Argon's leaders had noticed the cloud of smoke a little too late. Zephaias was notified by a servant that something strange was happening in the sky. When he looked outside, he couldn't believe his eyes. The smoke was so thick it looked like storm clouds hovering above. Zephaias arrived at the Ayer castle as quickly as he possibly could. He arrived long after the battle was over.

Landing on the only castle wall which remained standing, albeit with holes and scorch marks. He looked at the damage done below with a glare. Smoke filled the air as it still was yet to dissipate from the battle. How hot must it have been and how much had burned that smoke still flooded the sky.

Soldiers and mages ran to and fro looking for survivors in the debris and rubble. Healers were everywhere taking care of the wounded. A shallow scream here or there and wails of pain seemed to echo from the battlefield. A search party attempted to find Darien Northwood, but it appeared as though he had already escaped, yet still, they scanned the surroundings looking for where he might be hiding.

A shadow appeared to cover Zephaias from behind as he said, "Master Cole, it looks like Elion's lizard thrashed around a bit."

Cole Darkbright looked down at the rubble with an incredulous expression, "Thrashed around? You call this thrashed around?" He pointed at the melted earth below and asked, "Where's the Castle? Where did it go? This is the only wall still standing!"

"All he did was throw around some spells and leave. Like a child throwing a tantrum, he made a mess. As long as we are prepared it should be easy to deal with."

The Black Tower Master slapped his face with both hands before saying, "I don't know how anyone manages to deal with you, Zephaias! Look at the fucking battlefield, you dimwit! Over two thousand knights, mages, and soldiers dead. That doesn't seem like a lot if you compare it to our total forces moron, but this damage was caused by ONE fucking man! Not to mention these were elite knights and mages! Half of the Silver Order gone in a day! We haven't even got the whole estimate on casualties yet because he fucking melted the castle with everyone still in it!"

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Zephaias smirked before saying, "Your right it looks pretty bad, but Ayes is no longer my responsibility, Master Cole. It's yours."

The Ayer family castle was gone; little more than broken rubble remained. Argon's elite knight order the Silver Order had lost half of its members, and the perpetrator had escaped with all of Argon's prisoners. It was a catastrophic defeat.

Cole sighed, "I suspect the Red Tower Master was only a distraction. The biggest loss is the Princess. It can't be a coincidence; that he's here right after she escaped. The Raineer, Windhorn, and Faircone households have been searched, and she's still missing. Ayes Princess is most likely on her way to Elion as we speak. Trackers were sent into the Ayes forest, but it appears they were bypassed at some point." Scratching his head Cole whispered to himself, "It looks like the only thing I've done better than Sternrbright is staying alive."

Grinning from ear to ear Zephaias said, "Maybe his Imperial Majesty will send someone else to fix this? Alina possibly? Or maybe Nova?"

Cole snapped, "Don't forget the reason I'm here, to begin with, Zephaias! To clean up after your mess! The only one who can come here to clean up at his point is the Imperial Majesty himself!"

"I'm sorry, Tower Master, but this is quite the epic failure. At this rate, the Imperial Majesty might have to come. Elion is proving to be a continuous thorn in our side and a bigger threat than we initially thought."

"The moment his Imperial Majesty gets involved the escalation of this war will get to a point of no return. Our Empire can't avoid damage if he leaves the Capital." Cole thought for a few seconds and then glared at Zephaias, "Funny, you consider it a failure when you are not the one responsible, but when you are responsible nothing is construed as failure."

The old man laughed and said, "Failure is a matter of interpretation, Tower Master. No matter how you look at this situation it's definitely a failure!"

The Black Tower Master grunted before saying, "Enough banter! If we don't get something back here both of us are going to get in trouble! Let's widen our search. I want you to go, and look for them, yourself. You'll get the best possible look from the sky."

"I'm not a foot soldier."

"You are a wind mage. You are the fastest mage here."

Zephaias snorted, "I'll go, but at this point, they are probably too far gone. It'll be impossible to catch up to them. Not to mention..." He scanned the wreckage below and said, "If I see the prisoners or the Lizard, I'm returning. I'd prefer not to end up as Lizard food."

The old wind mage Zephaias Stormbringer, gathered the wind at his feet as he leaped off the wall. Cole Darkbright gave him the most menacing glare he could manage, and Zephaias gave the same look back to him.

Taking one last look at the crater where Darien had cast the Salamander spell, he set his resolve and darted toward the forest.

Zephaias, known as the Stormbringer, was in hot pursuit.