- Burn the City

Roxy clutched Marcus's arm as they turned into an alleyway.

"You know, when we first met you would get all flustered when I did this to you."

"Yeah, but this life has no place for a pathetic excuse of an adult who gets like that simply from touch."

"It was cute though," she said as she looked at him. Her eyes filled with, to her surprise, genuine concern for the boy. He wasn't much younger than her, and wasn't fated for a life like this.

'He didn't choose this, but it's changed him so much.'

Nevertheless, it made her happy. No matter the circumstances, seeing someone reach their potential was a thrilling spectacle, and she was lucky enough to have a front row seat to the show of Marcus.

"You don't like silence much do you?" he asked as he snapped his fingers.

Now submerged in the alley, completely out of sight, the pair were lifted by an updraft onto the roof of the nearby building.

They put their hoods up and rapidly advanced North.

Above the wall, a large pillar of light shot upwards. That was their signal that the guard was ready to begin their assault.

Marcus snapped his fingers as Roxy spoke an incantation. Lightning struck the gatehouse, causing it to shudder. Marcus's earthen fist, a brutal pummelling technique he had created, hammered the weakened gate, causing it to splinter before eventually being destroyed from within.

The gate destroyed, the pair's efforts were focused on scaling the wall. Thanks to his superior physique, one he had trained and toned ever since Tess instilled the importance of physical combat in him six months prior, Marcus easily put distance between himself and Roxy.

Marcus leapt as he neared the wall, a snap of his fingers moving the air to lift him and hold him in place. He hovered above the wall, snapping lethal darts of air and streaks of flame down to his opponents as if he were an attack helicopter.

He devastated the area he assaulted in the blink of an eye. By the time the defenders had noticed the assault, he was already gone.

A quick snap slammed him into the wall. A second sent a wall of flame down the length of the wall. Beyond the fire, shadows danced with death, as Tess slaughtered dozens with as much effort as a raised finger.

Marcus turned to face the Western wall. To his right, he could hear a stampede.

The guard had begun their assault.

The idea was simple. Now that the wall was contested, the cavalry could breach the gate without risk of being slammed from above. Once inside, they would slaughter the cultists.

Of course, not everyone in the city was an enemy. Many innocents lived there before the cultists arrived, and found no need to leave. Some of them may die, but to Marcus that was merely a consequence of their own choice.

The cultists posted around the wall had taken notice of the attack and moved around to deal with the threat.

Water elementalists channelled their power to temper the flames.

Marcus laughed as he snapped his fingers once again. Obeying his command, the flames rose as a challenge to the might of the water wielders. He laughed once again as they stopped, their actions futile in the face of a better mage.

'The slaughter at the orphanage was the best thing to happen to me,' he thought with another laugh.

His lack of care for his opponents allowed him to elevate his abilities. In six months, he had already risen to the strength of a B ranked mage, helped in no small part by his status as a tri-elementalist.

Another snap of his fingers sealed the fate of the cultists. A gust of air, of the perfect strength, pushed the fire along the wall. The fire, stronger and with new prey, hounded down Marcus's enemies like an obedient dog.

Marcus glanced North. The main army was beginning its advance towards the city.

'They must think my flames are the signal. No matter, the battle is won."

Lightning slammed into the top of the Western wall. Marcus snapped and elevated Roxy alongside him on the wall.

"About time you did something," he taunted her.

She punched his arm. "I didn't get the chance. You could have waited for me."

Marcus feigned pain in his arm. "Where's the fun in that?"

She leaned into him as the cavalry entered the city. They stood embraced, amongst the flames that roared around them, watching the carnage unfold.

Cultists were forced to choose between being torched by Marcus's flames or impaled by Tess's shadows along the wall, or being crushed by the oncoming cavalry.

The idea of innocents dying under their gaze hung heavy on Marcus's heart, but he assured himself that it was simply an unfortunate side effect of the cultists.

'Another slaughter they're responsible for.'

Shortly, the guard entered the breach. Their role was simply to secure the streets the cavalry had already scoured, anchoring territory for the nation.

Mages advanced on the temple, cleansing the corruption of the dark god with Fire, Light and steel.

Earthen constructs burst up around the city, corralling any surviving cultists into hastily made killing zones.

"Shall we go down?" Marcus asked.

"Of course," she responded, tightly wrapping herself around him.

They leapt off the wall, slowing before the ground through a gust of air.

Now that the thunder of hooves had passed, people began to come out of their homes. The guard were cheered as they moved through the streets, the people grateful for being liberated.

'Hypocrites,' Marcus thought. 'You were all fine living under their rule.'

'Wait. Were they?'

Marcus thought back. In his months here, most of the people who he saw had a certain look about them, as though they were an oppressed people. Upon closer inspection, these people were genuine in their happiness.

They turned down a street, where they saw two guardsmen. They towered over a woman who looked terrified.

"We conquered you!" one of the guards yelled. "We can do whatever we want to you."

One of the guards saw them approaching, and alerted his friend.

"The fuck do you want?" the guard asked them.

"Aren't you supposed to protect the people? As a guard?"

"We have. We took the city."

'We? You did nothing.'

"So why are you harassing her?"

"She's one of the conquered. Let me explain something to you, kid. In the guard you have power, power that means something. Look at this one," he said, gesturing to the guard beside him. "He understands. Now get the fuck out of here."

Marcus turned to leave. He planned to get a different angle so he could protect that woman.

"Now shut up, and get down there!"

"Please..." the woman croaked.

Marcus stopped dead in his tracks.

'They should protect the innocent. What the fuck is this?'

A spark was lit inside him.

"Roxy, get out of here. I've got something to do."

He turned around as the sound of the guard punching the woman hit his ears.

The guard began fiddling with his belt before stopping as he noticed Marcus.

"I told you to get lost."

Marcus snapped his fingers. A wall grew behind the guards, trapping them.

The guard's eyes who had remained silent widened. "Incantationless casting?"

"And I told you, you guardsmen should protect the people of this nation. You didn't take this city, I did. You did nothing. I am the one who burned the walls. I am the one who slaughtered the cultists." As he spoke, he snapped fire into his hand.

"Fire and Earth? How? Is it-"

"Kid, put his flames out."

The second guard hesitantly began channelling water magic.

Marcus charged the guards, giving them no time to react. He snapped as he ran, manipulating air to increase his speed. He arrived in front of them in an instant.

"Huh? Three elements?"

Marcus put a flaming fist into the first guard's throat and followed up with a knee to the stomach, dropping the man to his knees.

He smothered the man's face with his right hand, and snapped with his left.

The man screamed as his face melted. Marcus held his hand there until there was nothing left but charred flesh and ash.

Glancing over, he saw the second guard had collapsed onto his back.

Marcus approached him as he begged for his life. Towering over him, Marcus gave him a wordless response, peering into his eyes.

They seemed familiar, as though Marcus should know who they belonged to. But he knew no one who would commit this act.

"Wait. Waitwaitwait. Don't do this. You know me, don't you?"

Marcus had no reaction as he snapped his fingers, and launched a blade of air at the guard. His throat burst open, showering his armour in crimson.

He knelt down next to the woman. "You alright?"

She nodded. "Thank you. won't you be in trouble for this?"

"Not at all."

Marcus rose and left the alleyway, taking one last glance back as before he left.

One last glance at the guards he had killed.

One last glance at the childhood friend he no longer recognised.