“Lamia!” Sadie whimpers.

  The first lamia had an affair with Zeus. Hera, his wife, got pissed and killed all her children. The lamia went insane, either eating children or turning them into replacements for her own. I set myself cautiously back, trying to get to a point where I can pivot to face either the encroaching sirens or the lamia. I hear Baco snort as he steps next to me, readying for the charge command.

  “Dom, we can’t take this one,” Sadie says quietly, although she does keep her voice from quivering. “Let’s back out and leave the nice lady alone.”

  Sadie is seeing four on three. Me too, but in our favor. Sirens can control my war boar, let’s see how they feel about it when it happens to them.

  “My siren!” I grunt through gritted teeth, staring with every ounce of my will at the closest creature. I can beat it. It’s just a weak bondling. I engage it in a mental arm wrestling match that I am sure to win.

  The lamia rushes at us. Baco runs to counter. My target siren locks eyes with me.

  “Charming,” I drawl.

  The siren flinches, suddenly confused.

  “Mine,” I whisper, although it comes out sounding like a hurricane.

  My newly charmed siren coils around and starts singing.

  Baco lets out a surprised grunt. He’s airborne, feet pointing up, the lamia’s massive tail having swept directly under him. He slams down hard on his back. I wonder if the armor helped or made that hurt more. Sadie closes in on the lamia, trying to get a flaming punch in, but is distracted jumping over and away from the attacking tail.

  “Siren,” I bark. “Attack your sister!” I give the hand signal for attack. I’m not sure if it understands the English, the hand signal or my will, but it shakes it’s head and then does exactly as it should.

  I try to catch my breath. Keeping the siren under my Domination is weakening me. I have too many simultaneous bondlings and the siren is trying to break free, unlike Sadie and Baco. The sirens engage in a grappling match, a swirl of tails and wings, end over end, I can’t even tell which one is under my control.

  While the lamia’s tail keeps thrashing at Sadie and Baco, a tactic we haven’t encountered or prepared for at all, her top half is closing in on me. Fast. She must realize I swiped a siren and wants to turn the odds back in her favor. Sadie’s new level in jump makes her a difficult target.

  The lamia swings the golden scimitar. I dodge and stab her wrist. The scimitar clatters to the stone floor. She doesn’t even flinch and continues attacking with insanely long fingernails, slash after slash. I’m having trouble keeping up with the blocks, smacking her hand away. Nails catch my upper arm, snag my hair, slash, and come again.

  I turn on the ball of my foot and lunge into her rather than retreating, heaving the spear with all my strength into the approaching lamia.

  The words Eviscerating Spear flash over my weapon as it digs between her ribs.

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  She grabs the haft of it, angry and not afraid. She pulls herself closer, pushing her body further on the haft. Her jaw unhinges, like a cobra about to swallow. I’m engulfed in darkness.

  There’s a moment right before the curtain opens and the stage lights come up. It’s the moment when every nerve tenses in the extreme darkness, a massive anticipation about to be broken by the roar of distorted guitars and crash cymbals. It happened at battle of the bands, our first gig at Thurston’s and the time we played the main auditorium. All the big moments start in darkness.

  The first time I was in a real fight, in the alleyway behind Monty’s Pizza, Barry jumped me in the dark, sure I was dating Monica. I wasn’t. He apologized, which was awesome because I broke his nose.

  So many big moments start in darkness. Like this one - the first time I died.

  No fucking way.

  I am not getting swallowed by a Lamia after coming to wherever the hell this is and making it this damn far and not make it out of the damn maze. I summon satyrs, I’m not some history student. This is not how it ends. Sadie! SADIE. MY. DAMN. SATYR.

  My hands get a warm rush and then ignite. I keep swinging my flaming fists at the sirens as they gnash and bite each other. One is lying bloody on the floor, the others roll and rear, a serpentine pretzel. The rush of feeling the fire crackle through my skin is amazing. My legs are coiled springs, ready to explode in power.

  I’m Sadie?

  I look at my hands and down to my – dammit, I have hooves!

  “Dom? What are you doing in my head?”

  Ding.

  You’ve gained the Psychic Translocation (Emerging, Level 1) skill.

  “Just visiting?” I think, turning to see what the lamia is doing.

  The monster is grasping the spear in her chest, trying to pull it out. It spits out my body, which hits the floor to dissolve into oily black ash that drifts away.

  I just watched my own psychic cremation. I really hope mythological Greece has therapists.

  We jump. It’s that huge satyr jump. Sadie and I, decide we need to finish the lamia while she’s weakened.

  I scream. I think it’s me. Sadie is getting ready to load up her flaming fists. Somehow our signals get crossed and we are puking a huge blast of fire.

  Ding.

  You’ve gained the Flame Breath (Emerging, Level 1) skill.

  I’m a dragon? No, we’re still a satyr. We can’t both be in here. We know!

  Whatever we are for the moment, the lamia is now covered in flaming puke, a giant burning corkscrew trying to get away from the pain.

  Two halves of a siren slide past us on the floor. Baco spits a chunk of I-don’t-want-to-know beside it.

  The lamia throws her flaming body to the floor in a seizure that’s the serpentine version of stop, drop, and roll. We have the upper hand. We signal Baco to charge and we jump as high as satyr hooves can go.

  At the peak of the jump, I realize if I drop from this height with my spear out, it’s a kill.

  As I think it, I’m rematerialized next to Sadie, dropping, and my spear is out.

  Sadie wraps flaming hands around her neck and I plant my spear clean through the lamia’s skull, pinning it to the floor like planting a flag at the top of Everest.

  Ding.

  You’ve gained the Power Drop (Emerging, Level 1) skill.

  You’ve gained the Re-Emerge (Emerging, Level 1) skill.

  You’ve gained the Hard Landing (Emerging, Level 1) skill.

  Somehow, some magical somehow, I jumped into Sadie’s body, split back out and I’m alive. I check out at Sadie to see how she’s doing.

  She’s magnificent. She’s gotten bigger. She looks suddenly confident and graceful, a far more mature cast to her face. The fire drips from her hands and she shakes it away, clenching her fist. She stretches and flexes kinks from her neck. Her hands run over her toga and her new body, her new leaner, stronger body.

  “I think I may have gained a few levels,” she says, her voice ever so slightly deeper than it was.

  “I think you gained about a foot,” I chuckle.

  I let out a puff of air, the same kind from right after a gig when every note was right. I push sweaty hair out of my eyes and run my hand over my horns.

  MY HORNS!?

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