The Four Troublemakers

The boy took a step back and stared at the pendant he stole. "Looks like a precious stone, no wonder you want it back," he said loudly. "Huh, it's quite heavy," he added, weighing the stone in his hand.

"If I sell it, I'll probably make a fortune. You don't mind if I do, do you?" he grinned mischievously.

By this time, the few people standing in the courtyard were aware, watching curiously to see what was happening. Their eyes were trained on Elias, as if they knew for certain that he was screwed.

From the corner of his eye, Elias could see whispers being exchanged.

He dropped his eyes and paused, training his ears.

"Isn't that Shane Wang and his dogs? From Infernal Spirit Sect?" he overheard one whisper.

"Isn't that the son of the city's garrison captain? I heard he's really powerful, but what is he doing picking trouble in the Jing's property? He'll be in trouble."

"Whether he'll get in trouble or not, that boy is doomed...Shane Wang always had a knack for getting away with things anyway. Who is that boy anyway?"

"Must not be someone important, I've never seen him before."

Elias smirked.

Shane Wang was enraged with his attitude. "I'm talking to you! Do you take this as a joke?"

Elias sighed. "Ten seconds," he said as he slowly pushed himself up on his feet.

Once he was standing, it was his turn to look down on them.

Shane Wang and his three underlings backed away, slightly intimidated by his height up close. They barely stood up to his eyes, and the situation seemed reversed.

Elias held out his hand. "Ten..." he started to count. "Nine..."

Shane Wang sneered. "Do you even realize what you're doing?"

"Eight..."

Shane's three friends shared a look, forcing out a small, nervous laugh. "Bro, I think you should just give it back to him, seeing he has the guts to do this, he might actually be a big shot," one of them whispered to him.

"Five..."

Shane glared at his friend. "Seriously? Are you scared? Just watch."

"Three..."

"Once he finishes counting, I'd doubt he'd do anything. It's just some annoying tactic to make us give it up. Even if he tries anything, I'll beat him to a pulp."

"One."

Silence.

A grin broke across Shane Wang's mouth. "See? He's not doing anything."

Suddenly, the pendant slipped out of his fingers, and it flew straight into the pond, sinking to the bottom.

"...Oops," he giggled. He smiled at Elias. "Go pick that up for me and I'll let you off for standing up to us."

_______________

Wayne hid in the corner.

Maybe Elias didn't know, but he'd been watching the whole thing. They ran out of drinks already, so he turned back.

But when he did, he didn't expect to see Shane Wang, that bold idiot, and his friends surrounding Elias. Which stupid person added them to the guest list? Did they sneak in?

At first, he was just curious, he wanted to see how Elias would deal with punks like them. Wayne knew that the stone held some importance to him, so he thought that when Shane smacked that pendant out of his hands, that he would react and put him in his place. But he didn't.

He just sat there, showing no emotion on his face.

Wayne thought that was his way of dealing with people like Shane. Like they weren't worth wasting energy on.

So he kept watching.

But then, Shane threw the pendant into the pond, and that's when it all changed.

He held his breath as Shane continued to laugh with his friends.

They didn't notice, but Wayne saw the dark storm starting to rage in Elias' eyes, burning dangerously.

The laughs echoed in his ears, and he felt himself being drawn into the storm, the shadows sweeping around him thickly.

If he didn't stop this right now, it would all be chaos.

That damned Shane Wang. He just had to pick the wrong person to mess with. Really, who the hell invited him?

Wayne hurried into he garden and pushed past Shane and his friends, taking them by surprise.

"Hey!" one of his friends shouted. "Watch where you're going!"

Wayne ignored them and grabbed onto Elias' arm, shaking him. "Elias! Hey, calm down!" he urged. "I'll- I'll get someone to get that back for you, okay? Are you listening?"

"Ah, isn't that Young Master Wayne?" Shang Wang said mockingly. "Why, what are you doing, scared of him?"

Wayne whirled around, gold sparks flying from his eyes. "Listen here, Shane Wang," he snarled. "You just don't know when to stop. I suggest you apologize right now and get the hell out of here."

"Apologize? Are you kidding?" he said ridiculously. He pointed a finger at Elias, unaware of the bomb that was about to explode. "Just who the hell is he that I have to apologize to? To you, maybe I would, but to a nobody like him? Don't get me into that sh*t. He looks like one of those dumb scholars with little weak, good-for-nothing spirits."

Wayne seized the collar of his shirt tightly and glared. "You better do as I say, or I'll take you down," he growled.

"Oh yeah? How about we do that right- uck!"

Wayne glanced down in surprise to see a hand with its fingers locked tightly around its victim's neck, ready to snap it at any moment. He released Shane's collar and saw that the hand belonged to Elias, and his expression was scary blank.

Shane's friends backed away, surprised.

"Let...let...let go," Shane managed to choke out. His veins were popped and his eyes bulged.

Wayne grabbed onto Elias' wrist. "Let him go, Elias," he said frantically. "People are watching."

Wayne looked around, and it seemed a bigger audience had gathered around the perimeter of the garden while they were arguing.

Elias didn't let go. Instead, his grip seemed to tighten.

Wayne darted his eyes at his hand around Shane's throat, honestly terrified. He didn't know what the heck he should do to stop this, and the only person who might be able to control him was Eryn, but she was nowhere to be found. If he didn't find a way to stop this right now, Shane would be dead.

And that would only bring more trouble for Elias.

Wayne panicked, breathing rapidly. "Elias, let him go!" he said, his voice demanding. "Let. Him. Go," he said louder, his hand still around his wrist.

He wasn't listening, so there was only one thing left he knew to do.

He clenched his teeth, feeling his arm surge with power. He didn't want to overdo it, but considering his strength...

Red flames burst out from under his palm, setting Elias' cuff alight.

That seemed to do it.

Elias snapped out of his trance and glanced down at his burning sleeve, then looked at Wayne, who refused to let go until he did.

"Oh..." he mumbled as if he didn't know what he was doing. Slowly, he let Shane go, and the boy dropped to the ground, wheezing.

"Shane!" his friend called out, running to his side.

They pulled him to his feet and took him away, out of their sight.

Wayne let go of Elias' arm, extinguished the fire, and felt a huge wave of relief washing over him.

Elias dropped his arm and glanced around subtly with his head down.

The audience didn't disappear, they were still standing there.

"...sorry," he mumbled. "I didn't plan on doing that."

Wayne ran his hands through his hair and pulled, feeling the stress take a toll on him. "Heavens, Elias," he gasped, doing a double-take. "If you do that again, I think I might just die from the panic attack."

Elias scratched the back of his neck sheepishly, then glanced over at the pond. "...um-"

Wayne held up his hand to stop him. "I got it," he said. He grabbed a stick and reached into the water with it as he climbed onto the edge of the rock.

The string hooked on to the end of the stick after a couple of tries and Wayne pulled the pendant out of the water. He held it out to his friend, the stone still dripping wet.

Elias took it in his hands and wiped it off on his unburnt sleeve before holding it tight in his fist. "Thank you."

Wayne threw the stick on the ground and kicked it away, flailing his arms. "Damn you, Elias. It turns out you're still a child after all," he complained without any real frustration. "It seems Eryn has spoiled you a little bit."

Elias didn't answer.

Wayne rubbed his eyes with the palms of his hands and shook his head. "You know what...let's just go somewhere else. Come on."

"Okay..."