Chapter 21: Late Night Brawls

Candice was eerily quiet as she led the way through the dark wilderness, and not even the light from the moon and stars was able to provide a comforting glow.

The woods themselves were quiet too, save for the soft howling of the wind. Other than that, there were no animals in sight, either because they were sleeping, or because the flames coming from the two walking fire elementals scared them off with the light coming from their bodies. Needless to say, Flint hated the silence. It made him feel as if there was something else waiting in the darkness, ready to pounce out at any moment. And he would be surprised if that something was Candice's own men, waiting to attack at her signal and take him as a prisoner.

'Or maybe I'm already a prisoner,' Flint thought.

He was beginning to deeply regret accepting Candice's offer to come with her. It's not to say that these woods were unfamiliar to him, but he would normally always have several men at his back during one of his routine scouting operations. Now, he was all alone, and as much as he hated to admit, there's was no way of knowing if he could defend himself should the worse happen. There was no way of knowing just how proficient Candice was in combat, and even if he was to fight only her, seeing that mysterious silvery handle hanging from her hip gave him a sense of dread he very rarely experienced.

But nothing ever happened. Despite his instincts, Flint never readied his sword and kept following this puzzling woman through the darkness.

The forest was suddenly not so silent anymore. Some odd crickets and frogs could now be heard every so often, and the wind continued to gently blow against the leaves of each tree. Following these sounds, Flint eventually began to hear the rushing water of a nearby river. And when some of the clouds in the sky began to part, the moonlight became brighter, and he could better see more of his surroundings.

He figured it was safe to assume that Candice had none of her men waiting to pounce. And even if she did, there would have surely been some sort of orange glow coming from the shadows that would have given them away. That was one weakness the fire elementals had that Flint was both ashamed and currently glad that they had. Due to the light they produced, it was near impossible for them to sneak around in the dark, and this weakness is the reason why so many men end up losing their lives having to take on foes head on.

"Backstabbing is for cowards," the Fire Kingdom's military general used to say, back during Flint's training days. "Using shadows to hide your faces is not a warrior's way. We face our enemies head on, and do so using strength and unity that no other kingdoms can dare to match. Ours is the most powerful military in the land, and with good reason. We do not only fight to defend our home; we fight to defeat those who would dare harm it before they even get the chance to do so. We are conquerors. Sons and daughters of miners, blacksmiths, and hail from families both rich and poor.

"But no matter where we come from, we are beings of pure will and determination, and even the most unlikely of us can become fighters. And when you're done training here, I expect every single one of you to fight to the very last breath for your home, and die fighting as a true warrior should. Because if I catch any of you running from the field of battle crying for your mothers, you can be damn sure I'll be there to kill you myself."

Back then, things were a lot simpler. When his father was in charge, everything was not so black and white. Flint fought solely for the Fire Kingdom and its people, and anyone else who would dare to oppose them were enemies, nothing more. There were no such things as peace treaties and mutual understandings. All problems were solved through combat, in the glorious heat of battle. When he swung his sword at his foes, that was when Flint felt truly alive. But now, he could hardly remember the last time he fought anyone.

When the general died in battle, he was next in line as the best soldier to continue his legacy, by leading and training the new warriors of tomorrow. It was an honor anyone would have been extremely proud to accept, and he was. To shape the weak into hardened battle machines was his pride. Now, even though he still did it, it all felt for nothing. Because the way his sister was running the kingdom, there was no telling when any of them would actually see battle. And the effects of peace have not gone unnoticed, with many of the guards beginning to slack off and partake in menial activities unfit for beings as fearsome as the fire elementals.

But there was little reason to dwell in the past for the moment. All that he needed to focus on was walking through the wilderness.

As Candice used her flames to burn away some of the foliage blocking their path, immediately using her powers to snuff it out before it could spread, the river Flint had been hearing for some time came into view. Its waters were clear and calm, and he could see several types of small fish swimming along with its current, but it was too wide for them to cross it without getting wet. Flint thought that would continue down its shore, but Candice remained unnervingly close to the edge, looking towards the opposite side of the river, where the dense forest continued.

Unlike his sister, Flint could not fly, and he was unsure if Candice could as well. And with no boats anywhere to be seen, he failed to understand what exactly she planned to do.

"You're not thinking of crossing, are you?" he asked.

"No," she replied. "We could take the long way, but I would rather arrive tonight." She raised her arm and pointed to the left, in the direction that the river was flowing. "We're going to ride the current. It's the fastest way of getting to our destination. It's near the Lost Cliffs."

Flint thought she was crazy. "How?! In case you haven't noticed, we can't exactly survive in water, and I don't see any boats around. And the path to the Lost Cliffs is completely blocked off by this river. I don't wanna spend any more time than I need to with the likes of you, but we should find a bridge."

Candice only laughed, which made him even madder. "My dear, you and so many others of our kind are the same. You fear water, and with good reason. But that's only because you haven't learned to tap into everything that you are capable of doing." She raised her hand and created a ball of fire, and through the mask covering most of her face, her eyes shone crimson red. "There's so much that you're left to learn."

Before there was any chance to respond, Candice launched the ball of flames straight above her, and with a flash so bright that made Flint cover his eyes, four flaming tendrils began to soar overhead.

When he looked back to Candice, she had both of her hands raised in the air, and moved them around in slow and graceful movements. The tendrils followed suit, moving in the same fashion as she moved her own arms. Each went flying in a different direction, and moved along the floor on each side of the river like glowing snakes. As they moved, they gathered every single rock that they came across, be it from the smallest ones to moderately sized stones. And with each rock that was collected, the tendril grew longer to compensate. Once they were done, all of them came back with the rocks in tow, and collided with each other just above the water.

The tendrils moved in unison and put all of the gathered rocks together to form a sphere, about two meters in diameter. Then, Candice made them move at a very high velocity around the rock pile, keeping them afloat. As her arms stopped moving, her hands began to shake and glow bright. Following the elemental's every command, the flames surrounding the rocks became brighter as well, creating such luminescence that it seemed like she was creating a tiny star right above the water's surface.

After a few minutes passed, with flint still too mesmerized to say anything, Candice unsheathed the silver tube she always had sheathed on her hip. She held it tightly in one hand, while keeping the floating ball of fire in the air with the other. The fiery carvings engraved on its surface began to glow with a vibrant blue color, and flames of the same color began to form around her entire hand and slithered up the rest of her arm. Then, with a swift motion, the blue fire flew forward and managed to traversethe surface of the water without being extinguished.

When Candice closed her fist on her free hand, the inferno that surrounded the rocks suddenly vanished, but what awaited underneath was no longer the rocks that she had collected. They were all melted; turned molten by the extreme heat of her flames. All that was left now was a ball of pure magma.

As Candice kept her creation in the air, she focused her attention on the blue flames, and used them to move the water. Before Flint could react in time, a monsoon of magma and water both met in the air, and a large cloud of steam almost immediately covered his vision.

All he could see, aside from the forest behind them, was Candice resuming her swift motions with her arms, keeping one hand free and using the other to control the blue flames with the sliver tube. Her eyes were still glowing red, but even if the pupils themselves were not visible, Flint could still tell what kind of emotion she was showing. Despite the amount of energy that she must have been using, there was no strain present in her features at all. She remained calm and collected through the entire ordeal.

When the steam finally began to fade, the elemental began to ease her arms, doing motions that were much slower and calm until she just stopped altogether. Then, as the steam began to fade, Flint took a moment to admire what had come from her efforts.

A small, perfectly shaped boat, big enough to fit the two of them, was currently being held up in the air by a coat of blue fire beneath it. It resembled any other wooden boat in every way, only this one was made of the stone created from mixing the molten rock with water.

Flint was at a loss for words. 'Impossible! She was able to create a boat by melting the rock, and then controlling the water…with fire! But how…? I've never seen such power before. Even my father and sister were never capable of something like this. No elemental I've met has been able to make their flames burn that hot. She is not just any elemental. There's clearly something else at work here.'

Candice looked to him as her eyes went back to normal, showing that signs that she was clearly smiling underneath her mask. "It may be a stone boat, but the water isn't too deep, so it shouldn't sink all the way. And the current looks strong enough to carry it."

"How did you do all of that?" Flint asked, basically ignoring everything she had just said.

"A personal secret, darling. And one that you'll learn quickly…if you decide the Blackbell Knights are worth it, that is."

Flint hated that she was holding back on the answers he wanted, but he decided not to lose his temper. "Okay then. I take it the river will take us right to where we need to go?"

"Exactly. A much faster route than walking. We'll be there in no time." Candice used the flames to move the boat closer to shore. "Hop on."

He was reluctant at first, but despite thinking the whole thing would break as soon as weight was added to it, it held surprisingly well once both elementals had boarded. Once they were seated, Candice allowed the blue flames to disappear, and the boat began to float downriver quickly. Flint could feel the bottom scraping against the floor every so often, but whatever magic the woman sitting opposite from his had used, the rock was solid and unbreaking, and thin enough so that it wasn't too heavy to sink.

"Couldn't we have just used the flames you used to hold up the boat and, I don't know, fly it all the way to-"

"It doesn't work that way," she said bluntly. "We'd be launched right off if we tried. Just be quiet and enjoy the ride. Stop questioning everything so much."

"I've spent most of my life trying to keep my home safe! Questioning everything that seems off isn't just a job anymore. It's instinct."

She chuckled. "And tell me, how often do your instincts yield positive results?"

"Most of the time."

"Most. Everyone has hiccups now and then. Even the ones that we see as being perfect. You may not want to admit it directly, but I can see it in your eyes. You believe just as much as I do that everything your sister has been doing is one big hiccup for the Fire Kingdom's progression. Am I wrong?"

Flint narrowed his eyes. "Leave my sister out of this. All she needs is time to see the bigger picture. Just shut up and take me to wherever it is we're going."

Candice shrugged. "Very well. But be warned: if I am right, things need to change. And the sooner, the better. Time is not a luxury on our side."

It was hard to tell how long Flint and Candice had been sailing for, but at a guess, he figured it was close to half an hour. As rough as the ride had been until that point, the boat remained intact surprisingly well. Whatever enchantments Candice had placed upon it definitely did their work. After a while, it came to a point where the woods around them became less dense, to the point where they eventually reached a wide-open grass field.

In the distance, the two could finally see part of the Lost Cliffs. Only its back was somewhat visible; a green hill of grass and pines that gradually escalated towards the sky, until it bent to form the ridge overlooking the great sea beyond. At its base, Flint could see their destination.

There were multiple forts in the area that had been abandoned over the decades, either because they were unfit for working order, or because there was simply no need for them. Flint knew of only a few, but the name of the one he was currently seeing escaped him. He was aware that they made their home in the area, but he had never seen it personally. And the number of tents and campfires lined outside its walls was all the conformation he needed.

Candice brought the boat to a sudden halt, making Flint jolt in his seat and forcing him to grab the sides. Even with the river still going strong, her flames gave them enough to time to jump on land. As they did, the female elemental made a swift motion with her hand, and the entire thing suddenly broke apart into tiny pieces that were lost with the water's current.

Both elementals remained quiet as they walked. It was difficult to tell exactly what time it was, but based on the moon's position, and the fact that he did not feel tired in the slightest, Flint had to guess it was close to 10 PM, maybe a bit more. He became a bit uneasy. Finding his way back to the Fire Kingdom would not be easy, especially without any way of going upriver. And he had no intention of spending the night in the presence of their leader, or any of her compatriots.

Nevertheless, he kept walking, only able to imagine what the mysterious woman leading him could be thinking. He hated when he was unable to see someone's face with clarity. It was the sign of someone who had too many secrets to hide.

'And once I'm in your fort, I plan to work on uncovering all of them.'

It would be risky, no doubt, but would serve a great purpose. He had just realized, maybe this was his chance. Candice brought him because she wanted to convince him the Blackbell Knights were worth joining. Why not take advantage of it? She was taking him right to their doorstep, and once inside, and after earning a few friends in their ranks, getting around would be a bit simpler.

'I have to decide quickly, though. If I leave, I might not get another chance. But, if I make them think I'm one of theirs, I can expose the true deeds of these wannabe knights.'

Candice looked back at him for a brief moment, and in a split second, Flint thought she somehow knew what he was thinking. But he shook it off. The uneasiness was probably getting to him already.

After more walking in silence, the air was suddenly filled with the chatter and steel of the Blackbell Knights. The dozens of tents lined outside the fort's walls held just as many of its inhabitants, men and women alike, and all of them either conversing, training, tending to their fire steeds, or sharing a few meals near the campfires. They gave Flint a few suspicious looks right after saluting to their leader as she passed by, but went back to their business only seconds later.

"So many have joined our group that we don't have enough space in the fort to house them all," Candice explained. "We've been thinking of expanding to a few of the other strongholds in the area. But in the meantime, these ones you see are forced to camp in the fields. But they hardly mind. They're trained to live in even worse environments than this. They could be forced to sleep on top of spikes, and they would do so. Because they believe in our cause. They believe in their brothers and sisters."

Flint had no response. Instead, he studied the fort now that it was closer than before.

"These stones," he began, referring to the blocks used to build the walls. "The architecture isn't like anything else I've seen from the other kingdoms."

"You have a good eye," said Candice. "This fortress is old. Very old. We're not one hundred percent sure, but from what we've gathered, it's safe to assume this was once a human settlement."

Flint was slightly intrigued. "Humans? Well, it's pretty clear from the state of it that they've been long gone from Ooo…save for one."

The outer walls were sturdy enough to ward off a siege, but the same could not be said for the interior until the elemental was able to get a good look at it. As they approached the main entrance, guarded by ballistas placed on both sides of it from atop the walls, the sentries placed to man them hailed Candice upon their arrival. The portcullis was already partially raised. It made sense, since there were so many camping outside, the chances of someone being able to charge in before it closed were slim to none. It also made it easier to move equipment in and out. Flags were flowing atop the wall bearing the Blackbell Knights' symbol; a pair of black bird wings on a crimson background.

As Flint followed Candice into the courtyard, he was almost livid to admit that what he saw was somewhat impressive.

Even if the fortress was old, the Blackbell Knights had done a pretty decent job of rebuilding it. The structures had barely any cracks to speak of, and the courtyard looked almost brand new with all of its level ground and high-quality equipment. Several soldiers were sparring with one another using real, sharpened blades and spears, while others were in groups, doing any task that their sergeant commanded. There was also a stable for all of their best fire steeds.

In the case of the fort itself, what stood out the most were the three towers that stood over each side of the wall, save for the front, which had the ballistas. Out of everything else, however, they were the structures that still required some fixing.

The right flank tower was the most intact, save for a few holes in several places. The one on the left flank was almost a twin of the other, but was missing bigger chunks of its structure. Meanwhile, the one in between the two-the widest and tallest-that stood above the main building, was missing its entire roof. Beyond it was the shadow of the Lost Cliffs' grassy backside. As he studied his surroundings further, Flint knew why some of the soldiers needed to live in the outskirts. The place didn't seem that big.

"What you see now is only part of our little abode," Candice said. "There's more underground. But even then, we need to start expanding if we wish to give all of our members a comfortable bed."

'Not if I put an end to whatever schemes you're brewing.'

Flint followed her through the door into the main building, under the center tower, which led straight into a large mess hall. A long table stretched from one end of the bright, chandelier-lit room to the other. Over a dozen Blackbell Knights were seated on it. And from the look of their armor, he guessed that they were most of the lieutenants and sergeants.

Some conversed with one another cheerfully, while others just enjoyed their meals in peace. As would be expected from a group of fire elementals, the table was lined with nothing but coal on every plate. As soon as everyone noticed the two of them, they stood up and saluted in for Candice. When they did, Flint felt all of their eyes on him at once, but no words were uttered.

"At ease," she said, and they ceased their salute. "How has progress been coming along?"

"As good as can be expected, Ma'am," one of them said. "Repairs for this fort are coming along nicely. And some of our scouts have already found suitable locations for us to expand our forces not too far from here."

She nodded. "Good. Carry on with your business. Where is Igneous?"

"Right here, Supreme General!" said the familiar elemental with the half-extinguished face.

Flint immediately felt a fierce vexation building up within him. As the man walked towards them from the table, their eyes locked, and the hatred they both shared for each other became apparent. They came so close to exchanging blows on the day he came to the Fire Kingdom requesting an audience with Blayze, and the urge to launch the first attack was seething. But both of them managed to maintain their composure.

Igneous saluted as he stood before Candice. "Tis good to see you back safe and sound," he said.

"Was there any doubt I couldn't've handled myself?" she made him wonder.

"No, Ma'am. But these days, one can never be too careful." He turned his gaze to Flint. "And I see you've managed to bring this one to us as well."

"Worried, Iggy?" Flint said mockingly. "Don't worry. At least here, you always have Candice around to keep you safe."

He was clearly enraged. "Watch your tongue, lad. If it came to a real fight, you would be lying dead on the floor before you even drew your sword. I swear on me own blade."

Flint walked right up to his face. "Is that a challenge?"

"Aye. It might be."

"Then I could gladly take you up on it."

"I'll string you until-"

He stopped when Candice pulled Flint back by his shoulder. "Children, enough bickering. We're here to have a serious discussion." She turned to Igneous. "Where are the others?"

"Probably in the Pit," he answered while still eyeing Flint. "You know how they are."

Candice removed her hand from Flint's shoulder. "Let's go find them, then."

The three of them turned and walked back out to the courtyard, but not before Flint and Igneous gave each other a quick shove once her back was turned.

While the sounds of chatter echoed across the courtyard, they followed Candice towards the right flank tower. Inside was mostly storage for weapons and other kinds of goods, and a few people to manage all of it. They were met with a staircase built into the walls that lead either up or down. She led them down.

Their steps echoed the farther they went, and when they reached the bottom, the torches were so dim that even the light from their own bodies made it difficult to see. Nevertheless, it was not unmanageable. The halls were straight, and there was hardly anything to trip on even if any of them suffered a misstep. There were doors lined in between the torches, each with numbers carved into them. From what Flint could see within some that were slightly open, they were currently walking past the bed chambers.

After a few moments of walking through the darkened halls, they eventually came upon another set of stairs. But these were small, and led directly to a steel door at the very end. It was faint, but Flint could sear he could hear muffled shouts coming from the other side.

When they came upon the door, Candice knocked three times and a small panel opened up, revealing the eyes of another elemental inside, and making the sounds of cheering coming from within clearer. Once the panel closed after the man got a good look at them, the door was opened to them.

As the three elementals walked through, they were immediately met with a wall of cheering Blackbell Knights facing away from them. From his perspective, it was impossible for Flint to see what they were cheering at, but he could more or less make out the room's layout. It was round, with a small chandelier hanging from the ceiling that gave pleasant lighting to the chamber, at least in comparison to the hallways that they walked through before. The ground was also different from the rest of the fortress; it was made of dirt rather than cement, but it was possibly easier to clean than the harder material, seeing as how most of the walls were lined with scorch marks.

The cheering knights stood aside as Candice moved through them, immediately going quiet once they realized it was their leader, but continuing once she and Flint were past. Igneous was still following closely behind, and shared several words with some of the other men, but it was difficult to know what they were saying from how low their voice sounded amidst the noise.

Flint's attention was suddenly brought back forward when a scream came from the center of the room, and one of the knights was launched over the entire crowd and crashed against the wall. Suddenly, a roar of cheers and applause blocked every other noise in the room, except for one that was just loud enough to pierce through it: the triumphant cheer of the warrior that won the battle. At first, all that could be seen of him was the large spiked mace he held up in the air, but as the group finally made it to the front, he came to full view within the white circle in the room's center.

He was one of biggest and most buff elementals Flint had ever laid eyes upon. Easily standing at seven to eight feet in height, it was no wonder a soldier had been easily flung over the crowd, and several more laid on the ground around him, either to exhausted or bruised to move. With how bent some of their armor was, getting out of it later would be no easy task. Shattered shields and swords also decorated the ground. The big guy's own armor matched that of the other knights, but it was made to fit his large body. Anyone seeing him charging to battle from afar would most likely choose to stray from his path. Even Flint found it hard to imagine standing up against such a brute on his own without some assistance. It would be like facing an elephant head on.

His cheering stopped when he laid eyes on the group, and despite his helmet, his laughter made it clear he currently had the widest of smiles.

"Candice!" he exclaimed in a deep, commanding voice.

"Having fun, Sadr?" she asked, crossing her arms.

He chuckled. "You've made it just in time. I've only finished warming up. Today is the day, you hear? TODAY IS THE DAY!" Both of his arms were raised in the air. "Bring him in! Where is he?!"

A loud cheer suddenly erupted across the room once more, and for a second, Flint was worried that Sadr was referring to him. But instead of just mindless screaming, he could hear a name continuously been screamed among the knights in unison, like a mantra.

"RIGEL! RIGEL! RIGEL! RIGEL!"

Only after several seconds, a loud cheer came from behind Flint, and he turned to identify the cause of it. Entering the ring was another knight, but he was different from the rest. In fact, he was just about the complete opposite of Sadr.

While still tall in stature, about six feet, he was extremely thin, to the point where any more loss of weight would make him look like a stick; save for the fact that he was wide of chest. His armor was fitted to compensate for this, but aside from making him look like the others, Flint failed to see how it would fair in a real fight. And judging by the long double-bladed spear he currently carried on his back, he was about to enter such a fight right now with Sadr.

'He's crazy,' Flint thought. 'Fighting against normal soldiers, maybe he would have a chance. But how can he possibly stand against such a monster?'

The big brute swung his shoulders around and gave his mace a few swings in preparation. Meanwhile, the skinny elemental stood opposite from him within the center circle, arms crossed and simply waiting patiently. Once Sadr was finished, he pointed his mace towards his opponent, but no words were exchanged.

With a roaring shout, Sadr charged forward at full speed, mace in the air and ready to be brought down towards the ground at full force. Rigel on the other hand, rather than readying his spear, stepped pout of the way with one swift motion, causing his attacker to run right past and towards the crowd of spectators. Luckily, they were all able to move aside quickly, and he ended up crashing against the wall in the back of the room. The hit was so intense, Flint could almost swear the ground beneath him shook ever so slightly.

Regaining his posture, seemingly unaffected by the impact, Sadr turned his attention back to Rigel, who was still waiting within the circle with arms crossed and weapon undrawn. He charged again, with the same speed and ferocity as the first time.

As he came mere inches from ramming his target, he found himself running past once more as Rigel gracefully bent his knees, allowing him to avoid the hit by passing in between the attacker's legs. Sadr was fortunately able to control his speed with more precision, and was able to stop right before stepping out of the circle and into the crowd. As quickly as he stopped, his mace came swinging wildly, and Rigel was barely able to move his head in time.

When he regained his composure, Flint noticed he came dangerously close to receiving a fatal blow. His helmet had a small scratch on its left side. He must have noticed as well, for he raised his hand and felt the area where the scratch was. But he only had a split second to do so before the mace came swinging again.

Now the fight was truly on, but Rigel still held back on drawing his spear. There was still no clear window of attack, however, so maybe that was part of the reasoning. Sadr was mercilessly on the offensive, and he was forced to continue stepping out of the way quickly. And for what felt like the longest time, that was all that was exchanged between the two: furious attempts at blows and quick movements to avoid them.

Flint eventually started to understand. As time went on, he noticed that Rigel remained just as swift as when the fight began, but Sadr was starting to grow tired, and his attacks were becoming slower and easier to evade.

When the time came that Sadr was struggling to catch his breath, the spear was finally drawn.

First, the skinny elemental cut across the brute's leg, causing him to wince and swing his mace towards his attacker's location. The weapon came crashing against the ground, missing Rigel's foot by mere inches. He took the opportunity and quickly ran up his opponent's arm, using his shoulder to jump over his head, and then hitting his head with the spear's stick. The impact sent a loud ringing across the room, and Sadr immediately lost his footing and began to tumble.

Rigel swiped his spear towards the back of his opponent's legs, making him fall to the ground on his back. The crowd showed mixed emotions at the act; some cheering, and others yelling at Sadr to get back up to his feet. Meanwhile, rather than finishing the job right then and there, Rigel simply walked back and forth, spinning his spear around in circles and waiting patiently for the fight to continue.

Once Sadr was back on his feet, Flint was expecting him to continue his attacks with the mace. Instead, he threw the weapon on the floor and charged forward with his bare hands. Despite attempting to get out of the way, Rigel was caught around the waist, and was thrown towards the solid ground. The brute prepared to bring his fist down upon his opponent, but when he moved his head out of the way, the impact affected the area around it instead. Meanwhile, everyone else were still cheering one, caring very little about one of them dying or not.

Rigel acted quickly and took landed his own set of punches against his attacker's head during his daze. They were not strong punches, but they were delivered in such quick succession that it made the mace heading for his head miss. Now, with hands pinning him down, Rigel quickly took his spear and took a defensive position, while Sadr roared in anger as he got back to his feet as well.

A sudden silence fell over the entire room. Neither fighters nor audience made a sound. All there was to hear was the metal clanging of their armor as they prepared for each other's attacks. When nothing happened, Igneous groaned and pushed his way to the front.

"Finish each other off already!" he shouted. "Compared to other times, this is taking an eternity!"

As he finished, Sadr was the first to charge, and Rigel followed right after.

When they came within close proximity of each other, Sadr swung his mace horizontally, trying to hit his opponent's head. But Rigel simply ducked underneath it, making the bigger elemental lose his balance. When he regained it, he attacked with the mace once more, this time aiming to crush him.

Rigel jumped out of the way as the heavy weapon came down with extreme force. Before Sadr had the time to lift his arm back up, the smaller elemental was quickly making his way up the limb. He placed the stick of his spear firmly against Sadr's neck, and held on from behind as he was vigorously shaken around.

Every time Sadr attempted to reach behind himself to, Rigel moved too quickly for him to get a proper grab, and his struggles only made the process worse. Not long passed before the struggle became slower, and clear fatigue clearly began to wash over the mace-wielding knight. So much so that he lost balance and landed on his knees against the dusty ground, dropping his weapon in the process.

When there was no more strength to immediately fight on, Rigel jumped off from Sadr's back, yanking off his helmet in the process. Flint could barely see his face even for a second before he received a blow from his own helmet, which was thrown at an alarming speed as soon as its holder landed gracefully on the ground. And as he laid on his back, unable to reach his mace, Sadr could only stay down as a pair of feet landed on his chest, and the sharp end of a spear was pointed directly at his exposed neck.

"I win…again," said Rigel, looking down at his fallen opponent. Despite his helmet muffling some of his voice, its soft tone was fairly noticeable, and it did not sound like he was bragging. In fact, he sounded indifferent about the fact that he beat someone so fierce.

As the spear was swiftly sheathed, everyone cheered loudly as the winner of the duel jumped down from the loser's chest, dusting off some of the dirt that had gotten accumulated on parts of his armor.

While the crowd was gathering around to congratulate him, Flint tried to get a good look at Sadr's face as he groggily stood up. But he was too late, someone had already helped him put his helmet back on, and also gave him back his mace. Once he took the first heavy step forward, everyone immediately turned to face the undoubtedly angry knight.

"You!" he screamed, pointing his weapon at Rigel.

Despite the clear danger of being attacked once more, the skinny elemental made no move to either draw his own weapon or move away. Instead, he remained in the same place, meeting his larger counterpart's gaze. Flint was prepared to move away if the worst came to pass.

However, it never did, and Sadr began to chuckle.

The laugh became louder and louder until it eventually turned into an uncontrollable guffaw. Everyone else followed suit to laugh, including Igneous. Only Flint, Candice, and Rigel remained quiet until the noise began to die down. When it finally did, Sadr patted his recent rival on the back.

"I almost had you there, Rigel," he said, still chuckling. He placed his pointer finger near his thumb until both were almost touching. "I was this close!"

"Close is not the word I'd use," Rigel responded. "But you managed to stay on your feet longer than before. So that's to be commended, I suppose."

"Oh, I'll beat you eventually. Just you wait."

"I'll look forward to it." Rigel turned his attention to Candice. It seemed like he was about to speak to her, but stopped once he noticed Flint. "And who is this?"

Rather than answering immediately, she turned her head to the rest of the soldiers in the room, and spoke loud enough for all to hear.

"Let's pack it up for the night! I need to have a word with my officers."

Everyone saluted, and began to depart from the room at once. Chatter was exchanged between them, either about the fight, encouraging those who lost in their fights as they were helped up, or the fact that Flint was there. Whatever the case, when all of them were gone, all that were left within were him, Candice, Igneous, Rigel, and Sadr.

"Rigel, Sadr, this is Flint," said Candice. "A member of the Fire Kingdom's military. I figured it was high time I showed him what our order is all about."

The two elementals studied Flint for a moment.

"A possible newcomer, eh?" Rigel said.

He raised his hands and pulled off his helmet, revealing the face underneath. If Flint knew the women of his kingdom well, most would probably call him "very handsome". A well-defined face, bright purple eyes, and a head that was half completely shaved, and half covered by long and smooth strands of orange hair. As far as fire elementals went, he was pretty basic, except for the fact that Flint had never seen one with purple eyes before.

"You could say that," Flint said, responding to his question.

'This is it. I have to make a good impression and become one of them. But I can't seem too eager. Once I'm in, I'll just go along with their routine and earn their trust. And I'll uncover their secrets.'

"Uncover our secrets, huh?" Rigel said. "Isn't that cute?"

Almost immediately, Flint was shocked enough that he almost lost his balance.

"Wha…what do you mean? I didn't…" 'What just happened?! How did he know?!'

Rigel smiled. "One's thoughts can sometimes be louder than their actual words." He turned to Candice. "This one will need some supervision, I'm afraid."

Flint was too confused to formulate any words. Meanwhile, Candice sighed in disappointment.

"I wish this would've gone otherwise," she said. "But it seems like we're going to have to do this the hard way. Sadr?"

Before Flint could react, a powerful punch to the head sent him drifting into unconsciousness.

Note: Not much to say, really. Just hope you're all still liking the story.

-Ooobserver: Heh, I should probably start cutting down on cliffhangers, shouldn't I? But I just can't help it.

-Awolfx9: It's definitely good to be getting back into the swing of things. Hope you enjoy.

Next Chapter: Wardens