It started with the distant sounds of screaming. Then the sky turned orange, reflecting the fire that had begun burning over Helios.

Syryn mutely watched as pillars of black smoke choked the air above the burning city.

"Akida, take us with you!"

The avian had his wings unfurled and had been about to fly off.

"You'll be safer here."

"I don't care! Take us with you."

-----

Utsui carried Lucien and Syryn was Akida's passenger. When they flew closer to the burning helios, Syryn could make out two figures in the sky, floating above the fire drenched chaos that was Helios.

One of the figures was Riaku, Syryn could tell. Silver armour covered him from head to toe. The red colour of flames was reflected on the mirror-like surface of his armour. There were two horns coming out of the forehead of his demonic mask. Riaku's double wings were spread out with abandon and he held out his malicious sword that seemed to have grown in length.

It took a while for Syryn to register the other person's identity. Another demon.

The teen felt his heart lurch violently. It was Signus, a half-demon he used to know. If Syryn was to be considered crazy then Signus was plain insane. The half-demon was a wielder of fire magic and had arsonist tendencies that had been fun to watch in another lifetime.

Now that it was Helios on fire, Syryn wasn't seeing the fun in arson anymore. What was he doing setting fire to Nua? Could it be that Traxdart had ambitions on the plateau? The events of this life had deviated so far from what happened in his previous timeline.

The duo in the sky began exchanging moves. Syryn tore his gaze away from them and surveyed the burning city. The fire was confined to the centre of Helios where avians could be seen desperately attempting to put out the flames. Blocks of buildings were extinguished with magical intervention but there was still a large block of Helios that was still burning.

And when things appeared to have hit their lowest point, three more figures were seen approaching the fight, and Syryn recognised at least one of them.

Zerhen, a powerful demon mage who had the ability to breathe life into inanimate objects, turning them into his puppets. The other two were inconsequential in the powerful presence of Signus and Zerhen.

Riaku couldn't possibly protect the city and fight them both on his own. It was going further downhill the more Syryn pondered upon the fate of Nua. All those precious vegetation, secret places, and yes, lives. Lives. Syryn reminded himself. Lives were more important than the plants.

"Akida, we're in deep trouble." Syryn couldn't see how normal avians could contend with half-demons. They'd be shredded apart. Riaku had sensed the same and was taking on the burden of facing the demon alone. Considering his youth, Riaku wasn't at the power level of Signus. Still, he was holding his own. But if Zerhen decided to join in their battle, the prince would be overpowered and crushed by the demons.

The Prince was at risk for death, and as much as he wanted to, Syryn could not risk exposing himself and Lucien. Nua was not worth outing themselves. The teen was at a loss for words as he looked down and saw chaos amongst the avians.

"Where are the Nuan soldiers?" Utsui asked.

"I dont know," Akida answered. He needed information if he was to help the prince. Where did the demons come from so suddenly? How? And why were Nua's best warriors missing?

"Stay here," he instructed Syryn, Lucien and Utsui after dropping them off at a safer location away from the fight. "I'm going to find out what's going on."

"Wait! Akida, how do we access the rift that Nua hasn't closed?" Syryn grabbed the avian's arm and asked him. Zerhen was creating hundreds of puppets out of rocks and they were swarming Helios where the fire wasn't already burning.

Akida threw off Syryn's arm. He was wasting precious time here. "I can't help you escape right now."

"I'm not running!" Syryn replied. "There's someone who can help us, Akida. But we need him here before Nua gets destroyed! Those demons are powerful. Only Riaku can fight them without fearing instant death! And if they team up against him, he's surely dead!"

Akida stared, debating his choices. He turned back to the carnage that had already taken out a quarter of Nua despite the best efforts of the avians. The demons were too strong for ordinary nuans to fight them, not to mention how all the warriors were missing. He decided to trust Syryn. The alternative was running around lost like a headless chicken.

"Come," Akida held out an arm.

"No, not me. Take Lucien and get him a navigator. Get to Elysium and find Rowan Windwalker. Tell him Syryn needs him."

---

Syryn and Utsui rushed through the throng of avians who were fighting the fire. There were still many young avians trapped inside buildings. Unable to lend them aid, the healers set to work on the injured birds.

With time, it appeared that helios was slowly being abandoned. The Nuans had hoped that their city could be saved, that their homes could be salvaged. But when stone puppets began to attack them, a mass evacuation began in earnest. Flocks of shapeshifted birds were flying away in groups.

Zerhen's lackeys - two rogue and powerful sorcerers - descended upon the fleeing avians with a barrage of elemental attacks. They laughed as they killed the escaping civilians.

"Utsui, I'll be back!" Syryn turned to the healer who was helping an avian with third-degree burns all over his body.

"Syryn! It's too dangerous to go there!" Utsui yelled. But the teen had disappeared behind the walls of a burning building leaving Utsui alone to care for the dying.

When Syryn was sure that he was by himself, his wings came out and they flew him to the top of a house that was on fire. As much as he feared the flames, the building was still the closest spot to where the sorcerers were torturing a group of hapless avians.

With a powerful burst of his own fire, Syryn blasted the nearest sorcerer hovering in the sky. Syryn still wasn't as powerful as Signus or Zehren but he was still good enough to bully the sorcerers. He had the element of surprise and was able to catch them both unawares. Still, they weren't Zehren's lackeys for nothing. The sorcerers survived Syryn's initial attack.

Having gotten their attention, the teen leapt off the burning building and began a mad dash away from Utsui's location. The sorcerers followed while destroying everything in between them and Syryn.

The teen was finally cornered when he came upon a sea of flames that had engulfed the entire neighbourhood.

"You naughty fire mage!" One of the sorcerers wagged a finger at Syryn. "Did you really think-" he blinked and the boy that he had been hunting was suddenly in front of his eyes. It was like Syryn had teleported.

The teen's claw was buried deep inside the man's chest. He spared no words for the sorcerer who didnt understand how this had happened - how he was dying. Syryn pulled out his gore covered claw and moved onto the other one who had come to the realisation that they had been chasing a demon all along. The sorcerer cast his levitating magic but it was too late. Syryn's claw crushed his leg and pulled him back down to the ground.

The teen was unaware that when he had killed the sorcerers, Zerhen had felt their deaths. And through his puppets, he was able to pinpoint the location where his lackeys had been killed.