The air reeked of sweat and smoke. Azure wrinkled his nose, which did nothing to stop the smell. Part of him wondered why he still had a nose. It’s not like he had lungs anymore.

He was standing on a balcony in the city of Tupakta. In the distance, he could just make out the shape of another army. Sometimes, light would sparkle from their direction. Azure couldn’t make out the location of Manal and the heroes. He was hoping to save the kids quick and then leave. He had to get away from the others or else he’d go back to “advising” everything.

Azure didn’t want to do that anymore. Before he knew he was working for a cause. He was part of a cycle to prevent rot and corruption from spreading in the world. He had none of that here.

The last rays of the sun fell beyond the horizon, bringing a starry night sky forth. Azure looked at the unfamiliar sky and sighed. He better rest, there was a lot to do tomorrow.

It was dawn when Azure was awoken by one of the soldiers. “The enemy is setting up on the fields, we’ll be moving out in a few minutes to meet them.”

Azure nodded. He spent the next few minutes writing out a few more spells and then went back to the balcony to search for the heroes.

H watched as both armies marched towards each other. On the flanks, cavalry fought for flanking positions. Once in range, Kitch archers raised their bows to shoot volleys of arrows. The Ryum infantry lifted their wide shields and created a turtle formation. Soon the two sides clashed, swords and spears flying.

Azure scanned the battlefield, searching. He was assuming that the heroes would be used asa a special forces team. As he searched Azure prepared to teleport and cast a barrier that would separate him and the heroes from the rest of the battle.

A glint of light caught his eye in a nearby bush. Five humans charged out of it, dashing at an infantry commander in the rear. Seeing his chance, Azure gated in front of the heroes and cast his barrier spell. An invisible sphere of magic enveloped the group, preventing anyone from entering or leaving.

The heroes turned to face Azure, who in turn prepared himself for a fight. The dull expressions on each hero’s face meant Azure wouldn’t be able to reach them with words.

The first move came from the heroes. Daniel charged forward and brought his greatsword down in a reckless swing. Azure jumped back, dodging the strike. The sword continued on its arc and slammed into the ground, throwing up a cloud of dust. Obscured, Azure moved to the left side in a surprise attack. Once the dust cleared enough, Azure cast his binding spells. The magic traveled out, a hole opening up under each foe. The magic first reached Daniel. Who was caught unawares and fell into the pit that spawned. The hole snapped shut around him, burying the large man and leaving only his head free.

The rest saw what happened and reacted by diving away. Casey rolled out of his dive and fired a shot off at Azure. The arrow broke on the invisible barrier Azure had created. Two more arrows were loosed, each snapping against the shield of magic. But the three arrows were strong enough to destroy the piece of metal Azure had used as the barrier source. Quickly, Azure activated another.

The others had recovered now. Sarah and Casey were firing arrow after arrow at Azure, who dodged what he could. Gregory stood by, corralling Azure towards the edge of the barrier he had set. Linda followed suit, throwing vials of alchemical acid at Azure’s feet.

At this rate, Azure would be boxed in at the edge of the barrier. In response, Azure stopped dodging and set two barriers. He then cast another round of bindings. The heroes were ready and once again dove away. But neither Sarah or Casey had been targeted. Instead, Azure had doubled up his spells onto the frontliners. Linda came out of her roll only to fall straight into the hole that appeared in front. The hole closed over Linda’s body and she was out of the fight.

Gregory also rolled towards a hole, but before he could fall in completely his hands shot out to each side. Catching himself on the edges, Gregory used the momentum from his roll to flip over the trap and land upright. The move cost him though, he had to drop his weapons and was now facing Azure with only a dagger.

Sarah and Casey had once again recovered and were shooting arrows at Azure. The game of cat and mouse continued until a wave of heat crashed into the outside barrier, breaking it.

“Enough!” Manal said, floating down towards Azure. “Surrender now, you can’t possibly win.”

Azure saw symbols coalescing at each of Manal’s hands. Heat built and the elf pointed them at his enemy. Azure tensed. And then a ball of steel collided with Manal’s head, breaking his focus and the spell.

“Yeah! Take that creep!.” Azure turned and saw Lin and Liza behind him.

“What are you doing here?” Azure said.

Liza’s steel ball rebounded off the ground and into her hand. “Being a hero.” She replied, chucking the ball at the elf once again. This time Manal deflected the attack with a wave of his hand. Sarah and Casey shot arrows at Liza, but a wall of earth erupted in front of her and intercepted them.

Nodding her thanks to Lin, Liza caught her rebounding ball and dashed over to Sarah. As she reached her friend, Lin cast another spell of earth and split the two from the fight. He turned to Azure, “I can handle these two, you focus on the elf.”

Azure wanted to complain, but the two teens had already joined the fray. Instead, Azure nodded and turned to the elf.

“You think you can stop me?” Manal sneered. “I have been gifted with power by true greatness. What could you ever do?”

As the elf spoke, power flowed to his hands. Azure prepared his spells in return. Bindings wouldn’t be any good here, not unless he could get Manal onto the ground. He readied a barrier, waiting for the beam of heat he knew was coming.

Aiming at Azure, Manal launched his beam. Azure dodged out of the way, stalling for time as he worked out another spell. He dashed left and juked right, never staying in one place. Manal tried to lead his shots, but Azure’s sight let him see exactly when the spell would release.

Frustrated, Manal started firing less powerful rays. At this point, he only wanted to hit Azure and had stopped thinking about the battle. Azure kept the elf’s focus and finished up his spell.

Azure wasn’t sure where Manal was getting his power to cast the heat rays, but he was going to make use of the excess energy floating around. As he cast the spell, the heat around him dropped. Above Manal, sparks appeared. At first, the elf didn’t notice what was happening. He kept casting his heat ray in Azure’s direction.

Each cast added more heat, which drained into Azure’s spell. Sparks became flashes of light, and then arcs of electricity. Finally, a flash caught Manal’s attention and he looked up. A ball of electrical energy shot downward, passing through the elf and into the ground. Manal spasmed as the currents passed through him and into the earth. Manal followed suit, falling to the ground as he lost control.

As Manal crumpled to the ground, Lin and Liza were finishing up their fights. Liza had used her metal orb to break Sarah’s bow and then tackled the teen. Lin had created earth golems that absorbed the attacks of Gregory and Casey. When Gregory punched a golem, it took the attack and sucked the man inside. Casey tried to kite away but was boxed in and eventually trapped.

The three then gathered together the summoned heroes. Azure then cast the awakening magic he had prepared. Liza crossed her fingers, hoping for the best. The spell traveled through each of the teens, and their vacant expressions were lost to surprise and confusion.

“What’s going on? Why am I covered in dirt? Wait Liza is that you?” Sarah looked down at her dirty armor. “And what am I wearing!” She exclaimed.

Liza tackled her friend in response. “Oh my god, you’re back. Thank god.”

Lin was having a similar time with Daniel, hugging his friend while Daniel stood confused.

“There’s still a battle going on. Let’s get you all out of here.” Azure said. He didn’t want to ruin the moment but he was worried a stray arrow would ruin the happy ending. He sent the teens on their way and rushed over to the nearest commander. He informed them of Manal’s location and then left as well. It was time for him to find a new path.

He walked back towards the town. He had done a good deed today, but now he was going to find a way to deal with his own problems. He needed to have a nice, long sit and figure out what it was he really wanted now. He’d still help others if asked, but he needed his own goals to work towards.

He entered the tent he had used for rest. He grabbed the bedroll and rolled it back up for carrying. The backpack he was given held straps on the bottom he could use to tie the bedroll down. He then collected the waterskin and rations he had gotten. Finally, he walked out of the tent to collapse and store it.

Outside the tent stood two soldiers.

“Hello, sir. We’ve been told the king wants a word. We’ve been sent to help escort you back.” One of the soldiers spoke.

“No thanks,” Azure said. “I have something I need to do.”

“The king wishes to reward you, sir.” The other soldier said.

“That’s really okay,” Azure replied. “I’d rather just get started on my journey.”

The two soldiers looked at each other and crossed their spears to prevent Azure from passing. “I’m sorry sir but the king has required us to bring him to you.”

Azure frowned. The king couldn’t be that eager to reward him. Why must he see the man? “Please, just let me pass.” He said.

The two soldiers only shook their heads. Azure’s frown deepened. “Fine, I guess I’ll have to. Please give me a minute.”

The soldiers nodded. Azure turned from them, bringing out his spellbook. He looked at the tent. It was worth something, especially to him. Without it, he wouldn’t be able to sleep if it rained. Focusing on it, Azure cast a gate spell. The tent burst into ethereal flame. The two soldiers jumped back in fright.

The flames ate up the tent and in response a door appeared in the world, showing a lush forest. Azure stepped through the gate before either soldier could gather their wits.