With a jerky motion, Grischa spun backwards, causing a wall of ice to appear, preventing the creatures from fighting their way further north. But his Igrikum didn't last long, as a small creature latched onto the ice structure and tore itself apart with a blue stabbing flame, managing to punch a hole in the wall. Immediately, the creatures focused on the newly formed passageway.

"Shit", Grischa grumbled and was about to cast his Igrikum again when Sefra appeared above the hole, pushing the creatures back with a massive wave of water. Grischa used the moment to abruptly drop the temperature below freezing, so that the water turned to ice in seconds and the creatures stuck to the ground.

"Well done!", Sefra shouted to him before making her elongated, razor-sharp, black arms appear and decapitate the creatures before her eyes.

This allowed Grischa to take a moment's breath. He droppedon the ice wall and looked out at the chaos that lay beneath his feet. As far as he could see - creatures were everywhere. They had left the capital of Exarion behind long after their defenses had fallen. But the creatures seemed like better ones to follow the humans. Knowing that a handful of Thormods had been killed did not seem to affect the creatures in any way.

Seeing a massive light in the distance, Grischa held his hand in front of his face in surprise. It was too bright to really make out anything, but the loud bang followed by the blast wave throwing him back gave an idea of what was going on there.

Dragons had engaged in battle and were now fighting side by side with humans. An image he had never even dreamed of just a few months ago. They were undoubtedly the most powerful beings in the world and to see with how much force they made the ground tremble was frightening. As if proclaiming the end of the world, they rained their flames on the ground.

"Grischa", Sefra spoke up a moment later, that his attention fell to his colleague. Sefra dropped next to him on the ice wall and brushed her hair out of her face with her bloody hand.

"Are you all right? How long have you been fighting?"

"Not long, I'm fine. What about you?"

"I'm fine", Grischa replied, dropping his gaze to the landscapes behind Sefra. "Is Caleb still fighting?"

"Yes", Sefra confirmed, turning to the rear as well. Both were now looking to the east, which was left to Caleb and from which could be sensed the most dominant feeling of Mana. Although Grischa could not see him, he could well imagine how strongly Caleb was currently involved in a fight. Every now and then he would feel little tidal waves of mana or earthquakes from that direction that made all his hair stand up. Of all the High-Magicians, Caleb's magic was probably the most powerful, as frightening as that of the dragons. As a result, even the mages avoided approaching his location. "You should get him out of there. He's been busy with nothing else for hours."

"I know", Grischa replied. "He's feeling guilty about their deaths."

"Probably", Sefra replied before Grischa flew into the air, thanked her, and took off to the east.

At the thought of his colleagues, Grischa forced himself not to burst into tears. When the information about the death of Rosalie, Rangar and Aaron reached him, he briefly thought Caleb was having a joke on them. When he realized it was the truth, it literally hit him. Especially when he had learned of Aaron's death, he had been paralyzed. Aaron had been the one who had taught him most of what he knew about magic. He had been his mentor and one of his closest friends, even though for years he had had his difficulties with Aaron's personality. He had spent two decades at Aaron's side. Now to know that he was dead...

"Damn it", Grischa muttered as tears did run down his cheeks. He had forced himself not to think about it, but he really couldn't stop it. It happened so suddenly that Grischa was really shaken awake.

They were at war. In the war that Caleb had been trying to prevent for years. The war that has cost hundreds of thousands of lives and will do it again if they don't get the situation under control. The attacks of the creatures were beginning to weaken, but still Grischa felt he had accomplished nothing.

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Especially considering the fact that Chairman Hosik had not shown up until now. Although the High-Magicians had spread all over the country, Hosik had not been found since his encounter with Rangar. For this very reason, Caleb had gone to the east to look for Hosik, but he had not been able to find him. And his despair could be clearly felt by Grischa.

A loud scream drew Grischa's attention to the ground, and he spotted a bloodied figure in the midst of a massive pile of corpses made of creatures. Although Grischa knew the mana very well, he could not believe his eyes at that moment.

It was Caleb.

He was standing on the ground, screaming and killing hundreds of creatures with his barriers. Like a madman, Caleb made his Igrikum appear wherever he could perceive movement. Accordingly, the area was already covered in blood. Quite obviously, Caleb didn't seem to be holding back either, but the sight caused Grischa to jerk to a stop in midair. The last time he had felt the dominant sensation of Caleb's mana, his friend had literally torn a hole between heaven and earth. Seeing that even Caleb had no option but to use his abilities scared Grischa all the more.

But equally, he knew why Caleb did it. Therefore, he gathered his mana and froze the ground around Caleb with his Igrikum so that the creatures could not continue to pounce on him. Astonished, Caleb paused in his movement and only now seemed to realize that Grischa was with him.

<"What are you doing here!">, Caleb immediately scolded him in his mind, but Grischa did not answer. Instead, he dropped to the ground and approached Caleb. There was nothing left of his usually well-groomed appearance, except for his gold glowing eyes. Caleb was covered in blood and dirt, as if he had bathed himself in the sea of corpses.

"Caleb..."

"Go back to the west. I've got everything under control here", Caleb replied and was about to take off into the sky when Grischa grabbed his arm and yanked him back to the ground. "Let go of me, Grin. What are you doing?"

"Stop it", Grischa retorted, tightening his grip on Caleb's hand. "You need to give yourself a break, too. From all of us, you've been involved in the fights the longest. If you keep this up, eventually your body won't be able to take it anymore."

"There's nothing wrong with me."

"Now you're the one lying", Grischa threw back in a soft voice, giving Caleb a smile.

"Let me go. If I don't take care of the creatures, then only someone will get hurt again...", Caleb countered, but that's as far as he got. Grischa pulled him to him with a jerk and wrapped his hands around Caleb's body.

"It's not your fault", Grischa said softly and closed his eyes.

"Grischa, let me ... go."

"No", he only replied, sliding his hand to Caleb's bloody hair. "I know you hold yourself responsible for her death... for Aaron's death."

"I don't have time for this right now."

"Listen to me", Grischa admonished him without raising his voice. "It's not your fault."

Caleb responded by remaining silent. Even though Grischa couldn't see his face right now, he could sense that he was quietly starting to sob.

"If I... if I had gotten to him faster.... if I had prepared better... if I had known that there was a Thormod with such an ability...", Caleb managed to say only fragmentary. "He would be alive. Aaron would still be alive!"

"It's not your fault."

"AARON WOULD STILL BE ALIVE!", Caleb shouted in the next moment, in a voice full of embarrassment, but that only caused Grischa to tighten his grip even more.

"It's not your fault", he repeated again, because that was the only thing he could say at that moment.

"I was there. I was only a few hundred meters away from him! Only a few hundred meters! A stone's throw!", Caleb exclaimed and Grischa could feel Caleb starting to shake. "Why did I let him go alone! Why didn't I get to him faster! Why didn't I suspect that his life was in danger! Why did I never learn how to heal! WHY DID I LET HIM DIE!"

"It's not your fault."

"He died in my arms!", Caleb cried loudly, clawing Grischa's back with his hands to gain his footing. "Grischa, he died in my arms! In front of me!"

"I know", he muttered softly, starting to cry at the thought as well. "I know."

"I should have protected him!", Caleb exclaimed, slumping to the ground so that Grischa followed him. "Why wasn't I with him? Why did I... left him alone... left him?"

After the exclamations, only Caleb's crying could be heard. He clung to Grischa and cried out all the grief he had bottled up for the last few hours. Grischa held him tightly in his arms throughout, when the situation overtook him as well and he began to cry along.

They lost him.

They lost Aaron Thopas.

Never again would Grischa hear his passive-aggressive responses, never again see his stern look. Grischa would no longer show up to a council meeting and roll his eyes at the mere sight of Aaron. Nor would he be able to randomly run into him in the middle of the night at the State Archives or seek him out when he wanted to hear a different opinion on a subject.

Only now did Grischa truly realize the importance Aaron had in his life, and the thought of never seeing him again made his heart ache.

With Caleb in his arms, Grischa squatted on the ice rink surrounded by thousands of dead creatures, they were mourning the man they had long stopped seeing as just a colleague.

Aaron had been their friend.