Upon leaving the stone chamber and freeing the Molten Marauder, Daniel grinned broadly. "And that will be some of the easiest money any of you will ever earn. Although, you did work for a hard 6 months to get to this point. So a lot of effort was needed, but it came all risk-free. Congratulations."

No one said a word, they were still captivated by the sight of the resurrected mythological warrior.

A slow clap came from Patrick, and others joined in.

"Bravo, Daniel. That was amazing! I'm sorry if it ever seemed like I doubted you, but just know that I did not," Patrick said.

"Nonsense, it's perfectly understandable to have a bit of doubt with everything that we have been doing. All of you have done marvelous work, and now we return to the boat and go back to the island," Daniel said.

"I'm sorry too if it seemed like I was being difficult at all," Elijah uttered.

"Like I said, it's all understandable. Water under a bridge. Let's return home, shall we?" Daniel led the way through the portal back to the stone island. They all experienced the freezing and burning sensation for a second, but they were back in their world, the sky had a bloody shade, but it was quickly fading.

"What's with the red sky?" Elijah asked.

"Just the Molten Marauder, flying to Attleton." Daniel snickered. "They're in for a real treat."

Returning to the boat, Jonathan's girlfriend was able to inch the vessel closer to the shore. They didn't have nearly the cumbersome swim as they did on the way there. Everyone could make it to the other side without issue, although Elijah was frightened.

"Nice job bringing the boat closer. Did we miss anything while we were gone?" Daniel asked Genevieve as they came back on the ship.

"You all missed the strangest thing. It was like a wave of red light came over the sky. You can even see it on the horizon all the way to the south." Genevieve pointed, and Daniel saw the glimpse of the red sky disappearing, smiling to himself.

"That's good. That's actually supposed to happen. Not to worry, a nice payday is coming to us extremely soon. I'm hoping for at least 24 hours. Are you ready to sail back?"

"I'm exhausted. I'll need to get some sleep. My wind streams are getting a little weak too. I'm going to doze off in the cabin for a little while," Genevieve said.

Daniel exhaled, but Jonathan approached him. "Give her a break, will you? We can set up the sails and start moving back to your place, it will just take some time. I can handle the steering," Jonathan said.

"Let me do it. I've had some more experience with boating, with all due respect. But I want to talk to you as we're sailing," Daniel said.

Jonathan nodded. "Everyone else has gone in the cabin. What's on your mind?"

"I don't know about you, but I think we need to remove Elijah from the group."

Jonathan's jaw dropped. "Really? Do you think that's a good idea?"

"Keeping him part of the group isn't a good long-term idea. We can't have someone like him in the fold. He raises too many questions and keeps challenging me in a way I did not expect. I did not want to yell or get upset, but he kept pushing my buttons. I sensed distrust from him, and although we've made a significant gain today, we still need to look ahead and figure things out. We don't need to think of an immediate plan but put it in the back of your head." Daniel pointed.

Jonathan wasn't sure how to react, but Daniel was making sense.

"We can brainstorm ways Elijah could be removed," Daniel continued. "It would have to be well crafted because there's much to consider. Anyway, put it in the back of your mind for now, and we'll return to this subject later. And if you can think of any ideas on how we might successfully remove Elijah, pitch them to me."

Jonathan nodded. "Sure, I can do that for you."

They sailed through the day at a snail's pace until Genevieve woke up as the sun dipped into the water.

***

It was nice being alone in my dormitory for once, I didn't have to see my roommates at all, not that they weren't a bother during my second year, but I couldn't play my music loudly from my record player if they were around. And I was always trying to rock out. Even though it had been a while since Farrah had broken up with me, I couldn't stop thinking about her. Every day she occupied my brain in some form or capacity. It was especially tough seeing her walk around campus holding hands with Orson. I had a feeling all along that she would ditch me for him as soon as she started talking about him.

Whatever.

School wasn't going that well, I was passing my classes, but just barely. I was making no progress on a fire strike, and it seemed like everyone else in the class could start developing theirs. Although they couldn't shoot out a fire strike, they could charge their bolt far longer than I could. Eventually, my fire bolts burned my hand, and I had to stop. Apparently, when I started feeling better or emotionally content or something stupid like that, I could grow the fire bolt to be much larger, but that didn't make sense.

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Whatever.

Spring break had arrived, but I stayed at school instead of visiting my grandpa. I probably should have seen him, but I remained behind because I wanted to blast my music and punch the wall without anyone around. I didn't want to be a disturbance to him or the pets.

The only thing that seemed to be going well was Hawthorne getting banned from the school, and the Fyron Dragonstryke team was doing well. We had only one loss against the Voltruns, and it seemed we were going to face off against them in the playoffs. They had the best record, and we had the second-best record, so we would play against the Venomaus during the first round of the playoffs.

It was also good that I had stayed back because some of the players on my team were also staying behind, And we were allowed to practice during the day. It was also pleasant eating at the dining hall with hardly anyone around. Not that it made much difference which table I sat at, I was still sitting alone through the entire school year. There was no table I felt I belonged to, not even the fire mage Dragonstryke teammates. I wanted to kick myself for not being nicer to them at the beginning of the year. It seemed like my first impression really soured all of them to me, or maybe I could have sat with them. I never knew because I never bothered to ask.

Blasting Ramones on my record player one night, I'd relocated to the study lounge in Fyron Dormitory. A lane existed within the lounge specifically for launching fire bolts at a target. Given the absence of anyone else, I took the opportunity to rock out and experiment with hurling fire bolts using my unique football throwing technique. I was getting much better with my aim the standard way, but it still didn't feel as natural as the football throwing motion. A few times, I tried charging up a fire strike, but it either fizzled out or burned my hand, and I had to shoot off the bolt to avoid any more pain.

From the practice lane, I had windows to look out at the campus, and from the 6th floor, it was a beautiful view, and I could practically see everything. The sun was setting below the horizon, and then the strangest thing I had ever seen happened. In all my time at Attleton, I was genuinely perplexed. The sky had turned scarlet like a spilling fog of blood. It covered the clouds and the setting sun. Just a filter of red. Then a massive spiral took place, curdling into a magma-molten rock texture. I ran to my record player and shut off "Blitzkrieg Bop."

This ambient roar was coming from all around. It hadn't been there before, but it almost sounded like an active volcano gushing out fire and rock. I continued peeking out at the campus, something had to be happening, but I had no idea what. Most people probably would have remained indoors and waited for special instructions, but I couldn't help it, I had to go out and witness what was going on for myself. I left the study room, leaving my belongings, but no one was around anyway. At first, I wasn't too concerned, but I dashed out of the dormitory, and I heard a scream from a few other kids who had stayed behind, watching the peculiar sky from the window.

"Do any of you know what's going on? Have any of you seen something like this before?" I asked.

They all stared at me and shook their head, immediately focusing back on the volcanic sky.

I sprinted to the door and ran out. No one said a word behind me, and it was strange being outside with the atmosphere the way it was. The light all around me was dark red, and then I saw a streak of orange and yellow beam down toward the Education Hall. I ran through the campus to investigate what was happening. Then I saw Professor Henderson and Principal Pine jogging together, heading in the same direction.

As we approached the Unity Statue, Principal Pine noticed I was behind him and Professor Henderson.

"Rollie! What are you doing out here?" Principal Pine yelled.

I had never seen him in such a panic before. He was always a mellow and calm person, to see his eyes bulging and his brow arched to its highest point frightened me. But we were still making our way towards the Education Hall.

"Uh, I, uh, I don't know. Just like you, I want to see what's going on!" I blurted.

"Rollie! I know what's going on, I have everything taken care of. I just need you to go back to your dormitory, and I need you to tell everyone else to stay inside if you see anyone try to leave."

"Okay! I'll head back. Are you sure, though?" I said.

"Yes! Yes! Now please, go!" Principal Pine yelled.

I spun around and started running back, but I stopped when I realized I could hide behind the Unity Statue and watch Professor Henderson and Principal Pine.

The streak of light from the sky stopped, but on the ground, a glowing figure stood before the educational building. It looked like a massive human, but his head and hands appeared to be on fire. I couldn't believe my eyes. I had seen some pretty weird things at Attleton, but this was by far the strangest.

The tremendous tall figure reminded me of the Molten Marauder, but that couldn't have been real, right? That's just part of mythology, right?

The monster pulled out a sword and held it with the tip planted into the ground.

Principal Pine and Professor Henderson stopped about 10 yards away from the figure.

"Who are you? And what business do you have here?" Pine shouted.

The firey head had a face, and it smiled. "Lavarian."

"I had a feeling," Professor Henderson said. "The Molten Marauder."

Molten rock dripped from Lavarian's face. "I stand before thee to claim a celestial sum of seven million. Should this demand be unmet, I vow, by the ancient powers that guide me, to lay thy academic sanctuary to waste."

Principal Pine scoffed. "You're not going to touch a single structure."

"Then thou dost consent to my terms. I shall grant thee a fleeting moment, a mere breath in the span of the cosmos, to amass the seven million for my tribute." With the Molten Marauders sword in the ground, he folded his arms and stared.

Principal Pine turned around, threw the bottom of his cloak over him, reached inside the inner pocket, and pulled out a wand with a sphere at the top. He aimed it at the Molten Marauder.

"Thou might possess the strength to grasp the celestial orb, yet possession alone doth not confer upon thee the wisdom to command its true power," the Molten Marauder said as it lifted its sword up and jumped to the entrance of the educational building, and brought down its blade through the center of the hall, delivering a devastating blow. The whole lobby exploded, and lava gushed out to the sides, burning and destroying the once-beautiful building. Leaping back towards Henderson and Principal Pine, he outstretched his hand. "Should thou seek to cease my actions, I demand a tribute worthy of seven million dollars."

Principal Pine and Professor Henderson gasped. The Molten Marauder kept marching closer to them, forcing them to back up.