Soon time to set the plan in motion had come. Twilight had barely set in Zelphar as Vidir and Caleb approached the Elves’ very capital by air. They avoided detection due to a cloaking spell from Caleb combined with aid from shadow fiends Kazius had sent with them.

Vidir felt rather humiliated to say the least, he was forced to carry the nervous wizard that only seemed more nervous at Vidir’s blatant discontent. Caleb looked like he really would rather be doing anything else other than ride the Green Dragon.

“You better do some properly flashy spell and get this over quickly.” Vidir grumbled out.

“Y-Yes, Sir Dragon Sir…” Caleb managed out as he shook. The poor wizard was full of anxiety. He both did not want to disappoint his friends, but felt they had become such terrifying people that it was also worrying him at the idea of failing. He was sweating bullets as they approached the Elven Palace, likely the place his own father once called home.

Did he have any relatives living there? What were they like? Such questions soon became pointless. Since while Caleb had been frozen and sweating bullets, Vidir decided to start on his own before people could react to his presence in the sky. Sure, Vidir was smaller than other Ancient Dragons… But in the end Dragon Fire was Dragon Fire. With a mighty breath, the Palace soon began to become nothing but a black smoldering pile of rubble, the cloaking fading as he did this.

For all their secrets and plots, the 3 Kingdoms would find themselves unprepared for what was to come.

As the fire would soon spread while Vidir let out a loud roar to get the attention of any survivors. The chaos and screams that would follow could not distract him. As nervous and anxious as he was, it was time he corrected his father’s mistake.

Caleb would hold onto Vidir with one hand for dear life while the other held his staff. Something that got attention… Flashy… Distracting… Despite his stage fright, Caleb would manage to focus. “Ildvind” Caleb would state calmly with a circular motion with his staff.

Nervous mess or not, Caleb had truly improved his magic. It was not a long incantation, but rather one word laced with power from Vargstam’s own culture combined with the mana of a wizard. A true blend of his heritage, his own new magic. The results would speak for themselves. The fire that spread by Vidir would get sucked up in a circular motion, the wind created by the fire only growing stronger and faster. Before long not only was Zelphar on fire, but it only got worse every second as a giant fire pillar that penetrated the very skies would begin to move across the Earth, carving out a path that left not even ash. The once darkened sky now red and orange, bright as if it was still day out.

Something like this… Forget news spreading… Something like that could likely be seen from Ratier.

At the sight of the spell, even Vidir was impressed, “Not bad, Wizard.” He complimented.

Caleb laughed nervously at the praise, unable to believe what he had done even himself, “Do you think that is distracting enough?”

As chaos ensued, indeed the pillar of fire was something visible from far away. Damon and Sakura were waiting uphill, hiding within sight of the forest between Ratier and Zelphar, the path Kazius theorized the most reinforcements would move from… Including Edicts.

Damon would nod to himself, a hint of a smile on his face at the sight of his brother’s handy work. “Seems like Caleb did a good job.” He mused with a light laugh. It somewhat resembled his typical laugh, but it was so quiet and far from as joyous.

“Your brother does seem like a good mage… And like he cares about you… He is worried about you, you know? I don’t know what you were like before we met, but he believes you have changed…Despite everything you told me, he loves you.” Sakura would add with a delicate smile, she was still quite the calm person, but she felt more free since she met the group and spent more time with Damon.

“I know that… But at the end of the day, I killed Luna… It doesn’t matter whether she deserved it or not… My father killed his… His mother died due to the sadness I brought her… And now I killed his sister… He has every reason to hate me, Sakura. It is best I keep my distance.” Damon stated simply as he kept looking off into the distance for any reinforcement that may come. After all, he had a job to do.

“Luna was going to kill him along with your people. I don’t believe Caleb feels the same way.” Sakura stated with concern.

Damon was silent at her words. Keeping a lookout, but he did look away for a bit to look at Sakura, “Maybe… But even then… I can’t face him, Sakura. I just can’t.”

Sakura smiled warmly at him, “Maybe after this is over you should have a talk with him… We can do this, alright? In the meantime… How about I give you a good luck charm?” She suggested. Before he had time to react, Sakura leaned in and gave him a simple kiss by tugging him down. It was quick and only possible because the woman was also quite tall herself. Damon stared at her, flustered and dumfounded.

“I will go make sure I get any that try and run back to Ratier…” Sakura stated with a coy smile before she walked off.

Damon would simply watch, not saying anything else. He had little time to focus on what just happened though, since he finally could see them… People wearing similar armor to that of Elande… And regular knights along with them.

Damon frowned, hatred bubbling within him, but he remained calm in the exterior. He had trained for a reason… And understood something about his powers and his spear… The spear Kazius had changed.

The blessing of the Vind was truly gone from the spear and replaced with Kazius’ own mark… Something Damon had been somewhat unsure of what that would change… But now he knew the potential of such a thing… As if to makeup for the power lost in the spear… Damon’s wind abilities had also increased…

Damon intended on making good use of what he had learned. He would return them the grief the Edicts caused them tenfold…

Taking a deep breath, Damon would grasp his spear. His eyes locking in on the moving group. From this distance they looked almost like simple ants. But this… This distance was something Damon could manage.

Tightening his grip, with a swift motion, too fast for most to see… Damon would throw his spear with all his might. He was using what he learned from the war against the Frost Giants… Except now this was something he could now do on his own. Damon would use his wind powers on the black spear. The spear would keep accelerating and accelerating… Until finally the place where the Edicts were making their way…

A loud thunder like roar could be heard, the wind intensifying due to the force, as a dust cloud began to rise where the spear had hit…

If he didn't understand what the blessing of the Shadows meant… That would be the end of it… But his spear was far from lost…

Over at the impact zone, his spear would sink into it’s own shadow, rising slowly out of Damon’s own shadow…

And then Damon did it again… And again… And again…

Loud explosion after explosion could be heard as Damon unleashed his pent up rage on the unsuspecting knights.

For a moment as he did this… He could not help but crack a grin, a twisted smirk soon gracing his features… This power… It was not bad at all…