*sighs* Yes, I have to do it. This is it. This is me explaining my unfortunate slowness. I'm writing an actual novel! Yes, there it is! There is my reason. I know. Not the greatest one out there, but it's the truth. I've got a steampunk novel I've been working on, then a medical science fiction, and a fantasy that I've been doing. I hit a wave of inspiration and my Mages of Lancet Series got put on hold.

Enough excuses, though. Let's get back to it!

Oh, and Glitter Spires, call me out on any noted errors. I put this one up without your revisions. (Oh, my gosh! Put that stick down! Don't hit me!)

Kill

"Holy hell fire," Katja breathed when a rumbling caught her attention. Just as she turned, icy claws tackled her into the snow. The tiger the mage named Lyon had summoned threw her to the ground, but Katja barely spared the being a second glance. Her eyes had zeroed in on an avalanche tumbling down the mountainside, and they refused to budge.

Icy claws tried to shred through Katja's flesh, but she hastily pulled the plank attached to her feet up. The ten crystal blades separated her board flat down the middle at the same time Katja screamed, "Avalanche!"

"Ha. Yeah, like I'll fall for—Sweet mother of god! Avalanche!" Lyon screeched when the deep rumbling of tumbling sheets of snow caught his ears. His booted foot kicked upwards as he slipped down the mountain towards her.

Cursing her luck, Katja hastily scraped for her own boots. Her board had been split. It was completely useless to her now.

Closer and closer those massive sheets of snow came. Katja could feel her heart racing. Her adrenaline pumped, and her fingers dashed. She was trying her hardest to rip her boots from the board when Lyon grabbed her by the purple scarf secured around her throat.

A gurgle of sound ripped from her poison painted lips before she was hauled onto Lyon's shoulder.

"You won't be able to escape it!" she cried, sinking her gauntlets inside of the belt around his waist. She held firm as Lyon slid this way and that around evergreens and boulders. With her heart in her throat, Kat held onto Lyon's belt for dear life.

Lyon barely dodged a boulder projecting from a snow covered outcropping. As soon as he made it past that, a grouping of coniferous trees decided to get in on the party. Limbs crashed against Katja's legs. They scraped against Lyon's pale skin.

"Where is that Ice Princess Gray when I need him?" Lyon roared. He twisted his hips, and Katja dug her face into Lyon's back when another branch wanted to get familiar with her face.

She was end up in the air with Lyon holding her legs in an iron grip, and she wasn't sure what was scarier: watching the avalanche coming at them or not seeing the boulders behind her.

Katja felt her body heave to the left, and she sunk her gauntlets straight through Lyon's pants. "There's nothing you can do! Aren't you an Ice Mage?" she squealed.

The avalanche looked like it was only feet away from them now. Every second it came closer was a second that Kat's heart inched further into her throat.

"I make animals. Gray could make a shield or a wall or a—" The rest of his words were cut off. Snow rained down upon them, and Katja screamed as she was ripped from Lyon's arms and into a daze of white.

Tree branches slammed against her as she was tossed like a ragdoll. She bounced against boulders, branches, and the earth. End over end Katja toppled. Her eyes were closed tight, and her jaw clenched before she could move her tongue out of the way. The force of her clamped teeth cut her tongue off at just the tip.

She couldn't scream in pain, and she couldn't open her mouth. Pounds upon pounds of pressure were rolling her deep underground. A hellacious cold was felt not only from the frost around her but the fear pumping hard inside of her.

Her body went instinctively into fetal position, but she couldn't hold it. A rock that had tumbled down from the mountain above was thrust into her gut. Her breath was forced from her lungs. The light of conscious vision wavered like a bad television signal.

Even as she rolled, she remembered a survival class she'd taken before beginning her snowboarding career. Katja gritted her teeth, as she tried to find something to hang onto. The next time that she hit a branch, she tried to grab for it.

Katja's gauntlets sunk deep into the wood, but they didn't hold. When another wave of snow slammed into her face, she lost her grip. Her claws shred wicked marks into the trunk of an evergreen as Kat continued her downwards tumble.

When that didn't work, she fought the avalanche. Like she was swimming in the ocean, Kat kicked her legs and arms. The planks of her snowboard were still attached to her feet. She attempted to use them like flippers, but she really wasn't sure which way was up.

Katja felt something slam hard into her arm, and she forced herself away from it. She fought. She wrestled. She demanded release until the avalanche started slowing.

Even as it slowed, Katja didn't. She kept up her battling.

Her lungs felt pressed for oxygen, and her arms were growing tired. When the avalanche finally felt as if it had stilled. Kat wriggled until her hands were in front of her face. She hastily dug a small pocket around her mouth to allow oxygen to reach her.

Before the snow completely settled around her, Kat took in a massive breath. Then, she held it. She held and held and held until she was positive that the snow had stopped. When she felt like it was safe, Katja breathed out. With her lungs having some extra space to expand it would make her harder to suffocate.

"Take… that… nature," she panted as she tried to gather her bearings. She didn't give herself very long. When she felt like she was able to move again, Katja spat.

Purple tinted saliva flung from her lips, but it didn't go far. Gravity pulled the spittle against her face. If Earthland hadn't changed in the past couple of minutes and gravity still went towards the center of the earth, that meant she was facing up.

She couldn't stay down here. The longer she did, the thicker the snow would settle. It could become as strong as concrete if she didn't try to do something. Deciding against her better judgement, Katja dug.

Long, spiky lashes blinked frost away, and she forced her arms to dig. Katja felt like she should have been named the Human Shovel as she wrested for control of the snow packing down on her.

After what felt like hours, Katja's head breached the surface. Her mask was pulled away from her face, and her hair was soaked wet around her.

"We have a survivor!" Isaac announced from the overhead hologram. Katja had to blink a couple of seconds when she got a peek at her confused expression popping up on the screen.

Throwing her hand up in a thumbs up of assurance, Katja forced her wide hips out of the thick ivory. Her breath was still trying to catch, and she gave herself just enough seconds until she saw Princess Adamine jetting down the mountain.

Even with her gelatin husk of a body, Kat got up on wobbly legs. A short glance behind herself showed that they were at the water. Ice was still at the water's top, and she could have groaned. Isaac must not have heated the water for them.

Demon! Isaac Grigori was a demonic, heartless, soul sucking bastard. Katja was going to run her gauntlets across his face with a paralysis poison so potent he wouldn't be able to walk for the next week.

Her revenge brewed hot in her mind and warmed her against the fear still running like ice in her veins. One look at Adamine barrelling down the mountain melted the last of that ice.

Kat placed her feet firmly on the crunchy snow around her. Adamine's head was turned as she was trying to dodge blasts of magic being thrown at her. She had no clue Kat was anywhere around until the Poison Body Mage wrapped her arms around Mina's waist.

The acceleration of Adam's body towards Katja sent both of the women flying. Adam yelped in fear at the sight of the water, and Katja grinned. The princess was a hydrophobe. She hated deep water because of all the ships that had been sunk by the old Lancet navy.

Grinning at her luck, Katja heaved Adamine. Powerful thighs hefted the much more physically define woman over her head, and Kat slammed on her back in the deep end.

Adamine may have a fear of water, but Katja on the other hand was a beast in the water. One command. Purple Haze. All Kat would have to do was wait until more of her adversaries entered the water with her, and she'd send them to Davy Jones' Freshwater Locker.

Bubbles danced all around their bodies. Adamine scrambled like a wet cat towards the surface, but Katja pushed off the rocky bank with her bare feet. Adamine's collision with her had torn her clean from her boots. She no longer had the beautiful boots to hold her down.

Hmm. Perhaps, her revenge on Isaac would be for him to buy her a new pair of boots.

She kind of needed his help to catch whatever Normans were still on the prowl for mage meat.

With that in mind, Katja swam. Her full body suit doubled as a wet suit thanks to the fabric. It hugged her tight as she swam. More and more mages were entering the water. Katja could hear them when she pulled her head up to the surface.

Adamine was contending with some woman Kat had never seen before, and Lyon was right behind the two of them. Still on the mountain, Katja could see Rogue, Ichiya, Risley, and a couple of the Lancet guild members.

She thought she was going to be able to get out of the way unscathed until someone's hands wrapped around her throat. No, not hands. It was the current of the water.

Katja's eyes popped open as her head was forced upwards. Just the glimmer of a false moon shined bright in the midday sky, and she instantly knew. Moon Magic. There was only one clan in Lancet that still used that ancient magic, and it was named Ulrich.

Silver glittered in Katja's eyes as a crescent moon necklace reflected against the skin of her newest enemy. "Wonderful day we're having. Isn't it, murderer?" Lucian Ulrich chimed.

His voice was barely more than a growl, and the Time Out Box in Katja's head rattled. This was another victim of Kat's former servitude. The Ulrichs had been a target of hers and Sven's ages back. Gatlin had given out the order, and his slaves had been forced to go with it.

The order? Kill the last of the mage clan Ulrich.

Back when Kat and Sven were owned by Gatlin, the Ulrichs had gathered their clan to attack the army. Whenever a Cleansing would happen, the Ulrichs would fight back. It had always been a gruesome battle, but all Cleansings were.

Eventually, Gatlin realized he wouldn't be able to battle a seafaring clan that could manipulate water currents with their summoned moons. He had to fight fire with fire.

So, Kat and Sven had been given the order. They singled them out. One by one the assassins murdered mage after mage. Katja had taken too many lives, too many family members. Brother, sisters, daughters, and sons… No one had been safe. Katja and Sven killed them with ease.

The siblings poisoned their water supply. Sometimes, they would sneak into the houses. Katja would kiss them in their sleep, and Sven would sink in his teeth to inject his venom. The people had believed that an ailment had fallen upon them.

It wasn't until Katja got sloppy one night that the brother and sister duo had been found out.

"This is the last house," Sven explained with a voice empty of emotions. Though he sounded empty and had an expressionless face to match, Kat knew her little brother was tired.

The two of them had been gone for months. They'd poisoned the freshwater stream that their target drank from, and recently they'd been forced to start sneaking into houses because the clan had moved to cleaner streams. Their prey was smart but not without weakness.

Katja ran her gauntlet through the dark hair of her little brother, and she grinned when he lost some of the tension that had been keeping his spine ramrod straight for the past few months. All this killing was growing tiresome, and Sven was just a boy.

At fourteen years old Sven should have been studying and playing. He shouldn't be out here hunting children his own age, biting them in their sleep to inject venom to their veins. It was wrong. It was corrupt, but so was their government. And, they were government property.

Smiling at her little brother, Katja tried to lighten his grim expression. "So, what do you want to do when we get back?"

"Sleeeep," the boy groaned. He leaned back on the tree limb they'd perched themselves in. "I need sleep in my own bed."

"That's a given," Katja laughed. "Aside from that? Is there anything special you want to do? You'll get a week's reprieve back in the fields. Are there any certain people you want to see or things you want to do?"

Sven's dark eyes narrowed as his brows furrowed at her. Even though Kat was trying to make casual conversation, she immediately realized what she said. You will get a week's reprieve not we. She could have cursed her foolish words.

"What do you mean you? Aren't you going to get reprieve, too?"

Kat's mouth opened. Then, she shut it right back. No, she wouldn't get to take time off. Unlike her brother, she was of no use in the fields thanks to her Death Touch.

While Sven played in the fields with the normal boys and girls, Kat was going to have to do something new. There was a new slave. He was big in both height and width. Massive manacles had encircled his wrists the first time she'd met him, and his bright blue eyes had been crazed. As he'd walked with the guards, he had towered over them. The sword he wore on his back… It had been the same height of the escorts.

Katja's new job would be to go from chambermaid to that… beast's keeper. They called him the Heavy Metal Soldier, and Katja was to be the one to make sure he never ran off when they were on missions.

The very first day she'd met him, Katja had been grabbed by a guard as she'd washed dishes. The plate had clattered to the floor, and she'd been thrust into a room to wait. Then, the big male had entered the room.

He was ominously calm, something that only added to his intimidation factor, and when he looked at her, he'd snorted.

"You think that a child will be enough to keep me from slaughtering you pigs! Foolish governments with your foolish ideals. You corrupt children to do your dirty work as you twiddle your thumbs and entertain thoughts of war. You have no honor! You are nothing but—"

His words stopped immediately. Foamed drooled from his lips, and blood began to drip from his nose and eyes. When he gaped down, Katja gaped, too. A guard had grabbed her by her covered arm to slap her hand flat against the exposed skin of the massive male's chest.

"Let me go! Let me go! I'll kill him!" Katja squaled as she writhed on the guard's hold. Tears streamed down her face, and she tried to break free to no avail.

"Call in her brother. We'll need his antivenom," the guard holding Kat stated. His metal covered body shifted, and he flung Kat against one of the stone walls in the castle turret. As she cradled a wrist sure to grow bruised by morning, the man sneered, "That's your new friend, Poisoneva. The two of you will play together when your brother isn't around."

Without any further information, the man spun on his heel. The massive male was still writhing on the floor, and the guard merely stepped over his convulsing form. Before he could get out of the room, Kat flung herself towards him. "Wait! I can't feed myself! How will I eat?"

"Figure it out yourself, brat," he'd called back. The door slammed, and Katja crumbled. She landed on her knees in front of the convulsing man in old age soldier's armor.

With purple tinted tears beginning to rise in her eyes, Katja stared at another person she'd unwittingly harmed. "I'm so s-s-sorry."

"Katja?" a voice called to pull her from her thoughts.

Shaking her head from the memory of the Heavy Metal Soldier, Katja looked back at her little brother. He was with her now. He wasn't gone yet. Katja wouldn't have to fear the metal bearing soldier until she got back to Lance. She should enjoy the time she had with Sven. Surely, the Heavy Metal Soldier would want her dead when she returned.

How to make him understand?

"Katja," Sven called again. "Aren't you going to get reprieve? Gatlin makes you work with the other chambermaids when you're at the castle. Isn't that what you're going to do?"

Kat shook her head. "No. Not this time, Sven. I have to go on another assassination when we get back."

"Alone!" he nearly shrieked, and Kat quickly slapped her hand over her brother's mouth.

"No. No. Not alone. I have a new partner."

The boy didn't look relieved. "Does she know you can't feed yourself, how you make the food decay before you can eat it?"

"No. He doesn't know that, but I'll explain it to him. We only met briefly."

"He?"

"Yes, Sven. A he. I'll be working with another boy." Judging by her little brother's expression, that news wasn't welcome. Sven never did like it when Kat was around boys ever since Trevet. He was afraid of another boy coming along to convince Katja she could touch him without getting hurt, and Sven, like Kat, knew that was impossible.

Sven looked ready to make another statement, but Kat drew her little brother in close when a light turned on in the house they were stalking. "They must have heard us," Sven whispered.

"Dead men hear no words," Katja murmured back.

"But, they do haunt their gravesites," a new voice chanted. Kat's entire body froze as her eyes made a slow glide to the new voice in the branches. Her arms held Sven tight, but the boy was going nowhere. Like she, he had frozen solid. The assassins had been crept up on.

As Katja faced the same male that had crept up on her and her brother that faithful night, it all made sense. "You were the one who knocked me out on the mountain!" she gasped, trying to breathe despite the water wrapping around her body.

"Your powers of insight amaze me," Lucian remarked, rolling his silver eyes. His feet were bare and laid flat on the water despite the harsh chill. He looked like some kind of otherwordly being with his silver, glowing eyes and the way he walked on the water by getting the current to push against his feet.

"And, your beating around the bush pisses me off," Katja breathlessly barked. With every word, Lucian would force more water down her throat by dragging her under the surface. Her sentences were a gurgling mass of spitting out water and gasping for air.

Not looking entertained in the slightest, Lucian stated, "This is a warning, Poisoneva. The only one that you're going to get."

When he gave pause as if to let that sink in, Kat hissed, "Then, say it already, you arrogant bastard!" Thought, it came out more along the lines of "Gen, sway edy, yo arregen, basta!"

Finally, Lucian's lips came up in a quaint little smirk. "No matter what title you hold, I will kill you. You may be the King's favorite whore, but he won't be able to stop me from ending your life."

Kat's head came up for air, and she snarled, "Then, why give me any warning? Why not kill me now for all my crimes?" Her Time Out Box was rattling. The deaths of every innocent she'd ever killed or helped kill were calling out for her. Maybe, this was how she should end. It wasn't like she didn't deserve it. It was what most the mage populace would want if they knew that Katja actually was Poisoneva.

Amazing how Lucian knew, but then again, he was the only one she'd ever been forced to let live after seeing her face. And, it wasn't for a lack of trying.

"Because, Poisoneva, I want you to live in fear of me like I lived in fear of you for those months. Every night before you go to sleep, I want you to question if I'm under your bed or looking in your window," Lucian explained. "We may not be able to legally kill outside of the tournament, but remember, I'm not here to win. I'm here for my revenge."

Lucian's hand came up in a fist before he dropped it. The Moon Magic he was using to manipulate the currents with dragged Katja down. Her lungs were gasping for air just like they had during the avalanche. Katja was wondering just how many times she was going to have to nearly drown during this competition before someone took her out.

When the current released, it was for Katja to open her eyes. She was behind everyone! Lucian had held her back! The remaining contenders of the preliminary round were all ahead of her.

Baring her teeth, Katja shrieked, "Purple Haze!" Her magic leaked from her pores, and it leaked into the water around her. Katja almost coughed on water when the currents shifted. Her purple infused water rushed towards the mages in front of her. Katja was sure that she wasn't hallucinating when Lucian's voice whispered, "I have to keep you in the competition with me. I'm not the only one who wants you and the rest of the Royal Guard dead, so I'm just doing a couple of favors."

The poisoned water grabbed the bodies of mages, and Katja watched them spazz. Foaming at the mouth, noses leaking with blood. It wasn't a poison for death. Kat had made sure of that. She was just going to knock them unconscious for just long enough for her to get past them. Then, she'd suck the poison right back into herself. No one was going to drown because of her.

She was tired of killing, and it looked like it might just be her time to get killed.