"Oh, that burns," Reese remarked. "But, I've had worse injuries tinkering with these:" Reese slings out his Aces and fires slugs around him in a death blossom, breaking the iron balls into dust one by one. He flung back his Aces and drew out his buzzing cleavers, ready for the next move. Nekoluga, having won yet another Chinese checkers game, was crouched at the back door of the monastery connecting the the clearing, observantly spectating the duel.