We stood in the chaparrals of the earth faction with giddy smiles on our faces. August rushed in and I cast Frost Nova, which didn’t even form ice anywhere on him. His magic resistance was at a ridiculously high amount to render basic spells absolutely useless. Instead of Frost Nova, I opted for carefully placed Ice Walls, which he either evaded or simply kicked through. Much of the same was done to my Earth Walls, despite them being stronger than Ice Wall. Retrace kept me away from him somewhat, but it couldn’t do that forever.

He hit me with an uppercut to the stomach, and I was certain several ribs were broken. Divergence got him off me and Convergence pulled me back, albeit violently to create a great distance fast. I channelled Eden to myself and quickly repaired the damage but before I knew it, he was up on me again. I used Fire Blast to give me just second of distraction then hit Retrace again, giving me some distance. An Ice Javelin was thrown at him, but the guy just batted the thing away. Oh, come on…

“I’m going max!” he warned. I put on Avatar of Lightning and hit Timedial immediately and boy were those spells beefed up. Even in a world that was slowed to a crawl, the guy still ran faster than the usual man. I still had to pay close attention because his full efforts were about the same as the way he moved before Timedial, but Avatar of Lightning gave me a little edge.

He appeared behind me, and I knew that because of the kick he hit me with that had me flying through the air like a ragdoll. One Timedial, even beefed up from the crystal shard powerup still wasn’t enough to properly read his movements. “Alright, you win!” I shouted out and gave up. He was beyond just one Timedial for me, and I figured stacking two probably would end up bad for me. When I took it off, the usual crushing effect was there, as if I slammed right back into the correct timeline.

“Wassup? I know you’re way better than this.”

“Yeah but, can’t fight ya evenly without messing myself up. Anyway, I have a good idea of your ability now.” We talked a bit more, mainly about what I was doing on that island.

“Eric,” Donna contacted me, her voice juddering a little, “come back home.”

Hmm? Everything alright?

“No. Just, come back, alright?”

So, I did. The sight was, unreal.

Aquan was up in flames.

Donna, what the hell’s going on?! I asked her. Meanwhile, August sprinted off toward the direction of his house.

“Ulanos. They had people in Methelia. Get a clone to the two hospitals and save as many as you can!”

I nodded mentally and did as she said. But before that, I went to the centre of Aquan, where all the districts converged and put the full ten stacks of Purist on then cast Vivify. The distance it covered was great indeed. In fact, I wouldn’t need to send clones to the hospitals themselves. All I’d have to do was position them in a way that the entirety of Aquan would be covered by at least one casting of Vivify.

Now that my mana power doubled twice, I could use four clones at once. I breathed, trying to calm myself down, then gave the instruction on where to go. We spread out evenly in Aquan, used ten stacks of Purist and cast Vivify for at least two minutes. Those with dimming life essence were brought back to full health. “Phew,” I exhaled in relief, feeling my mana rise back from the dregs that remained.

Our next job would be the restoration of the city of mages with transmutation, but I left that to the clones and went to ensure that my family was safe. Flynn and Tacari were home and safe, but Mary was missing. She went to fight off the Ulanos soldiers apparently. The Pendulum residence was alright as well, but I didn’t see Dawn. I’d imagine she fought against Ulanos as well.

Volt and Pyro were both combating the invaders elsewhere in Aquan. Kira remained at the Order and the Garrans were probably out of Aquan entirely. Sure, Aquan battled off Ulanos’ soldiers and made whatever remained of them flee, but this battle wasn’t without casualties from both sides. For those who died, Crystalline Slumber kept their bodies from decomposing and they were stored at the morgue. The pink, translucent, crystallised temporary coffin housed the reason for a lot of tears in Aquan. But, unbeknownst to me, my tears would run as well.

I stood there, staring incessantly, refusing to believe the lies my eyes told me. But they weren’t lies, they were the cold, hard truth that said to me – Dawn was dead.

Donna appeared right then, “What the hell are you doing? Other places ne–” she stopped, when she saw Dawn inside the crystal encasement. She made a gentle, loosed fist, then released. I still stood there, frozen in time, only thawing when Donna’s arms embraced me.

“I’m sorry, Eric. I know this is a bad time, but these attacks are happening in other towns and villages. Other people are dying, and, you can get there fast.”

“Hmm,” I replied, unusually composed. “Direct me then,” I pulled Donna along. “If they’re using a series of attacks, then tell me where you think they’d be next.”

“They’re attacking by a list of importance, hence why they targeted the city that the Order of Mages was in. Next would be either Silverport or Endathal.”

“Proximity would suggest Silverport”, so I went there first, arriving to an already overrun and defenceless town. I placed Timedial on and bathed the attackers in Chain Lightning, making sure to leave one man alive. A nosedive from my position in the sky and a strong Divergence resulted in me over his knocked down body. I gripped his neck and cast Frost Nova, encasing his arms and legs in ice. “Where are the rest of you?”

He kept totally silent and only glared me in the eye. A singular projectile from Arcane Missiles sank into his flesh, annihilating his cells from the inside out with its many needles. He simply lost consciousness.

I left a wyrm from all five spirit factions at Silverport after saving who I could, then took to the skies once more, going full speed to Endathal. Thankfully the capital wasn’t in too much straits.

Speeding northwest to Endathal, I noticed a small fire. Following it was a series of forest fires, caused by Ulanos’ attacks on small settlements whilst they made their way to the capital. Life Perception showed dulled life essences within a lot of houses and throughout the thick forests. Humans and wildlife alike were dying. There was no choice but to stop and help them, but I’d have to make it fast and efficient, otherwise Endathal would be under siege in moments.

Firstly, I found a good centre and channelled Eden. Once the life essences were brimming again, I took a quick fly around the areas affected by fire and abused Summon Water Elemental, dropping dozens of them throughout many villages and forests. They quelled the rampaging flames in just over a half hour.

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Once again, I gained altitude to have an uninterrupted flight to the king, all the while suppressing that clawing rage that sought to seize rationale and send me into an ebullient mess. Lives were at stake, and thinking about Dawn would only compromise my state of mind.

A few minutes into flight, I noticed someone’s farmland was also under assault. I guess Ulanos figured cutting our supplies was a good idea – which it was, strategically speaking.

There were just about ten of them scorching the produce whilst one entered the house. I cast Voidwalk and flew where that one Ulanos soldier entered, then ended him with an Ice Javelin to the back of the head the minute I returned to the physical world. Once the spell floored him, I flew back outside, threw a Convergence orb that forced the ten attackers together, then literally halved them with a Wind Cutter. A couple wyrms from the water faction controlled the fire afterward.

Life Perception showed seven lives inside the nearby barn. They hid there to avoid their demise. My sudden appearance within the attic startled them, but I didn’t have the time to waste. “The attackers are dead, but do not come out until a water wyrm comes to you,” I summoned one so they’d know what it looked like then dismissed it back to the spirit world.

Finally, I arrived at an untouched Endathal. The place was packed with refugees from other towns and villages. Using Life Perception was a bit overwhelming, but I had to. There weren’t many injured people besides those who were already hospitalised before the Ulanos invasion. For good measure, Eden healed them so I wouldn’t confuse them with those who might be attacked later.

I used a combination of Life Perception and Hawk Eye to see the castle. Three targets were moving at a velocity so high, it totally ruled out any possibility that it was a Methelian. Voidwalk and Avatar of Wind got me there speedily. Before I passed through the walls of the castle, I stacked Timedial twice. My eyes focused once I slipped through the grey stone walls.

I couldn’t be sure what was happening right off the bat, but Bianca’s arm was laying on the ground whilst two women donning black leather attacked her. I couldn’t know how long they were fighting but I knew she was on her last legs. They were a striking pair, something about them was unnerving and eerie. The sword and dagger combination they used in their attacks were highly precise.

Witnessing all this whilst I was still flying through the room, I noticed Anjali cowering in the middle of it all. I clicked at that point and slammed the first attacker through the wall with my strongest sans-Purist Divergence, then used Convergence in an arcing bend to bring the other attacker farther from Anjali and Bianca but closer to me. Once she got close enough, Divergence sank her into the ground right next to me. The impacts were great enough to snuff their lives away.

I stopped Timedial and took a minute to get myself back to normal. “Are you okay?” I asked of Anjali and she simply nodded, her lips quivering.

I grabbed up Bianca’s arm and had it reattached using Eden.

“If you have any information on what’s going on,” I placed a desperate hand on her shoulder, “please, tell me.”

“I,” she averted her eyes downward, “don’t. But, it’s not surprising.” She grimaced a bit at the situation, “So, what now?”

“I don’t know,” I replied, going over to Anjali to comfort her. Her arms shakily snaked around my body and she hugged limply. “It’s alright. It’s all over. I’m here now; you’re safe.” My clone lifted her up and carried her off to Aquan.

I continued tirelessly that day, pushing Dawn’s death to the back of my mind. Most of the dozens upon dozens of spirit contracts I had were in use as I left spirits of all kinds spread across Methelia. Not only did they contain and extinguish fires, they protected against other attacks and acted as locational beacons that would grab my attention if the elementals couldn’t handle Ulanos’ soldiers. I, along with other mages and battlemages, combed through Methelia the rest of the night into the morning, killing off any remnants of that damned war-crazed country.

Thankfully, the Ingen didn’t see much attacks, and those that were attacked could defend themselves good enough. The orcs had no fatalities. Those that were in the Order at the time were protected by human mages.

At noon the next day, a few important heads and those of notable strength gathered within the dining hall of the royal palace. I was required to attend, of course, but I was in the middle of talks with Dawn’s family.

Her mom was somewhat against it, but the thought of being able to see her daughter again won her over. Mr Pendulum, as stubborn as he was, permitted me to perform Light Resurrection. May, Dawn’s sister, was unnaturally quiet. Who could blame her?

Dawn’s body rested peacefully within Crystalline Slumber. My eyes closed down and I cleared my mind to begin the spell. Darkness enshrouded my mind and the dim light that represented Dawn called out to me. “Is that you, Eric?”

“Dawn… I’m, sorry.”

“Eric, it is you,” she giggled. “Communing with the dead, huh? I guess this is how you brought Donna back. Tell me, are our families safe?”

“Find out yourself.”

A heart-wrenching period of silence passed between us. At that point, I knew…

“Eric, I’m…”

I knew, she wouldn’t…

“…not coming back.”

I stared blankly at the soothing light. It felt like my world was falling out of balance, turning inside-out and upside-down, imploding until nothing but ashes were left.

“Eric, please underst–”

“It’s okay,” I was too weak to hear the reason at that moment. I couldn’t take much more of reality.

“Tell my family I love them, okay?” It felt like she was caressing my cheek in that form.

“Yeah,” I replied weakly, barely able to keep myself together.

“And Eric, I love you. I’ll always love you,” she said, her light dimming.

“Yeah, I love you too.” The light totally faded, leaving me alone in darkness of a failed resurrection in this flawed reality. My eyelids tightly locked down upon themselves, but the water still found a way out. Hunched over, my heart’s emotions ran around terrified, crashing into the walls and desperately trying to find an out. I crossed my arms over my chest and grabbed onto my robe, writhing in insufferable distress comparable to the crystal shard transformation; nay, this was a fate much worse. “I loved you too.”

The Pendulums weren’t happy about it, but they yielded to Dawn’s choice. I couldn’t say the same for me. If forceful resurrection was possible, would I have been able to fight the temptation? Would I have even tried to? Dawn left me, and she would never return.

A snowballing anger rolled towards Ulanos. It was destroying me inside, but I was calm still and I knew why. The first trial the witch put me through did something to my mind that I would only realise after Dawn rejected Light Resurrection. My fear of helplessness, and accepting the reality, then dealing with the ire to come was all manageable. I could retain the hatred and anger and have them coexist with cunning and strategy to form a strange state of mind.

I put that aside, because I was needed at the capital. But, before I could even leave Aquan, a message came through from one of my clones.

“Hey.”

“Hey, man,” August greeted me back. His mom kept in her room ever since the attack and Melissa kept consoling her.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” I questioned him.

“I, just needed some time to think. But with this stuff goin’ on, maybe I’ll act first and think later,” he smiled weakly, but I knew better, the kind of thoughts that were plaguing his mind.

“I could try to bring him ba–”

“He doesn’t want that. Would you believe, that ass had a will all this time?” he said, referring to his father. The attack didn’t affect just me. In fact, the fatalities were close to a thousand throughout Methelia. August’s father was one of them. I couldn’t possibly imagine how it felt for him to lose his fiancé, Shyla, and thought that I had some inkling now that Dawn passed away. But to lose a father as well; I didn’t know how he dealt with it.

“I heard what happened to Dawn,” he mentioned, then tied his hair in one. “Eric, let’s kill them all.”

He was already thinking the same as I. “There will be a meeting at noon in Endathal. Come with me.”

~

The dining hall of the palace was mostly full. Sek’hana, Neth, and the seven mystics of the Ingen tribe were all gathered. Carl Rawlings and some of his best battlemages were seated. Some other ministers I never paid much attention to were there as well. The leader of the Order of Mages, Volt, and his brother Pyro were there. Kira, despite many people not knowing her, attended. Three other councilmen and a couple trusted officers were present. All of my spirit lords – including a clothed but uncomfortable Hydra – stood behind August and I. The Garrans were beside us, as well as the druid, Aerellis. Even Moken was present, concreting the importance of this congregation. He seemed to be doing very well.

The king and queen sat at the head of the table whilst their advisors stood behind them. Felix Aristotle, the old negotiator recapped what occurred before the attack, along with all the events that took place when Isana Belgrave’s ship docked at Silverport.

After a debriefing on what happened, the king caught our attention with a single line, “Methelians, war is upon us.”