Across the fortress, in a chamber that resonated with a distinctly different energy, Tara and Klax were locked in a desperate battle. The wide antechamber shook with the power of the spells cascading round the room. Dust and debris rained from the domed ceiling each time a magical blast collided with the walls. Flickering sconces revealed that not only were Tara and Klax engaged in a brutal skirmish with two formidable foes, but those foes wore uncanny visages: they were identical to Fauna and Lamphrey.

This false Fauna—her face twisted into a savage grin—hurled bolts of scalding flame at Tara and Klax with an expertise the real Fauna rarely demonstrated so openly. Meanwhile, the clone Lamphrey conjured arcs of black lightning that sizzled through the air, leaving scorched cracks in the walls. Each time Tara tried to lift her staff, the impostor Fauna launched a counterstrike, forcing her to dodge to the side. Klax, battered and cut, narrowly evaded a direct hit that would have melted through his armor.

"They're too strong!" Tara gasped, crouching behind a toppled section of wall. Her hair—short, spiky, and drenched with sweat—stuck to her forehead. Blood trickled from a gash on her shoulder. "We can't keep up with this level of magic. We don't have the defenses." She risked a glance around the shattered stone to see the fake Fauna stalking toward them, staff crackling with energy.

Klax grimaced. He was a formidable warrior, his arms usually strong enough to crush lesser foes, but even he looked rattled. His broad chest heaved with labored breaths.

"You don't have another - you know what - in you, by any chance?"

"Even if I did, it wouldn't do shit to these two!"

"Well then we'll have to try something new," Klax hissed back. "If we can't counter their magic, maybe we can lure them into a trap. Then—"

A lance of black lightning tore through the air, forcing Klax to roll across the floor. The oppressive wave of energy crashed against the pillar behind him, shattering rock and sending fragments whistling through the air. Tara yelped, leaping away as the twin illusions advanced, their unstoppable assault unrelenting.

"Tricky, aren't they?" purred the doppelgänger Fauna, voice dripping with spite. Her eyes had a malevolent gleam that the real Fauna's gentle orbs never possessed. "It's delightful to see such hopelessness."

Next to her, the false Lamphrey laughed softly, swirling tendrils of electric magic around her claws.

Tara and Klax exchanged a grim look. They had lost track of how long this fight had lasted, battered from one side of the chamber to the other. The illusions seemed tireless, their powers bizarrely amplified.

"You go left!" Klax yelled as the pair charged another volley of offensive spells. "I'll flank right. We'll split them up. Divide and conquer."

Tara gulped. "Sure you can tank spells like that, old man?"

"I've tanked worse," Klax growled back. "Just be ready on my signal."

He sprang from his cover and sprinted down the room, feeling the blazing heat of both dopplegangers' spells sear his back. He dropped into a roll, came up and blocked a fireball that seared away the hair on his elbows. Then when he opened his arms again, Fauna's face was in front of him.

He looked into her eyes. He saw fear.

And he hesitated.

"Klax!"

Tara loosed an arrow at the clone-Fauna's hand. She'd raised one that was channeling an energy spike spell that could have sliced Klax clean through from navel to collarbone. Klax rolled away, tripping the rabbit as she wailed, trying to dislodge the arrow embedded in her wrist.

Meanwhile, the clone-Lamphrey snarled at Tara.

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"Kittens should take a rest!" she roared, summoning three runic circles of fiery purple that each launched a beam of light towards the Minxit.

It gave Klax the time he needed to lunge at the Tialax, get both his arms around hers, and kick her staff away.

Tara dodged out of the way of the magic missiles and took her shot, aiming right for the Tialax mage's exposed neck.

And then she watched in horror as her bow crumbled away to dust in her paws.

"Wha-"

A rush of force knocked her against the stained-glass window in the middle of the room, smashing the glass and almost sending her flying outside to plumet to her death. She fell to the ground, wretched, and looked up to see a floating Fauna laughing down at her.

"You were always weaker than me," the vile clone cackled. "And you know it, don't you?"

Through laughter, the clone then sent another wave of force slamming into Klax, totally uncaring for her doppleganger partner. Both Lycae and Tialax went crashing into the far wall of the room, and as soon as Klax recovered, Lamphrey grabbed him by the scruff of his neck and channeled another spell.

He only just managed to break her hold before an explosion erupted before him, tearing through the arm of the clone and sending him hurtling back, his chest smoking and scarred.

"They – they don't fight like Faun and Lamph at all," Tara murmured.

"No," Klax agreed, rising steadily and helping Tara to her feet. "They fight like…him. Haylock. Without a care in the world for each other or anyone else."

Tara shook her head as both of them levitated towards them, the Lamphrey-clone's ruined arm limply hanging in a bloody-mess by her side.

"Nothing worse than a suicidal mage," Tara grunted.

Suddenly, both clones let out a roar of effort. A wave of conflagration from the false Fauna combined with a bolt of crackling darkness from the fake Lamphrey, merging into a single, unstoppable surge of power roaring across the chamber. Debris tumbled and stone pillars collapsed in the face of that monstrous collision.

Both hybrids leaped to avoid the strike, even as it blew a crater in the floor and sent them both flying again.

"They wanna keep us divided," Tara said. "And without a bow…shit."

Klax broke into another sprint, fists flaming with fiery power as he charged both mages.

"Fucking idiot…"

The pair swung their staves and let loose another torrent of force, making the Wolfman stop, plant his claws firmly in the ground, and weather the storm.

His eyes looked to Tara, who'd already understood the opening he created.

Her daggers were out, slathered in poison, and she leaped through the air in a somersault that brought her right behind the clone Fauna.

"Sorry about this, gal."

She twirled her dagger and gripped its handle tight, sinking it into the fluffy skin of the clone, feeling the blade sink into the soft flesh of her sister's hide.

Then – nothing.

The Fauna clone disappeared, and before Klax could recover and help her, Tara met the brunt of Lamphrey's overcharged staff strike right across her chest.

Fuck…

She wheezed, coughing up blood as the stave tore through her leather armor, and ended up skidding across the room again, barely able to move a muscle, this time.

Meanwhile, she heard the cackling of the Fauna clone – the real one, not the illusion she'd been duped by.

"My my, Tara, you really must learn to stay focused one of these days."

Tara grimaced as Klax ran to her, only to be met with another deluge of magic blasts.

"…bitch," she moaned. "You – you're nothing like the real Faun."

The spiteful impersonator levitated above her, cocking its eyebrow at her smirk.

"The real Fauna woulda killed me like nine times by now. Your – your magic's nothin' compared to the original."

Klax appeared beside her, his shoulder smoking and fists charred and bloody.

"You're right about that," he said with a beastly grin. "And our Hopla would never rely on another to win like this."

The Fauna clone's eyes bulged, glowing red with fury.

"Then why don't I show you what I can do?"

She brought her hands together, scintillating threads of green and blue lightning sparking between her fingers, while Lamphrey rose up and hoevered next to her, adding her own dark energies to her attack.

Tara and Klax braced themselves behind the meager cover, certain this next blast would finish them.

And then, as though scripted by fate, a portion of the chamber's towering wall exploded inward, raining down chunks of dust and mortar.

And through the gaping hole stepped two silhouettes wielding staves that glowed with unmistakable brilliance. Real staves. Real magic.

A dual-cast blast of purple light met the blast from the clones and nullified it completely, sending both dark doubles spinning out of control, each of them crashing into the far corners of the room.

"So shall we deal with all pretenders and performers. For only those born to the touch of magic can truly practice the Art."

The voice was firm, calculated, and powerful. And Tara instantly recognized it.

Lamphrey.

Beside the smoky form of the Tialax, another familiar figure stood, staff raised, ready for battle.

"Hope we didn't miss too much fun?"

Tara's eyes widened.

"Faun?"

The twinkling eyes of the Hopla met Tara and Klax's, and for once the smile on her face didn't inspire headpats. It inspired confidence.

"Good to see you both," the real Fauna said. "Now, let's take care of these second-rate imitations."

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