- Whispers and Wonders: A Flame Filled Desire

The room was enveloped in an eerie silence that stuck each and every person to their core. It could have been a knight. It could have been the priest. It could have even been the Dorrows. It didn't matter who was affected - they all were sharing the same moment.

An impenetrable fear that overcame them, enveloping them like a demon lurking over their shoulder.

They all watched with cunning eyes, wary of this unknown man's next movements, knowing him only as an anomaly.

Travor however, though a spike of fear had stabbed his heart before, returned to his arrogant state, twirling the spear in his hands until the head pointed towards Cain's chest.

His voice was filled with confidence, inspiring others to forgo their fear, casting it away like a cloak on their backs.

"This is who we should be afraid of?"

Travor pointed the spear towards Cain, his body practically emitting arrogance every moment he spoke.

"This thing? This creature - should we be afraid of him?"

He turned his gaze to Lia, a mocking smile covering his face as if he was secretly wondering why he was even afraid to begin with.

'He simply caught me by surprise. Why should I be afraid of a summons? I have his summoner right in front of me, bending to my will!'

However, despite his arrogance, he failed to keep his eyes on Cain, whose glowing crimson eyes turned on him, blank faced without a single hint of emotion.

"Ha! You all see him don't you? He's nothing but a body of flesh and magic."

He gestured to the wide open ballroom full of people who watched him like a commoner would a king, relishing in him even more pride, blinding him.

"We are the superior race my friends. We need not be afraid of such things, such creatures who wear our faces!"

He turned swiftly towards Cain, his spear cutting apart the air like steel against paper, leaving wisps of wind trailing behind it.

"Why should I fear someone like you?"

Travor asked Cain, though he didn't expect an answer. He didn't expect something he saw below him to speak.

Which is what made Cain's voice, piercing the air around him like a poisoned tipped blade, so shocking.

"I am not the one you should fear."

His voice was quiet amidst the many people present, but his words weighed down like rock on wood. Cain silenced a whole room filled with people, simply by speaking.

Travor, whose face was full of pride, froze with a frown, as if he couldn't understand nor grasp what he had just heard. It was quiet, like the wind blowing past his ear, but he knew it was there.

"...what?"

He blinked, his raised spear faltering as it threatened to fall to his side, the strength in his arms leaving him as quickly as his pride did.

"What did you…how?"

He asked with a shaking voice and breath, compelled to question as all humans do.

And Cain was compelled to answer, as the all knowing do.

"I am not the one you should fear."

Cain's eyes passed over Lia for a moment, her captor catching the gaze, filling him with fear as he slowly let go of Lia's hands, taking to the hilt of the sword on his side.

Suddenly, as quickly as Cain's eyes left Lia's, she felt something hard in her hands, smooth yet solid. Leather, yet iron.

A dagger.

She smiled, not bothering to hide the pride in her eyes as she watched on, knowing what would happen. And she was right.

As Cain's words left his mouth, his hand left his side, pulling from the shadows behind him like fog as he pointed to the archway above him

"He is."

Lia followed his finger, as she knew everyone around her was doing the same, compelled by some unseen force to follow his gesture, still in shock by the words that had left his mouth.

But what they saw next only served to cause their eyes to widen even farther, their blood running cold, as they laid eyes on the thing above him. Even Lia felt her heart freeze for a moment, compelled by the same unseen force to freeze in place.

Just above Cain, hovering in the space behind him, latching on like a living shadow, two pale yellow glowing in the darkness stared back at them.

As their eyes met with the yellow pair of eyes, a small spark lit up the darkness behind them, traveling like a snake through the shadows, illuminating the figure that took up the entire archway.

A viper. A fire snake.

Even as Lia watched on as the fire traveled down the back of the snake, twisting with its body, she could not believe her own eyes, left in a fearing awe as she simply watched the viper watching them.

With one word, Cain let his arm drop, holding it out before him, his finger landing directly in Travor's direction as the man's fear filled eyes landed on him, tearing his gaze away from the viper.

-Snap!

To the sound of the snap that lingered in the air, Lia barely heard the end of the sound as it reached her ears, the viper immediately shooting out from the open doorway, heading straight for Travor.

"Haisss!"

The viper flew through the open doorway, its flaming body shooting past Lia in a blur as Travor's screams echoed across the room. Even as the head of the snake twisted against the back wall, prepared to do another pass by, sending people flying out of the way, its own tail hadn't even left the doorway.

The fire on its back fell to the floor spreading like oil as people all around began to scream aloud, terrified as the snake made another pass by. Using its two sharp and long teeth, it ripped a man in half before spitting out a wave of hot flames, spilling across the walls and the people.

Lia, who was mesmerized by the sight, snapped out of her shock when the walls of fire and smoke began to surround her. Taking the knife in her hands, she turned the blade over just between her wrists before making the very difficult cuts that freed her of their bonds.

She didn't even bother to look back at the chaos the snake was causing, too focused on running forward, dagger in hands as she sliced open the neck of one of the temple knights, before bolting towards her friends.

In a matter of seconds she had reached Rian and Lukali, her eyes quickly passing over to where Voln and Malkova were, only to see Cain helping the two out of their bonds, while spewing his own dark crimson flames at a group of knights.

"Aghh!"

A nearby knight rushed Lia as she was distracted, only saved by Rian who rushed out from in front of her, huddling close to the ground as he slammed his fist into the knee of the enemy, snapping it back at an odd angle.

Lia used this chance to twist her body around, stabbing the knife deep within the knight's eye socket, causing blood to splatter across her face. Looking back on it, Lia would come to realize that she should have been terrified of something like this, but in the heat of the moment, she was too focused, and simply looked on at the chaos that surrounded her.

"We have to get out of here!"

Lukali yelled above the cries of the people around them, as many turned to flee out of the nearest exit they could find, as their allies and friends died around them.

"Die!"

Another knight rushed them, this one without a mask as his face was burned beyond comprehension, clearly just flinging his blade around and attacking anyone he could. Endless just happened to be the closest they could find.

Lukali, grabbing the blade of the fallen knight, rushed from behind the man as his sword slammed against Lia's dagger, causing her to stagger to her knees. As the knight raised his sword in some pain-fueled furry, Lukali appeared behind him, his own sword piercing through the knight's neck, spilling blood over the ground like a puddle of rain.

Voln and Malkova, followed by Cain who had Winslow's arm draped across his shoulder, joined them just as Lukali pulled the sword from the knights neck, allowing the man in his once pearly white and gold robes to fall in a pool of his own blood, dying the white robe into a ugly shade of red.

"Where did they go?!"

Voln yelled above the chaos around them, his eyes turning left and right searching for the Dorrows, his target.

Lia, who saw this, watched him with an intent gaze before grabbing onto his arm.

"We can search for them later. Right now, at the rate this battle is going, we need to leave."

"Not until I find them!"

He ripped his arm from Lia, raising his blade as he searched around them. However, even as Lia tried to convince him to stop searching, she was too late in realizing the shadow growing beneath them, only bothering to look up in time to see a chunk of the ceiling falling down on top of them.

"Look out!"

Lia pushed Voln back, her eyes staring at the rubble in fear, until a spout of white mist hit the rubble, spreading out across the surface until the entire pile was covered in a thin layer of ice and snow.

Malkova pulled Voln back as her hand began to shake slightly, quivering from the stress of keeping her magic running, something Lia realized as she rushed to move everyone out of the way.

She pushed Rian back, who needed little convincing in moving his butt along, however, when Lia turned back, she saw Lukali standing over the knight's body, eyes wide with shock as fear.

He wasn't afraid of the rubble. He was afraid of the pool of blood now sticking to his boots, his eyes refusing to move an inch from his place.

It took Lia's firm hand gripping his arm and her strength to pull him away from the scene, dropping the sword in the process.

"Move!"

Luakli stumbled over his own feet, falling clear of the shadow just in time for the thin layer of ice and mist keeping the rubble above their heads to break apart, smashing to the ground in a plume of fire and smoke.

Lia turned to look back at the damage, catching the gaze of Voln who stared back at her with angry eyes, the rubble separating the two. With one look of hesitation, Voln turned heel and began to run, searching for his family - his enemies - in order to kill them.

"Wait! Ugh - Damn it!"

Lia called after him but seeing that it was hopeless, turned to face her friends, her focus on their safety for now.

"We need to leave now!"

As one the three of them made their way around the rubble, heading for the nearest exit that appeared in their vision, coincidentally being the same door way that the viper had entered from, sure that there would be no one dumb enough to go down that hallway.

The screams of people dying surrounded them, even as they made their way through clusters of people, ending the lives of many who crossed their path with weapons drawn and raised in their direction. They were confident in escaping in one piece, hoping to fill Lia's heart as she laid eyes on the open doorway, until…

"YOU!"

A horrendous voice echoed through the ballroom, filling Lia's ears like the spike of fear that filled her heart.

She turned her head over her shoulder, stopping dead in her tracks as her eye landed on one bleeding, mangled, and rough looking priest. Travor.

His mouth was full of blood, his right arm was gone - eaten by the viper most likely - while his gaze was filled with a look that could kill. And it was staring straight at her.

Rian and Lukali wanted to stop when they saw that Lia had fallen back, only to continue on running towards the doorway when her voice called after them.

"Keep going!"

Lia's lingering gaze didn't leave Travor's as he twisted his spear in his left arm, holding onto the silver pole slick with his blood, his voice hardly more than a gurgle as he spoke, crying to the sky in fury and anger.

"You! I'll kill you!"

He raised the spear, the hair on the back of Lia's neck standing on end as she instinctively bent down, one knee to the ground as a hot and almost searing pain shot across her back.

Turning her head to look what had hit her, she realized that the weapon Travor was holding was magical, an imbued weapon with mana that had shot out a jet of pure energy, barely missing her back as it slammed against the nearest window, smashing it into pieces.

The searing pain from her wound was most likely the cause of the energy beam being so close to her that it caused her skin to burn. But Lia ignored the pain, which she found hard to do as the wound covered over her spine, so that every time she bent her back, a spike of pain hit her again and again.

"Come on you w*nch! Come die!"

Travor raised his spear again, Lia almost picturing the red hot stream of energy that would shoot out from the tip, slamming into her chest if she didn't move.

So she did.

Using [Drifting Winds] Lia quickened her movements to a blur, just enough that she could make it clear of the beam of energy, relief filling her chest as she watched the beam pass behind her, her legs carrying her only a few feet clear of the beam.

Travor blinked for several moments, his head turning left and right before he laid eyes on Lia not too far away from him, his chest filling with rage as he screamed out anger.

"Aghhh!!!"

He pulled the spear with him, swinging the tip around in a 90 degree angle towards Lia, who barely had a second to move as another beam of white energy shot out, barely missing her once again as she ran around Travor.

However, unlike before, Travor was expecting it this time and continued firing the beam of energy as it followed her blurring figure, cutting apart many of his fellow knights and temple men, though he cared little. He was too consumed by rage to do anything about it though and simply continued chasing Lia with the weapon.

"Hold still you - !"

As Lia neared the closest wall, she reached for the ground for anything she could use as a weapon, happening by chance to pass her fingers over a long and sharp wooden pole before she planted one foot on the wall, pushing off with all her strength backwards.

The result was clear as the beam of energy passed below her, harming no one but the wall itself. With her body in the air, she twisted her torso to face Travor's figure, his face frozen in a raged scream as his actions slowed down before her eyes.

Lia pulled back on the wooden pole, her hand passing just over her shoulder, before she flung the makeshift spear in Travor's direction, deactivating [Drifting Winds] mid air as she fell to the ground.

The spear flew through the air, still under the effect of [Drifting Winds] for several seconds before Lia deactivated it, the spear appeared in front of Travor before he could do anything about it. Shock was plastered over his face as the wooden tip pierced into his chest, spilling even more blood over the ground below him.

The force twisted his body around to face the opposing window, the spear in his hands falling into the hands of Lia, who appeared beside him just in time to catch the weapon before it hit the ground. As Travor's body finished making its turn, she plunged the spear deep within the nearest bit of flesh she could find, this being his forehead.

Travor let out a blood filled gurgle as he died, the last image he would ever see being Lia's blood soaked face staring back at him with mad and wide eyes.

The image of Travor dying before her didn't cause any distress to Lia, as she slowly raised her head to glance at her surroundings, her focus more important than a dying man.

Panning her gaze over the war that now took over the once vast and majestic ballroom, Lia was surprised to find Rian and Lukali standing by the open doorway, surrounded by Saul and many of his heavily armed guardsmen.

Cain, who must have joined them at some point, having gone the long way around the pile of rubble, headed the coughing Winslow off to Saul, before turning towards the war around them, no doubt searching for her.

Lia wanted to raise a hand and call out to him, but the sound of a voice coming from behind her and the instincts she had screaming, she ducked down before she could do anything to garner his attention.

"You witch!"

A heavy ax slammed in front of Lia, the sharp edge that would have taken off her head if she hand't ducked in time.

Standing back up, putting some distance between her and the knight who attacked, Lia found that he was not the only one that had surrounded her. A total of five heavily armed men and women surrounded Lia from all sides, some of them holding swords, while others held spears and axes.

She raised the spear in her hand, the only weapon she had at the moment, her heart swelling with the adrenaline to fight.

Though she did not go unnoticed.

Cain, who had been searching for her, saw the situation she was in and immediately set off towards her direction, calling out loud to the air around him.

"Florence, Kal, what the hell have you two been doing? Get your asses in there!"

He ran full speed towards Lia as her rune circle began to glow, responding to his voice, just as the nearest man to Lia's exposed back raised his heavy sword above his head, prepared to bring it down on her.

Instead however, his sword slammed into a glass barrier, one that surrounded Lia's back, held up by a hooded man who seemed to pull himself from Lia's palm. The sword grinded against the barrier, sparks flying.

However, just as the man was about to raise his sword once again, a knife appeared before him, slicking against his neck spilling blood all over the barrier as Kal appeared from behind him. His figure seemed to pull from the shadow around him, even before his body became a blur, two more men standing close by falling to the ground with cuts along their necks.

Cain, who had been watching this, took two of his fingers and whistled sharply, the sound resonating throughout the chamber, catching the attention of the viper, who was in the midst of spewing flames on a group of knights, burning them alive.

He gestured to Lia with two fingers as he ran straight towards ehr, the viper changing its course immediately upon the order.

Lia wasn't standing idly by just watching Kal and Florence do everything for her. So, she raised her spear and took a stance, the man wielding the ax from before rushing her with the intent to kill.

But, even as his ax swept through the air, confident that it would cut off the girl's head, an arm wrapped around his before the head of the spear slammed against the bottom of his jaw, killing him instantly as the steel pierced his brain.

Lia pulled the weapon from his corpse, allowing it to fall next to her crouched body, before she turned to the next nearest person, a sword wielder who raised his weapon with the same intent to kill.

However, just as he began rushing her, a plume of fire melded over his body, burning him into ash before he could even react, the steel sword dropping to the ground as his ashes did.

The viper didn't bother giving Lia a glance and continued on its rampage as Cain made his appearance.

"Lia!"

He took her hand before she could say anything, pulling her along as he quickly began heading back in the direction he came from.

"Kal, Florence, clear a path!"

The two summons obeyed Cain's order, flying past them at immeasurable speeds, killing anyone that came in their path. Whether it be from sparks of lightning or steel, they all died before these two.

"We're leaving!"