Magical Engineering

“Are you able to share any details of what we’ll be facing, Floor Master?” Rabyn said, leaping back to us from the food table. While I was incredibly impressed by his abilities, the idea that he was this powerful and yet did nothing to stop the slaughter across planet Earth wasn’t helping my acceptance of him. I wasn’t sure I could bring myself to order his execution if it came to that, but I doubted I’d ever like him, and once Earth recovered, there was a real chance he’d face a trial for war crimes. But that was a potential future that required his help in the here and now.

“You know I can’t, but smart to ask anyway. I do know that the earliest they could get you scheduled for a third floor is in ten minutes. So if you were to somehow make quick work of what’s behind the door, you could make up the time you need for a break,” Floor Master said as they led us to the door.

“I deeply appreciate you telling me this,” Rabyn said before we all walked through the door into a monochrome, featureless hallway, the door closing behind us once we were all through.

“How did you become friends with Floor Master?” I asked, curiosity finally getting the better of me.

“That’s not a story I currently wish to tell,” Rabyn answered.

“And it doesn’t look like we have time anyway!” Elicec yelled as the hall we had entered vanished, leaving us standing in a giant empty field.

“Uh, shouldn’t there be something here?” I asked. There was nothing I could see other than fields of grass. Then I heard it, just before I saw its shadow pass over us. The loud screech of a giant bird somewhere far in the skies.

“There!” Elicec shouted, firing a blast of electricity out of his finger at the monster, managing to strike it on one of its massive wings. It screeched again, now diving in for an attack.