"Top speed!" The feminine voice screamed from the carriage behind him as the carriage carrying himself and two other carriages with the rest of his men rushed over the cobbled stony road of the marketplace. The chaos broke out immediately and the shopkeepers closed the curtains and drew the wooden barriers, the rest public ran towards the alleys and inside the buildings.

"They're getting close, hurry!" Reed Cresswell in the carriage ahead shouted at his man, the carriage jumped once making the small children bundled and tied up inside whimper.

The carriage pursuing them suddenly disappeared and Reed clenched his teeth, they were close to the harbour and from there he'd load the children and set sail for the North West to sell the children there, the Fireborn orphan wizards would make great money. He could almost see his money but suddenly a certain carriage swerved out of the intersection blocking his way. The fiery curly red-haired dame came into his view and he hurriedly ordered his man to stop before they could clash into the other carriage.

The trio jumped from the carriage and then shot right at his carriage, he had no other option now, he would have to fight. He jumped down from the carriage casting a spell of a long-range attack at the three. Reed Cresswell was an Iceborn mage and could cast the High tier spells, deadly enough to kill an army of low tier mages. There were levels in magic ranging from the low tiers the weakest mages till the God tiers who were only legends that were lost in the history, the most powerful of all alive were the Emperor tier wizards who were the part of the Magic Council.

Some of Reed's men gathered around to grab and deliver the children till his ship while he and the rest kept these three intruders on the bay. Reed casted the ice lances on the trio, they continued dodging them but it was clearly an outnumbered match because he and his men were fifteen currently fighting and five of them were sneaking away the children. These three stood no chance before him and his gang, he smirked as he avoided a fireball from one of the wizards and planted his fist on the ground to freeze the floor completely along with the feet of his opponents. Reed's eyes somehow were fixated on the girl who was- had currently taken down four of his men?! He noticed that her flames unlike the other fireborn wizards weren't orange, they were a strange shade of blue. A Unique? He wondered as her skill was somewhat different. The Uniques were the special wizards who were born with a rare anomaly and just like the title they were unique and very rare.

The girl turned and now Reed found himself facing her, he smirked, A unique versus a High tier? That would be an interesting match. He prepared himself for her attack, she eyed him and he noticed her blazing green eyes, those orbs felt like a predator's gaze. He smirked, he'd not had a worthy opponent for quite a while and those eyes promised a good fight. Reed casted a spell to freeze her feet but she was already moving. He sidestepped swiftly as she passed through, her movements were a blur of purple as the shades of her hair and her flames got mixed. He sent an icy blast which narrowly hit her but it didn't make her fall, she barely stayed still as she came in with swift attacks. He pulled out his sword and engaged in close combat, she wasn't going for a magic fight, huh.

Her sword was out before he could see it but he turned right in time to avoid the blade, he swung his hand to swipe a cut but she'd already moved. What was she? How could she move so fast? He saw the bright red in his peripheral vision with the blink of steel and he ducked right in time before her sword could chop his head. Was this girl crazy? She was out for murder?

"Hey, you crazy or something?" He shouted as he blocked her sword, her eyes radiated the heat that he felt would melt his sword.

"I should ask you the same thing. You who kidnaps the children to sell them off as slaves." She snarled and Reed noticed that she was out for murder, this was no game.

He pushed her back and she glared at him from the distance, those eyes framed by her fiery blazing hair made him feel like he was going to kiss death today. She rushed towards him with her sword angled perfectly to take off his arm, he blocked again with his sword and froze her forearm that came in contact with his. She stepped back not caring much as the ice travelled up to her shoulder, Reed smirked. Stupid girl, this spell was a full-body freeze and she was just ignoring it.

Reed prepared his sword as her arm was completely frozen and he made a run for her, she crouched a little and the blue flames erupted like a blast of volcano from her frozen arm which threw him back. The air rushed out of his lungs and he sat up quickly to see her shaking her arm which was completely thawed now. He grimaced as he stood up again, this brat was just being a big pain in his side now, there wasn't much time left, the knights would be here any minute. Reed decided he'd just let her go for now and escape with his catch.

"Ice slasher!" Reed swiped the air with his sword creating the icy semicircular cuts that rushed right towards the girl. Just as she was avoiding them he took it as his cue to escape.

He managed to get to where his ship was but there were only three of his men who were with him rest were either fighting or knocked out. What on earth were those three? Taking out the total of twenty so quickly?

"Get them in the ship!" He ordered his remaining men and they gripped the children some of who were trying to escape but were still getting dragged back.

Reed looked back to see the town with a smirk, he got what he wanted this small complication wouldn't do any- the sudden sound of an explosion from behind him froze his body. He slowly turned to see his ship, his beloved Ice Queen being engulfed in the large blue flames. The flames licked through her sails and masts and ropes and slowly he watched his ship being devoured completely. The children and his men stood at the harbour watching their only means of transport burning away.

The tremor rose up Reed's arms as the anger grew to fury, those blue flames were from that red-haired brat and now, she was bound to die. He turned around to see her standing there with two other men at her sides.

"I'll kill you for what you did to my Ice Queen." Reed grimaced.

"Isn't there a saying that captain sinks with his ship?" She asked and one of her companions replied.

"Ice floats on water, Sera, we'll have to melt it before we could drown it."

"So, let's do that." She said and the blue fire erupted from under her feet and she dashed towards him. Reed's eyes narrowed as she closed in and he slashed through to the side and she stopped, it took two seconds for her to register that he'd cut her side. She placed her hand on her side and then looked at the blood staining her hand, Reed's eyes glinted as he saw the red dripping from her hand. She moved almost like a lightning then, Reed avoided her attacks narrowly but watching her charge like this with her fists on fire was quite a sight. If he let her fire touch him he knew he'd just ask to be roasted alive. He was smarter than that, he knew he could use his High tier style now on this brat and show her who's the boss.

Reed reached out in his core to summon the great Ice sword that could slash through anything and freeze anyone to death in seconds. The light broke out and the Ice Sword materialised in his hands making the girl fall back momentarily. Reed saw it as his chance now, he slashed at her and she stepped back.

"Sera, it's an Ice Sword! Don't let it touch you or you'll freeze to death immediately!" One of her companions shouted and Reed smirked as he thrusted forward narrowly catching her as she turned and he swung his arm just in time. The time seemed to have gone in a fast motion there as even Reed failed to understand what happened. One moment he thought he'd cut through her abdomen and in the next moment his sword was cut into two. He watched his half-sword and then looked at the sword in her hand, it wasn't a sword made of metal or steel- it was fire! It was almost impossible for the fireborns to mould fire into solid shapes then how did she manage to get a sword out of her flames?

"Impossible! Impossible! How can your fire create a solid sword?" Reed cried feeling like he was losing his mind now.

"My fire is my mother's legacy and I don't feel like explaining anymore." She said as she stepped ahead, Reed gritted his teeth as he glared at her, he wasn't planning on using it but now she'd forced him to use his ultimate skill.

"Fine, I'll just have to do it now." He said as he looked at her with a devilish glint in his eyes.

"Ice World!" He slammed his palm on the ground focusing all of his energy on his spell. The swift spell rushed out with great speed and froze everyone in its wake, Reed smirked as he saw the frozen statues of everyone before him, the ground was covered with the slick ice and the widows of the houses had icicles growing. He chuckled lightly as he turned around to leave but somehow he heard a sound of a crack and turned around swiftly to see the blue flames melting away the ice from the girl's body. He clenched his fists and pulled out his metal sword, this time this brat dies!

Just as he was about to cut her in two halves, the loud clang resounded, she blocked his attack by her blue sword. Reed's metal sword melted away quickly and he hurriedly stepped back.

"You froze the town." She looked at the houses, "my friends," Her voice changed as she saw her statues of her friends and then at the children, "even those children." She growled.

If the blue flames weren't dangerous before they were out like a cannon now, Reed gulped as he saw the flames growing and growing till he fell back on his butt.

"I'll roast you after I'll unfreeze this town." She said as she stomped her foot on the ground and the fire ran over the ice. Reed watched as the blue flames licked over his ice and the people before him started moving again as the ice melted off. The girl retracted her fire and Reed scrambled to his feet before she could roast him alive. This kid who managed to beat both his High tier spells wasn't an ordinary wizard, she was strong. The Uniques were strong but he never knew that their strength would cut through the High tier magic so easily. This brat must be a High tier or even of the King tier, she definitely wasn't a Low tier Unique.

The fire ball exploded right beside him and he jumped as he saw more aiming at him, he started running. He ran towards the town and the fireballs came one after the other hitting the establishments around him, some of the buildings collapsed as he ran narrowly avoiding the falling debris. He kept running till he ran into a hard metal wall and fell back. Upon looking up he felt as if his life was saved, the knights had arrived. He threw himself at the knight he'd run into.

"My name is Reed Cresswell, I was trafficking the fireborn orphans I surrender, take me in right now!" He shouted.

But somehow the knight was watching something behind him, Reed turned his head and his jaw dropped to see the town bathed in the blue flames. He saw the three figures emerging from the fire but then rushing away immediately.

The death had come close enough to touch him today yet, he managed to escape with his life. Reed would remember this day till his death and the girl with fiery red hair and her blue flames would haunt him forever.

***

The Magic Council conference room was a circular Hall which was made up of the sandstone bricks and its walls covered with the ancient language which spelled protection, duty and rules for each mage. The Magic Council was responsible for each wizard's wellbeing and safety. The Council members were called Elders because of their profound knowledge, experience and the power that they had grown throughout their lifetime and gained the status of being able to cast the Emperor tier spells. The Council was made up of the powerful elder wizards from all the elements. Elder Master Voicery represented the Iceborn, Elder Master Hercles represented the Airborn, Elder Master Bernard was the spokesperson for the Earthborn and finally Elder Master White represented the Waterborn.

The atmosphere in the conference hall was so thick that Jord Flameheart, the guild Master of Arctic Flames felt as if the air was heavy enough to crush his shoulders down. He faced all the Elders who didn't seem happy at all, he had a good idea as of why he was summoned again and he was already tired of this frequent summonings. He was a King tier wizard which wasn't an easy level to achieve and it was just two levels below the God tier which was the strongest a wizard could get. Even after that, it wasn't easy to deal with these Elders who were often sharp on their tongue and hard to please.

Elder Master Bernard all but threw down the stack of papers in his hands, "Ridiculous!" He thundered.

"What is the matter, Elder Master Bernard?" Master White asked.

"As if you haven't heard of this already, Elder Master White?" Master Bernard said, bringing up the stack of papers and passing it to him.

Master White took the papers and after reading the first few lines he looked up, "The report of Dragons making an alliance with humans." He spoke calmly.

"How can you say that so calmly, Master White? It can be a sign of war for us." Master Voicery said.

"Humans are weak species and have only occupied the North East, to say that they have managed to make an alliance with Dragons. It seems absurd." Master Hercles said.

"Even I find it hard to believe. Are these reports purely authentic?" Master Bernard asked.

"They are, Elder Master Bernard. But we don't know how it happened." Master Voicery said his forehead creasing.

"I don't think how should be our question, Elder Master Voicery, we should start thinking of what might happen now that they are making an alliance." Master Bernard said.

"The war might be around the corner if that is the case." Master Hercles said, steepling his fingers before his lips.

Jord Flameheart silently sat hearing the conversation between the Elder Masters waiting for them to acknowledge the problem regarding him. Yet, the news of Dragons and humans was disturbing, wizards and humans were not on good terms, dragons and wizards were not on good terms, so, the relations between the three was more or less explosive. If the Dragons who were the strongest species and humans who were the weakest species were making an alliance then it could lead to a war between all other species. If that war broke out a lot of destruction will take place and it will lead to mass murder. The thought made Jord worry about the future of his guild members who were like his family. Speaking of his guild members he was suddenly worried more of the state his guild Hall would be in currently, he was here at the Council and he could only imagine what kind of chaos would have ensued behind him.

"Sorry to keep you waiting Master Jord Flameheart." Master White spoke and Jord looked up suddenly being interrupted from his thoughts.

"Mr Jord Flameheart! This is the fourth time this month that we have got the complaint of your daughter!" Master Voicery shouted slamming his fist on the table as if that would just demonstrate the amount of anger behind his words.

"Your daughter's powers are getting out of hand day by day, Mr Flameheart. If you don't do something about it then we'll be forced to look into it ourselves." Master Bernard said.

"There's no saying till what extent she'll go, she is like a rampaging monster going off destroying town after town!" Master Hercles exclaimed while other masters who gathered around the magic circle nodded in agreement. It wasn't the first time Master Jord was hearing it. It must have happened four or five times each month and each time, he had handled the situation. He knew the Elder Masters held him in high regard because of his tier, there weren't a lot of King tier wizards across the world only seven of the wizards were of King tier and none was yet known to be the God tier unless you counted the legends from history.

"But she did stop the traffickers from taking away the young wizards and we cannot turn a blind eye on that." Master White spoke and Jord Flameheart looked at him with hopeful eyes. He wanted to defend his daughter yet, his hands were bound. If it wasn't for these summonings, he would have been enjoying his ale while thinking about the old times in his garden.

"Still that doesn't explain the fact as of how she destroyed twenty houses, seventeen shops, two bridges and one council building!" Master Bernard said angrily, the vein in his forehead pulsing dangerously.

Jord felt slightly concerned hearing about the damages, his daughter was capable of the kind of damage that was listed. But she was just a child and accidents happened all the time. However, in his daughter's case, it wasn't an accident, instead, she was careless.

"There is a lot of damage done this time and if we count from the past then it forces us to just lock her up for a lifetime, Mr Flameheart." Master Hercles said.

Hearing this Master Jord felt a cold shiver run down his spine, his daughter would be locked away for a lifetime? The thought sent him to his knees, "Please, give her one last chance, I'm begging you. Please."

He loved his daughter dearly, though he felt that he'd neglected her enough in childhood for her to be have turned out to be how she was today. The rash and rowdy behaviour that she had inherited from the guild members wasn't quite what he would have wanted, but then again, he wasn't going to hate his daughter for that. He loved her for what she was because she took pride in herself and her family.

She was unfortunate enough since her birth that she couldn't have her mother on her side when she needed her the most. At the time when she was supposed to learn about the sensibilities of a woman, she was exposed to the barfights, vulgar language and the noisy environment. His wife Joanna had passed away giving birth to their beautiful child and Jord hadn't ever gotten over her. His beautiful wife who was the love of his life had somehow reflected in the features of his daughter. He had been lenient in his parenting since he couldn't see the sadness on his daughter's face, but now, it seemed like he should have been a little stricter.

If she were to be put in the jail then she wouldn't take long till she'd destroy the entire building and let loose all of the criminals that were held in.

He had to do something very soon. If he delayed anymore, he would have to pay the price by losing his only daughter.

"I have a suggestion, Mr Flameheart." Jord looked up at Master Bernard who'd spoken up pulling other Masters' attentions as well.

"Why not find her a suitor who could control her untamed nature?"

Master Jord's grey brows came together. Bernard was his old friend and he often helped him with past missions especially the confidential ones. Even after being from the Waterborn species, he held Jord in high regards. He was a kindhearted person who'd always see the good in people that was why Jord liked him.

Master Bernard added with a suggestive look, "A strong wizard could prove a good match for her. What do you say?" His words sounded like a promising solution but the question was, who will want to marry the Flame Queen, Seraphina Flameheart?

The rumours about her across the country would make it difficult to find a suitor besides, there was another reason. His daughter despised the men who tried to dominate her. Last time, one of his High tier wizards wanted to teach her a lesson when he lost a bet against her, and he ended up having both his legs broken, his shoulder dislocated and ribs cracked and Sera hadn't made use of her magic. Which often made her wonder if she was high tier herself? But she was of the similar level with her Unique skill: her blue fire. The legacy of her mother. The strongest form of fire that was only to be controlled by her.

Jord gulped.

But at least, he could try if that could save his precious daughter's life.

He nodded and said, "Send every guild around the country my proposal. If anyone would agree to marry her, I would give him my guild, Arctic Flames."

Gasps erupted from all the Masters' mouths as gaps formed on them.

"Why would you give your guild?" Master Bernard asked, perplexed at his unbelievable proposal.

"Because I am already old. My limbs don't work like they used to. It would be a better opportunity to retire." However, it was an excuse. He indeed was old but still was strong enough to handle a bunch of rowdy wizards.

But he also knew, the people feared the Flame Queen and they would hesitate to even come near her. Giving his guild at least could make a few people approach her.

"But there are four High tier wizards in your guild, they could take your responsibility, Jord." His friend said, his voice coated with concern. Jord knew his friend's worries, however, a father would always go to any extent to protect his daughter.

"I must do what I must to save my child." He said.

"Fine, if that's what you want, I will dispatch the letters all over the country."

A weak smile spread over Master Jord's face, however, it vanished immediately when the next important question arose in his mind and sweat trickled down his forehead.

Who would convince his daughter for marriage?

16th Feb, 2021