By the time I was beyond the reach of the army and turned a corner, onto a deserted street, I was pretty winded. Fighting past angry people with strange powers took a long time and a lot of effort but I had no time to catch my breath. Once Saris told me that he was concerned about the stealth team, I knew that he realized something was wrong, so as I ran I tried to figure out what he had noticed.

The stealth team's job was to get around the enemy and attack from behind while the rest of us met their attack. We had managed to divide the opposing army and make it difficult for the rest of them to reach us, so it would make sense to me if Demi's team had a harder time finding them. Or, it would take longer for the stealth squad to get back to us. They might also be running into other groupings of the enemy that are taking different routes to join the battle; maybe the stealth squad is trying to find all of them before they make it to the beach.

On the other hand, the remaining army was still very large, and Fire King didn't seem to be on the beach. They might have predicted an attack from behind and prepared for it, overwhelming the stealth team. If that was the case, they might already be dead. I shook my head. Demi was smart, she would see that coming.

I heard a noise behind me and turned around just in time to pull my shield up to block a dagger being thrown at me. As soon as the blade bounced off of my shield, the girl appeared right in front of me, holding the same dagger. Using my power, I extended the length of my shield, blocking another blow from the small girl. Then, she threw her dagger upwards and disappeared. Realizing what her power was, I raised my powered shield upwards, meeting the attack from above.

Fighting against girls was difficult for me. My parents had imprinted a 'don't hit girls' mentality onto me since I was a kid. It should be to not attack anyone, but for whatever reason, the focus on that lesson was to not attack girls. So, attacking this girl in front of me felt wrong. I knew it was stupid. She would kill me without hesitation. Killing her was wrong, but was it any more wrong than killing anyone else in this game? Probably not.

When she attacked next, I bashed my shield into her thrust and it caught her off guard, the dagger was pushed upwards, out of my way. With my shield raised, I thrust my sword forward and it bit into the girl, dispelling her from this world. My chest felt a little heavier after that, the guilt weighing me down; sorry mom and dad. But I had to keep moving. Demi might be in trouble.

I didn't get too far when I heard noise approaching me from the next cross street to my left. It sounded like several people and I wasn't sure I could handle more than one or two of them. With all of the fighting, and so many people to deal with, the chills would be a constant feeling for everyone and I should be able to hide; I hoped. I ducked into a nearby building.

My hiding place turned out to be a clothing store and I recognized some of the artwork on the clothing. Saris must have been here and taken a tee shirt. Then my mind wandered and I imagined Saris taking his time to pick out the perfect shirt in a store that basically only sold one style. He'd hold up each shirt to see which one looked best on him, the only difference being the color. I snickered at my silly thought but then frowned, remembering Anne and how we had shopped for my shirt. I pulled on the collar and just looked at it. Sorry Anne, I couldn't protect you.

I sneaked a peek out from the window. The group of reinforcements that I heard coming continued hurrying along the road and headed towards the battle, where I had come from. They would be gone soon but my patience was low. "Come on!" I whispered. I was still worried about Demi and wanted to make sure she was alright; along with the rest of the stealth team. Once they passed the building I was in, I decided to sneak out. Careful not to make any noise, I opened the door just enough for me to slide through. Then, still watching the leaving group, I crept away.

Not wanting to be followed, or found, I rounded a few more streets, making a wider circle. I figured it would save me more time in the long run. There was no telling if I would run into more enemies and I didn't want to risk it. Hopefully, the extra few minutes of travel wouldn't make me too late. I quickly ramped up to full speed when a glance at the sky displayed a large cloud of smoke ahead.

I finally reached the edge of town and instantly the sight before me took away what little breath I had left. Fire flickered all around, turning the green grass into black ash and charred dirt as it slowly dispersed. I didn't see anyone. The stealth team and the army were nowhere in sight but I had to check.

When I reached the burnt campsite, the smell was so strong that I started to choke. It was an uncomfortable smell of melting plastic and burning nature. Everything around me was dead; no one survived. I slumped to the ground on my knees. Demi was gone. I was too late. This was the second time I couldn't save her from dying. In this game, there wasn't really any way for me to do that, but knowing it didn't help. Tears stung my eyes, but I fought them back.

"Xander!" A voice called out and I jumped, readying my weapons. "Xander! It's me!" I looked to where I thought the voice was coming from but didn't see anything. Was the voice in my head? Was I going crazy? "Turn around, stupid."

I turned and saw her. "Demi!" I nearly cried. "How? What?" Tears fell from my eyes as I embraced her; still not crying."

She patted me on my back, "Pull yourself together."

I wiped at my eyes, "What happened?"

"I dunno," She said, looking at the remains of the campsite. She seemed to be in a sort of daze. "We were making our way through the army like we were supposed to. Kain said I should hang back and have my double go in, so I could act as a sort of lookout. That's what I did. Then, all of a sudden, a Fire Guy shows up; you didn't tell me how huge he was. He just started killing everyone. Even the ones on his team, he just...disintegrated them."

"That's awful. Did anyone make it out?"

Demi shook her head, "No one could touch him. It's like his body turned into fire too. I didn't know what to do, so I just stayed away, trying to see some kind of opening, but everyone else...at first, they tried to fight him. But after a while, they tried to run," she sighed, "They just couldn't get away fast enough."

"Well, I'm glad you're still here."

She looked at me suddenly, "Let's leave."

"What?"

"Let's just go. Let Saris and the others fight him. It can be just you and me. We'd have a great time and not worry about all of this."

"What about the lions? They'll come if we take too long."

"So? Let them come." She moved close, facing me, letting me know that she wasn't kidding; she really would leave with me.

I stared at her for a while, not knowing what to say. Part of me wanted to do what she said. Run away with her and deal with the consequences as they come. But I knew she wasn't thinking clearly and besides, I couldn't run away from this fight. Not when Saris was depending on my help. "I have to stay," I said sadly.

Demi rested her head against mine, "I know."

"I won't force you to come back to the beach if you don't want to."

She chuckled, "You need me." She took a deep breath before backing up and our eyes met. "Wouldn't last a minute without me."

I returned her smile, then looked at the beach, seeing more smoke in the distance, "How long has it been since Fire King left?"

"You showed up only a few minutes after he headed towards the beach."

"Which way did he take? Maybe we can still beat him there if we hurry."

Demi shook her head again, "He's going straight through. I think he's trying to kill everyone. He must know that the people on the beach and his team are all that's left."

"No one can know that for sure."

She shrugged, "I guess he's willing to find out."

That's when I noticed the noises coming from the tourist strip. Faint screams could be heard in the distance and every few seconds another shout was cut short. He was on the move; Fire King was headed to the beach.