And he--he was Prince Xylin Seriphyn, heir to the throne of Arien.

My supposed enemy.

BOOM!

Screams of surprise and rage sounded around us. The earth shattering cry as the same soldier sent a shockwave at our emerging figures nearly knocked me off my feet had Xylin not stepped in and levelled me without a word. Supposed—right.

Xylin may have been my supposed enemy, but the soldiers we were facing right now...they were my enemies for sure.

"Kanin," he whipped his gaze to me, snapping his attention from assessing the field of battle to assessing my next command, "do you think you can pinpoint the soldier that's sending out those blasts? Search for tremors in the ground, where they're strongest." He caught on a split-second later.

He closed his eyes as we all crouched down and formed a defensive ring around him, Xylin locking a shield into place around us. He raised a hand and swept it across the field as though searching for something, stopping somewhere near the middle as his mismatched eyes met mine and he nodded across the field where a soldier in black armour and an azure blue cloak had both arms raised. I stared, horrified, as he clapped his hands together and another blast swept towards the fleeing rebels.

At the last possible moment, Xylin flung out a hand and the near-invisible shockwave bounced off a pure invisible shield. The soldiers cried out as a quarter of their men went flying back from the rebound and into the menacing trees waiting behind, their broad limbs stretched out as if waiting for an embrace. Which was received upon the snapping of bones and blood now coating the rough bark.

Clane and Kyra stood up in unison as the soldiers gazed around nervously. So they didn't have many people with powers in their armada. Good.

"The coloured cloak represents they have powers," I stated, inwardly kicking myself for not realizing it sooner.

A look from Kanin had Clane grinning. Had him raising a calloused hand towards the soldiers as a roaring blue flame sparked from his hand and ignited in the middle of the field. It blasted outwards in a wave of light and death towards the fleeing soldiers without mercy. Even from here, I could feel the scorching heat, could feel the sweat beading my brow as Clane's arm remained extended. Three moons, he was that powerful?

Their screaming as the Ithyneian soldiers were burned alive rang in my highly-sensitive ears as Clane's fire went on, and on, and on. Until the screaming ended like the end of the world and the roaring inferno slowly died down until we were all looking at a field of burning long-grass and charred black armour.

"Cursed moons and all the gods above," I whispered breathless. Clane stared down at me, bright blue flames still swirling in his eyes, face void of emotion like he was still coming back to himself. A blink and they were extinguished.

"Behind you!" Nikolei suddenly warned. We all reacted, whirling around as a surviving soldier barely older than eighteen was foolish enough to charge at us. Clane sent a blazing blue fireball at him, which--he blocked? The hissing of smoke and flames died down to reveal the soldier unmarred. He was wearing an azure blue cloak as well.

I took an involuntary step forward. The soldier eyed me carefully as I felt the air around him bend to his control, "My name is Raila Felynis. What you just witnessed," I shook my head, "that isn't what the Ithyneian rebellion represents."

The air around his hand swirled like dust until he was holding a barely visible dagger. I knew it was still solid enough to kill though, "I don't care what you represent," he snarled. He levelled the tip at my chest, "I have orders from the king of Ithyneia. I can't-" his voice broke, his confidence level wavering before so many enemies. So young and already a lone survivor, "I can't fail. I don't care if your brute just wiped out an entire platoon, I will finish what his Majesty sent me to do."

"And what's that?" Xylin asked threateningly.

The soldier snarled and the same elemental blade took form in his other hand so he held two at the ready, "To wipe out all the rebels in this base...including you."