"
... corruent coram vobis. Prodiit, qui obscurus est terra. Tolle forma, resurge, et fac sicut vos es iube!"
A tree shriveled up and withered as the last words departed from Diavelâs purple tongue and drained the tree of the last of its mana. It collapsed into a heap of bark, vines, leaves and branches.
Twenty-three, an inauspicious number, the sorcerer thought to himself with a smile. The pile exploded as an earth elemental doppelganger formed itself and raced off to join its brethren at the Shrine of Aridea.
Diavel had to resist the urge to run off after the beast. In the distance, the sounds of combat could be heardâthe pinging of rock against metal, the cries of war, the bass of explosions. Part of Diavelâa really large partâwanted nothing more than to go and join the chaos but the other part of him kept him back.
It is all part of the greater plan. We must cooperate with Hebi to accomplish our ultimate goals. The sorcerer felt a wave of annoyance crawl up his throat. About a month ago, the dark-haired Protector had approached Tarean and Diavel with the proposal and plan to obtain the four elemental orbs. The Protector had acted as if the idea had been solely his own. Diavel snorted at the thought.
Such a pathetic arrogant fool. The fate of the orbs had been decided long agoâlong before even the Aridean civilization.
The sorcerer gritted his teeth and had just been about to summon another elemental when, suddenlyâwith a slurpâ, his feeling of annoyance was gone. In its place was an emptinessâvoid of all emotion. He found that he actually missed the feeling.
There was a yawn from beside him. âYou seem to be enjoying yourself,â Tarean noted.
Diavel shrugged impassively. He was still feeling the numbness of having oneâs emotion sucked away.
âThough,â the hanâruun continued with a tone of sarcasm, âI was wondering: You know not all of the Protectors and their Kings are as retarded as theyâve led us to believe, right?ââOh, I am very aware,â the sorcerer answered with a cruel laugh. âItâs no fun having an experiment with stupid test subjects.â He turned to the sky, looking at the stars. âCome Tarean, I believe it is time that we went hunting for the next Water King,â Diavel said with an enthusiastic tone. It had been a long time since they had seriously been hunting for anyone. Perhaps the next few months would be interesting ones.
From the Shrine of Aridea, a screech echoed through the night signaling the death of another elemental. Diavel scoffed but, even as he did so, a hateful upward curl crept onto his dark lips. âIntelligent little rats.â
There was the pinging of rock against metal as Emrys dashed in front of the Princess of the Winds to deflect another attack from an Earthen Elemental. As the collision pushed him backwards, the butler got a good look at the creature. This one had the figure of a bear and the complexion of a treeâsharp rocks formed razor like claws and long branches made up the creatureâs rib cage. Between the branches of the rib cage, the knight caught a glimpse of purpleâa activated rune. âPrincess Celeste,â he called, âthere is a rune on the Eleâ.â
âAlready on it,â came a reply from directly behind him. Two knives layered in a greenish aura flew out and curved towards the bear-like Elementalâs chest. One cut a branch in half before flying away and the second slipped straight through the opening into the Elemental. There was a sound like shattering glass and the purple glow from the Elementalâs chest disappeared. The lifeless heap of mana-less nature fell to the ground with a crunch.
Seventeen, Emrys counted. Of that seventeen, he had fought a total of eight and slain four of the eight. He glanced around the battlefield with stoic eyes. A dragonâsmaller than what one might expect of a dragonâsped through the air, cutting down an Elemental not too far to his right. Aeraki was floating nearby, paintbrush in hand, directing her colorful creation. To his left, there was a flash of green and red as Freece smashed through a rock elemental utterly pulverizing the beast in the process. From the corner of his eyes, Emrys could see the Fire King crouching over his young-looking Protector who had taken a beating during the battle. A pang of pity pulled on the butlerâs heart. Then, he noticed the black-haired Fire Protector walking over towards the group.
âEmrys!â Celeste called. The collected group of the Fire King and two Fire Protectors had caused a huge opening in their lines. Already, two Elementals had found the opening and were dashing through.
The butler was already sprinting towards the collected group.
There isnât enough time!Fortunately, Flynn had seen the opening as well and, unlike Emrys, had been much closer to the two invading Elementals. The fiery haired Protector raised his left hand and swiped it through the air in one fluid motion. Two ovals of yellow whistled through the air towards the rock and wood creatures.
Unfortunately, the Fire Protectorâs mana had been running low and the first oval had taken most of his remaining spare mana. The first missile struck its target in an explosion of orange and yellowâobliterating the Earthen Elemental. The second wasnât nearly as effective. It splashed against the wooden creature with a flash of flames but did nothing but ignite the creature. The Elemental didnât seem to notice the fire and continued straight towards Flynn.
The Protector groaned wearily and readied his sword for another direct engagement. Much to his relief, the Elemental didnât make it into Flynnâs melee range. Two knives, glowing with a green aura, shot past him and struck the Elemental square in the chest. The creature fell apart before it could even touch the ground.
In an instant, the Princess of the Winds and her butler were standing beside Flynn, making sure that none could reach the Fire King and the other Protectors. Flynn looked over at Marsaili, who Siya was holding closely. Personally, he had never been too close to the other Protector and had even, at times, found a distaste for her. Seeing her like this, though, made him see her in a slightly different perspectiveâdespite being a demon, she was also a child.
â
What were those things, Siya? And why did they wanna hurt us?â she asked softly.
The Fire King sighed, as he attempted to heal her. â
I donât know MarsailiâŠâ
The Princess of the Winds stood quietly over the group. She was taking in whiffs of air, trying to identify the aura of the Elementals. They were Earthen Elementalsâit was all too easy to simply place the blame upon Byre and his Protectors. Celeste shook her head. There was only one thing that she was certain of: âIt wasnât Byre and his men. There are absolutely no traces of their scents on these Elementals. The personâor personsâwho did this is pretty smart, trying to set us upon each otherâs throats.â
Standing beside her, the Fire Protector, Aarynn Fletcher, nodded in agreement. âIt must be the people who already have the Water Orb.â
Upon the topic of the Water Orb, Siya turned to look at the other Protectors and Celeste. "
I don't know what you plan to do, Lady Celeste, but I still plan to find the King of Water. I have a feeling that no matter what enemies may be following us, they may already be several steps ahead of us in finding him. If we find him, we can protect him until he's given his orb. There's no way we can find the orb, we've not the power to do that. Only the Water King can. I'll be on my way once Marsaili has been healed in the village not far from here. If you wish to accompany me, I'll gladly welcome you and your protectors. I could use all the help I can get". His eyes betrayed a stubbornness and refusal to listen to other reasoning. Without another word, the Fire King and his Protectors stood and began to walk in the direction of the aforementioned village.
Aarynn looked back at the Princess of the Winds and her Protectors with a smile. The Princess kindly returned his smile and Emrys gave him a nod of approval. With a thumbs up, the Fire Protector turned and walked off.
Just then, Kanan walked up and dropped to one knee, bowing to Celeste. The princess shook her head and bade him to stand upâthe time for formalities was not this time. War was at hand. She raised her gaze, looking around at the destruction wreaked upon the sacred grounds of the Shrine of Aridea. The Shrine itself was untouched. âThis alliance is important, but I am unsure if we can risk leaving our kingdom with Byre preparing for an attack.â
âA good defense provides for a good offense,â Emrys noted. âPerhaps, we should pull back and organize ourselves before making our next maneuver.â
âTime is of the essence now. We must decide our next move now.â
Kanan spoke, slightly surprising the Princess. âMy Lady, forgive me, but I think that Lord Siya is correct in going after the Water King. We should find him first before Lord Byre or anyone else does. Offering him protection is, in my mind, the best course of action.â
For a few seconds, there was no response.
The butler looked at Celeste, âPrincess?â
Slowly, but certainly, the Princess of the Winds nodded. âYou are right, Kanan. Whoever was responsible for this attack is sure to be going after the potential Water King as we speakâhis safety is of the utmost importance.â Turning to Emrys, she grinned. âI believe itâs time we began the next phase of our goal.â
The butler nodded with a slight curl to his lips. âFreece, Aeraki,â he called. âItâs time to go, we will be accompanying the Fire King and his Protectors to the nearest villageâfollowing that, we begin the search for the potential Water king.â