Rik laughed, a tear slipping over his swollen cheek. He wiped it away with a single finger, then deftly threw his arm out. A pillar of stone emerged to meet his grasp. This one was much thinner than the rest, a cylindrical hilt of stone coiling and clunking into place as Rik pulled it from the earth. The head of the hammer was nearly as wide as Rik’s wingspan. It cast a dark shadow down on Norok as Rik held it over his shoulder casually.

  “This one’s still pretty new for me,” Rik panted. “But I think you… You might be the perfect enemy to test it on.”

  Norok was ready to mock Rik for trying something new during the final hour, but was abruptly cut off by Rik slamming the hammer down. Numbly, Norok forced himself out of the way, changing the weight of his body to make him float away from Rik’s reach. He floated above the treetops, looking down at his opponent. Rik swung the hammer around in a circle, once, then twice, then again, until the momentum was enough for him to fling the hammer directly at Norok. Norok threw his arms out, commanding his magic to alter the weight of the weapon and change its course. But his magic fizzld at his bloodied fingertips, rejecting his command and fleeing back inside him like a scared child. Time seemed to slow as the hammer rapidly grew larger and larger in Norok’s eyes.

  He had to think quick-- was it his mana? He had been using it almost the entirety of the trial, but this didn’t feel like he was running on empty. It was as if his magic couldn’t penetrate the stone at all. Rik making himself too heavy to float with the rock boots was one thing, but there was no way he could make the hammer too heavy to be moved. There had to be something he was forgetting, something important.

  Out of the corner of his eye, Norok caught a flicker of white. From above, he could just barely make out Kell’s limping form, staggering behind a tree and hiding behind the trunk. A flame ignited from his finger, and he leaned into it with a pained look. Norok’s eyes widened with sudden realization, his thoughts moving a mile a minute. Rik had needed the incantation in the weakest link exchange to draw Kell into the curse, but maybe it wasn’t a temporary state for Rik. Maybe it was something permanent, meaning that any weapon he touched had a permanent weight to it. No wonder Norok couldn’t use his magic on the hammer, the hammer was completely unchangeable.

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  But Rik wasn’t. And so, with mere moments before the hammer’s impact, Norok held his arms out with one final play in mind. It was something he had read about briefly in one of the books he had stolen from the military base library. He had only made it a few pages through before finding it too boring to continue, electing to toss it in the trash after realizing how little it had to do with gravity magic, but the concept intrigued him enough to stay with him.

  “Pull,” he commanded through gritted teeth, stretching his magic down to swirl around Rik’s form. It hooked around Rik’s ribs, and Rik stood straighter feeling the invisible grasp. Rock boots clamped around his feet, keeping him tethered to the ground, but Norok wasn’t trying to make him fly. Not yet, at least. Instead, he hooked the other end of his magical pull to the hilt of the hammer, connecting it to Rik’s unknowing form below. The hammer halted, softly pushing into Norok’s chest before slowly spinning backwards. Rik watched in astonishment as the head of the hammer turned to face him. With a triumphant grin, Norok curled his fingers inwards, and pulled his arms back. The hammer flew faster than a bullet through the air, pieces of it crumbling from the force. Rik tried to move, but his boots prevented his well-timed escape. The hammer slammed into Rik with such force, it shook the nearby ground and trees, echoing with such a loud crack Norok was convinced they could hear it from the floating towers.

  As the dust cleared, Norok could clearly see Rik’s form pounded into a crater, pinned by his own hammer. He floated down, meeting Kell’s shocked face halfway.

  “That was… I only caught the end but… Wow…” Kell mumbled unintelligibly, still staring at Rik.

  Norok shrugged, a movement that was terribly agonizing for him. He tried to hide the instinctual wince, but Kell’s worried hand was already pulsating with warmth on his left shoulder.

  “Good work,” Kell said softly.

  “Thanks,” Norok replied shortly, then avoiding Kell’s gaze he added, “Couldn’t have done it without you.”