Karin and Kazune stood braced against the onslaught of icy wind. Karin's mother advanced forward, allowing her presence to fill the atmosphere with dread. Her distorted face was laughing at her daughter's misfortune and she sneered at the warlock who guarded her pitiable child.

From in the distance Kazune heard Jin call out.

"So you have shown your face, snow wench!" Jin advanced towards their position wielding a crackling fist. As Karin's mother turned her head, Jin hurdled a lightning bolt towards her throne.

Easily avoiding his attack, the ice queen called out to him in a familiar manor.

"Prince of Storms, it has been a while hasn't it? Have you come to take revenge for your New World colony?"

Seething, Jin refused to answer her comment and threw another barrage of attacks. Karin's mother ignored this and turned back to face her daughter.

"It is time for you to come home and face your responsibilities as a queen, my dear daughter. You have had enough time to play around with stray dogs and live freely."

Kazune was about to protest the ice queen's words but the words became frozen in his throat as he felt the air cool from behind his own burning anger. Karin's body was becoming sleek and fierce in her ice woman form. This time it was more impressive. The graceful icicles that she normally adorned were replaced with the appearance of ice armor. Her ice eyes were black and her beautiful golden hair was restrained by a cold helmet. If Kazune could name this form he would have called it Glacial. She looked powerful and wonderful but the sadness of knowing she was also preparing for battle overtook him.

Karin looked down at him as he was unable to speak. The intensity of her stare shook him to the core. He could not dare to interfere with the battle that was imminent.

Looking to her mother, the ice queen roared in anger.

"SO YOU WOULD DEFY ME FURTHER?!" she screeched. The wind gusted and the cloudy sky opened up shooting down a brilliant blue light that enveloped the queen. As it dissipated the light revealed a terrifying woman. She looked like a monster. Her body had fused with the throne and now towered over Karin's small form. She had a dragon's head helmet and wielded a staff that was jagged like snowy mountains.

Looking down to gloat in her face, the ice queen cackled at her power only to not see Karin standing there. Kazune was smiling up at the queen with an evil grin and ran off to deal with his own fight. The queen's head swiveled in time to see Karin flying down from above ready to plow her head in. Side stepping, she avoided her but Karin was swift. As soon as it was clear she missed she had sprung back towards her mother for another attack. Karin was bouncing around like a flee and she knew her mother's large form could not move quickly enough to avoid getting hit.

The queen's frustration built up and she sent a blast of ice shards out from her body in every direction. Karin got hit by the assault and fell to the ground. A part of her armor had broken off and she went to guard it with her hands as her mother brought her jagged staff down onto her small body. One spike pierced through her leg but she melted into the Earth before any more damage could be taken. Traveling through the moisture in the ground, Karin reemerged behind the queen restored and ready to pounce again. Frozen tears were decorating her stony face as she spiraled and drilled into her mother's back.

Kazune could hear the shrill sound of scraping ice as he ran. Willing himself not to turn around, he set his focus on his own fight.

Kazune could feel his flames bubbling up from inside the depths of his core and the need to burn the heat away elevated his drive to fight. Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted Jin sitting in the middle of an empty field of ash and ice. A dark storm cloud was brewing above his head and his eyes were glowing with a fiery golden light. He seemed to be sulking but Kazune knew better than that. He slowed his run and approached Jin with firm steps.

He stopped a few feet away and looked at Jin. Kazune's desire to tear him up was screaming at him to make a move but he held fast and allowed the electric tension build up between them.

"You've come to finish me off, haven't you?" Jin said in a flat tone.

"You are not going to get away with how you have treated Karin and I."

"Surely you have heard how fearsome my power is. The brat boy told you." Jin stood to face Kazune with his head down. "In knowing that, you still want to go against me?"

Kazune glared into the shadows that hid Jin's eyes. "You've heard a great deal about me too, haven't you? And your guards have seen what I can do first hand."

The storm cloud thundered and a flash of lightning fired down. Kazune let the red glow around his body show as warning. Jin looked up and snarled at Kazune. He lunged forward as resentful rain began to pour from the brewing storm above.

The dark sky was only lit by the flash of hot light while the wind was whipping around violently throwing around debris from the ruined town. Snow fell and fire burned white, both getting swirled up into the spiraling currents. Frantic air fed the blood lust that ensued in the barren land of death and despair.

Every drop of rain ached against Kazune's skin. He was having a hard time getting attacks in because of Jin's use of lightning. Was it time for him to reveal his trump card and use wind magic to win the battle? Something told him not yet. He could tell that right now, wind would not be useful against the storm elemental. As his thoughts were ending, Jin's irritation boiled over. A great eye opened in the clouds, letting in a ray of sunlight which fell on Jin's soaked hair. The wind picked up and the rain fell stronger. A hurricane was brewing. Kazune was blown off his feet and tumbled backwards.

He was unable to stand against the strength of the storm.

"Hurry up and show me your full power!" Boomed Jin's voice.

Kazune, even with the white burning flames that danced on his skin, could not evaporate the water fast enough to not be weakened. He would have no choice but to ride the wind. He could no longer fight this way. He stood and calmed his mind and his fingers wrapped around the "air" pendant that dangled from his neck. He imagined sails that could catch and drop wind. He could ride the air and control its direction just as much as Jin. Kazune lifted into the air and swung his body towards the governor. He dove through the sky like a bird as Jin tried to sting him with lightning and ripples of thunder waves.

"You were the warlock I thought you were!" Jin called up. "The one who destroyed this country's government and murdered entire towns of people. What an admirable toy to have!"

Kazune landed a kick to the governor's back and he fell over allowing Kazune to straddle his back. Jin's concentration on the storm broke and the rain stopped. The hurricane still fought on as if it were part of Jin's rage.

"Do you know how I killed your guards?"

Jin's face went stony and the wind whirled into a tornado.

"I fried their brains from inside their helmets."

Jin reached around and stabbed Kazune in one of his old wounds from his fight at the palace.

Wincing but not unnerving, Kazune continued to speak.

"You will not die that way. You will die much worse, have you ever drowned on land?"

Kazune placed his hands over Jin's mouth which promptly bit hard enough to draw blood. Whispering the ancient spells of the air monks, Kazune drew his hands away slowly, pulling out Jin's breath.

Jin choked on air as his life's breath was being pulled from his lungs. He was flailing around madly under Kazune's weight and managed to hit the knife he had stabbed with into a strange angle.

His concentration was broken and Kazune let out a loud scream. The knife hit where he had seared the wound closed and he began to bleed massive amounts of blood. Jin rolled over to catch his breath again and stared at Kazune's suffering.

Without Karin's knowledge of healing and being as damp as he was, Kazune had no hope of closing the wound again. He began to flicker, his flame growing hot and then cold again with the signs of death looming and his struggle to keep living. To die this way would be a waste. Jin stood and moved closer. Kazune panicked, his flame growing more frantic.

"You should have not been so arrogant, that will be your downfall." Jin said with a straight face. He did not seem to be enjoying Kazune's pain but he would not stop it either.

Dark spots filled his vision and Kazune could no longer hear anything. He looked to his wound and he was hyper focused on the fact that he was bleeding out. He watched as the red blood flowed out steadily.

Jin threw down one last lightning strike.