I left Charly alone with his thoughts as Kadmos approached me. “I believe your parents told you to stay put.”

“This seemed fun enough to risk getting in trouble.” I replied with a shrug.

“Fun?” I heard Charly mumble behind me

Kadmos sighed. “Telling you to head back would be useless, wouldn’t it?”

“Donte is unconscious, and I would rather not move him. As for Charly… he needs time. What have you found so far?” I asked.

“You were right. This is definitely the source of the drug. It seems we stumbled into their storage room. The entire chamber is filled with crates of spark powder. We only opened a few before we were found but I think it is safe to assume every crate here is the same. We will check to make sure though.”

I nodded, walking over to the dagger I had thrown. It was deeply imbedded in the stone with only half its hilt sticking out. As I struggled to pull it out of the rock, I wondered how my parents were doing. It was then that the ground began to shake. It felt like an earthquake shook the entire place. I stumbled, trying to keep my balance. I could hear shouts outside the storage room, followed by the clashing of metal.

Curious, I walked over to the door leading out of the storage room and peeked out. There was still fighting. Not all of the maze’s inhabitants were city guards. I saw many shabbily dressed men clashing with the soldiers.

The bandits were completely overwhelmed and did not stand a chance. They had cheap weapons and little, if any, armor. The traitorous soldiers stood their ground slightly better, but the difference in numbers quickly pushed them back.

I cheered when I saw my father. His blade clashed with a bandit’s blade, and faster than the bandit could blink, he was pierced through by dozens of ice spikes. My father did not hesitate as he moved on to the next target. He seemed to be aiming for the unarmored bandits first. Meanwhile, my mother was attacking the armored soldiers.

Crackles of electricity filled the room with her every step. In a flash she would appear next to one of the armored soldiers, arcs of lightning danced on her blade. The soldier tried to block with the shield, but it was pointless. The electricity from her sword passed through the metal parts of the shield without any resistance. The soldier collapsed to the ground twitching as smoke rose from the holes in his armor.

I watched how my parent used their new weapons intently. They may have still been unfamiliar with what their swords could do, but I was not. I had seen many such weapons over the years. With a critical eye, I made note of everything that might help my parents reach further heights of power quickly.

As the enemies collapsed one after the other, a large man, covered in tattoos and holding two massive stone axes stepped into the room. His eyes glowed with a brownish yellow light. With every step, the world shook. The stone ceiling began to crack and crumble as part of the room caved in.

“You sorry lot can’t even handle a couple guards?” The bandit roared with a booming voice that echoed through the chamber.

Without waiting for a reply, the bandit hurled one of his massive axes towards a nearby soldier. The soldier barely had time to raise his shield, before the axe slammed into him. The metal shield buckled under the force, barely slowing the axe down. The soldier was sent careening into a nearby wall. He laid limply; his arm twisted at an unnatural angle. A massive dent prominent in the front chest plate of his armor.

The stone axe flew back to it masters hand, manipulated by the bandit’s innate talent. The bandit had a twisted grin on his face as he looked at the remaining soldiers, frozen in fear that they might be targeted next.

My father charged forward, unaffected by the bandit leader’s display of might. My mother was right beside him. Together, they each flanked both sides of the bandit. My father struck out first. The bracelet on his arm glowed and mid strike, his sword doubled in length.

The sudden blade of ice caught the bandit by surprise. He stumbled backwards, trying to escape the ever-growing range of the sword strike. The bandit barely managed to raise his axe in time to block the blow. However, when the two weapons collided, there was no sound from a clash of weapons, only the crackle of ice.

When the two weapons connected, the ice began to grow and expand. Within a single moment the entire axe was encased in a giant block of ice. The bandit tried to let go of the weapon, but it was too late. The ice had also engulfed his hand. Even before he could register what was happening, the ice began to creep up his arm, freezing it solid.

Despite the dire circumstances, the bandit did not panic. His eyes glowed even brighter as everything began to shake once again. Massive stone spikes pierced out of the ground.

The runes on my father’s arm glowed once again as a wall of ice appeared to block the sudden earthen spikes. The ice shattered, forcing my father back, but in this moment, there was the sound of lightning.

While the bandit was focused on retaliating against my father, my mom appeared behind him in a flash of electricity. Before the bandit even knew what happened, the rapier pierced through his chest, painting the floor in bright red blood.

Coughing up blood that ran down his chin, the bandit looked down at the blade sticking out of his chest, and smiled. “If I am going down, I will bring the rest of you with me!” The bandit screamed as blood poured from his mouth. His eyes began to glow even brighter as the room began to shake and crack. The rumbling even reached where I was watching, causing me to fall to my knees.

The roof at the center of the room began to cave in. Dirt poured from the ceiling like a river, burying soldiers and bandits alike. My parents both moved quickly. Lightning, flashed on my mother’s blade as she pressed down on the purple gem, while my father’s sword slashed the bandit’s neck. The light faded from the bandit’s eyes and the rumbling came to a stop.

“So much for taking him alive.” I heard my father complain, followed by a very unladylike reply from my mother.

The rest of the fight ended with little suspense. Without their leader, the bandits put up little resistance. Following which, they hurriedly dug out those who had been trapped when the roof collapsed. A few were injured on our side, but none had died. The soldiers were true professionals and did not let down their guard. They began to sweep the base for any surviving enemies. The storage room I was in was found almost immediately.

“I told you to stay put!” my mother yelled furiously.

“I did stay put… I lasted a whole five minutes before I could not wait any longer.”

“This is not a joke Wren! Donte was hurt. What if that had been you or Charly?”

“I had Nox with me. We were never in any real danger.” I replied. “Do you really think a group of bandits can hurt a giant, fire breathing lion?”

“That is not the point! You disobeyed me!” she screamed, face turning red.

“And you are treating me like a child!” I yelled back. “I am four hundred years old. I slaughtered my first army at the age of thirteen. I have seen more of war than you can ever image. I could topple this entire country if I felt like it. I can handle a group of bandits.”

My mother was taken aback by the sudden outburst. It was the first time I had ever shouted at her. Luckly, all the soldiers had left the storage room, leaving only my family and the unconscious Donte. They knew better than to be anywhere near the brewing storm.

Realizing my mistake, I took a deep breath. I did not want to fight with my mom, but she had to understand. “You are constantly treating me like I am the same Wren who was always sick and helpless. At first, I was happy you still saw me as your daughter, I always will be, but you have to understand. I am more than that. I do not need to be coddled or protected.” I fought against the tears welling in my eyes as I spoke. “The other day, Dad taught me that I should trust my family, but that goes both ways. You have to trust me too.”

My dad placed a hand on my mother’s shoulder. Their gazes met in a silent language only they understood. My mother placed her hand on top of his and let out a deep breath. “You are right, just like my mother said the other day. I need to listen. It is hard sometimes. I want to keep you safe from the world, but you do not need it anymore. I will try to remember that.”

I smiled brightly and hugged my mom tightly. “I may not need to be protected, but that does not mean I do not make mistakes. I hope that when I do, you will be there to yell at me.

“You can be sure of that.” My mother replied, hugging me back.

I separated from my mother and looked to Charly nearby. He still had the same empty gaze as before as he looked at his crossbow. “Speaking of my mistakes… I did not realize Charly had never been in battle before. He needs both of you now more than I do.”