Trio of War - Chapter 12 - Mantle of leadership

After I dismissed everybody I went straight to Reshka who answered me before I asked the question

"I had my suspicions" he told me "and yes, I do still intend to run the rebellion, despite you being leader"

"Inspiring one-word-speech" Forlon commented "almost had me in tears." Reshka and Forlon left me without another word to get some sleep. Kora came up behind me and discussed his decision to make me leader. He also informed me that he would be taking on his full duties and anything else I needed help with, which I was grateful for.

I headed back to the main tent, my main tent, and sat in the chair at the back of it. I drew my sword from its scabbard and examined it in the moonlight that slipped through the gaps in the tent. The sword glinted pure gold and shone like a flame. I stood up and gave it a few practice swings. I swung it into some empty boxes in the tent and it cut through the without any effort. This sword was much better than any i'd ever used and I knew that if Forlon had been given it there would be heads claimed each minute with this blade. Despite this face I decided to keep it in my scabbard and not use it until absolutely needed. This meant that I was never defenceless, even if my magic ran out and I couldn't summon my blades. This sword was a backup and nothing more.

I decided to do what Gilder had and pull everybody in when they were sleeping. I myself was tired but considering the bags I absolutely always saw under Gilder's eyes I figured that being tired was just part of the job. As a bunch of unhappy and annoyed faces had joined me in the the main tent I let out a smile which only seemed to make the high ranking rebellion members more annoyed. The only exception was Kora who was barely keeping a straight face when looking at his comrades face's in the room.

"Hi, everybody" I said happily and got a grunt in reply

"I've called you all here to basically cancel all orders you've received recently." Thats about the point when the room woke up "We're staying in this spot for another day, then moving out. Dismissed" I pretended like I expected the room to disappear, and half of it did, but the rest did what I expected, questioned me. I told them all that we needed to settle down after the passing of Gilder and that working the men too quickly was a mistake. They bought that, thankfully, and left me. Of course that was a lie though.

The real reason I wanted to stick around was because I wanted some time to myself and ease into my duties. On the march i'd have much more problems to see to and wouldn't get any chance to breathe. It would've been the metaphorical version of going and fighting Soul Eater when I first arrived here. The only difference being that i'd have to give an inspiring speech to the rebellion and i'd be dead if I fought Soul Eater. Night passed and I got a few hours sleep, more than I expected and woke to Forlon screaming at the troops as he made them run round the camp. I walked out of my tent and watched them run a while. I took away some of the ground between them with magic and laughed as they had tried to jump it, and failed miserably. Looked at the hole, then at me and realised what i'd done and I saw his face stretch into a smile. He eventually restrained himself and kept shouting.

I walked through the camp and found Drok who was practising some magic. I threw a ball of fire at him and he went down. He got up, lightning raging in his fists and then saw me. He let the lightning die out and I shouted to him

"Always be aware" He gave me a nod and kept practising and I saw the concentration on his face as he tried to practice his magic and keep his magical senses aware around him. I passed through the camp a while and found a good spot to practice some magic. I taught myself a few new tricks and practised some magic with the shadows, increasing the density of them to deal more damage.

Then I sensed someone approaching…jumping, bringing their sword towards my head. I would've summoned a regular shield of magic but the shadows were already in my palm so I turned round and thrust my hand up, summoning a wall of shadows to block the sword and send my attacker sprawling. I looked at the smiling face of Kora as he got back to his feet and knew he wanted to spar. We ran towards each other and I summoned my sword to my hand. We clashed in the air and I ducked as he brought his fist towards my face. He removed his sword from mine and jumped into the air, bring his right foot into my face. I staggered back as he ran towards me.

Kora's fighting technique was simply his athleticism, if his sword hit you it would most likely cause a nasty cut, not instant death, but when he did hit you he'd keep going and I didn't know many people who'd be able to interrupt one of Kora's sword-slashing combos when he got going with them. We came to fighting range but I didn't raise my sword as I had predicted his next move. He flipped over my head and I rolled to the side as his sword came down to where I was standing. I threw a fist to his face but he was far to quick for it to connect. He stepped in close and crouched in a spin as he drove his sword towards my chest. I kicked it away and slammed him in the face with my boot.

He rolled backwards and wiped his mouth, checking for blood. He was satisfied there was none and raised his sword. I approached and watched him try to take my feet from under me as I slashed for him. I flipped over his head (a technique he'd taught me) and kicked him in the back, sending him to the floor as I pushed off and rolled to my feet. I charged towards him and he turned barely in time to block my strike, but I had him now. Kora's power was better than most but strength-wise I had him covered. I removed my sword and span, bring my sword into his again. I drove my foot for his head as our swords detached and he ducked low, striking for my heart. I dodged and gave him an uppercut to the jaw, I could've taken his life there and then but I knocked him to the floor with the hilt of my sword instead.

He didn't give in and instead rolled backwards and lunged at me. I knocked his sword away and ducked under his arm. He spun around and tried to take me down but I spun out of the way. I rammed my sword into his back and he went down. I kicked him in the face and he went sprawling, losing his sword. I picked it up as I worked my way to him. I helped him up and gave him his weapon back. We talked about a few things until the conversation turned to Gilder and his death. I managed to lie to him until he was satisfied with Gilder's death. I basically told him the truth up until the part I knocked Gilder out, instead I told him that I ended Gilder's life with that spell and burnt his body to ash.

I went back to the main tent and within five minutes had half the high ranking rebellion soldiers coming to me with problems. I kept to a good system and surprisingly it worked. If they mentioned the word training I sent them out to Forlon who was dealing with them men. If they mentioned the world plan or tactics I sent them to Forlon who was planning in the corner. That eliminated about half my workload for the day. Kora came in and dealt with any of the soldiers he could help out. I sent him a look of gratitude and he smiled back.

I spent most of the day dealing with the calls of the men and helping them where I could. The problems were easy to solve but came in such large numbers. An hour before we were scheduled to eat another warrior came to me with a problem. He grumbled away at me miserably and i'd decided i'd had enough. I got up of my seat and walked out of the tent as the warrior called me back. He rushed out of the tent and attempted to get my attention. I closed my eyes and concentrated hard, then I rose into the air and started flying. I soared over the camp and went towards the kingdom of evil. I'd decided to give Soul Eater a taste of his own medicine. I knew I couldn't bear him inside his kingdom, reading his thoughts had told me that, but I was sure going to give him a scare. I knew every room of the kingdom perfectly and didn't need to peek inside to know where I was reappearing as I shrouded myself in darkness coming from the clouds behind me.

I reappeared next to Soul Eater's throne. The room was made of black substances that moved around like water, snaking over the walls in strange formations. I stood there for a second examining the room i'd felt like i'd seen a hundred times before. I looked at the throne ebbing with magic and felt its flow as it entered my body and mingled with my magic reserves. There was no chance that i'd be able to kill him without getting angry and letting it fuse with my magic, an action I wasn't going to take.

I peaked around the throne and saw Soul Eater sat there. The reason I was here was to deliver him a message, that he didn't scare me. I thought what better way to do that than destroy his throne. I sent the thrones magic pumping through it and Soul Eater noticed something was wrong. He gave out a slight hum then his throne exploded in his face. He fell to the floor and looked around for his enemy as he got to his feet. I broke my invisibility spell with a right uppercut to his face. I followed it up by bringing my left foot into his gut and doing a backflip,sending my left foot into his face, driving him back.

He let magic flow to his hand and sent a stream of red magic flying past my face and tried to trip me with a wall of shadows. I sent myself to the other side of the room and used the air to rush forward and send a fist, coated with magical lightning straight into his face. He neutralised the magic that would have paralysed him instantly, trying another wall of shadows. I used the air to dissolve his wall and he came at me with a right fist. He caught me in the gut and I stumbled back. He tried to ram fire into my face but I spun to left and sent flame into his. He stumbled back, screaming in pain. I summoned my sword to my hand and cut him on his knee. I was about to follow up by taking his head when he pushed me backwards with the air. I fell to my knees and brought the ground up with me as I rose. Sending him toppling into his kingdom wall. He stumbled of the wall of darkness and ran into the huge fist i'd conjured out of the shadows. He went back intuit he wall and I closed in. I stabbed him through the heart and took his head of his body. His head was reattached before he hit the ground and his heart made a soft thump a second after and continued beating. I placed my foot on top of him and flowed all my magic through it, keeping him on the ground. Any amount less than all my magic would've resulted in him braking out.

He couldn't get up and I laughed. Shadow Stalkers barged into the room and headed for me, swords raised. I spat on Soul Eater and chuckled saying

"I'll be back for you later" With that I ran to the wall and removed the barrier on Soul Eater. He screamed at the Shadow Stalkers to take me down and I jumped through the wall and I glided into his dark courtyard. I conjured fired in my hands and sent them to the courtyard, destroying his walls and his army as I coated them with shadows, exposing on impact. I stopped and hovered in the air. I concentrated all my magic into my hands and sent it out in a constant stream at the bottom of his tower. After a few seconds the tower gave in and collapsed on itself. It hit the ground. I laughed somewhat sadistically but didn't hold out the hope that Soul Eater was dead. If I did have any hope of that, it went as soon as I heard a maniac scream and a column of shadows shoot straight into the air.

I decided upon that being my cue to leave and flew back to camp. I told my comrades what i'd done and although Reshka didn't approve Forlon patted me on the back and told me he was proud. I walked out into camp and met a soldier who suggested an idea that gave me quite a thrill, he suggested me and Forlon go toe-toe. I ran it by Forlon who seemed as thrilled as I was about the idea and agreed to it. We spent five minutes preparing before going to the battlefield. Everyone had gathered to watch us, absolutely everyone. Drok and Kora stood at the front and everyone had their eyes locked on us. Reshka stood close by to make sure we didn't kill each other or anything. Me and Forlon tapped swords to start with and the took up our battle positions.

We ran towards each other and Forlon swung as hard as he could, a swipe that would've taken my life eerily. I ducked his blow and ended up behind him. We both turned and swung. Our swords hit in the air and we looked into each others eyes, and I saw pure determination raging. We unlocked ourselves and clashed again as we both swung. I went for an upwards slash to follow up and Forlon went for a downwards slash. Our swords rebounded again and the vibrations sent along my arms stiffened my muscles. I sent magic to the affected areas and stared Forlon down. He charged again and I threw lightning into his chest and he went flying. He got up and didn't look happy. He walked slowly and purposefully towards me. I threw fire and he sliced through it.

I use the air to charge myself to Forlon and he raised his sword. We locked blades again and I coated mine in shadows which darted towards Forlon's eyes. He moved back and spun underneath the shadows, sending his sword to my heart as he did. I stepped out of range and he recovered his stance. The rebellion muttered behind us, trying to decide who'd come out on top of that exchange. I flipped over Forlon and all he slashed was air. I brought my sword up and he did the same. I tried another stab and my sword was deflected. He lunged for my heart but I grabbed his sword and used it to flip him over my back. He landed in a heap on the floor and I offered him a hand up. Instead of taking it he lunged again, catching me off guard. I just managed to utilise my skills and spin out of the way. He brought his sword down in strike and I deflected it with a magical barrier. He stretched his arms and advanced again, a smirk stretching across his face.

He came at me again and we exchanged slashes, nobody gaining or losing ground, he slashed at me, and I deflected then I slashed and got my blade deflected and we repeated the cycle. Eventually I caught his sword and thrust it to one side. Delivering a punch to the gut, Forlon showing little acknowledgement of the pain. He drove for my head and I sidestepped delivering a kick to his face, taking him to the floor again. I spread my magic to the ground beneath him and sent it upwards, Forlon going high. I courted down and took to the air, snatching Forlon and clubbing him over the head. He returned my hits and we spun out of control, crashing onto the battlefield and grinding across the floor. We both spun to our feet, our weapons out hand and delivered equal hooks to the face. We stepped back in turn and traded blows for a while. I sent the shadows into his face and he stumbled back. I tackled him to the floor as he regained sight and clubbed him repeatedly. He kicked me off and came at me as I got to my feet. Blow after blow was dealt until I finally dodged one and set my hand on fire. I sent the uppercut into his chin, my fist causing as much damage as the fire and he fell back.

He kicked my backwards as I advanced on him and he crawled to his feet, somehow sword in hand. He slashed at me and I summoned my sword to my hand and caught his blow. He spun round and knocked my sword, sending it scattering along the floor. He jumped and stabbed for my head, but I was too quick. I hooked him in the face and kicked him in the gut I spun round and jumped, delivering both feet to his face and taking him to the floor. I scrambled to my feet and sent my sword flying toward my hand. I clasped it just as Forlon had his ready to strike. We both pulled back, gathering power and let it lose as a strike, our swords clashing in the air. Kora and Drok took a step back ass the force of the swords colliding hit them. Me and Forlon prepared to unlock our swords and continue but an arrow was sent into the side of our blades, unlocking them and ending the fight.

"It's a tie" Reshka announced, realising one of us would've got hurt sooner or later. It didn't take someone of Reshka's intelligence to see that we were blocking and dodged killing blows, not blows that would cause little scratches, one of us one have gone down eventually, though who it would've been was a mystery. I sent my weapon away and Forlon sheathed his blade. We walked through camp, arguing about who would've won when everyone was called to eat. I was roached to sit at the top table, a requirement of leadership, and had Forlon and Reshka join me. Kora sat at Reshka's side and Drok seemed to have made some friends, whom he sat with.

We ate, saying very little. I was confident Soul Eater wouldn't bother us for a while as he'd lost his kingdom but I couldn't say the same for his minions. I'd set up magical defences that didn't allow transportation into them, but Shadow Stalkers could easily teleport outside the barrier and walk in. But i'd be alerted of it inside my mind and would work to put a stop to wherever it was they entered. I stood up to give a speech, as was the custom at the end of the evening meal and, as the room fell into silence, I fell straight back into my chair as a magical blast entered my head…the perimeter was breached. Reshka figured what had happen and spoke quickly and quietly

"Where did they come in?"

"Everywhere" I replied faintly. They'd entered the camp from all sides and were closing in to where we were. I sent magical sense out of the tent and found what we were dealing with, an army of Shadow Stalkers and just as many shadow beasts. I scanned the thoughts of a few and found they were after one person…me. Which meant I couldd fly away and they'd follow me, not massacre the camp. As a leader my duty was to protect my people and their cause first, before myself.

I turned to Reshka and told him to get everyone to the centre of the hall and have them protected by those who carried weapons. He nodded and went to Kora, Forlon went to Drok and I readied myself for a fight. I jumped, powering the jump with magic and leaping through the roof of the hall. All the soldiers peaked outside, they saw the army I was faced with and couldn't help watching to see how I fared. I hovered above the centre of the hall and stared at the army around me, way too many to take on, but it wasn't like I had a choice.

Shadowy projectiles flew through the air at me as I flew to open ground. The Shadow Stalkers seemed to not mount the shadow beasts until I flew. When I landed I had to face the army on one front and the Shadow Stalkers dismounted the shadow beasts, to my surprise. The shadow beasts lead the charge as the Shadow Stalkers drew their weapons. Only one shadow beast made it to me, the rest held back, sizing me up. I slashed the snout as the beast jumped at me and it landed in a heap on the ground in front of me. I followed up with a stab just under its eye and it leaped at me. I ducked and it landed behind me. I twirled and cut its snout again. It threw its claw at me and I parried it with my blade.

I sent a face to the left eye of the beast and slashed its chin. It came at me again and I flipped onto its back. I stabbed it through the top of the head and it turned into black liquid. As it fell a blade of shadow narrowly missed my head and the army charged. I wondered how easily I would've beaten this army with my anger but I vowed not to use it unless my defeat is inevitable. I charged against the army, coating my blade with shadows and took down one Stalker. Then a hundred walls of shadow slammed into me and I went flying backwards. Shadow beats jumped at me but hit each other in the air, saving my life.

It was then I decided my death was inevitable and I got angry. The enemy stood back and watched as they felt my power grow. Shadow beasts growled and Shadow Stalkers backed away slowly. I closed my eyes and by the time my eyes reopened I was more powerful than ever. A single shadow beast jumped at me and I spun, slashing my sword into its snout as I had with the first, coating it with magic. The beast was turning to liquid by the time it hit the ground. The army charged at me and I did the same. This time I caused real damage. I sent a wave of magic from my body and dissolved the first row of enemies. I crouched quickly and used the air to boost towards the enemy.

Upon impact a wave of shadow emitted from the foe I struck, taking down the enemies around him. By now the movements of the foe had slowed, become more cautious. I sent a blast of fire through the ranks of the enemy. Shadow Stalkers should've only been destroyed by shadows but the pure power of the fire took them down. I ran through the empty line and saw the camp in the distance. I turned and let loose a blast of electricity from my body, disintegrating the enemy around me. By now I was practically drunk with power and laughing my head off. I spun into the armies path and began destroying them, one by one, punch by punch. One hit meant one death, and I was happy. They were attacking frantically but I had more defences than Soul Eater. I couldn't feel the pain let alone recoil from it. I kept spinning, hitting faces, smashing ribs and taking foes down with magic of all sorts. They surrounded me in a circle and I hovered in the air.

I spun to create a tornado, killing those around me. Not many remained now, an equal number of each foe, giving the Stalkers chance to mount the beasts. I didn't care what they did. I summoned over fifty avatars in a single moment, one per beast. Each avatar took a beasts life in a single swipe, charged with my magic. As one they took down every single foe. I just stood there and chuckled when I noticed another foe in the distance, different to the others. Black armor the same but only in patches. A mask not a helm and the armor fit his shape well, slim and not to muscly. He advanced on me with a two pure black swords and I just chuckled. He feigned for my right knee and came up with a kick to my face. I let it connect, not caring about my magical reserves, I had enough to go around.

His foot was magically enhanced with thunder and as it hit my face I felt the slightest of pricks, like pressing the tip of your sword gently to your cheek. From the simple fact that i'd felt the boot I knew that if my defences hadn't been so strong I would've been dead upon impact. He came at me again, swinging his left sword. I grabbed his right as he removed his left one, he'd attempted another feign. He swung his left for me, this time attempting to strike me down with it. I caught that to and looked into his dark eyes. This one was a cut above the rest. He'd been created by Soul Eater moments ago. He was a match for me without the anger, with it he could put up a fight but I knew i'd have him.

"That hurt" I said, referring to his kick, as I caught his left blade. I saw the slightest glint of fear in his dark eyes right before I head butted him. He went down, light coursing through his head. He scrambled to his feet and fell back again

"Easy" I chuckled as he fell. His anger drove him towards me and he swung his right blade. I summoned mine to my hand and parried it, the same with his left. With such a clarity of magic I knew how the battle would go, how every move would play out. The magic told me what would happen and when, before it did. He couldn't have hit me if he'd had hands as fast as light. He drove his boot towards me again and I dodged it. I smashed the hilt of my right blade into his skull and he flipped. He got back up and charged again. I sent him flying with air magic and he got up again. I gave him a look of exasperation and blocked his next blow. I played with him for a while, raising his anger.

When I was satisfied I decided to finish him. As I planned on how to do it Kora entered the fray. The boy had just started accepting his duty when his leader had turned on his cause, he'd been dealing with more work than he ever had and was finally sick of it. He was good and he knew it, he'd continue his duty as much as ever but he needed to let off some steam. He flipped and rolled his way around this new enemy who i'd decided to name 'shadow ninja'. Shadows ninja's technique relied on his mobility in battle but it wasn't nearly as good as Kora's. Kora had him beaten at his own game and slashed him over and over. He delivered a boot to the face and shadow ninja went sprawling. He recovered only a single blade and Kora didn't slow. He flipped over shadows ninja who rolled, narrowly avoiding losing his life, and retrieved his other blade.

I had full confidence in Kora's ability to finish this as he drove forward but shadow ninja had come looking for me, and I was going to be the one to finish it. I also didn't want to waste the magic at my finger tips. I crouched down for all of five seconds gathering all he magic I could. I shot forward, faster than any arrow and clashed with shadow ninja as his focus was on Kora. I slammed my fists into him repeatedly on the ground. I got to my feet and he followed slashing at me, but obviously weakened. I summoned my blades to my hand and sent them both to shadow ninja's head. He used both his blades in defence but mine were charged with too much magic. They smashed straight through his blades and took his head.

His decapitated body and his head turned to mist and rose upwards. As hey entered the shadowy clouds a whisper came down saying

"I'll be back" it rasped. I chuckled in response and turned as Reshka shot an arrow towards my neck. I caught it and looked at the wooden part, carved roughly by hand was the word 'Trio'. I thrust my head back and opened my mouth, dropping the arrow. Forlon and Reshka came rushing to help as Drok helped Kora's wounds, the rest of the rebellion was nowhere in sight. Mist came out of my mouth, shining light, and I felt its opposition to darkness. It hovered above my head in a sphere and spread itself to Forlon and Reshka, taking the same position. A triangle formed as lines of light erupted from the spheres. The triangle hovered in the air and rotated. I had the anger rid of me as the light came out and could finally think straight.

I adjusted to the lack of power and looked at Forlon and Reshka. Reshka had fired the arrow to snap me out of my power craze, knowing i'd read the word 'Trio' and remember why we were here. But as the anger left me none of us knew what had come with it, this light. The triangle span faster and erupted in a blinding flash. The five of us looked at where the centre of the triangle once was and noticed a cloud of mist, hovering gently in the air. Reshka neared and reached out his hand

"What are you?" He asked, not expecting an answer, but he got one

"Your guide" The mist answered. Forlon recoiled and me and Reshka widened our eyes

"The Special Skills? Thats why you're here?" Reshka quizzed

"Yes, wise warrior" The mist replied "I am here to guide you to them. But I tell you now, the special skills can't just be found but need to be mastered. Learnt, like skills are"

"Can you tell us what our Special Skills are then" Forlon asked

"Of course" The mist replied, the first good news i'd heard all day "Power, Wisdom and Courage"

"Oh hell" Was Forlon's only reply "it speaks in riddles"

"It doesn't" Reshka replied "think about it. Makto's power brought this being forth, meaning Makto is the Power, I believe I am the Wisdom and therefore you're ability to be somewhat foolhardy is apparently the Courage"

"Very well done" Our guide replied

"Why do we have Special Skills" I asked

"You're the Trio" The mist replied and paused. It continued when it saw the look on my face, the will to punch it. "The Power is needed to make everything go. The Wisdom is needed to decide what needs the Power. And the Courage is needed to take the Power further than the Wisdom can, the ability to not be afraid to go beyond the boundaries"

"What boundaries?" Foron followed

"Whatever boundaries exist in the minds of the three of you. You cannot change the old and create the new if you have boundaries"

"Like the boundary of life?" Drok figured

"Indeed" the guide replied

"Wait a sec," Forlon said "are you saying we can raise or fall life if we believe so?"

"Of course not" the guide replied "you do need to believe, correct. But you need have passed beyond life first and dealt with threats to it"

"You're saying that we need to die and defeat Soul Eater" Reshka nodded

"No" the guide said, never stopping to contradict itself and others "the Power must not die. Dead power is no power the Power can't die. But the Wisdom and Courage will pass beyond life if the Lord of Evil is to fall"

"Screw that" Forlon replied

"Very possible" Reshka mused

"I must go" the guide told us "I shall be back when i'm needed. In the meantime I offer some advice. Power" he addressed me "keep that anger in check, it can be controlled and if you are to become the Power of the Trio it must be, without that anger backing your magic you can't be strong enough. But like any skill it must be learnt, let it loose it little bits, let some out tomorrow, and a little more the next day. These sudden bursts will kill you, wether you regain control or not"

I wasn't surprised by the news and promised to try my best

"Wisdom," he addressed Reshka "keep your eyes wide open. Not everyone is as they seem, plan on the future for the Trio and the world, not just those close to you"

Reshka nodded his deepest thanks and Forlon sighed as the guide over closer to him

"Courage," he addressed Forlon "keep your head high. Dark times are coming and people will be lost. Your cause will seem hopeless, the unity and bond the three of you can achieve and stretch to make your own will true will seem hopeless. But while there is a single man backing a cause it still exists. Remember no man and can topple a tower without believing he can do it, although Makto can tell you more about toppling the tower of evil than I can"

With that the small cloud disappeared and Forlon turned to me. He asked what the guide meant but Reshka had already figured it out

"Look" he said, pointing to where the kingdom of evil once stood, but no more.

"Did you?" Forlon asked

"I sent a message" I told them "All those generals dealing with internal affairs, I needed to show Soul Eater i'm not like Gilder. That i'm not afraid to take action. Last time I realised the anger I read every single thought he had. I knew the kingdom was not indestructible. I went there, blew up his throne. Gave him a bit of a beating. Then jumped out of his non-existent windows and destroyed the tower."

"Not a good choice" Reshka commented "but not one we can change now"

Drok finished up with Kora and they joined us. They'd heard the guide and Kora seemed a bit sceptical about the whole thing but Drok had trust in me, he showed it clearly. I read Kora's thoughts as he was acting a little strange. He believed it, but just didn't like the idea of Reshka and Forlon dying. They were his friends, but that wasn't the problem. The problem he was having was that they were my closest comrades. If the guide was to be believed they'd die and i'd be alone, versing a near god magician on my own and having the weight of my dead comrades on my shoulders. I didn't know how I felt about that but Kora worried for me. I headed to the dining hall as the rest headed to their respective tents.

I dismissed the troops and called the high ranking members to my tent. When they all gathered I started

"I'll make this short and sweet" I said "there's a guy called shadow ninja. If you see him you'll know about it. Other than that I have but one announcement. If anyone bothers me tonight I hope you're prepared to go walking the couple of miles I throw you, presuming u survive of course" The high ranking members filed out and another came in. He told me the new troops had arrived. I admit that I lost my temper.

I screamed at him, asking him why he'd come to me. I told him it didn't take a genius to mingle his troops with our survivors. He left in a hurry and no one bothered to comfort him. Everyone got to sleep and I used the shadows to take myself to a place away from camp. I thought hard. I thought about what i'd done whole I was angry. I trick I couldn't do normally. With the power i'd felt there was so much I could've done that I couldn't there and then. I decided upon a tornado but wanted to start small. I opened my palm and gathered all my magic…nothing. I concentrated for ten minutes with no success.

I dug down deep and found my anger, a sea of chaos. I imagined scooping up a little bit of it and adding it to my magic, removing the anger and making it peaceful, powerful magic. I imagined it but could still feel the anger it held deep inside. I opened my palm again and gathered all the power I had. Right there, a min tornado rose. The size of a dagger's hilt, could barely kill a person if rammed into their head, but it showed the guide was right, piece by piece was the answer.

"Very good" the guide said behind me. I turned slowly. "That anger will fade eventually, you're on the right path. In about twelve hours the anger you added to your magic will fade in with the rest of it, extending your limits a fair amount, and you won't even be able to tell it started as your anger"

"So I do that every twelve hours?" I asked "Then the anger that's added becomes pure magic, meaning I get the power but not the terrible emotions?"

"Oh, I wouldn't say that" the guide replied, still speaking riddles "The emotions are yours, Power. The reason you have that magic trapped in the sea of chaos that is you anger is because you had those emotions carved into you. You can do that technique all you like and it will get you the power you feel when you let it all lose. But theres the part you haven't accessed"

"Which part is that?" I asked

"At maximum power you've not got your full potential that lies in true peace. You access about half your anger magic when you let it all out in a burst. Imagine that, but doubly strong, and no anger. You must release all the power you feel in a burst, using the technique you just learnt. Then reach peace with yourself, thats when you'll achieve maximum power. Enough to rival the Lord of Evil"

"I can beat Soul Eater" I pointed out

"Not if he gets his hands on Gilder" the guide said "you need full power, then your Special Skill will be mastered." I nodded and looked up.

"What about Forlon and Reshka's Special Skills?" I asked "How do they master them, before dying"

"They're path is not easy, but nor is it hard till their end of days" the guide spoke

"Meaning?" I questioned

"They just continue as they are, then, if they at true peace when they pass on, they'll be masters in their skills, if not, the Trio falls"

"Do they know this?" I asked

"Wisdom figured this fact out a few minutes ago, when he sensed the power from this end of the camp. He's a wise one. He's shared it with Courage, they both know what you do"

"Alright" I reasoned "Is my peace achieved on my end of days? The peace I need to gain full power"

"Should you choose it to be your end of days" the guide announced "If you gain full power, you will be the last living member of the Trio, presuming you take your power to full lengths and go beyond life. You'll be a deity, along with your comrades that is. But they'll be the deity in the form of the heavens, only reaching the mortal world through blessings. You can traverse both, you will be alive but godly, able to step on land or stay in the heavens"

"Sounds great" I said "but what does that make you"

"I'm a being born of the legend of the Trio" the guide said "when the first of you falls i'll be lost forever. That's when the journey will near its end, the time of reckoning will be near, your time" That's when a thought occurred to me.

"It's going to be me versus Soul Eater isn't it?" I asked

"Yes" The guide admitted "the Lord of Evil will reach full power one way or another, if not your comrades will live and the Trio will be mortal. Your comrades will fall as will your rebellion. You against him for the status of deity, you fighting for the good of all worlds, him for the bad. It's pass or fail i'm afraid, no re-dos" The guide left again and I headed to camp. I told Reshka and Forlon I knew what they'd figured out and they figured the guide had paid me a visit.

I went to the main tent and rested. I woke in six hours and summoned the air. I brushed it into every man in the rebellion, bringing back signals of each soldier, showing how many we now paraded. We had around three thousand in all, two dining halls and the land around us as a training ground. I'm sure our numbers would thin shortly but it mattered not to me. I was having a hard time not abandoning the rebellion. I'd be told they'd all die and leading them was killing me, and i'd been at it for no more than forty-eight hours.

We began to pack up and I marched at the front, Drok and Reshka aside, i'd decided to spend the next six hours marching. Until I needed time to improve my magic. It was a little selfish but we'd make better time than usual and get marching the next morning, for another six hours. We set out and I placed a mental timer in my head until trouble rose. As it neared the five minute mark hope started to grow. it was then dashed as Reshka approached and I knew something was wrong. I stopped the timer and hope Forlon was keeping more hope than I was. He had to believe we could do anything, and I couldn't believe we'd go five minutes without running into trouble. Reshka reached me and I mouthed the words in the exact timing he said them, the words that never seemed to stop coming to me. He spoke:

"We've got trouble." I chuckled in reply and threw my head back…laughing somewhat maniacally