Free Freelance Heroics by Stephen W. Gee Page A

Swiftness spell—it was still on cooldown, as mandated by its god, and wouldn’t be ready for several more minutes—she didn’t have a chance to evade.
    Snatching the holdout crossbow from behind her, Gavi cocked it against her leg and fired at Cóstan. Then she turned and ran.
     
     
    Gavi dove behind the column a heartbeat before Cóstan’s spells struck. The pillar shook, stone eroding as mana splashed on either side.
    The barrage stopped. Gavi knew this probably meant her opponent was preparing more spells, which was not to her benefit. Any advantage she had earned with her wild offensive was gone.
    As she rested her head against the column, Gavi went over the situation. She was faster, younger, and more desperate than her opponent. She was pretty good at sneaking around, but that was useless here. She was limited to close range, save for her crossbow, which she paused to reload. She had cover, but it wouldn’t last for long, not when evocation spells can be made to curve in mid-flight.
    Gavi felt a cold pit settle in her stomach.
    When Gavi fought alongside Mazik and Raedren, she was sometimes able to forget how weak she was. No matter what Mazik said, it was mostly them compensating for her. Gavi didn’t think her friends were geniuses, and she knew they had worked hard, but they had been born with above-average potential, while hers was below average by far. If all three of them worked equally hard, Mazik and Raedren would learn the spell while she would not. So she had worked harder than them, but she could never catch up.
    But here, she couldn’t delude herself. As the first of Cóstan’s spells curved around the column, forcing her to duck, her inadequacy was clear.
    That’s when Gavi noticed the shattered column to her left. It lay where Mazik had pulled it down on top of himself and Rysha during the fourth match. The upper third was still in one piece, but the rest lay smashed, save for the short stump still bound to the floor.
    A stubborn fire welled up in Gavi. She wasn’t ready to give up. Not yet.
    She leaned her sword against her collarbone and turned around. Grasping the column with her free hand, she leaned to her right. Cóstan was standing a few meters away, and as soon as Gavi came into view, he opened fire. Gavi ducked back behind the column as his spell struck.
    She kept going. Gavi shrugged the sword off her collarbone, and as she lurched into the open, hurled the blade with all her might.
     
     
    Cóstan held up a barrier, though he was careful to keep his eyes on Gavi. The sword struck and fell away.
    Cóstan watched as Gavi reached the shattered column and began searching through the debris. He arched an eyebrow. Though he had another spell ready, he stayed his hand. He was curious. Maybe her friend left some kind of weapon.
    Gavi stood up with a piece of rubble as big as a bodybuilder’s chest and hurled it at Cóstan’s head.
     
     
    The crowd roared as sections of stone crashed down around Cóstan. He kept dodging, but between the projectiles, the cloud of shattered stone, and the suddenly uneven footing, he was beginning to take damage.
    Gavi strained as she lifted another rock. What had seemed like a good idea a minute prior was already unraveling, as she realized she was spending too much time throwing to close the gap, and that she was running out of stones.
    Gavi grabbed the largest remaining piece, the base of the column, and lifted. It didn’t budge. That’s when she realized it was still tethered to the ground.
    Gavi tugged at the base again. It gave way a little. She leaned down to look at the metal bindings that held it in place.
    They were coming loose. The bindings, which were like big metal tent spikes that had been driven into the ground, couldn’t go very deep without hitting the tempered metal floor that kept competitors from blasting into the Catacombs.
    Gavi put her back into it and pulled. With a strained pop the stakes gave way, and the base came away in her