"What you Reap, is What you Sow."

Kendo's horse calmly munched on the grass as the rain reduced to a drizzle, completely oblivious of its master's nervousness. Kendo was quite sure that at least half an hour had passed. They were facing stauncher resistance than expected. He was wondering if he should join the fight but the commander himself was out of reach and acting without permission was a breach of code of conduct. He doubted anyone present there could even last a minute against Ron but as they said back in his village, 'everyone is equal in the eyes of fate.'

A bright blue orb rose towards the sky, leaving a glittering blue trail behind it. It remained suspended for a moment at a height where one could easily mistake it for a star and then it exploded.

Kendo shut his eyes as the brightness overwhelmed him. After a few seconds he opened his eyes, it took a few more for the burning afterimage to disappear, but the scene in front of him was beyond what he could have imagined. A wall of blue flames as high as ten men ran along the walls of the fort.

"Mages! Follow me." Kendo and five men in yellow robes on brown stallions rode towards the wall of flames and stopped a safe distance away. All of them dismounted and trotted towards the flames, led by Kendo.

'Hmmm. This sure looks strange. Is it trap magic or...' While examining the flames Kendo felt a presence closer to him than his liking. He looked at his side and discovered a man in a black cowl with a scythe strapped to his back. Kendo was taken aback by his sudden appearance but he immediately recovered and tried to shoo him away.

"Get out of here, this is not a place..." Kendo was interrupted as a sharp pain rose through his arm and something fell near his feet. With horror, he realized that it was his hand severed from the wrist up.

At the moment a breeze flowed and the hood fluttered, partially revealing an expressionless face with piercing green eyes. Kendo immediately recognized the face, it was none other than Ramphus the Executioner, one of the four strongest warriors in Tarkhel. Kendo knelt and the mages followed suit, his heart beat faster in reverence and fear, for the living deity, which spilled more blood on the ground through the stump of an arm. He stifled his cry of pain and shed silent tears, lest he disrespected the Executioner.

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Ramphus picked up the hand as if nothing had happened and tossed it at the flames. Showing an incredible rate of combustion, it disintegrated into ashes in a second. He looked at one of the mages and said two words, "heal him," and without looking back he walked through the flames.

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Markus cracked his neck and kicked Ron in the ribs for good measure. "Man, kids these days sure are tough." As a Highborn, head of clan Raven and a member of the Council, a young Alariel making him break a sweat was definitely an impressive achievement.

"Maybe it's you who is weak." Markus tensed up and his fingers curled up into a fist as he heard a female voice out of nowhere.

"Who is there ?" Markus asked with the most stable voice he could muster at the moment, but he only got a mirthful laugh in reply.

His head swiveled frantically as he couldn't figure out the direction of the source of the sound, nor could he detect the presence of a human. Fortunately, to end his confusion a woman steps out of the shadows. Her entire body is covered in red mist flowing, swirling, and tracing patterns in the air as if it was alive and her face was hidden behind a red veil.

"Inquisitor Meredith, how long have you been here ?" Markus grunted, openly declaring his hostility.

"Let's just say long enough to know you are dumber than horse shit."

"Die bitch." Blue flames sprung from Markus' fists as he aimed a blow at the Inquisitor but something pulled him back.

To his surprise, he found himself shackled to the ground with red chains. The chains jingled as he struggled to break free but to no avail. Moreover, he felt Aether draining from his body. His fire flickered and then finally extinguished like the flame of a candle.

"Don't fret sheep, no mortal or god can escape the Chains of Judgement." Hearing this made all strength in Markus' body leave him and he collapsed on the floor, accepting his defeat.

Meredith knelt before Markus and patted him on his back, "why so sad sheep? The one himself is going to give you salvation. This should be the happiest day of your life."

"The one. Impossible, no way he is..."

"Alive," The Executioner stepped into the room and completed his sentence. "You actually thought that a bunch of assassins could kill me ?"

Markus gave no reply as he knew what was going to come.

As Markus stayed silent, Ramphus decided that it was time to wrap it up.

"Repent in hell," were the last words Markus heard as he saw the dark crescent moon blade of the scythe descent on him.