It was a chilling feeling entering the gates of Zetheria. The entire ground was covered by beige cobblestone, not a single speck of grass to be found. Not that there would be grass otherwise. It was as if they traversed a field of stone before approaching the main city. Nobody could get a clear glimpse of the city until they entered; the tall sky-scraping buildings obstructed their view.

Once they were in the city itself, dread filled each of them. It was cold and dark; the only lights coming from the streetlamps scattered across the city as well as some lamps that hung on the sides of the black buildings. It was as if Zetheria chose to block out the sun and moon after having lost their elements.

The very thought of being in a city without any type of plant life horrified Isla. It wasn't surprising that there was no water source either. There was no feeling, no energy, the entire city itself may as well be dead.

Speaking of, where were its citizens? They hadn't spotted a single person since entering.

"Do you think they could have... died?" Isla asked. "From the lack of water?"

Gwyneth shook her head. "Zetheria has always lacked water, so that's unlikely."

"Could something else have killed them?" Aston asked boredly. Part of him wanted to smash one of these windows and see if anyone was inside.

"Why are we assuming everyone's dead?" Cetri asked. "If they are, then those guards back there are guarding nothing!"

Gwyneth briefly stopped upon noticing something in the corner where a building seemingly wrapped around. Crouching down, she picked up the object, realizing that it was a doll; a rather strange one at that. It had a square head and rectangle limbs. What child would want to play with such a creepy doll? Even still, she brushed off the dust it had been collecting, just for it to start moving with a terrible screech.

"Aiyee!" Gwyneth screamed, accidentally throwing the doll at the others causing Elric to dodge at the last second for Aston to be hit in the face.

"What's—" Aston paused, looking at the mysterious toy before him. Without a moment's hesitation, the doll was burned to a crisp.

"Aw. That was someone's toy." Cetri frowned.

"Why did you burn it?" Isla asked Aston, trying to make out the details of the doll which was impossible in its current state.

"You would have too if you had seen it." Aston shivered.

"Heads up!" Elric shouted, causing the others to quickly bolt their heads in said direction. Four people descended towards them riding what appeared to be floating boards. Floating boards? Is this part of the Zetherian technology? What was more troubling was their hair color.

Red.

Elric quickly unsheathed his sword causing the others to follow suit with their weapons. Aston was about to summon his magic before reading a hand signal from Elric to stay put. Aston would have ignored him if it wasn't that the idea of an ambush sounded intriguing.

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Once their platforms reached the ground, they stepped off unsheathing their own weapons: bats. Huh, that was it?

"You've got guts prancing around the streets like that," one of them started. A man with red hair styled down the middle of his scalp.

"Look closer," another man said, hair similar to Aston's but crimson. "They're not from around here. Especially not the cat."

"Hey!" Cetri shouted, angered by the insult.

"Allow us to explain how things work here." A girl with frigid bangs and long shaggy red hair sauntered over, her hip movement exaggerated. She was the only one among the four with a light brown complexion. "The city is under our control. You either do what we say, or we'll make your life hell."

"Hell? What's that?" Gwyneth asked, having never heard such a word before.

"Judging by the way she used it in a sentence, I imagine it's not a good thing." Elric whispered.

"Ugh!" The girl slammed her fists in the air. "It's a Zetherian saying. Hell is... I don't know what hell is!"

"I suppose you won't simply let us go if we promise to stay out of your way?" Elric asked.

"That's not how things go around here." The guy with short red hair smirked. "You either work for us or you serve no purpose."

"Then I guess we'll be going through you!" Cetri charged at the four, gripping her hammer as tight as she could. When her hammer collided with the bat, she immediately felt herself paralyzed, a buzzing feeling coursing throughout her body.

"Cetri!" Gwyneth called after her, attempting to pull her away. To her surprise, the buzzing feeling coursed through her upon contact, causing her to become paralyzed as well.

"Isla!" Elric turned to the half Fae next to him before she nodded. Loosing an arrow at the woman with long hair, the girl next to her who had been silent all this time materialized a shield surrounding the two. Bars of flicking purple and yellow lights sprung from the ground as Isla's arrow was deflected.

When the two girls found themselves able to move, they turned to Aston who was still assessing the situation. If physical attacks were out of the question, why not burn them? He began casting a fire spell before finding him being shaken by a determined Elric.

"You can't beat four of them by yourself," he explained. "Without us to back you up, they'll be on you before you can finish..." he trailed off, wondering how much their enemies could hear. "Anyway, I don't think now is the best time to show our enemies our hand."

"But I—" Aston protested before he felt his arm being yanked. Before he knew it, he and Elric were dashing through the city, weaving every which way between buildings. He looked back to see the others following behind, Gwyneth and Isla struggling to keep up.

"We can't... run forever..." Gwyneth panted, her lungs burning from the running. She cursed herself for not at least exercising while at home.

"I can." Cetri attempted to shrug which doesn't work very well when you're running.

"It is physically impossible to run forever!" Isla added, grabbing Gwyneth's hand for support which only caused the latter to slow down.

Elric turned behind him; their chasers nearly upon them. It seemed they had stopped to reclaim their hovering platforms. There was no way they'd be able to outrun them now. "Split up!" he ordered, tossing Aston ahead of him before turning the corner.

Gwyneth pried her hand free from Isla before turning the corner near her, and Cetri darted past a dazed Aston. As they had expected, two of their red-haired enemies took the corners pursuing the two members who had veered off. The other two were dead set on Isla who was reaching her limit and stumbled to the ground before them.

"You can't outrun us." The long-haired lady waved a finger at the two, tsking at them. Next to her was her companion, one of the guys.

"You don't know that!" Aston shouted, clenching his fists. He wanted to display his power, to turn them into fools who feared him, but Elric's words rang through his head.

"Kill them." The lady crossed her arms.

To flame with Elric's words.

Aston summoned a fist made from rock to strike under the woman's blade, catching her off guard. Isla seized the moment to run towards Aston. Without their silent friend, her arrow should hit. She aimed for the man next to her, but he held his bat up; the arrow pathetically bounced off.

"You two clearly think you have what it takes to beat us. Let's see what you're made of!" The man roared, soaring into the air with his device, his partner followed suit until they were circling their prey.

For once in his life, Aston wished he had his companions with him.