whole situation it just - something feels...wrong."

Naya nodded, blinking tears out of her eyes. "O - okay, Kyren. I will. I love you."

"Love you too. Let me talk to Rya." Kyren's eyes shifted to the door on the infirmary when he heard a knock. "Yeah," he said.

Rovad came in. "Greo?"

Kyren pointed a thumb to the back. "Healers are working on him now."

"Daddy!" Rya's voice called from the crystal.

Kyren held it back up. Rya appeared with a beaming smile on her face. "Hey, sweetie. How's everything going? You being good?"

"Mm-hmm. Benjo says I'm helping his campaign a lot!"

"That's good. Keep it up, okay?"

"Okay!"

"Daddy loves you," Kyren murmured.

"I love you too, Daddy!" Rya giggled again and handed it back to Naya.

When she appeared back inside the crystal, Kyren shakily exhaled. "Remember what I said, Naya. Don't let Rya out of your sight. Stay in a large group and make sure you're always near a lot of the Republic Guards, okay?"

"I will. Be safe."

The crystal clicked off. Kyren met Rovad's eyes as his guild master placed a comforting hand on Kyren's shoulder. "Kyren," Rovad started, "I will stay with Rya and Naya and protect them."

Kyren inclined his head. "Thank you, Master Rovad."

"Why don't you call them and have them come here? We can wait for news about Greo together. The others can help Benjo finish out his campaign. Naya and Rya will need to sleep soon, anyway," Rovad suggested.

Kyren knew what he said was true. Despite that he probably needed to sleep too, he couldn't. Not with everything going on. As soon as Kyren made sure Naya and Rya arrived at the infirmary safely, he and Jeythr could go back out and keep looking.

*****

The entire old, run-down prison reeked of blood, tears, sweat, and dark magic. Greenish energy outlined in black slithered beneath the walls. Captured Magi screamed in the torture chambers as Syra passed them by, her hands trailing along the stained walls of the hallway. The Zhol guarding the second to last cell opened the door and Zyra strolled in.

Inside, a man who had once been her guildmate, simply called No One, was chained by his wrists with his feet barely skimming the stone floor. A black and swollen eye combined with flayed flesh on his chest was evidence that the Zhols inside had already begun to torture him. Wails and pleas echoed from the walls to their right from the final cell - another Black Dragon member, named Athira.

Syra strolled in front of No One and lifted his chin with her finger.

He grunted, deep in his chest, body trembling, white hair matted and looking gray in the dim lighting. "Wh - What do you... want?"

Laughing, Syra pressed a hand into his chest, right over the skin that had been flayed. Warm blood coated her hand in a thick layer.

No One moaned in agony, crying out, which excited Syra. "Haven't you always felt... held back by the members of Black Dragon?" she inquired.

No One shrugged, or at least he tried to. "Maybe. Maybe not. I'm not gonna answer to the likes of you, traitor."

Syra smiled and gripped his chin with her fingers, digging them into his jaw. Drawing Dark Mathanos from his life force, green energy circled around her. No One's eyes widened as he stared at her in shock. "I have a power that you can only dream of, No One. Can't you feel it calling to you?"

No One swallowed deeply, licking his lips. "I..."

Syra nodded to another Zhol, who threw a handful of spikes at No One. Two spikes embedded into his upper thigh and knee, another into his chest, one into his collarbone, and the last shot his ankle. No One screamed, while another Zhol snatched a knife and continued flaying his chest.

No One's body thrashed until he suddenly went limp, wheezing.

"Don't you want the pain to stop, No One?" Syra asked, smiling as she trailed her fingers along his flayed chest. Her hand stopped at the spike in his collarbone. She twisted it, eliciting a shriek of agony from him.

"Yes! Yes, just make it stop!"

"Good..." Syra whispered. "Then give in to your deepest, darkest emotions inside you. Empty your Mathanos reserves, No One."

No One closed his eyes, breathing. "Then I'll become one of you."

Syra purred, "Exactly."

No One's body began to violently seize so hard that the chains around his wrists snapped. Green energy surrounded by black danced around him in a storm as pure, good Mathanos, blue, fled his body. The stones beneath his feet crumbled as the chains and the pillar he had been chained to, turned to ash within seconds. Each one of the spikes was ripped out of his flesh, but No One never once cried out.

The green Mathanos circling him stabbed and pierced him where the spikes had been and it ate away his flayed flesh, burning permanent green scars into his skin, proving what he had become.

No One's eyes opened to reveal a bright green glow. "Oh, yeah."

Syra chuckled darkly but it grew and grew until it was a maniacal, crazed laugh. "Let us go see our old friend, shall we?"

No One and Syra exited his cell and No One shoved open the door to Athira's cell. Her body was laid on a device called the rack; hands pulled above her with a magical lever and feet pulled below her with another. Bones jutted out of her elbows, forming puddles of blood on the rack and on the floor beneath her.

A Zhol towered over her and Syra heard the squelching of flesh. When the Zhol backed away, Athira's cheeks beside her lips had been slashed. Syra faintly remembered the purpose of the technique; the more Athira screamed, the wider the slashes would become, thus causing her more pain, which would only increase her screams until it became a vicious cycle.

No One laughed and stood over her.

Athira whimpered with another loud wail. "They turned you. Oh, God... No One, please help me! Syra...! Please...!"

No One twisted the lever another notch, which yanked Athira's arms further behind her. She shrieked in sheer agony, but Syra and No One paid no care. Syra even laughed. "You're nothing but a pathetic little mermaid. Why don't you give in to your fury?"

Athira somehow managed to shake her head, but a pained cry escaped her bleeding lips, which caused her to sob and scream again. "... I won't become... one of you..." she whispered through the slurs, caused by the slashes on either side of her lips. Her body shuddered violently.

No One glanced at Syra, who looked at the Zhol with her. "I can feel good inside this one," the Zhol said. "She won't turn. Kill her."

Athira closed her eyes with another sob, tears streaming down her face to mix with the blood there.

Syra and No One each grabbed a knife. They stabbed Athira's torso again and again and again, releasing all of their fury into her mutilated body.

*****

As dawn approached, pinks and oranges of the early sunrise replaced the cold darkness of night. Kyren and Jeythr had searched outside Kypha and made their way back toward the city. Just inside the city gates, though, was a child leaning against the side of a building.

Jeythr and Kyren exchanged a glance.

Kyren immediately darted toward the child, who cried and sobbed. "Hey there, sweetie," he said to the young girl. "My name is Kyren and I'm from Black - "

The girl's eyes opened.

Bright, glowing green irises glared back at him as the little girl cocked her head.

"What the...?"

Jeythr grunted and a green burst of energy exploded the both of them. Jeythr's body flew backward and slammed into a hut, but Kyren couldn't see anything beyond that. "It's a trap!"

Green lightning struck his chest before he even had time to react. His body suddenly felt utterly exhausted and his limbs refused to work.

Pulling Mathanos from his reserves, all his energy disappeared. Jeythr stirred beneath the wood of the collapsed hut. "Go to the guild. Save my daughter," Kyren shouted to him.

Silhouettes surrounded him as Jeythr's body disappeared in a flash of flames. His vision flickered and faded to black as Kyren fell unconscious.

*****

One by one, citizens from the ground lined up in the back, forming three lines. Each one led to a Gamemaker: Thulok, Evina, or Pimret and each held a special magical projection to tally the votes of the contest.

Behind him, Hywel, Logan, Zenna, and Naya - holding Rya - gathered, similar to the other guild representatives, while Benjo and the others in the contest stood on the stage overlooking the crowd.

Opal stood on his left, smiling at him every once-in-awhile. A woman from Guild Valkyrie stood on his right, named Duana. On her other side was stunning naga woman with a red snake tail named Jardonkha from Knight's Watch. Mirana from Silent Phoenix and Cordila from Dragon Claw brought up the left side, bordering Opal. A fairy named Nylissa from Miria, an intimidating human woman named Braith from Iscariot Sin, and a mountain elf named Xenia from Crimson Shadow all took up space on Jardonkha's other side.

Benjo was the only guy.

He wasn't sure whether he was embarrassed or intimidated. Probably a bit of both.

Rovad stepped up behind Benjo to whisper in his ear. "Benjo, I've just spoken with the Gamemakers. They've decided to cancel the battle task, so tomorrow will be the final day of the Games."

Benjo glanced at his guild master over his shoulder. "Wait, are you sure? Why?"

Rovad exhaled sharply. "No One and Athira are missing. Among others. The situation is getting out of hand."

Evina cleared her throat and her wings fluttered as she traveled up on stage. Lifting her hands, she silenced the crowd. "Everyone... everyone...! The winner has been announced, but before we get into that, the Gamemakers and I have an announcement." She paused, letting it sink in with the crowd, who eagerly awaited the news. "We have canceled today's battle task since the campaign took so long and everyone did such a wonderful job. Therefore, tomorrow will hold the final event and thus be the final day of the Magi Games!"

Murmurs swept across the crowd like a tidal wave. Some people shouted in protest, others cheered. Thulok whistled loudly, instantly snatching everyone's attention.

"With that being said, you people have spoken and the fan favorite of the crowd is... Mirana from Silent Phoenix!"

Benjo squeezed Opal's hand. Even though he was disappointed, it was still a fun contest. More importantly, they had distracted the crowd. Still, the situation made him feel sick to his stomach. "You did good, Opal. And you look beautiful," he told her sincerely.

Her cheeks reddened. "You really think so?"

Benjo planted a kiss on her lips in response. "I know so."

*****

Wrists chained to the wall behind him, pumping his veins full of anti-magic, which forced Mathanos out of his reserves, Kyren blinked several times to clear his blurry vision. He was in a prison cell with damp walls that surrounded him on all sides, preventing him from seeing how the dungeon was structured. Wails and shrieks echoed and normally would have made anyone cringe.

Not Kyren.

After being plagued by his greatest fear, being back in Vaxon's hands again, Kyren wasn't afraid. He was still alert and cautious; this time he wouldn't become arrogant.

Syra and No One strode into the room together, but they didn't look like themselves.

"Syra, Jeythr's been looking everywhere for you," Kyren said.

Syra laughed and it made Kyren winced. There was something evil about it and both Syra and No One had glowing green eyes with pulsing green and black energy that made Kyren gag.

"Liar." Syra glared at him, and a smile twisted her features.

"You will make a powerful Zhol." No One stared at him.

Kyren grunted. "I won't turn."

"Yes you will," said a strange and familiar voice.

Emerging from the shadows at the door was someone he never thought he would see again. Blonde ringlets cascaded down her shoulders and her round blue eyes matched their mother's. She was much taller than she had once been, her body curvy and now fully a woman.

His sister, Nassia.

"Nassia," Kyren breathed, unable to fully process what was happening.

Her eyes glowed bright green and she cackled. "You will become a Zhol, brother. You see, our father was one."

"What?" Kyren's eyes widened and then narrowed on her. "No. You're lying."

Nassia shrugged, dragging her finger along his chest. "Think what you want, but it's true. He hid it from everyone, but it explains why he was so evil and power crazed. It was the Zhol inside him. I gave into my inner Zhol a long time ago, but you Kyren... You've struggled with what you thought was just your inner darkness for decades and then, after the Magi escaped and you killed Father, well, you pushed it back. You recovered from Ashyra and Ren's deaths and raised little Rya and moved on. Naya, isn't it? Tell me... do you think she's prettier, or Ashyra?"

Kyren growled and darted toward her, but the chains around his wrists yanked his arm back against the wall. He felt his shoulder crack. "What do you want?"

Nassia grinned. "What do I want? You see, Kyren, because you trained as a Magi, you're something that's never happened before. Sure, I was born a Zhol, just like you, but you... You pushed it back and somehow became good. So you are a Zhol who was a Magi first. Because of this, you have the power of both. You can turn into a Zhol and still retain your Magi abilities while using your newfound powers as a Zhol. Think about how powerful you can become, brother! Together, you and I can serve the Dragon Empire as we watch your little Republic burn to the ground."

"Never! I'll never become a Zhol. Darkness, the Zhol inside me... Whatever you call it, I'll never give into it again," Kyren vowed.

"You will." Nassia snapped her fingers.

Two guards threw in two figures into the cell. Kyren screamed and darted toward them but the Zhols tightened the chains on him even more, forcing him to stay pressed against the wall.

"Daddy!" Rya's tear-streaked face stared up at him from within the arms of a Zhol.

Naya shook her head. "I'm sorry, Kyren!"

*****

I did all the death requirements, all the ballot punishments, Policial Campaign, Dark Threats, Kidnapped, and Zhol awards. Word count: 7,321. Phew, this was a long one! It's a good thing we had unlimited word count!

Deaths:

1 - No One

1 - Athira

1 - Artemis from Dragon Claw (sorry. It was entirely random)

Ballots: 

jesusfreak202