It was eerily silent inside the small grove, But Sirius could feel the air getting hotter as he slowly threaded forward. His presence was hidden by a spell, but he could still be seen and heard, so the movements he made were careful and calculated.

The rustling bushes attracted his attention. Sirius prepared his staff, and sneaked behind the tree, straining his hearing, but could not discern anything. From his pocket he took out a chalk and drew a small diagram on a trunk. Then he sneaked away behind another tree, and injected some of his mana in a simple diagram. It began gathering the hot mana around, pushing inside the tree in a thin line. Several minutes would be enough to fully cut a tree, but it was not the main purpose right now. Sirius could hear someone sneaking, while still hiding from sight. He peeked from the other side of the tree, and could now notice his opponent. A man in those same black and white robes was focused on the tree with a diagram. Like a wolf, his eyes were latched on the side of the tree, as he walked closer and closer, his sword unsheathed and ready. That was a nice opportunity to jump him from behind, but Sirius waited, readying the staff for a clean hit.

A man got right up to the tree, but still to the opposite side of the diagram. After a shot moment, he spun, circling the tree and slashing where Sirius' neck would be. As the man looked at his sword stuck in the wood, a heavy strike from behind brought him to his knee, hitting him to his left collarbone. Then another hit to his right side made him fall. Sirius looked down at the man, ready to react in case he tries to retaliate, but not attacking the lying person. The man began gathering icy needle in his hand, but the casting was interrupted by a slam of the staff. After another failed attempt the man gave up.

"Fine, fine... You win. Now let me go."

"Why would I?" Coldly asked Sirius. His cloaking was now dispelled, and his Mind's Eye was focused directly on his prey.

"You are not one who kills."

"Why do you think so? Didn't the Order paint me as a vicious traitor?"

"Aren't you one, though?"

"..." Sirius looked at this man once again. "Take that mask off."

"I can't. It's..."

"I don't care. Do it."

"No." The man defiantly looked in Sirius' eyes.

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"I said..." Sirius made a small step forward and lifted the staff from the ground, threatening the man. "Take! It! Off!"

The rage boiling in Sirius made the mana around shake. The man gulped. Sirius looked to the side, taking a deep breath.

"Why don't the Order leave me alone?.."

"Because you are a danger to them."

"Well, if they would stop trying to kill me, I would not be as angry at them." Sirius suddenly straightened and looked around, straining his senses. "And here I thought why you were so talkative. You are not alone."

"No, I am."

"Either you are lying or they hid from you as well. I can't allow you to run away while I am dealing with them." Sirius swung his staff a couple of times and pointed into the ground besides the man. The earth morphed, flowing like a clay after the staff, covering man's body with an arc. Sirius removed his staff and clenched his fist, hardening the soil and restraining a man. Satisfied, he walked away, hiding his presence once again.

"You failed. Explain yourself." Said a deep voice near the restrained man.

"We must move out of here, Silver Inquisitor, he is still around." The hard shell made him sweat and fidget, trying to free himself.

"Explain why you failed. I will not repeat myself."

"I don't know! He came here after just three shots! Please, release me!" A hit to the face with a boot made him shut up.

"You are a disgrace to the Silver Order, Emmanuel. You lost to a kid."

"A kid? That monster is not a human! He casts too effortlessly for his age. He senses my spells before they manifest. He is even aware of the Divine Weaving Principle! You decided to hide that information from me, right?"

"You dare question me?"

"That cunning demon is lurking in here, waiting to strike, so we need to move. If not, we will both perish here!" Finally the shell gave way and began crumbling.

"Your misconduct will be judged later, Emmanuel." The Inquisitor took out his blade and prepared to walk, but was distracted by loud creaking. In a wave, all the hot mana that permeated the forest gathered in Inquisitor's left hand, and he unleashed the blinding stream of fire upon the falling tree. After a couple of seconds, the trunk split in half, leaving only smouldering wooden chunks. Immediately the air cooled down, giving Sirius chills, as he quietly watched the blaze from a distance. He could not face the Inquisitor head on, and so he fled the scene. To stall for time he left a couple more diagrams on thinner trees, hoping to distract the attackers.

As Sirius retrieved his items, he looked back at the black smoke behind, the small forest patch in the middle of vast plains disappearing in a fire.