When Adah first stepped into the arena where their match against DreamRise would be played, she had a strange thought.

  Instead of a battlefield, this place looked more like a carnival.

  Every region, even this one, had at least a couple of arenas built to accommodate different magical duels. The necessary materials for each kind of duel—whether pure combat or more sporty like capture the mascot—could be swapped in and out via a system of machinery similar to how a theater’s rigging quickly moved set pieces on and off the stage. Thus, the main requirement when building an arena was making the place magicproof for the audience. Although there were no duels to the death, a spell that might only injure a protected magic user could easily kill a bystander.

  In this case, the arena itself sunk well below the main viewing area, as if someone had carved out the entire first two levels of seating from a football stadium. A fifty foot wall stood between the arena floor and the nearest spectator. Rising from the top of the wall was a sheet of reinforced glass probably as thick as Adah was tall. She was tempted to launch an attack at it to see how it held up, but resisted the urge.

  What really drew her attention, anyway, were the countless obstacles that filled the arena floor and air. Tubes large enough to be mainline sewer pipes lay across the ground as makeshift tunnels; giant blocks in various shapes were spread around, some alone and some in stacks, all of them at least the size of a minivan; and similar shapes hung from pulleys in the air at various heights. All of these obstacles were painted in bright reds, yellows, and blues and arranged in a chiral symmetry that split the arena in half. On second thought, instead of a carnival, maybe it was a baby’s play set.

  At the back of each half of the arena stood a pillar, one red and one blue, that rose nearly as high as the spectator seating. That was where each team’s mascot would sit and wait to either be protected or captured. Adah looked past all the obstacles, across nearly 200 yards of field, to the pillar where Iris’s cat mascot, Iosk, was waiting.

  “Are you sure you should’ve let her pick the challenge?” Rika asked, walking in behind Adah. “I don’t know if our practice is going to translate very well to this.”

  Ami came up behind the pair of them and hooked an arm around each of their necks. “Come on,” she said, “this is our chance to let out some anger. Those guys got so cocky, now it’s time to make ‘em regret it.”

  “It’s free,” Emi added.

  On paper, their team should have had the advantage, but something about the look in Iris’s eye when she suggested this duel worried Adah. She’d spent the days since the fan meet thinking through every DreamRise member’s spells—at least as much as she knew about them—but in the end she couldn’t do more than theorize. Clair’s spells were still so mysterious, and then there was the issue of the way DreamRise seemed able to transfer magic itself.

  Thinking about it this close to the start of the event was probably more of a distraction than a help. She needed to move around and clear her head.

  They had all transformed a few minutes ago. The same Department of Magic employee who had watched over them at the fan meet had led them through the labyrinthine walkways of the arena to their staging area, where they prepared for the match. Eventually, as the start time approached, they moved into the tunnel leading out onto their side of the arena field to wait some more. All the standing around made Adah think about how much of a pain it must be for athletes to try and stay warmed up before a game.

  “I’m going to check on Izzy,” she said to her team. “See if maybe he can make himself heavier.”

  The other girls smiled at the joke but didn’t offer much more of a response, so she flew toward the top of the pillar on their side of the field. There sat Izzy, their team’s chosen “flag.”

  When Adah landed atop the pillar, he said, “You won’t lose this, will you? I have a feeling none of them would handle me very gently should they get their hands on me.”

  “Don’t worry,” Adah said. “I’ll drag that cat back here with a tail in each hand.”

  “I’d like to see that. Iosk is the perfect pairing for that girl, if you follow my meaning.”

  “I think I do,” she said with a smile. “As a heads up, though—if they do manage to get you, they’re probably going to throw you.”

  “Throw me?” His fear was palpable, even if his pig face didn’t do a great job expressing it.

  “Just a hunch,” she said.

  Just then, a warning horn blasted from a loudspeaker above them. That was her cue to head back to the tunnel.

  Five minutes until showtime.

  By the time Adah rejoined her team, a woman’s voice started to echo throughout the arena, projected out of the same loudspeakers as the warning horn.

  “Welcome to today’s duel between DreamRise Productions and Spotlight Sunbright!” the woman’s voice boomed. “Whether you are here at the arena or watching from home, thank you for joining us. This is Maria Lobelia, and it is my pleasure to be presenting today’s Capture the Mascot duel as an official sub-event of this year’s IndieMagie Contest!”

  Just like the loudspeakers, remote-operated cameras jutted out of the arena walls at various positions and angles. Given the fast-paced and far-ranging nature of magical duels, even fans watching in-person would need the help of multiple camera feeds to catch all the action. Those same feeds would be streamed to an online audience via the IndieMagie website. As this Maria woman had mentioned, the committee behind the IndieMagie took enough of an interest in this showdown to officially sponsor it. Secretary Thibault must have been thrilled about that.

  “Before I introduce today’s teams,” Maria continued, “let’s review the rules for this duel. First, casting any spells with the intent to seriously injure an opponent will result in immediate disqualification for the offending team at the discretion of IndieMagie staff. Physical contact and offensive spellcasting are still a-okay! Second, there will be no time limit on this duel. The match will only end when one team places the opposing team’s mascot at the top of their own pillar. Third, if a team’s mascot is missing from their pillar, they will be unable to score with their opponent’s mascot until their own is returned. Finally, hmm… what was the last one again?”

  A muffled whisper came through the loudspeaker, presumably some other IndieMagie staff member cluing Maria in since she immediately finished up by saying, “Oh right! One of today’s teams is quite confident in themselves! DreamRise has insisted that both teams play at their full strength. That makes this a three-versus-four duel!”

  That was Sunbright’s major advantage in this duel. It was a mismatched condition Iris had insisted upon surely for the optics of it should DreamRise manage to win. Victory was never enough for that girl—she always had to put on a show. Adah had learned as much during the K-Rank mission, and was more than happy to use that Iris’s tendency toward theatrics against her.

  As the announcer Maria explained some last details of the duel and IndieMagie to the crowd, Adah took the opportunity to check in with her team.

  “We all remember the plan?” she said.

  “Sure,” Ami said. “I’m the goalkeeper. But are you sure you don’t want me out in the field? I’m way faster than any of them—no shot they get past me.”

  Adah shook her head. “Just stay on defense. I have a feeling that if they ever get hold of Izzy, the match might as well be over.”

  Maybe it wasn’t the most inspirational thing to say, but it was necessary. They couldn’t let DreamRise get near Izzy. They all had to keep that in mind. Otherwise, Adah knew of at least one strategy her team would struggle to counter.

  “Now, without further ado,” Maria resumed her broadcast, “let’s meet today’s teams! Defending the mascot atop the red pillar is Spotlight Sunbright!”

  The announcer proceeded to call each member’s name in turn, starting with the twins and ending with Adah. As their names were called, they flew out into the arena and up to the top of their pillar. Although this arena was on the smaller side, the rumble of the crowd behind the fortified glass still reached Adah. Duels between teams like this were a rare occasion that even casual fans wouldn’t want to miss, so the seats were packed.

  You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

  “And defending the mascot atop the blue pillar is DreamRise Productions!” Maria’s voice echoed once more.

  From her position hovering near the top of the pillar, Adah couldn’t get a good look at Iris and her teammates until they flew up to an equal height. Adah couldn’t make out every detail at this distance, but judging by the way Iris enthusiastically waved to the crowd, she wasn’t stressed in the slightest.

  Adah’s own stress was starting to fade, too. Seeing Iris on the other side of the arena, she felt all the gaps of uncertainty in her heart be filled in with something else.

  The pieces of this plan were clicking into place.

  When Grace had driven them over this morning, they’d rode with the windows down and let the first scents of autumn flow in. Just like Adah had expected, summer had vanished in a matter of days. The air today was unrecognizable compared to the day she and Ekki spoke. It called your attention with a crisp snap, and you wanted to breathe it in deeply. It was invigorating.

  In the cooler air, Adah’s magical girl outfit was finally less of a burden. Instead of winding up soaked with sweat at the end of a mission, these clothes might actually help keep the cold at bay soon.

  She felt good. She finally felt like a proper magical girl, albeit a strange one.

  The path forward wasn’t hopeless or shrouded in despair like it had once been. She was no longer trying to climb out of a well, with no foothold to push against and all the bricks slick with water. She felt in control. She was running down a straight road, and the hurdle to overcome was right in front of her. All she needed were the guts and skill to vault over it.

  Or, considering today’s hurdle was Iris, maybe Adah just wanted to smash right into it.

  As if sensing her determination, a horn blasted out of the loudspeakers again, signaling the start of the duel.

  Adah darted toward the roof of the arena while Rika flew down near the floor. Emi shot straight forward, leaving Ami as the lone defender of Izzy.

  This was their advantage as a four-person team, and what Adah had based their strategy on. Although it was true that none of the DreamRise members could beat Ami in speed, it was also true that none of them could overpower her shields.

  Ami had cast her new [Cryo Celestics] as the horn sounded, summoning a ring of icicles that pointed outward and spun around her body. During testing, they’d learned Ami could expend magic essence to speed up the orbit to the point that the icicles effectively formed a wall around her. In this duel, she could keep the orbit at a slow rotation unless someone from DreamRise approached, thus allowing her to maintain the spell throughout the whole match without running out of essence. This new defensive wall combined with Ami’s ability to box out aggressors with [Aspic Meniscus] made her an impenetrable goalkeeper.

  So long as Ami remained by their pillar, DreamRise would have to commit at least two—if not all three—members to capture Izzy. By Adah’s assessment, no one on the DreamRise team could defend their own mascot quite as effectively.

  Instead, they’d have to match up one-to-one against Sunbright’s remaining trio, which meant Adah, Rika, and Emi could focus entirely on offense without fear of letting someone slip past. If anyone on DreamRise went for Izzy instead of defending, someone on Sunbright would be free to snatch up Iosk. With both mascots off their pillars, Ami could join the fight again until the stalemate broke. Sunbright had a massive advantage in flexibility and endurance, being a player up.

  The way they had divvied up the roles would make their strategy particularly annoying for DreamRise to deal with. If anyone in this arena was faster than Ami, it was Emi. She was currently advancing through the center of the arena, at a middle height between Adah and Rika where she’d have the most options for maneuverability. While Emi made her advance, Adah and Rika readied themselves above and below her. The pair of them could pepper the DreamRise members from both angles with [Sparkling Strike] and [Shining Shot]. The spells wouldn’t do much direct damage against their opponents’ protective magic, but would certainly wear them and their essence down.

  Massively destructive spells like [Nightwind Whip] or [Renova Railgun] were off the table, given the duel’s rule about intentional injury, but they’d be unnecessary anyway. The combination of Emi’s speed and their annoying projectile spells would chip away at DreamRise’s defense until they created an opening that one of the three girls could slip through. With the numbers advantage, they didn’t need to fully disable anyone on DreamRise.

  “Focus on getting to their pillar,” Adah said to Emi over a magic channel. “Put everything you’ve got into flying and dodging. Rika and I will do what we can to make a path forward.”

  In the same way they would maximize Ami’s effectiveness as a defender, they’d go all-in on Emi’s role as an attacker.

  “Watch me,” Emi said before rushing through a tunnel obstacle hanging in the air.

  Adah and Rika moved forward in tune with Emi, doing their best to maintain a single frontline to their offensive. At the other end of the field, the DreamRise members had also split in three directions, looking as though they did intend to match up with the Sunbright girls one-to-one. Ekki went high with Adah while Iris went low near Rika.

  Did they really want to match Clair against Emi?

  Any time Adah might have spent pondering that question vanished instantly. When two magic users flew toward one another at top speed, they could close the distance of this field in a matter of seconds. She and Ekki were less than 100 yards apart at this point, close enough for her to start firing off some spells. If she could trap him behind cover or force him to retreat, she could buy herself enough time to support Emi in her matchup against Clair.

  She couldn’t get any use out of her whip today, but this was the perfect opportunity to use her [Parietal Perception]. She locked onto Ekki, causing the back of her brain to twitch as the spell powered up and a gray trail appeared behind her target. That sensation would take some more getting used to. She had no trouble ignoring it now, though, driven by the adrenaline of her first duel.

  Adah flew to a nearby hanging rectangular obstacle and pressed herself against it, then steadied her arm over the top of it as she took aim in Ekki’s direction. He must have noticed her intention, for he immediately hid behind a nearby spherical obstacle. The gray trail followed him behind the sphere and even tracked him as he shifted from one side of the obstacle to the other.

  The limits of the spell were still unknown to Adah, but she’d at least learned that it seemed to read more than just perceptible light. In addition to not requiring her to look at her target, it also managed to track targets she wouldn’t be able to see even if she was looking their way. Her guess was that the spell somehow measured changes in electromagnetic radiation generally, or perhaps particles or waves of any sort. It wasn’t exactly the kind of thing she could test back at their agency office. Regardless, the end result was that she could essentially follow Ekki’s movement behind the sphere, and would see which side he intended to emerge from.

  For now, though, he remained still. A moment passed, then another, but Ekki’s trail still didn’t move. Surely he didn’t feel pinned down by a simple spell like Adah’s [Sparkling Strike]—not this early. No, a pause like this could only mean he was looking for another means of escape.

  Adah looked around the arena for any hint of his foggy portal that might indicate where he planned to teleport to, but found nothing. In theory, he could move from behind one obstacle to another, hidden from view the whole time. But if he wanted to play whack-a-mole, that was fine, too. With Ami on defense, Adah could ignore his games and go for Clair instead. Let him dodge while she continued to press Sunbright’s advantage.

  Adah turned to her right and glanced down where she had last seen Emi. Just as she’d turned away, though, she sensed a surge of magic behind her. Did that mean—

  She never got a chance to finish the thought. Ekki rushed through the portal he had created behind Adah and slammed straight into her back. The world started spinning in her eyes as soon as he made contact, and she tumbled through the air not knowing which direction she was going.

  The slam hit harder than any time Ami had ever body checked her, at least in part because she’d been blindsided. From the way her bones screamed in pain, that armor on Ekki’s shoulders wasn’t just for show either. That was real steel. On top of that, while Ami was tall, she was still smaller overall than Ekki, and the weight of his body added that much more force to his hit.

  Her freefall—what she imagined being trapped in a washing machine might be like—came to an end when she crashed into the top of another obstacle in the arena. The world was still dancing in her eyes, so she couldn’t tell exactly where she’d landed, but the force with which she struck the obstacle told her she must’ve fallen quite a distance.

  Her magic went into overdrive to absorb the damage her body couldn’t. Much like casting spells, this protective magic took a toll on her natural stamina. She felt like she’d just wrapped up one of Grace’s circuit workouts, but at least her pain was numbed.

  Yet, that was only the opening attack of a battle that raged on around Adah.

  She rolled onto her stomach and pushed her body up until she could prop herself on one knee. The magic coursing through her, alongside some adrenaline, allowed her to fight through the complaints of her bones and muscles. With the FP she’d had a month ago, she might not have gotten up after a slam like this.

  Adah’s vision stabilized in time to spot a yellow blur flying straight for her head. She ducked down as Iris rushed by just above her.

  “Bending the knee already?” the girl taunted as she flew by.

  Adah jerked her head in the direction Iris fled, only to be faced within another one of Ekki’s foggy portals materializing in front of her. Her mind raced with thoughts of which direction would be best to dodge in. Before she had any need to, however, a red laser of light shot through the fog. This new source of magic seemed to disrupt Ekki’s own spellcasting, and the portal dispersed into the air as normal vapor would.

  “Are you okay?” Rika asked as she landed next to Adah. She only glanced down at Adah for a moment before searching in all directions for where Iris and Ekki might appear next. “Iris won’t fight—she just keeps running.”

  That made sense; Iris had no offensive counterpart to Rika’s [Shining Shot] without [Fleur-de-lis], so why not cause a distraction while Ekki did all the real brawling? Despite a plan like that, she still had the nerve to talk shit, huh? Well, they’d see how long that attitude held up.

  “Swap with me,” Adah said. “My vision’s no good against his portals, so let me take Iris. Stay close to Ekki. If any of his portals show up near Emi, destroy them.”

  “What if he goes for you and Iris instead?”

  “He won’t.”

  Rather, Iris wouldn’t let him. Not once Adah got her riled up.

  If Iris wanted to turn this into a show and give all her fans something to watch, that was even better. Once all those eyes were on her, Twilight Heartbreak would make her regret everything.