Racing through the city with Victoria, we easily defeat the weak cronies, and it’s really scary. Despite our efforts, the number of Sylphans dying exceeds the ones we’ve brought into the vault.

“Something is bothering me.” Victoria turns to me. We close the vault door behind us, locking in the town’s people.

Victoria doesn’t answer, she just takes off running almost so fast. I can’t keep up with her as we race through the streets, looking for anyone who needs help.

“Doesn’t this feel too easy? It’s almost like we’ve won already. Are there any armored soldiers left?” I remember that man telling me about the Beastial Wolves and those two soldiers sent by the Embers.

Still, I have yet to see them, which worries me.

“It is, but we’re not out of the woods yet. We have to find more townspeople.”

Suddenly, we break into the town square and see bodies strewn everywhere, what’s left of the living townspeople in this section of the city rounded up, and a Leeching barrier around them. I cover my nose from the smell of death and the earthy scent of the blood entwined with rancid sewage.

“Fuck.” Victoria says as we stop.

Two hooded figures drop from their perches.

“Finally, you’re here. I was getting bored killing these things to pass the time until you arrived.” The taller of the two speaks, then removes their hood.

A man with a noticeable scar running from his left eye to over his nose, a black-trimmed beard, blue eyes, and a well-muscular frame.

“Emelia Shroud, my name is Jinpei Ares.” He bows.

The other figure walks up and removes their hood, and a slender woman stands there with bright green hair with a reddish tint to her roots. Her eyes are also blue with flecks of green and stars for pupils.

“Good evening. I am Ester Ares.” She bows.

“Fuck!” Victoria says again, but louder.

I look over at her. “What’s wrong?”

“They’re the Ares siblings; this will not be an easy fight, Emelia.” Victoria rubs a hand down her face.

“Are they strong?” I ask, but I already know I feel their aura coming off them like two unmovable walls.

“Yes, extremely, especially together.” She says and points.

“Be careful because they like to!” Before she can finish her sentence, the man is in front of Victoria, sending a thundering kick to her stomach.

She blocks it, taking most of the attack to her forearms. Still, the force sends her flying back several hundred meters and through several buildings, separating me from my lifeline.

Jinpei looks back at Ester and smiles. “Be quick with this one, sister. The princess is not one to be taken lightly. I will keep her busy until you finish.” Then I’m left with Ester.

Faster than the blink of an eye, I’m grabbed and sent flying through a building. The pain of debris cutting through my body clears my mind, finally setting my training into gear. Using the wind to clear out the remains of the crushed building from my path, then, without even a chance to comprehend her actions, I’m punched in the face straight into the dirt.

A kick to my ribs threatens to knock the wind from my lungs, but I control my breathing and save my air from escaping. Using the wind, I summon a barrier to zip around me. I feel her attack cut through my barrier. I grab her arm and, using her momentum, flip her over my shoulder and slam her to the ground. Quickly, I send a kick into her side, but then she disappears, and I feel a hard punch to the back of the head and a hard one to my ribs, dropping me to my knees.

Ester stands above me. “You’re not bad. You have decent instincts, but they’re just not good enough.”

She sends a shattering kick into my ribs again. This time, they give in and crack.

“Dammit!” I scream.

Then I feel something in my mind snap, and the pain vanishes like excellent pain meds.

I summon a gale of wind into existence, shattering every building around us. The gale of wind I summon into existence demolishes the entire area. I drag the remaining debris in a circle around me, trying to hit Ester. She zips around, trying to find an opening in my attack. I send piece by piece of debris flying at her.

With a gasp, she quickly takes off in the opposite direction. Zooming through the city, she skillfully evades everything I toss in her way. She tries to slip between two buildings I’ve thrown at her, but I drop a third one I had hanging from above her. She doesn’t dodge in time, and the building lands on her. I stand winded from the extreme use of magic. I can feel a hint of the madness seeping in.

“You elementals are so powerful, yet you seem too weak to be one?” I feel a hand on my shoulder.

Without even turning, I feel a knife at my throat. Its finely sharpened edge is pressed into my neck.

I say nothing; I just stare into the dirt.

“I expected more. Sure, you’re young, but an elemental is still an elemental.” She shrugs.

“Oh well, having you die will save the world, so no enormous loss.” Before she can slice my neck open, I laugh.

“Let me go, or you’ll die.” Ester laughs.

“Please, I have your life in my hands. You have no sway.” I nod up.

Ester sees the house I just dropped from above on us too late.

She pushes me away, and I use the wind to propel me forward. I turn and swing the remnants of the destroyed house in a circle around Ester. I release more of my magic to kick the wind up faster.

The wind rips rocks from the mountainside and the destroyed homes from all over, and I push them into the circle around Ester. I can feel her zipping around inside my gale prison. I use the wind to force the prison walls to spin around her faster. She’s moving much quicker now inside my prison. I can see sparks flying from the top as the air heats up.

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Now!

I scream in my head, grabbing several pointed objects and circling them around the prison. With a flick of my wrist, I send them flying at full speed.

*Kaboom*

An explosion rocks the mountain, obliterating a considerable section of a massive peak that overlooks the city. I lose focus, and my prison fails. Turning to the scene, I suddenly feel the enormous amount of Mzynes running rampant from that area. Chills, that’s what the feeling gives me. It’s like I’m stuck in the Arctic plains. I smell iron as my nose bleeds from the pressure. Which is insane because we are thousands of meters from the battle.

That must be where Queen Venus is fighting. The sky is dark with thick black clouds and lighting, adding a bit of light to the gloom.

Ester shakes off the Queen’s Aura and laughs.

“Ha! That was good!” She says.

“I take it back; you have more in you than I thought.” She removes her cloak to reveal an ornate brigandine.

“But I need to finish this and get back to my brother.”

Then she is gone and is running fast in a circle around me. I widen my stance to allow myself to turn more quickly on the spot to figure out her attack pattern. But it’s practically futile as she punches me hard in the face. Then, a kick to my leg, then a knee in my stomach. It’s too much. She’s too fast; I can’t keep up. She kicks my legs out from under me, causing me to fall onto my back. Now, I have a foot to my throat and stare up into her eyes. Those sparkly alien-like pupils stare down at me. I can feel the fear coming back. I held it away during the fight, but it’s still here. Struggling, I try to break free from under her, but she is too strong.

Ester pulls a small knife from underneath her belt it glints in the sunlight. Ester smiles madly; her eyes grow wide and dilate, and an orange glow surrounds them. She brings the knife down and stabs my shoulder.

The pain is excruciating as it cuts into the scars Johnathan left me. She raises the knife up again and stabs my thigh. The jagged edge of the knife tears my flesh and muscle. My vision swims with searing pain, and I can feel the tears rolling down my cheeks.

Ester sighs, and a smile forms on her face. “Good, suffer. Mistakes do not get to die peacefully.”

The bloody and warm edge of the blade touches my throat, and I give in. I am just not strong enough to handle the Embers. Then, just as I feel her cutting open my throat, something flies into Ester, and she goes flying into several buildings.

My vision is fuzzy, but I can see Victoria standing above me. “Glad I got here in time.”

Victoria reaches into a small pack attached to her pants and pulls out a small vial of green liquid. She pops the cork and holds it to my lips.

“Drink.” The cool and minty liquid covers my tongue and slides down my throat. The searing pain sinks into a dull ache. A huge perk is that I feel more rejuvenated.

“What is that?” I ask as Victoria helps me to my feet.

“It’s a temporary pain reliever, so we have exactly five minutes to kill these two, get those citizens out of that barrier.” She looks right into my eyes.

“Then get you to Rene before you collapse and go into shock.”

Out of nowhere, an entire cart used to haul goods is hurled at us. Victoria takes a step forward and punches the cart into splinters. Jinpei is on me. He tries to punch me in the head before Victoria grabs his wrist and brings her elbow down on his forearm, and all I hear is a crack as the man screams.

Then he backs off, holding his now crooked arm as Ester circles Victoria, myself, and Jinpei, locking us inside with him.

“Stand next to me, Shroud. Follow my lead and do exactly as I say.” She turns to me, her eyes honed in and at a peak storm. All I can do is nod.

“Great.” She smirks.

“I call this one the play-by-play.” Victoria hops up and down on her feet, shadowboxing.

“I will tell you exactly how to move and when to use your magic.” Then Jinpei glows a faint magenta, and he seems to have healed his arm.

“Follow me!” Victoria takes off.

She sends a kick at Jinpei’s head, who blocks it with his forearm.

“Emelia, kick the back of his knee!” I do as she says and use the wind to speed up my kick. I hear a crack, and Jinpei drops to his good knee. Then he laughs.

“Now, Ester!” Then Ester attacks Victoria; they battle it out as Ester throws punch after punch before Victoria nails Ester in the face.

“Emelia, use that gale force of yours!” Nodding, I summon a gust and slide it under Esters’s feet. She loses balance, letting Victoria kick her in the stomach and send her skidding back, giving Victoria distance.

When I look over, Jinpei is gone. I see him a few meters away before he releases a beam attack from his hands. I try to warn Victoria, but the beam is too fast.

Victoria disappears, and the attack misses her. Then I see she has turned into a small wolf and quickly turns back into her human self.

“Okay, Emelia, time to finish this. Go now!” Victoria runs off at I’m sure is her top speed as the ground cracks under her and rubbles goes flying.

Victoria glows yellow as her aura outlines her body.

“Jinpei is strong, so do not get hit by him.” Then we both take off at the two. I can feel the pain in my shoulder, and it is coming back.

Jinpei and Ester’s auras fuse before their aura blinds us.

“Here we go,” Victoria says.

“The siblings smirk. I can feel that they have merged somehow, but no, their souls have. It’s like they have one soul and two bodies.

The siblings say nothing; they just attack. Ester goes after me again, except this time, she is now both fast and has her brother’s strength, as a missed punch destroys an entire building. Victoria is in a heated battle with Jinpei, who slams massive blow after blow, causing shockwaves that threaten to take me off my feet. Ester trips me and tries to bring her foot onto my head. I catch myself with my hands and roll away from her attack.

My anger takes over, and I snap, and visions of Ester and Jinpei in pieces take over my vision. Fuck this. I activate the first limiter, then stand up and point at Ester.

“You will die.” The Voices in my head, the screams of all who have died because of me this far. Their hatred for the embers is palpable. I am their conduit; their anger is fuel for mine.

I laugh because an Ember is right in front of me, and she is ready to die.

Time for me to take my revenge. Finally, the begging is here!

Ester doesn’t speak; she just laughs. She slams her foot down, and the ground bulges and then splits. I feel myself fall. Quickly, a gust of wind saves me, and I land on my feet on solid ground. I summon the wind to cover my body, forming my Gale armor and sword.

Ester stops and smirks. “Oh, that armor is interesting. Let’s see if it can handle us.”

Then she’s gone.

I close my eyes and take a deep breath, filling my lungs. I square up and ready myself.

A kick to my back trips me up, but I plant my feet. I Spin on my heels and swing a fist into Esther’s stomach. She doubles over, and I grab her hair and put my knee into her nose. Blood sprays all over my armor. Without letting go of her, I take my sword and stab it into her stomach. Her guts fall out and hit the ground, and Ester drops dead.

Jinpei screams, and I feel a punch to the back of my armor, and it cracks, sending me flying hard through several buildings.

Victoria is at my side quickly. “Great job! I knew you had it in you.”

Jinpei stands over Ester’s body, and he holds her corpse in his arms. Then his Aura pressure spikes considerably, and he stands up.

“We may not have been able to kill you, Victoria, like we originally thought. We may not have been the strongest.” Jinpei takes in a deep breath.

“Just to spite this damned world of ours. Just to spite this damned world of ours, I will remove this entire town and anyone remaining in it. Tears fly off his face, snot runs down his nose as he hugs Ester’s body closer to his.

I do not wish to live without Ester, even in the New World. So I will take as many of you to the void as possible." Jinpei glows a bright magenta, and he grows in size.

Victoria bolts over to the Leeching barrier with the Sylphan citizens. She reaches her hand inside it and seems to absorb its power. She pulls her arms out, and they are steaming from mana burn.

I race over to her. “What’s happening? What is he doing?”

Victoria paces around the barrier, looking for a way to get the unconscious Sylphans out.

“Victoria, what is happening?” She looks over at Jinpei and then back at me.

“Jinpei is going to let go of all his magic. This will cause a massive explosion, taking out a huge section of the city.”

I feel sick. “But what happens to all the Sylphans we haven’t saved!?”

Victoria shakes her head. “I can’t take down the barrier. We have to leave them and get to safety. I might survive his explosion, but it will kill you.”

“No! I won’t leave them to die; not going to happen.” But then I collapse in pain as the medicine seems to have finally worn off.

Jinpei screams in pain, and white lights seem to shoot from his eyes, mouth, and body.

Victoria throws me over her shoulder. “Sorry, Emeila, but we have to run.” I can’t even argue as darkness comes over me again.

No, I won’t pass out again. I’ll stay awake. Victoria takes off and has already made a considerable distance from Jinpei. You can see the bright light from Jinpei expand rapidly.

*Boom!*

Victoria grips me tighter and then speeds up. Before the light reaches the barrier, I see a younger Slyphan boy wake up and stare at me just as the explosion overtakes him.

I’ll remember his sad Green eyes. I’ll file them away with the other faces in my dreams.