Chapter 3

I was terrified. Fear bubbled up from the pit of my stomach. I wasn't afraid of his power or the fact that I was fighting him, I was afraid because he was here right now fighting me. He was so high in the hierarchy that he could do this. That he could kill people whenever he wanted. He wasn't scared of the consequences that would come for pulling this stunt.

"HERE I COME BOY!" He shot forward at lighting speed. I was shocked. I thought that his ability was fire!

"You didn't think I could only use fire, did you?" He laughed. "You're naïve."

Crunch! I felt an impact on my right shoulder, pulling me down to the ground. I looked up in time to see him retract his fist which had collided with me.

"AIDAN!" Claire screamed while running towards me.

"STAY BACK, CLAIRE!" I struggled to stand up. My body felt heavy, and war torn. Using the wind at my disposal, I lifted my feet off the ground and shot up to the roof. From what I saw, it looks like he can only use two elements, Fire, and lighting.

"CLAIRE! ALL YOU HAVE TO DO IS KEEP THE BARRIAR UP! I'LL DO THE REST!" I yelled from above. Claire shot into action, putting her full effort into maintaining the barrier. I looked at Bernard Shaw to see him creating a deadly fire ball attack. I shot wind bullets at the fire balls in hopes that they would explode right in front of him. He saw this coming and quickly disabled them with a lighting shield, causing my bullets to become defective.

"EVERYONE IS OUT OF THE BUILDING AIDAIN!" Claire yelled at me from below. If everyone was out, couldn't we get out as well? I looked at Bernard Shaw again only to see him laughing like a mad man, although I don't think that's that far off the mark.

"You think you can leave after everyone else is safe? I guess you are still kids, after all, you don't know what a true battle is." All of a sudden Ino appeared in front of him, trembling, eyes wide, crying.

"AIDAIN!" She screamed for me. Tears and snot mixed together on her pretty face. Her jewel blue eyes shook, and she screamed again. "AIDAN! AIDAN! AIDAIN! SAVE ME!" Her voice was put on replay for all to hear. She screamed till she couldn't scream anymore.

"LET HER GO!" Claire yelled while lunging forwards. Before she even took five steps she was thrusted back into the concrete wall at the end of the gym. Blood erupted from her mouth, spilling onto her pure white blouse, she fell limp onto the ground.

"CLAIRE!" Ino sobbed. I couldn't do anything. I could only stand there and watch. I couldn't do a fucking thing! Nothing but stand there while my friends bleed and cried, screamed and most likely, were about to die.

"Do you see it now, boy?" The monster asked. "Do you see the difference in our power?" Smirking he walked towards Ino. He took slow, calculated steps as to not stand on any blood. When he reached Ino he intertwined his hand with her hair and stated stroking it, turning her buttercup blond hair red with blood.

"N-No…" Ino whispered through her tears. Pleading, she looked up towards me, shadows under her eyes, her cheeks buffy and bruised from crying, nails digging into the ground, drawing blood. She looked at me and my blood ran cold.

"Maybe I could make a wig out of this girl's hair? Hm?" He pulled her hair, yanking her head back. She jerked up, dangling off of the ground, held up by only her long blond hair. "She seems close to you. Maybe you're girlfriend?" He Paused. "Nah, can't be. I bet the other one is. She seems more like your type." Confusion flickered across my eyes but only barely before it was replaced by fear all over again. Everything went in slow motion as Ino's head was rammed into the ground, causing her to die in an instance. He picked her limb, lifeless body up again, repeating the same action as before, he jammed her face into the ground once more. Tears dropped into the floor. I put a hand to my cheek to see if they were mine. Feeling the dampness, cool to the touch, I lowered myself to the ground. He continued to bash Ino's face into the ground till you couldn't make out her blue eyes and blond hair that was like mine, the parts of her that made us twins. Until you couldn't make out who she was at all.

"S-stop!" I tried to talk but nothing came out. Nothing but fear, horror, and disgust. I looked back at Claire only to see her hand over her mouth, her body trembled. My heart broke a little more than it had already. I had lost so many people in one day. No, in only a matter of hours. This world is cruel. It's unkind, and it's unfair.

"STOP IT! JUST FUCKING STOP IT!" I screamed like an impatient kid. "SHES'S DEAD! I KNOW SHE'S DEAD! SO JUST STOP!" I broke into a fit of screams and sobs. I couldn't keep going like this. I feel to the ground on my knees, shaking with fear and anger.

"Did this finally open your eyes?" He paused. "Even if you have power, things can change in only a matter of minutes." He dropped Ino's battered body and stalked towards me. "You are not worthy to live." He raised his hand at me and smiled. He fired a mixture of fire and lighting at me. Is this how I was going to die? In fear, unable to protect anyone? Was this the end? If so, I guess it wouldn't be all too bad, at least I would be with Mum, Dad and El-

"AIDAIN!" Claire shouted as she ran towards me. No! I can't die here. I still have one person left to protect. Using wind, I lifted both Clair and I into the air. I dropped the air temperature which caused the fire to struggle, eventually putting it out. All that was left was the lighting. I countered this by summoning all of the power within me to counter the strike.

BASH! CRACKLE! CRASH! The two forces collided with an earthquake of sounds, deafening Claire, and I in the process. Pouring out all of my magic, Bernard did the same. Now it was just a struggle for power. I kept on pushing, I poured even more raw power from inside. Bernard was slowly overpowering me, but all of a sudden, instead of trying harder, the weight that I was feeling loosened, I was weightless. My eyes blurred and became misty. I saw four figures surround me. Three with brown hair and one with blond. They started to do the work for me. They fought against Bernard, using raw magic to counter his lighting.

"M-Mum, Dad! Elaine! Ino! Y-You guys, you're here." I sobbed. My family and Ino were here. They were helping me. "I love you guys." I whispered, then they faded. I felt my body go slack and start to fall. I kept on falling till I lost consciousness.

When I came too, I was on a hospital bed wearing a white gown with my hands tied. My surroundings were covered in shadow, the only light leaking from the moon on the other side of the window and the crack under the door. I could hear feet scuffing past in the corridor. I tried to sit up but because of my tied hands, I didn't get very far.

"Are you awake?" Came a rasped voice. I looked to my left to see green eyes staring back at me.

"Claire…" I whispered, more to myself than anyone else.

"Yeah…" She sighed. "We need to get out of here soon. Before they start tests." She continued. I stared blankly at her. I really couldn't care less at this point.

"What's the point? We have nowhere to go. Our families are dead. Our reputations destroyed. Our friends gone." Then it hit me. Ino was dead. Ino was dead and I couldn't save her. I just stood there and watched. What a horrible person I am.

"She's dead. You couldn't have saved her even if you tried. We weren't strong enough." Claire stated. Tears bubbled in my eyes, streaming down my checks. "That's why we need to work harder. We need to become stronger. So, one day when we face the same danger we did today, we can protect everyone."

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry!" I cried. Claire and Ino were closer then Ino and I. Claire stayed over at Ino's most nights. Ino and I may have looked like twins but Claire and Ino were the real twins. They loved each other as if they were sisters. "I'm sorry…" I said again because it's the only thing I could say.

"I know." She whispered as her tears shone in the moonlight, glistening in her emerald eyes. "It wasn't your fault; it will never be your fault." She sounded surer of herself. I looked away from her. I couldn't watch her because she was too strong. She wasn't going to let this keep her back. Claire was going to became stronger than ever, and I was going to there right beside her.

"You want to get out of here?" She asked, hopefulness in her voice. I laughed at Claire's question.

"Yes."

Using wind, I put pressure onto the cuffs that bound us. Causing them to be crushed from the outside and crunching in, destroying the metal completely. We shot up out of the beds and went to the window. Claire opened it at sat on the ledge.

"After you, M'lady." I said playfully while leaping up beside her because that's all I could do, pretend. Claire jumped and not even a second later, so did I. We fell for a second or two then floated up into the sky at a high speed. It was cold and we didn't want to be seen, so we went even faster than before.

We arrived at my house in no time. I didn't have the key to open the front door because all of my belongings were confiscated but fortunately, it was unlooked. We stepped inside only to be meet with the worst sight in our lives. There, lying on the floor was my family, covered head to toe in blood, eyes open but lifeless. The air around became stale and cold, freezing everything inside. The kitchen and living room were slashed and destroyed from the fight that took place. The fight that took my only family's lives. Not wanting to be there any longer, we hurriedly climbed the stairs to my room. Once inside, I grabbed two travel packs and filled them with clothes, toothbrushes and toothpaste, socks, maps, anything that could be useful. We then changed ourselves into my clothes, chucking our hospital gowns on the floor. Taking one last look around my room that I had lived in since I was a kid, my eyes landed on a certain object. It was the sun ring that Elaine had gifted to me for my birthday. She said she had seen my necklace and thought a matching ring would be nice. I picked up the ring and put it on, it fitted perfectly. This was the last thing Elaine had given me. Tears threatened my eyes again. Rubbing them, I turned around and rushed out of my room straight into the kitchen where Claire was waiting.

"Just grab canned food and packaged food, nothing else." I stated to her while going to a cupboard and grabbing two drink bottles. Claire also took the cookies and chips from the pantry and put them in her bag.

"Do you know where your Dad kept the portal?" She asked. I did know where it was, but I didn't know the code.

"I don't know the code to the safe."

"What's the most likely code they would use?" She asked. I didn't know. It could be Elaine's birthday, or it could be my birthday. They're the only ones I could think of.

"Let's try Elaine's birthday." We climbed the stairs again, never looking into the lounge. Not wanting the horrors of today to be forever scared into our brains, although it's most likely to later for that. Walking into my parent's room I went to their dressing table, opened the fake draw, and pulled out the safe.

"Hang on. Couldn't you just use your wind to crush the safe?" I paused.

"What if I crush the portal?"

"I believe in you, and I know that you have amazing control that that won't happen." She smiled at me; I felt a surge of confidence. Putting my hand on the safe, I applied wind against the cold, hard metal. For a couple of minutes all we could hear was the wind compacting against it. After a while the wind cracked the safe and it opened revealing a silver portal. Claire picked it up and placed it into the centre of the room. She then pressed a button on the side making it light up.

"Give me your hand." She stated. I followed suit and gave her my hand. She held it and together we stepped into the growing light. A fuzzy sensation filled me up, making my hair stand on end. Suddenly the fuzzy sensation turned into an internal buzzing that rattled my brain.

"We're here." Claire stated. We stepped out onto a cobble stoned road lined with freshly fallen snow. People walked past us without giving a second glance. I stared in awe. The buildings were all decked in cobble stones with dark coloured roof tiles. Vines grew up the sides of the buildings, turning, spiralling around the balcony railings, creating a vintage effect. A cold gust of wind hits me, slashing my face with a wisp of frosty air.

"Let's get off of the road." Claire dragged me over to the footpath, then, checking if anyone was listening she continued. "Don't look people in the eyes. Don't say your name first and never, and I mean NEVER talk to strangers. Got it?" She asked. Yes I did have it. I knew this since I was like five. I felt like a little kid again, but I guess since I've never been to my homeland that she would tell me this. Claire had lived here for most of her life, so she knew the ins and the out's.

"Claire you don't need to tell me these things. I'm not a kid, I'm 17." I said out of habit. She sighed.

"I know, but you don't know how dangerous this place is. Just keep quite."

"Yeah, yeah, I will." Giving in to her demands I dropped my head.

"Now, we need a place to stay. Wait, first we need money." Staring blankly at her I blinked. We stood there in silence for a moment.

CRASH! BANG! SMASH! Loud sounds erupted from all around us. We froze. The citizens were getting attacked, some were thrown into the ground, others smashed into walls. Shouts and screams could be heard. Lifeless bodies scattered the ground, painting it red. Hordes of people flooded in from the sky, attacking, and laughing. Their sneers filled the air, echoing in my brain. Trembling, I stood frozen. Out of nowhere a group of people wearing matching uniforms with a lion symbol embroidered on their left chest started fighting back. They seemed strong, and mad. Their faces red with hatred. They aimed at the offenders, who like them were wearing uniforms, except instead of a lion logo it was a raven.

"POSTIONS! HEALERS READY! DEFENCE READY! ATTACKER READY!" The man in front of the group asked. He was most likely the leader.

"READY!" Everyone replied in unison.

"ATTACK!" He demanded. Following suit, they charged towards the raven attackers. They left no room for mercy. The raven monsters kept firring at the lion defenders. This tug of war continued and didn't sway.

"We should get out of here." Claire whispered, grabbing my hand again. She was leading me away from the chaos. Away from the war. Away from the death.

"SOMEONE HELP ME!" Came a miserable yell. I turned to see who had screamed. To my dismay it was a little girl. She was backed up against a wall with a snot-noised raven cornering her. My body moved on its own. Before I could even think, I had summoned a lightning strike from the sky, hitting the enemy with ease. The predator fell to the ground in heaved breaths. I scoped the girl up into my hands and ran towards Claire. Other raven worriers had seen the display and rushed to help their friend. Cursing, one of them aimed a fire ball at me causing me to doge but in turn I tripped. I turned over so my back hit the ground and the girl was safe. The one that had shot the spell came sprinting towards me at a terrifying speed. Worried that the girl would get hurt again I jumped up using wind and started running again. I was almost at Claire when a lightning strike narrowly missed me. Attacks kept coming one after the other. Using wind, I dropped the air temperature majorly, causing all fire spells to go out. Suddenly the ground began to rumble. In a miler-second it split open forming a crater in the middle of the street. We started to fall but thinking quickly, I used wind to lift us up into the air. Lifting us higher and higher till we were as high as the roofs of the buildings. The girl climbed onto my back and hugged form my neck. I created two twin swords out of lightning and flew towards some of the raven people in the air, slashing them with the swords when they lest expected it. The lion people saw this display and began to do the same. The healers stayed in the back while the attacker flew in the air. Together we fought through the raven's attack and defence till only their healers remained.

"Give it up." The leader of the lions stated. "You've failed." He was blunt but right. They had failed at their attempt to ruin this town.

"W-we can't! If we do, we'll die at the generals' hands!" One sobbed. Was this raven solider really crying? I thought only tough people joined the army or something, you know, people that aren't afraid to die and the lot.

"Would you rather die at my hand instead?" He asked to the cowering healers.

"We'd rather not die at all!" Another yelled out. These people didn't seem like soldiers to me. The seemed like scared little kids.

"How old are you?" I questioned. The lion commander stared at me.

"I don't believe that I gave you permission to speak." He growled. The other soldiers turned to face me. It felt as if they were measuring me up, seeing how worthy I was.

"I'm not apart of your forces, so it doesn't matter wither you give me permission or not." Staying calm, I asked again. "How old are you?"

"W-we're fourteen." The shortest looking one mumbled. These raven soldiers were fourteen. These soldiers were the backbone of the army. If you didn't have healers, you wouldn't survive, that's the plane truth. The raven army were putting everything on the shoulders of mere kids, no older than my little sister.

"What the hell?" I mumbled to myself, not caring if anyone listened or not. "Why are you fighting? If you're afraid to ge-" I was cut off.

"It's not that me want to be here! We want to be at home! With Mama and Papa!" All of them were yelling and crying, my heart broke more today than it ever had in my life.

"You've committed a grave act of treason. You will have to die." The children froze in what I presumed was fear. Anger rose from deep within. I turned to the commander and stared him dead in the eye, not caring wither I died for saying this to someone important.

"I know that this is a war but killing children is just wrong. I won't let you hurt these children." I held my ground as he returned my glare with a bag of salt and held my gaze.

"That is not something for you to decide, kid. Let me do my job and go back to your dear Mama." My anger turned hot red. I was not going to back down. I was not going to let these children die.

"I will not let you kill these kids." I stated again only to confirm my resolve.

"Don't test me kid, I'll destroy you." His heavy features looked tired and worn out like his years had caught up and kept on going, making him seem older than he probably was.

"If it means keeping these kids alive, I will." I answered within a heartbeat.

"ADAIN!" Came a yell from the ground. It was Claire. I had completely forgotten about her. I didn't move though because if I did the children would be dead within seconds.

"You seem like a strong kid." He paused. "How would you like to join the army?"