Remi bared her teeth, and every ounce of rage within her soared towards her uncle.

A large, circular shield, reminiscent of a black hole, appeared in front of Remi's Uncle Fahrem, blocking him from sight. It absorbed all her sharp tendrils of blue-coloured energy, and they disappeared from sight.

Remi's arms burned like they were on fire from exertion, but she refused to give up.

This man had taken her family from her.

And if he had been willing to kill his own son, he probably did something with Blue and Bliss, too. They were nowhere to be found.

The black hole disappeared, replaced by Uncle Fahrem's smug face. He crossed his arms.

Infuriated, rage churning in her belly, Remi's energy flowed through her fingers on each hand, extending past the tips until they began to resemble two-foot long, razor sharp claws, glimmering against the harsh sun, which had just came out from behind the clouds.

She sprang forwards and swiped at him with her claws, a loud zing sounding as they cut through air, her uncle diving gracefully to the side just before her claws hit him.

She swiped at him again and again, chasing him through the green yard with unparalleled ferocity, but he managed to evade her every attack without much effort at all.

With a shriek, Remi tried to muster up the same strength as before, but found that she was too exhausted to focus enough to create anything else to launch at her uncle.

Exhausted, Remi sank to her knees. Fire burned in her eyes, dancing tendrils of rage, and she glared at her uncle with nothing but pure hatred. If looks could kill, he'd be long dead.

But looks couldn't kill, and her uncle wasn't dead.

Frustration welled up within her, threatened to bubble over and explode.

He was crouched down, touching the ground with the palm of his hand, fingers splayed out.

Before Remi had time to do anything more than narrow her eyes in suspicion.

On her hands and knees, Remi felt the ground beneath her begin to rumble and quake, jarring her onto her side.

Long cracks in the earth came at her from multiple directions, and though she quickly sprang to her feet, she couldn't move fast enough to escape what happened next.

Black tendrils sprang up from the cracks in the earth only a few feet away from her, closing in. They formed a large dome, similar to what she had created with Killure after Lord Gallanthus's death to protect them from being impaled by arrows. But now, the dome surrounding them and definitely not trying to protect.

And then, the dome began closing in on Remi. It grew smaller and smaller, and she fearfully crouched to make herself as small as possible. One touch of the black energy, and she would be consumed.

The blue energy racing through her veins and glowing through her clothes provided just enough light to understand how dire her situation was.

Uncle Fahrem really was trying to kill her, Remi realized. Not scare her, not break her, but kill her. And her own father was doing nothing to stop it.

Remi was truly, completely, facing down death on her own.

Glaring defiantly at the dome that was slowly decreasing in size, trapping her within its murky darkness, she sent out bolts of blue energy from her finger tips in an attempt to create a crack in the black dome. However, her energy was only absorbed, and she felt ready to collapse.

Her head was pounding, a hammer smashing against her skull, begging her to give in to the darkness and allow it to overtake her.

And then, all of a sudden, the dome stopped becoming smaller.

It thinned until it was sheer and nearly see-through, shimmering in the afternoon sun. Remi's eyes narrowed. She had no idea why her uncle's energy had waned, but she wasn't about to waste what might be the only opportunity to save her life.

When a small hole appeared, Remi dove through it, some of the hair on the top of her head skimming off. She somersaulted across the grass, the sudden brightness of the scorching sun momentarily blinding her. Blinking rapidly to clear her vision, Remi jumped to her feet, feeling disorientated. The yard spun around her in dizzying circles, until coming to a blurry rest.

Just as everything was coming into clarity, a shadow spilled over Remi. Terrified it was her uncle's dark energy, she went to throw herself away from it, but a hand wrapped around her wrist, stopping her from going anywhere.

It wasn't her uncle's energy, it was Killure. His tall, muscular frame was casting a deep shadow over her body as he stood in front of her, his shoulders tense and his muscles taut.

He must have caught her uncle off guard.

"You came back," Remi whispered in surprise and confusion, her eyes wide and eyebrows furrowed.

"Stellar observational skills," he hissed in her direction, and she could only imagine him rolling his eyes.

And yet, despite his sarcastic words, he'd come back for her. She'd thought he'd left for good after what she said on the ship, and perhaps he'd intended to—who knew? Nevertheless, he cared enough to find her and risk his life to try and save her.

It was pointless, considering how powerful her uncle was, but it made her heart swell none-the-less.

Her uncle.

The thought hit her like a bag of bricks. She quickly, desperately, scanned the grass. Her uncle was about forty feet away, and the beautiful water fountain that had been trickling water in their yard, usually perched on by colourful birds, was resting in broken shards around him—destroyed.

He was bracing himself with one hand in the perfectly manicured grass, slowly rising to his feet. A deep, ugly red gash ran from his temple, across his cheek, and curved around part of his chin.

His head snapped up, and his cruel eyes pierced hers. Knives were stabbing her, or so it felt. Penetrating her soul.

So full of hatred. His face was twisted in rage now, but when Remi blinked, she saw that he'd shakily composed himself.

He was laughing a terrible, breathless laugh now, head thrown painfully back. "You think he can save you?" Uncle Fahrem snickered, panting slightly. The blood on his face dripped down his chin and stained his shirt, giving him a terrifying appearance. "No one can save you, Remi," he smirked in amusement, his eyes as cold as ice and as painful as frostbite. As he spoke, his black energy began spiralling up his fingers and hands like snakes, surging up his arms before converging into one solid layer of dark energy. It reached around him like body armour, leaving only the front of his face exposed.

The ease with which her uncle used his energy caused Remi's heart to sink.

Killure started forwards, but then quickly stopped.

He'd come to the same realization she had.

With full body armour that was untouchable and impenetrable, Remi's uncle was unstoppable. Killure was by far the superior fighter, but that only mattered if he could actually touch Fahrem.

How could they hope to defeat a man who was nothing short of invincible?