I stare down at the battle below, watching Alva take on that… Whatever it is. The magic radiating off the city is like two stars battling for a spot in the universe, clashing over and over.

The stars grow brighter.

*Clash*.

The lights grow again.

*Clash*.

My eyes and skin burn as the heat from their battle reaches me.

*Clash*.

The world shakes; huge rocks fall off the mountainside as the world tears itself apart to escape their wrath.

Hot. It’s so hot. The heat from them is overbearing. I fall to my knees, screaming as I hold my ears, trying to make it stop. Then, right at the peak of my pain, as I’m about to succumb,

The world stops.

A hand grabs me from under my arms and pulls me to my feet. I look to see Victoria, whose eyes are wide and I can see the power in them as she slaps me.

“Move your ass. We have to get farther up the mountain!” Then she turns and runs up the mountainside.

I take one look back, then book it up the hillside. Before I can get far, something explodes behind me. In a blink I catch a glimpse of Alva appearing, and a gargantuan sphere of purple roiling black flame bearing down on us and the group. The sphere casts a dark shadow on the entire mountainside.

What scares me is not the impending doom of the sphere of energy threatening to crush me into a thin paste, no. It’s that the world-ending emotions coming from Alva. I fall over, my lungs not working. The air wants me to stop using it. The world wants me to vanish. It is like staring death in the face, like the actual Reaper has come for me. I can’t move or get up the power and the pressure she puts off is too much.

Once again, I’m saved by being thrown over Victoria’s shoulder this time. As I look at the sphere baring its teeth on Alva, ready to pounce.

Then Alva slams her palms against the sphere’s surface and stops it from imploding the entire mountainside. But the power of the attack is too strong, and it begins to rip up the mountain, sucking up all in its hungry maw. The ground starts to collapse, but then Alva gains a quick burst of power. She sends the sphere flying into the far side of the mountain. After the cloud from the debris clear, I see Alva standing in the spot, looking ragged. Her clothes are in tatters, and her arm and face are bleeding.

I try to go near her, but then IT appears. That Godling Alva called it faster than I can comprehend it appears above Alva. It’s ax centimeters from her face. Then, a yellow flash goes by me. Victoria punches the beast back down to the city below.

Victoria speaks something to Alva, and the red world ending aura around Alva goes away. As quickly as she appeared, she disappears after saying something to Victoria.

Victoria gets near me.

“We need to run now. Alva is angry, and well, it will not go down smoothly. Run like the wind, Emelia.” Then she takes off up the hill.

I steady myself and run after the group.

The ground shakes after running up the mountainside a bit more. I turn to the city and see the actual apocalypse. A massive wall of fire covers the city, and what I see are these the shadow creatures bathed in fire and smoke so black it makes the world seem like it’s night. They march to where I guess Alva stands, but then in an instant, a gigantic red dome covers the city and a few thousand kilometers outside of it. Then, it starts to glow with these strange runes, and cracks start forming around the dome. Like reality itself is being eaten by a hungry beast.

Then, the dome shrinks and disappears, causing the growing cracks to stop. All goes quiet. The wind tickles at my ear for a second. Then, all the world loses its color, like it never existed. As fast as the color left, it returns and what I see next baffles me stupid.

“H-how in The Fates?” I ask, stumbling over my words.

“Alva,” Victoria says, looking away.

“What do you mean, Alva? She did that?” I’m hoping for the punchline, but nothing comes.

“So she’s dead?” I ask.

They all three shake their head.

“That was her Demise of Resolution. It was a weaker version, so that won’t kill her.” Rene pauses.

“Give her a moment,” she says.

“What did she do?” Before, I can get an answer.

Alva appears in the middle of us, her arm bloodied by a cut on her shoulder. Her throat has finger marks burned onto it.

A gash above her eyebrow has dyed the right side of her face red.

“Rene, a little help.” Then she collapses.

Victoria and Levi catch her and lay her back on a flat rock. Rene rushes over and immediately goes to work on her wounds. She pulls her pack off and grabs a first aid kit.

“This will take at least an hour, so you guys should get comfortable.” She says as her hands glow a light shade of purple.

“Sure, Rene, we’ll wait,” Levi says as he takes off his bow and quiver and sets them down. Victoria finds a rock and sits. I follow Levi and sit down next to him.

We sit in silence, enjoying our break. All you can hear is the gentle humming and swishing sound of the magic from Rene.

So tired I feel myself drifting off before Victoria asks me a question.

“Shroud, you’re an Elemental, yeah?” Victoria turns her intense gaze to me, and I nod.

“Yes. “I answer, looking at her.”

Victoria scowls.

“Then why the hell are you so terrified? You are probably the third strongest here, and you’re just what, fifteen, sixteen?”

The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

“Um, about why I’m so terrified, it’s because.” Before I can finish, Alva stirs.

“Good, you guys are safe. That makes what I did worth it.” Alva sits up and rubs at her neck.

I sigh at the small save.

Rene slaps Alva’s hand. “I might be able to stitch your wounds up with magic, but they can still break open. I’m not all healing, so do not rub at your scars, understood?” Rene sits up, glaring daggers at Alva.

“If I had my medical bag, I could wrap it, but for now, just use this canteen of water to clean it occasionally.” Rene pulls a second canteen from her pack and hands it to Alva.

“We’re a few miles from the Slyphan’s border. We will get fresh horses and re-fill on supplies when we arrive,” Alva says, brushing herself off.

I need to know what she did.

“Alva, what did you do? How did you blow up the entire city?” I ask. She sighs.

“It was me breaking my vow.”

“You broke your vow?!” I ask her, genuinely confused

“A vow is a promise you make to the world for more power than you normally would have.” She turns to look down at the crater.

I feel myself ready to puke but swallow it back down at the thought of so many more people dying.

I had to stop True Ending. Or at the very least, I had to stall him in order for us to reach the border. Even True Ending is not stupid enough to enter Venus’ domain.

“Still to lose so many innocent people, it’s. It’s not good. I don’t know what else to say.” I stare down at my feet as the others continue the discussion.

“What do we do now?” Levi asks.

“Well, we continue the mission and report to Ezekiel when we arrive. We will send a carrying owl to let him know the details of Manors down fall.” Alva says, stretching her arms out.

“Agreed, it’s the best option, but I am sure anyone within a few hundred kilometers saw that battle,” Rene says as she zips up her pack and slings it over her shoulder.

“Normally I would teleport us the rest of the way but I am drained of mana so we will have to walk the rest of the way,” Alva stretches her legs out and rubs at her shoulders and heads up the path.

Levi follows her and so does Victoria. Rene waits for as I stare at the crater, taking in the site another thing to kill the Embers for.

“Emmy, come on, let’s walk.” I turn to follow Rene.

We walk for a while. Everyone’s quiet as we walk up the winding path. I stare at the jaggedness of the mountain and how far down the drop is from the path to the sharp points at the bottom.

My thoughts wander to the Vow Alva talked about and I can’t help but speak because I realize I wasn’t taught everything about how magic works except how to use mine.

“Magic is so much more than what Janet and Lucy taught me inst it?” I wait for someone to answer me.

Rene slows down to walk beside me. “Magic is a vast ocean of energy that we all can use, sure.”

“Why do you ask?” Alva asks me, stopping for a second to turn and look at me.

“Well, you said you broke your Vow which I am guessing is a type of magic that Janet or Lucy never mentioned to me at all.” I lean against the mountain for a second.

“Hmm, when we reach Venu’s domain, I’ll suggest to Venus that she arrange for an expert to explain magic to you.” We will stay here for a few days to rest before heading off towards Madrin. “I’ll even take part in the lesson.” Alva walks up the path again and we all follow as I think and feel a bit excited to learn more.

We reach a giant metal gate after some more walking.

In a quick jog-like walk, Victoria heads towards the enormous metal gates between the narrow path’s two sides.

On the top stand two humans. No, they have large butterfly-like wings of different colors, large round eyes with diamond-shaped pupils, and long arms. They also have strange antennas on their head. Small noses with large nostrils make the butterfly look all too real.

The closer we get, the more I can see the designs of the wings. A man stands holding a spear in his left hand; he has blue wings with black stripes; on the left is a woman. Maybe she has a sword, an eye patch, and yellow wings with lighting-like patterns.

“Halt!” the two shout.

The man jumps down, and the woman follows. They walk up to us, spear and sword at the ready.

“Who are you, and why have you come? If your intention is just. I shall let you pass.” The woman says she has a commanding authority.

The man stays quiet.

Alva steps up from behind us." We are here on behalf of King Ezekiel Scythe." She reaches into Rene’s satchel and hands the woman a rolled-up paper with a ribbon tied around it.

The woman unwraps it, reads it, and then nods.

“This seems legitimate. There is a thing before I let you enter.”

The woman quickly tells us that the city has been under stress from a threat to the city made a few weeks back.

“Very well, we shall keep to ourselves,” Alva says, shaking the woman’s hand.

“Come and stay close to us so you do not scare the others.” The woman says, and she waves us on.

The man with a flap of his wings flies up to the top of the wall and pulls a lever. The woman follows suit and does the same.

The gate clanks and wines open, and we walk inside.

Inside the gates, I feel the immediate presence of a massive magical spell placed on the area, and it almost makes me sick again.

Rene pats my back. “Yeah, the Queen has a magic barrier to protect from attacks, and it hides the town unless she wants it to be seen. Take big deep breaths to calm down the influx of the Mzynes flooding your body.”

“Wait, she constantly keeps this barrier up for days?” Rene nods, and that makes me feel even more sick.

Titans are terrifying. The amount of magic the Slyphan Queen must have is insurmountable. Except there is Another Titan stronger than her.

How?

That is all I can think of as we walk through the grassy mountaintop. Trees and flowers beautify the otherwise plain mountain paths we saw walking up to the border.

“This place is like a different world,” I say, mesmerized by the sheer amount of trees up here.

Then, the feminine Slyphan speaks. “Queen Venus is The Titan of wind and nature, so her power allows her to grow plants any place she wishes.”

I nod, thinking how interesting and terrifying all this still is. Man, Bladesfall was big, but so small compared to the world. We walk for a while through the grassy mountaintop, which is so beautiful. The trees are thin but seem very sturdy; purple, blue, and yellow flowers paint the grass.

“Wow, it’s almost like an entire forest up here. It’s amazing,” Rene says as she jogs ahead and does a cartwheel.

Finally, after a few more feet, we see the Slyphans village ahead of us, a small place but beautiful. Most houses are wooden homes or stone, with flowers adding color. They are small but wide, which makes them interesting to look at.

“The flowers represent a life lost during the Civil War,” Levi says as he walks beside me.

“Oh yeah, there’s a lot of flowers. How many died during the civil war?” I ask, and he looks up for a second.

“Fifty thousand,” Levi says, and my mouth drops.

“What? Why so many? What happened?” I practically shout.

Levi seems to have a sad look in his eyes.

Then the female guard drops back and stands beside me on my right.

“During the civil war, our people had a population of exactly one hundred thousand. When Ezekiel came to Queen Venus to ask for aid, she agreed. But before we could mobilize our troops, a man attacked. The day we were to march.”

“So just one man?” I shiver.

She nods. “No, man is not the correct word. An executioner is an accurate connotation. This creature was a legend in Slyphan history and has always been a part of it since the beginning of our species. The ancients call it Zara, The Unsatisfied or the Cataclysm. The story said that Zara will one day come and end our people. We have so few left. This village is all that’s left of the Slyphans.”

I ponder her answer. “Wait, how many people are there in this village?”

The woman grimaces.” Two thousand."

Stunned, I wait a second before I ask her. What happened to the others? You said only fifty thousand died in the civil war?"

The woman shakes her head." I will let the Queen tell you that. Let us go.

My mind reels at the thought of more legends coming to life.

The woman continues as we walk through crowds of Slyphans.

Finally, we reach a tiny home, the smallest home in this village.

“This is your Queen’s home?” I ask.

The woman nods her head enthusiastically. “Queen Venus hates luxury. She prefers to live among us and as us. It’s why she’s been the Queen for a thousand years.”

“I’m sorry, a thousand years?” I ask, bewildered.

“Slyphans usually live for, on average, two hundred years. Queen Venus is a Titan, so her life extends past the two hundred into possibly the thousands of years.” Levi states.

“You’re super knowledgeable about Slyphans, Levi. Do you visit often?” I ask. He shakes his head.

“No, during my training to become a Ranger, we learn about all nonhuman entities that exist or existed.” He says to me.

“What’s being a Ranger like?” Levi looks at me, scratches at his smooth-shaven chin, and speaks.

“Hard question. There’s quite a lot to becoming a ranger. You must be skilled at fighting and not afraid to stare monstrous beasts in the eye. Or kill one, which is sad in a way. Some beats are innocent and attack because it’s in their nature to hunt. Others are also the last of their species and fight to survive. So you must live with committing genocide if you kill one in that situation.” Levi looks a bit sad. His gaze hangs low as we walk to the Queen’s home.

We finally reach the Queen’s place, and the two guards stand on either side of the door and wave us in.