Hey guys! I'm not dead! It's been a while eh guys? How are you guys! Sorry I haven't written or rather, updated in a while but I've been lazy with both school and the days that I did have time I just straight up got lazy. Welp there's my lame excuse!

Enjoy!

Chapter 23: Fear

As the Incinerator and Deth walked to the spiral door she started to explain what has happened in the last few years. "A lot has changed since you were last alive Deth. First off it's about a thousand years after your time. Second, there are many wizards on our side known as rouge wizards. The name expl-" she was interrupted by Deth correcting her.

"Actually it has been much longer than a thousand years girl. It's been seven thousand years since I've last taken a breath in the spiral. Also I know all about the rouge wizards." He started to chuckle as he continued. "It's funny really. They exist only because of what I did. After all, I was the original rouge wizard." The Incinerator stopped in her tracks to see if she heard him right. 'The original rouge wizard was born seven thousand years ago?! How could this make any sense? The earliest recorded rouge wizard was named Evan DarkRiver, and that was about two thousand years ago!' And then she remembered what one of the boys names were in the report. Jack DarkRiver. She slowly put her hand against her face trying to comprehend all of this. She soon realized that the DarkRiver bloodline still did exist and that Deth could potentially be telling the truth. "Do you think I'm lying to you? Think about it. I know the earliest recorded rouge wizard was Evan but if the legend happened about a thousand years ago while Evans took place two thousand years ago, why was there no telling of a rouge wizard in my stories? Because the city spreads lies. I know exactly how long it's been because I've been in Seth's family the whole time." She couldn't understand why the city had lied about the demon wizard. 'Why did they shorten how long ago his story was?' then it clicked. 'To keep wizards fighting evil. The more recent catastrophic events are in history, the more conscious the people are. Ravenwood Academy only started a few hundred years ago so they picked a time that no one would remember.' She smiled as she had found yet another conspiracy Wizard City has. They started walking again and finally reached the spiral door.

As they walked through the door to Dragonspyre Deth started to wonder where they were going. "Hey girl. Exactly where are you taking me?" Deth asked in a rather rude tone. Her ears twitched when she heard him call her a girl, like she was some kid. She didn't answer his question and kept on walking but Deth wanted answers so he stopped her by grabbing her shoulder. "I'm not following you anywhere until you tell me where exactly you're taking me. Do you hear me?" His tone went from rude to deadly. The Incinerator looked at the sky for a moment and sighed and looked back at Deth. His face looked so similar to Seth's that it seemed like it was just the soul that was different.

"We're going to Malistares lair. Don't call me girl again. I'm not a little kid anymore." She continued walking forward until Deth interrupted her again.

"Just because you freed me doesn't make you the boss of me. You're lucky I need to regain my power otherwise you'd be dead by now." The Incinerator turned around surprised at what she had just heard.

"What did you just say?" Just then Deth felt a sharp pain in his chest and fell to his knees before catching his breath. "Are you alright?" The Incinerator asked kneeling next to him.

"Yes I'll be fine but … you fool. That pet of yours just killed the life wizard didn't he! The others would've been ok to kill but you should've left the life wizard alive damn it! You idiot!"

"Hey it's not my fault you didn't tell me you wanted our enemies alive!"

"That's not it. Without that wizard I can't gain my full potential power! You moron!"

"Don't you dare insult me! You will treat me with respect! You just lost a lot of power by losing that life wizard and I am the most powerful wizard in the spiral! Unless you have a death wish you will obey me." She heard him murmur something under his breath. "What did you say!

"I said I can still kick your ass so don't give me attitude."

"You think you can kick my ass? I'm the number one most wanted rouge wizard who possesses raw magic and can utilize it very efficiently and you think you can beat me?"

"You're the most wanted? That's a laugh! Who's number two a little kitten?" She became furious and attempted to punch Deth, who caught the attack like a baseball being thrown at him. "You want a fight? I'll give you a fight!" He said with a toothy grin. She backed away with anger in her eyes. She only looked at Deth who motioned her to go first. "I'll let you have the first attack." She went from anger to fury and super charged her fist full of raw magic and sprinted at Deth, not caring if she kills him. She punched him right under the ribs and waited for his reaction. She waited but nothing, not even a grunt. She looked up at him only to see his face still smiling. "Is that really all you've got?" her eyes widened at this. "Guess it's my turn then!" he kicked the back of her knees, stole her trident and held her throat down on the floor while holding the trident dangerously close to her face. She couldn't believe it. She hadn't lost once in her life but here she is, defeated by the demon wizard within a second! "Don't ever underestimate me girl." He let go of her but for some reason she was still stunned. She felt this feeling gnawing away at her and it made her feel … scared. She then realized what this feeling was, it was fear. She was afraid of Deth and she knew he could see it. From the moment she revived him she was afraid at what might happen and she would have no way of stopping him. She's unleashed the end of the spiral and if raw magic didn't affect the demon wizard a bit then even she is powerless from Deth. "Get up. Let's get moving to Malistares place or whatever." She then realized she was still lying down just staring at the sky.

"Fine, follow me." She said as she got back up on her feet. They walked in silence for the rest of the walk. Once they reached the big gate that guarded the lair she finally spoke again. "Just so you know, you're not going to see me anymore. My mission is complete." She vanished quickly after, leaving Deth behind to find Malistare for himself. He walked up to the big gate and gave it a effortlessly opened it. It led to a hallway that curved into a room with a ramp and another door. He made his way through the debris and reached the door. He could feel a light breeze from the other side and he could tell that this wind was Malistare suppressing his real power. He opened the door and saw Malistare looking out of one of the arch windows looking at the Dragon titan.

"So this is the legendary demon wizard hmm? Honestly I expected to see a much more intimidating being than you." Deth's ear twitched at the insult and he started to smile.

"So you must be Malistare. I've got to say you're an idiot for insulting me right off the bat but it shows your character more so go ahead and show me the honest you." Deth said with a toothy grin. "Go ahead. I've got all the time in the world now."

*Gabriel's POV*

It's dark again. I can't see anything. I feel like I'm drowning in this evil presence. Someone, anyone, please … help me. Suddenly I see a bright light and I reach for it. I'm on the beach again but Seth … is still gone but there are others there. Who are these people? One of them is wearing a mask of some sorts. I can see their red eyes but that's it. The other one is wearing some clothing fit for a gentleman. He has dark brown hair and pale skin, kind of tall. I think his eyes are a hazel color and he's also has a pocket watch in his left hand… A third character in between them. This one's has golden eyes and short red hair. He's holding … guns? Yes definitely guns but they look much more modern than anything in the city and with what looks like a logo on them… a circle with the annotations 'CDE' on them … CDE? 'What does any of this mean? Who are these people? Why am I seeing this? Why me?' I wake up and look at the clock. It's 8:30 a.m., Sunday April 27th. Two months after Seth's demise.

*End of POV*

As Gabriel got up and stretched he heard a knock on the door. Jack who was already up had gotten the door and called for Gabriel shortly after. "Gabriel! This guy's got some news for us! Get over here!" He walked over to the door and he was shocked to see who it was. It was one of the people from his dreams. The one dressed like a gentleman with a pocket watch!

"Hello there Gabriel, my name is Nigel Shifter. A pleasure to meet you." He extended his hand for a handshake which Gabriel did subconsciously. "Now then, I know that you two have recently lost a member of your team and for that I am sincerely sorry to hear. However I didn't come here to discuss those matters with you. I'm just here to inform you that Ambrose has called for your team to report to his office at once. It's about the whereabouts of the Incinerator. I recommend going immediately." He said as he turned away towards Bartleby. "Well, that's all what I've come to tell you. See you around!" and he teleported away leaving Jack and Gabriel at the dorms. They made their way to the commons where they met up with Sabrina, Jocelyn and Destiny.

"Hey guys, what are you doing here?" Sabrina asked curiously.

"Well I'm assuming someone who was a messenger came and told you the news as well?" Jack asked.

"Yea, something about the Incinerator and if there's anything we can find out about her then we'll do what it takes." Jocelyn said with a determined grin. "Well let's go already! There's no time to waste!" She said as she led the group through the door. As they entered through the headmasters office they saw Nigel once again in the office. There were chairs and a coffee table with tea that seemed to be ready but they seemed to be in a heated discussion about something to do with Deth and Malistare. The Jackal was there as well however she seemed to keep out of the argument happening in front of her.

"We mustn't stray from our original goal Nigel! We must stop Malistare from his plans and save the spiral! Once he awakens the Titan Dragon, everything will be Malistare's own play toy!" Ambrose argued.

"Look Ambrose, I understand why you're so worried about Malistare but he isn't the big problem right now. We have two deadly wizards out there that are more dangerous than Malistare and if anything they're just using him to get to more power! They won't stop until they're basically gods! We-" He was interrupted by the others entering the room. "Ah sorry about the heated discussion. Anyways we've got some news about the Incinerator. We have a report that she is no longer working for Malistare." This caught everyone's attention immediately. "Unfortunately she probably won't come to us for help since she doesn't need anyone's help to survive. She can take down both Malistare and Ambrose without a problem so we must beware of her. Her whereabouts are no longer known so she can be anywhere in the spiral now. I'm sorry but this is all of the information that we have for now."

"Wait what about Deth? What happened to him?" Jack asked concerned. Just as he asked the door opened and Iridian walked in on the conversation.

"Sorry to interrupt but we found some more information on what Deth is most likely going to do." She sat down and picked up the cup of tea. "He most likely made it to Malistare's lair and for now we can't even touch him. Also it seems that the Incinerator's power is … well, 'evolving'. Furthermore most of our upper wizards are not in the city right now and won't be for a little bit. Basically saying, the city's current condition is the weakest it's ever been and with other worlds dealing with other problems, we are going to have to face this problem alone. I'm sorry to say but this might be the end for the city and possibly the spiral." Everyone stared at her as she took another sip of tea. "Things may seem grim but we do have some good news." They sighed in relief at the sound of good news. "The knights of the spiral are back in the city and-" She was interrupted by Destiny.

"Wait the knights? I thought the Black Knight was the only knight in the spiral."

"Well, he's the only one that you've actually met." Iridian said as she continued. "In total there are three knights. There's the Black Knight who is resistant to the elements, the Gold Knight who is resistant to the spirits, and the Blood Knight who is resistant to basically everything. Before you interrupt me, you did hear me correctly. I did say Blood Knight. I know there are seven schools but a Blood Wizard is a special class. It's basically its own class of magic that literally uses their own blood as a weapon. They are the second most dangerous wizards other than wizards able to use raw magic. Anyways that's not the only good news. The other good news is that we've found Connor."

"Thank goodness, where was he?" Jocelyn asked worriedly.

"That's the thing. He actually came back from where ever he was but he was nearly dead. Whatever he was doing apparently had to do with raw magic because we found traces of it on his body. When we asked about it to him he only said 'Don't worry about it, I'm fine.' Whatever he's doing, it's been killing him but he seems distant as well. Lately he isn't the Connor that we all know; he's this emotionless distant ice wizard who disappears until he's back with nearly enough damage to kill him." Nigel cut into the conversation as he heard this.

"Actually we shouldn't include Connor in these matters. Not yet at least. If he finds out that we know anything about the Incinerator then he'll search the entire spiral until he finds her, only to be killed."

"I don't understand, shouldn't we get Connor up to speed immediately? He's an upper wizard after all." Gabriel asked with a confused look on his face.

"Well Gabriel," Nigel started "Although you have a point, we cannot let him know about the Incinerator, not yet. Besides, we need to get you all trained before we even come close to that battle! However you need to train in advanced combat if you wish to continue this journey of yours. But for now, you can't even go on any missions."

"What! Why not?" Jack yelled as he clenched his fists.

"It's because you've pronounced yourselves an official team and until you've found another teammate, you won't go on any missions." The Jackal finally spoke as she turned towards them. "I haven't had a loss on my own squad but I can't imagine replacing any of them. Why don't you take some time off? You've got a lot to think over I'm sure." She stood up and stretched. "Besides, I'm sure it will be nice to catch a break from anymore of this bad news. For now, don't worry about the city's problem! We can handle it!" She said with a smile behind her mask. Jack calmed down and sighed. He promised Seth to take care of this team and that's what's important to him right now.

"Ok." Jack said as he put his head back up. "Come on guys, let's go."

"What? Go where? Just a moment ago you wanted to fight but you want to leave now?" Destiny asked with a disbelief tone in her voice.

"I promised Seth that I'll protect this team and if that means leaving Wizard City in the hands of the upper wizards and the Knights of the Spiral, then so be it." He left the room shortly after leaving the others in silence.

"Well I should go talk to him; I trust that another team has already been substituting for us?" Gabriel said as he started to walk to the door.

"Actually several teams have been substituting for you guys. Apparently your team made the quickest progress other than the Jackal's own squad. If we only had one team to cover for you, they wouldn't recover quick enough for the next mission." Ambrose commented as he stroked his beard but Gabriel did not respond. His hand was on the door knob but he said nothing. He left after a long pause sighed after he was outside. 'What the hell' he thought 'As if they weren't relying on us enough already.' He thought as he walked to the library.

"Well no point sticking around doing nothing either. Let's go to the arena or something. If we can't fight enemies for a little bit, I want to at least get out my frustration." Sabrina said and after they left, only the four remained. Just as things got quiet again a guard burst through the door yelling.

"Sorry to disturb you sir but Connor has returned again! This time it's really serious!"

"Goddamn that idiot." Iridian said as she got up from her seat. The Jackal also got up from her seat and followed Iridian outside, leaving Nigel and Ambrose alone once again.

"Malistare." Ambrose started

"Deth." Nigel argued and they were at it again.

Well that's the end of this chapter. Sorry there's not much action but we'll get to that in time. For now I feel like I actually gave a lot of information in this chapter though so at least I got some shiz done! Yeee! Well I hope you enjoyed!

Cya later!

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