Odell continued his charge through the hotel’s halls with Hal’s sisters shaking in every which way from his zigzag running pattern until he slid to a stop before the door. He ducked just before Evron appeared and tried to swipe at him, and managed to land a kick on the Zenotote attacker before the foe vanished again. Odell shifted his foot to bang open the stairway doors, and more than any, he wished he had his Needaimus.

  He made a small prayer to Crenussal, then sprinted to the stairs.

  Don’t trip over short legs, don’t trip over short legs, don’t trip over short legs. Odell shifted the internal count of five in his mind to a small motivational phrase as he bounced the centers of his feet on the corners of the stairs in the most optimized controlled fall he could manage. When he hit the twentieth count of his phrase, he stopped on the stair turn and jumped back several steps. Evron appeared again, snarled at him, and vanished. The man had a strong ability, but his power was only as strong as he was willing to use it. Odell burst down the stairs with fresh motivational count.

  If Evron were anything like Fiona, he would be doomed. The girl was too wild with her teleportation and was willing to use 3D space well to her advantage. Evron was firmly glued to the ground, never willing to appear midair and vanish before splatting like an egg. Once Odell realized, he understood why Tancred had found the foes easy enough to evade. It was like a card game, where the opponent had clear tells. A lack of creativity would at least spell the end to their foe’s chances of teleporting them away, but Odell wasn’t at all sure if it meant he had a chance of delivering the final blow.

  Hal’s sisters complained a bit about being carted off, Evron failed at a couple of attempts to send Odell away, and the grey prince kept barrelling down the stairs like a madman.

  Floor 1 came at last, and he burst through the door without slowing down.

  “Odell!” Isabella groaned, “We can run on our own!”

  “Nope. Nope. Not until I get you to safety!”

  Whatever goal Odell wished to reach hit a roadblock as a wall of armed soldiers lined up in the hallway—blocking his way. The prince skidded to a halt and ducked one last time to avoid another swipe from Evron.

  The pale blue Zenotote appeared in front of his backup. He scratched at his chest and shook his head. From the back, more armed opponents bunched up, weapons drawn. Both ends of the hallway were blocked, and Odell slowly let Hal’s sisters to the floor. He grabbed both their hands and squinted at the opponent.

  If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

  “Well,” Evron hissed, “I can say you provided an entertaining enough chase, but it all leads to you perishing either way. Look at you, breathing heavy. You would have been better off to die with enough breath left to scream.”

  “You can do whatever you want with me,” Odell snapped back, “just let the girls go. They are too young to be wrapped up in all of this.”

  A nasally laugh started and grew into a full maniacal sound in response.

  “Odell!” Isabella snapped, she pulled her hand free, and Gabriella did the same. “We can help you fight!” She flexed her Needaimus bonded noodle arm.

  “How cute,” Evron mused, “and what will the little girls do?”

  “We’re going to combine!”

  “You’re going to combine?” Odell repeated with a furrowed brow.

  “They’re going to combine?” the crowd of enemy soldiers added.

  “Oh please,” Evron hissed while scratching at his chest.

  Isabella rushed to her sister, both making a small, almost dancelike motion before touching the tips of their Needaimus-bonded index fingers together. A brief flash of light enveloped the twins, and in their place stood a thin woman, the height the sisters would be if one stood on the other's shoulders. Her green hair was just as long as the duo’s if they tied one end to the other, and her red eyes were narrow and looked pissed. She cracked her neck and spat on the floor.

  “Um, Isabella, Gabriella?” Odell said.

  “Ha?” the woman-sized person shot back. She kicked at nothing on the floor and looked at their opponents. “Ah, right, Odell is seeing our ability for the first time.” She clicked her tongue. “Well, get this through your thick skull, Mr. Grey Prince. We told you we could take that fool on in the hallway, but now we are in this mess. So none of that dopy face, let’s kick some rear!” The combined girls disappeared in a blur, and the next second, one of the soldiers was crying out in pain. Odell turned with just enough time to catch a short warhammer thrown at his face. “And none of our names, it’s too complicated for the combination. Just call us Ella.”

  The woman-shaped fusion was standing with her head on top of the poor soldier she had just clobbered, while the ones who had been standing next to him slowly backed away. At some point, she had picked up a sword from one fellow and hoisted it over her shoulder as she tilted her head.

  “What are you fools, a bunch of weaklings? Show us some fight!”

  The following attacks looked more like a wild animal pouncing on top of injured prey than a fight. Odell turned his back to it, questioning many things, and shook his head. Evron was still in the fight, and unlike the soldiers behind, who seemed perturbed by the beatdown happening behind the grey prince, the Zenotote was unfazed.

  Odell hoisted the hammer in the air and slid his feet on the ground. He tried his best to come up with a cool line, but nothing seemed to be the right fit.

  “It’s not too late to back down?” the prince managed to squeak out. Evron laughed. Odell jumped back as the Zenotote teleported just in front and avoided being touched. His opponent sighed.

  “I suppose you want a slow and painful death?”

  “I know you are, but what am I! Wait, no, uh. Ah, whatever!” Odell charged close with hammer at the ready.