Buzz-saw whirling fiercely, Zak approached the now-whole zombie, swinging the bone-chain in a wide circle lazily. The two stared at each other long and hard, reevaluated each other after the first bout. Stoking his jawbone thoughtfully—seeing as he doesn’t have an actual chin—Zak ran his glowing eye-orbs up and down Johnny. He didn’t seem so tough. Sure, the zombie had speed and strength to rival his own, strong armor, and painfully powerful holy magic, along with the several other useful abilities he had demonstrated so far. But he was a lich. He had centuries worth of spells and powers at his beck and call. This undead brat wasn’t going to one-up him.

Sending a fresh surge of magical energy through the long chain and into the saw-blade, Zaknafein snapped the weapon out to his right, the buzzing disk soaring through a circular void and reemerging on Johnny’s right. The blade snapped into the zombie’s jawbone, etching a deep gash and spinning it around several times. Tugging on his end of the ridged chain, Zak sent another magical pulse down the line, sending the buzz-saw wrapping around Johnny’s shoulders and upper arms. The lich quickly wrapped the chain around his bony hand, tugging it tight. Grinning, he sent another surge, the buzz-saw picking up speed and grinding away ferociously at Johnny’s neck. The bound skeleton’s arms and upper torso burst into golden flames as he strained against the constraint.

“I’m afraid that won’t work this time,” Zak chided, grinning. “Neither your strength nor your magic will break that chain.” The lich’s crimson orbs flashed, an idea coming to him. Real flames, an angry orange and red, burst into life in Zak’s hand and spread onto the bone-chain. And for the first time, the lich saw in Johnny’s glowing eyes a hint of hesitance and, dare he say . . . fear? Chuckling, the skeleton sent the flames climbing along the chain, inching closer towards the portal. The flames continued to make their way towards Johnny, slowly, tauntingly. They had just broken through to the other side of the portal when Johnny wiggled an arm up and snapped his fingers. The armored skeleton fell to pieces, the chain falling limp. Disappointed, Zak pulled at the chain, shortening its length until it had been reduced to a manageable length. Slipping into another portal behind him, the lich waited while Johnny reassembled.

Reemerging well away from the original battleground, Zaknafein contemplated his next move. He could see the cluster of portals and a vaguely human form almost two hundred yards away. His foe—for all that he wielded holy flames—seemed to fear real fire. How primitive. But, if fire is what did the job, fire it was. A portal popped up in front of the lich, and he promptly stepped through. His magical transportation deposited him—to his immense satisfaction and amusement—only a mere ten feet behind Bones. Both stiffening and lengthening Rizzen, the undead necromancer launched the stiffened chain like a spear, keeping a hold on the lengthening end. Johnny whipped around as the buzzing blade soared towards him, dropping down in a crouch under the attack. The holy warrior held forth both hands, sending a bright ball of gold flames at Zak. The lich calmly sidestepped the orb, which disappeared into the endless darkness. The chain in Zak’s hand went limp, and the lich whipped it up and down, the backlash traveling along it, flames bursting from Zak’s hand and following behind.

Johnny dodged to the side at the same moment as Zaknafein stepped through another portal, appearing right behind the zombie. Johnny spun on the lich, sword raised. Zaknafein promptly burst into flames, the orange and red tongues framing his skull like an unholy halo. Johnny actually stepped back. But not back enough. Zak pulled back and launched a vicious blow with his free hand against the zombie’s face, sending him spiraling through the air to hit the ground several yards away. Laughing openly, the flaming lich conjured a skull similar to his own in his hand. The skull, too, burst into flame, and Zak hurled it at Johnny. The flaming skull hit the ground at the holy warrior’s feet and exploded in a cloud of flame and magical energy. Laughing again, Zak conjured another exploding skull.

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