As the flames burned everything red to black ash, Esca had thrust his sword at the_. The blade wedged beneath the opponents heart, drawing back quickly for a merciful and instant death. He spun the sword above his shoulders, as he swayed in his circumference, slitting the throats of all those around him; in one and at one. The masters let go of their weapons and succumbed to the floor. Behind Esca, the fire burned deep into the walls of the palace, turning silver to black, gold to ashen and embroidery and belongings to nothing. He stepped over the bodies carefully, moving forward along the hall. They reeked of blood like his clothes and hands. The amount of soldiers that had come through, and the amount of soldiers he had slain weren't adding up. Soon this hall alone would be filled with bodies.

Dark thoughts filled his mind, he shook his head, in an effort to not let his imagination run wild; but it was very little comfort. As he stared at the ground, the heat laced his skin. The sweat dripped from his hair, now flat and soaked, dripping across his eyelashes, where the salt burned. He ruffled his shirt over his neck, hair and face, but a dry shirt would have made him more comfortable. Esca took a moment to breathe, he felt off, like their was no air. He breathed harder, in hopes to obtain most of what little he could get from this cauldron, but it only made him dizzy. He stepped forward over more dead bodies, supporting himself against the wall with his shoulder. His necklace dangled against his chest with every step, and he soon found himself closer to the ground than expected. He felt sick in this stench hell.

"All of this," he thought. "All of this is wrong, so wrong!" The mental wall he had been carefully building collapsed. Images of his brothers, his mother's, his friends and citizens bodies laying cold and bleeding, were overcome by a plaque of death by every blade that touched them. "No," he screamed. The thoughts were getting darker, more detailed. He could see Tohr being beaten by these thugs, beaten and scathed, and worse, defiled by these mongrels. He shivered. "No, she'd kill them before they got that far", he told himself. "Nothing like that will happen, it won't happen." He calmed down slightly; the heat was no longer as bad, it actually felt pretty cold. In a way, too cold, but he could see the fire through his blurry vision, to which he concluded: he had not moved.

Riem turned the corner around the hall, as to what lead past the quarters of the servants now burning to ash. Using the sleeve of his arm to filter the air, he struggled to open a window with his one arm. The barricade on the door from outside prevented him from leaving the quarter. The window burst open, sucking into it the smoke that floated out to the sky. Riem dropped his sleeve and reached for the ledge, giving himself a boost long enough for him to hold on and take a few breaths of clean air before falling back into the room. As he coughed, the room got hotter; he turned to the door. He shuffled his feet to the closed door and threw his back at it.

"Can anyone hear me?" He shouted before coughing harshly. He took short breaths. He beat his back against the door, using his head and hands in rhythm. For a moment, only the fire responded with a flicker and briskheat. The window was full of smoke, from what flowed from under the door. Riem slumped to the floor, mumbling softly, "Anyone, please. It's me..."

Silence.

"It's the Prince." He shouted louder. Hoping that even an enemy might come barging in for his life at the call of his title; while they were after it, he would save it.

Still, silence.

"God Dammit!" Riem shouted in frustration, pounding his fist against the floor; wasting, what energy he had left to him. The jewel at his ear rested on his panting chest. He reached for it, staring at its glimmering tip, and thought of Skyia. The fire in his spirit burned with rage and suffering. Skyia; he had left her in the atrium on the roof. He choked, and his body shook violently. What if, in all this time he'd been stuck here, Skyia had been attacked? What if she did not make it out in time? Gripping the crystal tighter, Riem closed his eyes, and brought the tip of the crystal to his lips. Veins of light stretched from the crystal, crossing over his mouth, down his neck and up beneath his eyes. Riem cried out as he dropped the crystal. A burning sensation rippled throughout his body; all he breathed was fire, his insides melted and his skin pulsed. He clawed at his neck and face, finally curling his arms into his chest where the ore of his power was centered. Riem shook violently as he focused on the center of the flames, in his chest and throughout the palace. As royalty, he like grew of his family members had inherited a power; carved and pressed into the soul at the center of the chest. he focused harder, reaching his thoughts to the kitchen he passed with the girl, all is siblings rooms, the garden, the staircases, the lots , all the atriums, the roof, the entrance, the hall ways. As he focused, the heat began to die some, where it continued to diminish till a cool breeze crept underneath the door, and the stench of burned flesh and wood produced an unlikely odor.

Crack-shkk-drtop

A sudden pain prickled in the lower right of Riem's chest. The strain of his power cracked multiple ribs in separate spots along the bone. It was enough to make him bend over, but he quickly propped himself up against the door, pressing his back into the wooden encryptions. Focus he told himself. There is still the city!

He closed his eyes, grunting and gritting his teeth. He imagined the city, the forest, the ports, the rivers, the downtown streets, the grand bridges, the residential homes in the hills, and the neighboring villages and barns spanning across miles of the dimension.

Crack- another rib. Riem coughed but kept focusing. He breathed heavily, panting, trying to keep his eyes closed. Imagine it. Imagine it all!

He thought first, Fire. Then, cool, become mist and cool. Cool. Cool. Cool. Cool.

When he felt he could no longer feel the fires presence in the city, he opened his eyes and exhaled. Slowly, the dark roomed faded, his sense of smell, awareness were fading. He could feel himself descending, at first side ways then backwards, where he watched the ceiling come into view, streams of light and fire had marked the wood on the door in another way. Riem floated there, the ceiling as his only view, when was he to hit the floor? He turned his head, shaking as he did so. All he could see was an unidentified figure blocking out the light from the hallway, before he couldn't handle anymore. So much pain was relieved from his body: his ribs were numb, his arms rested on something, and his mind went blank.

"Skyia" he whispered as his last struggle to stay awake.

"Riem?!"Cahst screamed. "Riem, where are you?!" Cahst bulldozed a few enemy soldiers with his blade as he swung it diagonally across from their shoulder to their hip bone. He was trapped in the western hall on the fourth floor of the palace. He swung his blade again, this time across the ear and eye of the soldier that came running around the corner. The soldier fell feet first, his head hitting the back of the floor just underneath Cahst's blade where he had swung. The solder laid their a moment, and Cahst stood immobilized, in the same stance he had swung. He stared down at the soldier, who was only a young man about his age; nineteen to the earliest. Cahst crouched down and looked at the young man closer. Had the enemy been using young men , even, just to invade Anihiliad? He reached out to pull off the leather helmet only mounted halfway on the head. As he reached for the flap, a sudden movement from the young man ended with him gripping his Cahst's arm. The young man had been unconscious after Cahst struck him, but he was fully awake, and unrealistically frightened by the look of his face.

Cahst began to speak, but was interrupted by a cry of war from down the hallway. He inspected the hallway with his eyes, looking for any enemies, forgetting about the young man being an enemy. For a second it was quiet, only the un-rhythmic panting of the young man brought on Cahst's concern. He quickly pulled out a bandage wrap from the days earlier sparring match with Esca he had left hooked to his belt behind him. He turned to unravel it from his wire suspender for gliding down the balconies of the palace, as he turned the boy was already sitting up reaching his hand to his face where he had been struck. He bent over, lowering his head to the marble floor, as he cried out screaming.

Cahst quickly wrapped his arm around the boys chest from behind the boys back, pulling him underneath a wooden antique table in the hallway, where he jabbed his arm into a thorn along the wall. A small passage opened as a portion of the wall slid open. He scooted with the boy in his arms, underneath the table and into the hidden pocket. The young man cried out, but Cahst quickly shifted his arm up higher to the young mans neck, throwing him into a headlock with one arm, using his other to help him pull them back into the hole. When they were deep enough, Cahst stopped, and let the head lock go. the young man rested into his chest.

"Well that's hysterical." the young boy breathed heavily. He coughed as he forced himself to laugh. "Get your arm off of me, you prince!" the young man quickly threw Cahst arm off his shoulder and from around his waist. He began to crawl forward to the opening of the hole, "Here! I'm over here.!"

Cahst quickly grabbed the his back legs, trying to drag him back into the space. The young man clawed at the marble floor, army crawling his way to the opening, till his hand reached out a ways past the antique table. Amidst the struggle, Cahst had gripped his way up the boys entire body, to where his arm wrestled again with his neck.

"No." Cahst said exhaustedly. "Stop, It's not.." a sudden punch to the face made Cahst instinctively draw back his arm to cover his pulsing face. The young man crawled quickly out into the space, but stopped short of the edge of the antique hallway, only his hand reached for others to view. Cahst had grabbed his ankle and held onto it, while using his other hand to army crawl his own way back into the space.

The young man began to slide back into the space, when he stopped moving. To the sound of large footsteps, Cahst froze. It vibrated from the floor in the hallway next store. Cahst peered over his shoulder, into the hallway. Two large green elephant sized feet stopped in front of the young mans hand. He watched as a curved horn like rested on the hand in the hallway, and clawed its way down in-between his fingers softly. The young man chattered his teeth uncontrollably, and began scooting himself back underneath the table into the hole with his other arm.

"When I tell you, pull my foot as hard as you can.." the young man whispered. Sweat dripped along the side of his cheeks from the edges of his black hair. When he turned his head, Cahst was sealed a moment with the boys unique looks. His green eyes, were turquoise and spun in wavy rings around the center. The unilluminating hue between his pale skin and soft freckles made Cahst feel ever so sorry as he spotted the cut from his sword. It breached from the top bridge of his nose, across one the middle of his eye, now blood and fading in to a grey, to the top of his ear. It would scar.

"Are you listening?" the boy whispered. Cahst looked toward the feet, and watched as another claw was beginning its way down past the antique table. A dark green substance collected at the tip of the horned finger.

"Yeah, Now." Cahst jerked the young boys foot back, moving his hand and feet to crawl deep into the space.

"Hey.." The boy screamed while he slid along the floor. "Hey, Hey, Hey!"

The young boy heard a boom from the entrance of the opening. A large creature with skin textured in wrinkles over wrinkles, produced a sickening motion as it forced itself into the space, crawling right behind them. The boy cried out, "Wha..Agh!, No!"

he began jerk about the space, Cahst gripped tighter, "Shut up and crawl, dammit." he screamed over the boy.

The young man did just that as the green fat reptile blob got closer, its open mouth, almost as wide as the opening, snapped for a chance of human flesh. The young man used his arms to push himself towards Cahst, as if running backwards. The corridor continued to get darker as the blob filled the space. Just as the young man felt his ankle jerk to his right, he felt the warmth and air pressure of the creature as it passed him down the corridor. He laid there motionless, as Cahst sat his back up against the wall of another opening. Cahst panted a moment, rolling his head back and forth along the wall.

"Get back..." he said between his breaths. The young boy inched his way away from the opening, to sit next to Cahst on the opposite wall. He turned to Cahst,

"That thing, it might backtrack."

"Shhh, listen." A rumble vibrated through the walls, and was coming from the separate hallway, they had just been in. The young man began to panic.

"He's coming back. We've got to run back." He looked to his right, but the passage was blocked, only this space was available. Cahst laughed a bit, "It's not that. His remains, maybe...ah." He felt a sudden pain in his chest, from his sternum to beneath his ribs. the panicking boy stared in disbelief, he reached for Cahst's shoulders, pulling him forward, shaking him a bit: but Cahst seemed too tired to respond. The vibrations tickled at the young mans back and through his legs. Cahst, with little stamina, hugged the boy, "Don't look over there."

"Huh.." As the young man turned his head from the rumbling hallway, a blazing reds, oranges, and yellows lit up the space. The shadows danced behind Cahst's body, with each movement of flame, blowing his hair back and forth like a common breeze as his head rested into the shoulder of the young man. Cahst loosened his grip, and panted slowly, "Hold your breath,", he whispered.

"What?, What did you say? Hey, are you alright? Don't pass out here, help me!" The fire began to singe his clothes. He hugged Cahst harder and shuffled him to the end of the passageway; four feet deeper into the space. "Here. It's safer...here.." The young man felt light headed, and the dark space began to feel even darker. He rested his back against the wall, next to Cahst, panting swiftly as he watched into the fire. The streaks of color blended together, turning black at the moment he, too,had no choice but to rest his head against the wall.