"There is something I believe you would like to see," Concord announced calmly. They had moved to a ledge on top of the eastern mountain where they had a magnificent view.

Cascade and Andrea rushed over.

"What is it?" Cascade followed Concord's gaze but couldn't see what he was looking at.

"You see that line of black things that's going up the mountain?"

Cascade squinted in the bright sunlight and could just make out something moving up the mountainside. "Hmm."

"What is it?" Andrea asked.

"I'm not sure. I just thought you'd like to know."

Just then, they saw one of the black forms fall off the mountain, limbs flailing.

"Eek." Andrea sighed. "That could be Sephtis and his followers, right?"

Concord nodded, having come to the same conclusion. "They're certainly making sure not to make that much noise. And I probably never would have noticed them if I hadn't extended my meditation this morning for an extra twenty minutes. I can feel them moving up the mountain."

"How can you be so calm?!" Andrea started to anxiously jump up and down.

"Well, there's not much we can do about their imminent approach, so there's nothing to be anxious about." Usually I'd be a bit worried about the time when they reach us, being the coward that I am, but today I'm not. I feel more confident.

This calmness thing is going to take some getting used to. Andrea shook her head. But secretly, she was glad that Concord wasn't anxious. If he was anxious as well, it would make her even more anxious, and she might lose control. Andrea took a few deep breaths. "Well, I suppose all we can do is wait."

"Indeed."

Mena coughed as a person above her lost their grip and sent streams of dust flying down upon her.

"Quiet!" Sephtis hissed, being careful to keep his voice a whisper. It didn't make it any less intimidating.

They were hanging off the side of one of the mountains. The mountains were steep and could not simply be hiked. You had to climb them. Multiple people's arms or legs had given out throughout the climb, and when they had been about to fall, Sephtis had quickly smothered and pushed them off the mountain to keep them quiet. Of course, they wouldn't survive the excursion. But Sephtis didn't care for the lives of his followers. As long as they were useful to him, he kept them. But as soon as they became a burden, he "extinguished the threat".

Sephtis, on the other hand, had no trouble staying on the wall. He had recently grown talons, which he could insert into the wall and use as leverage to pull himself up, then proceed to yank his hand out of the wall and insert it once more in a higher place. So even if his feet slipped, he could rapidly regain his footing.

They continued to ascend. The only noise that could be heard coming from them was the soft "Kashunk" of Sephtis' talons as they slid into and out of the rock of the mountainside.

Another one of Sephtis' cronies gasped as their footing became unstable. Sephtis immediately yanked one hand out of the rock, slid his long-bladed dagger out of its scabbard, and pointed it down the nose of the offending noise-maker.

"If you make one more sound, I will make absolutely sure you are deleted permanently from the face of this planet," he hissed quietly.

Everybody immediately became silent. Sephtis slipped his dagger back into his scabbard and began to climb once more. The others followed his lead.

Though they didn't show it, they were slowly beginning to lose their trust in Sephtis. His missions had a low chance of success, and if you made even the tiniest mistake then you would be immediately exterminated. Only Sephtis' favorites got a second chance.

Earlier, one of them had told their friend that they were thinking of deserting Sephtis' gang after this last mission. It wasn't worth risking their lives in multiple ways for the promise of a dream that probably wouldn't happen.

But Sephtis was oblivious to these thoughts. He was propelled forward by his hatred and greed, and his hunger for power. Vespara's as well. But mostly his own.

"I think we can handle that many," Andrea said as the black figures started to round over the top of the mountain. But after a few seconds, Andrea's face fell.

"Are you sure about that?" Cascade asked.

The number of black figures in view since Andrea had last made her comment had tripled.

"Not so much anymore."

"That's what I thought."

"What should we do?"

"I thought you should have figured that out by now. We're going to fight." A long sword appeared in Cascade's hands, the water flying from the pouch at her waist into the shape of a sword, then freezing there. She tied her hair up into a bun. "Ready?"

Andrea nodded nervously and bit her lip. "I think so."

"Good. Because if you aren't, they're still coming, and we're probably dead."

Andrea's jaw fell open at Cascade's new personality. "Since when do you respond to comments like that?"

"On the inside, always. On the outside, never." Cascade turned a rueful smile to Andrea. "Comments like that don't exactly fit the 'perfect, pretty, nerdy princess' vibe, do they?"

"No, they don't. I just never would have thought."

"Looks like you have a lot to learn about me."

"Looks like I do."

Concord made a wall of stone appear at the top of the mountain, making the people who were just about to round the top fall the long drop to the ground.

"Nice." Andrea raised her eyebrows in appreciation.

The figures were approaching fast. Cascade put her sword in the ground, knelt down, and closed her eyes. I need to summon the water from the air again.

The figures were nearly there. Andrea attacked.

A fire ball flew out towards the attackers. Then two. Then three. Groups of people went down in flames. Andrea decided that she wanted to take a trick from Cascade's book. She made the flames in waves, crashing them down upon their adversaries. It was quite effective. Who would've thought Cascade's methods work so well?

Concord threw spikes up out of the ground, attempting to impale some people, and it was working, but not as well as Andrea's method. It appeared that Concord's powers were better for transportation and less good for violence.

In a way, this relieved Concord. He wasn't the most enthusiastic fan of fighting. But he continued to fight in the hopes that he might contribute to the victory of The Elementals.

Omar was having troubles with fighting as well. After all, he couldn't create any objects. Luckily, he found another way that he could help out.

Instead of attacking their adversaries directly, he pushed them together into groups for Andrea to hit with fireballs, so that she wouldn't have to pick them off one by one.

As good as their methods were, there were simply too many people for them to handle, Especially with Andrea being the only one who was doing the killing. She was running out of energy.

"Cascade! We need your help! Join the fight!" Andrea called out.

Cascade continued to kneel in place, gradually glowing a brighter and brighter blue.

Andrea gave a sigh of exasperation. "Looks like I'm on my own for now," she muttered to herself while hurling a flame. But the figures were closing in around her. Andrea smiled mischievously. They were encircling her, but she figured that only made it easier for her to defeat them. She created another flame in her hand and spun around. Only, the flame hit none of the people encircling her. The flame wasn't strong enough, and had died out too soon after being lit.

Sephtis' cronies continued to close in. Andrea looked around nervously. She didn't know what to do.

Cascade could sense Andrea's despair. She yanked her sword out of the ground, stood, and rushed forward. This has to work. Cascade put all her focus into the one goal. Saving Andrea.

Cascade moved like a flash of light, skating around their attackers and striking them down with the long blade of her sword. She made a path of ice for herself to skate upon so that she could move faster, and as she wove through Sephtis' troops, she easily began to deplete their numbers.

Cascade appeared to be invincible. When they attacked, she easily deflected their blades and counterattacked before they knew what had happened.

Andrea gave a sigh of relief as she saw Cascade slash through the people surrounding her as if they were butter. The only movement she could see of Cascade was the quick flash of white and blue when Cascade passed her, and the thin trail of ice that she left behind.

Sephtis scowled as he saw Cascade defeat his best troops so easily. But he didn't care for his troops. "Advance! Get the fire princess!"

Although Andrea wasn't a princess, Sephtis' cronies got his point. They started to advance. But when they saw an earth wall appear around Andrea, and Cascade slashing through their partners, they decided that it wasn't worth the risk.

They'd rather be on the run from Sephtis then be killed then and there in a suicide mission. They broke and ran.

Cascade smiled in satisfaction as she saw all of Sephtis' cronies turn on their heels and run full tilt for the exit path. I did it. It just took some focus, is all. She saw Sephtis trying to make some of them turn back, but alas, he didn't have the power to do so. He could only make them imagine things or kill them.

So The Elementals watched as their adversaries beat a hasty retreat, eager to get away from the imminent death that faced them if they tried to fight The Elementals.

Sephtis had no choice. He wasn't powerful enough yet by himself to face all The Elementals at once. So he turned and reluctantly retreated along with his remaining troops.

Andrea gave a sigh of relief. Then she glared at Cascade. "What took you so long?"

"I knew if I wanted to use more of my powers, then I would have to conserve some until I was truly needed. If I had helped out in the beginning, we probably would have lost that fight. I wouldn't have been able to take care of them in the most efficient way. I would have gotten exhausted, as you did, because I overused my powers."

Andrea nodded reluctantly. It made sense. But she was still irritated about the fact that she had almost died before Cascade had come to help. But when she looked at Cascade, she could see nothing but the kind, caring, powerful, strong-willed heart that lay inside. And she knew that no matter what, she would always think of Cascade as her friend.