The crowd around them cleared, and Kamahl got what he'd been waiting for, a line of sight on the justicar.
He sent a small fireball blasting past the armored visor, and called, "Hey, sparky!"
The justicar turned.
"That's more warning than you gave me," Kamahl said. "And more than you deserve. This is twice now you've attacked the Cabal at home. I think it will be the last."
"Stand aside, barbarian," the justicar said. "The Order will settle with you later."
"For you, there is no later." Kamahl hauled his huge sword out and charged.
The justicar sent a jag of lightning at Kamahl, but the barbarian easily drew it into his sword. "You think I don't know lightning? We pick our teeth with lightning up in Pardic." The justicar hurled another bolt which Kamahl also countered, then had to draw his own sword to defend himself.
Kamahl's brass-colored blade rang against Gobal's silver one. The justicar tried to charge up for a larger bolt, but Kamahl was so close that he bled the armored figure's energy off before he could use it, storing it in the blade of his sword.
"You fight like an officer," Kamahl jeered. He butted his head into the justicar's visor, denting it. "Welcome to the pits."
Enraged, Gobal put a crackling hand on Kamahl and shoved him backward. Kamahl staggered but was able to block the justicar's sword stroke as it came down toward his head.
"Is that it, shiny man? Are you really only dangerous when nobody knows your power?"
Another Order soldier threw his spear at Kamahl. The barbarian caught the shaft in midair and burned it to ashes with a glare, but the distraction allowed Gobal enough time and space to raise his arms above his head. Hot, white light from all around the arena streamed into his hands, forming a swelling, crackling ball of energy.
"You're done, justicar." Kamahl launched his broadsword with all his might, skewering Gobal through the chest. The energy stored in Kamahl's sword joined that in the justicar's body, and Gobal screamed. The circuit of energy fed on itself, and light began sparking out from all the seams of the justicar's armor. Kamahl conjured a small throwing axe, knocked Gobal's visor back with a wide round kick, and jammed the axe deep into his enemy's armor.
Kamahl dove to the ground and covered his head just as Gobal exploded. The combination of lightning, fire, and fury was so intense that the sharp metal bits of the justicar's armor melted even before the force of the blast scattered them across the arena. All around him, Kamahl saw warriors and monsters alike cut down by the hail of molten silver.
Without the armor, Gobal was unable to control the electricity that gave him his power. He became a much smaller, broken figure draped in rivulets of melted metal, a figure that grew ever smaller as jags of lightning leaped off his body and dissipated.
Kamahl picked up his sword and stood ready as the justicar collapsed into a ball of flaming debris. Except for a charred pair of footprints and a few droplets of steaming metal, there was no evidence he had ever existed.
"Bravo, barbarian!" Kamahl looked up and saw Chainer politely clapping. Kamahl touched the tip of his sword to his forehead, a gesture of recognition.
Then he pointed at Chainer and drew the tip across his throat, beckoning the dementist down with a wave of his hand.
Chainer laughed with delight at the shows both above and below his platform. On his level, the battle of angel versus angel prevented any other flying things from soaring too high. On the ground, Kamahl had just revenged himself on the justicar, and all of the other contestants were either killing each other to get at the Mirari, or killing each other to escape from the pit. He had planned it carefully, but he hadn't planned it anywhere near as well as it was happening.
One of the Order angels broke free of its nightmare twin and tried once more to reach Chainer's platform. He waited until it was almost on top of him and then threw one of his anaconda people into her face. The snake wrapped its twelve-foot-long body around the angel's wings and torso and sank its venomless fangs into her sword arm. The angel cursed the snake, and both creatures fell out of sight.
"What are you staring at?" Chainer yelled at the dark angel who no longer had an opponent. "Fight!" The angel bared her sharp teeth and hissed, but she complied. She slammed her mace into the unprotected shoulder of one of the Order angels then followed the wounded creature to the floor as she fell, striking as often as time and gravity permitted.
Chainer was starting to see why the First treated everyone like children. There wasn't a single Cabalist left who could think and act for himself. He took one last look at the carnage on the floor and suddenly became bored. Why was he offering the Mirari when he already had the Mirari? No one but he could use it. It was a cruel waste of time to even offer the illusion of obtaining it.
Chainer flipped the control switch that would bring the platform down. It was time to end this charade, clear the building, and start from scratch. New Cabal City would be twice as grand as the original, and there would be no Order to interfere with the Cabal's business.
As the platform descended, Chainer hoped that Laquatus was putting his borrowed dementia monsters to good use. Once he had settled with the Order, Chainer vowed that the Mer empire woulc become nothing more than a subsidiary of the Cabal. He may have sworn an oath with Laquatus, but it was Laquatus who taught him that oaths could be broken.
Llawan's bridge was in chaos. Cephalid sailors and imperial guardsmen swarmed around the ship while her advisors counseled her to escape while she still could. She cleared the room of all but the command crew and Olsham, then she turned to the captain. "Take us into the battlefield." "But Empress- " the captain stammered.
"Do as we command. We will not allow our most loyal subjects to be killed by phantoms." She turned back down to the mirror clasped in her forelimb. "Silence! You have broken our bargain, Cabalist. We have a personal guarantee from the First!" she screeched. "There was to be no interference!"
"The First has gone south to Aphetto," said a young man with black braids and a void in his eyes. "Who are you again?"
"We are the Empress Llawan, rightful heir to the throne of Mer." "Never heard of you. Sorry." "We demand to speak to your patriarch." The young man paused. He seemed amused. "Who's we?" If the braided man had been in the room, the look on Llawan's face alone would have struck him dead with fear. "What is your name, Cabalist?"
"My name is Chainer, and if you don't leave me alone I'm going to change my mind. And then you'll be sorry." The connection broke, and the mirror went dark.
Llawan lowered die mirror. "The man is mad." She turned to Olsham. "Have you any ideas, mystic? Can this endeavor end well for Llawan?"
Olsham closed his eyes and bent his limbs into a complex sigil. "There is always a chance, Empress. But in this case, chance is not enough."
Laquatus sipped at a fine white wine as he watched the destruction of Llawan's hopes for the throne. With Chainer's monsters, his forces outnumbered Llawan's four-to-one, and he had major sea serpents and an orcan behemoth still in reserve.
Burke stood at Laquatus's side, silent and subservient. Laquatus was sorry to miss Chainer's Mirari Games, but he knew the treasure would keep. Someday soon, he would sit in the First's luxury box, watch Burke tear the competition limb from limb, and finally lay claim to the prize. Laquatus smiled. That is, he would do these things if the foolish boy Chainer hadn 't destroyed himself and all of Cabal City by now. Laquatus truly hoped that Chainer was still alive, so he could watch his own creation steal the Cabal's greatest treasure for the glory of Mer.