“Stop right there! You traitorous scum!” an angry voice was shouting, one he knew all too well, and ZaiWin quickly took a look around to take in his surroundings.

There were less trees, here, and he could hear the sound of running water coming from up ahead. The voice too, had come from that same direction. And so he didn’t lose time, running as fast as he could to try and catch up with them. Since he had agreed to do NimRen’s bidding he might as well try his best to make sure her request was fulfilled.

The sounds of loud blasts and the resulting flames that licked the greenery up ahead made him frown. That idiot was overdoing it like always! Was he trying to set the entire forest on fire?

Raising his arms to protect his face, ZaiWin ran straight ahead through a patch of thick, high bushes. And then he was out of the dense foliage, stumbling onto open ground, a silvery stream of water running right in front of him.

“I didn’t do anything!” another voice protested and he immediately turned to see a high wall of dirt rising from the ground, cutting off the flames that were still chasing the voice’s owner.

FeiWan halted in front of the wall, a burning aura surrounding his entire body, hatred spilling out of him in waves of molting heat. Without a single word he raised his hand towards the wall of dirt, the crackling energy surrounding him so condensed that it made his red hair whip the air behind him.

Kill him? No, ZaiWin quickly concluded, flooding his own daitai with whatever energy he might still possessed. The idiot was going to blow the entire forest to pieces!

The wind rose all around him, allowing him to move faster than normal people, and then he too was in front of that wall, and all he could see was a column of fire rushing straight towards him.

Though the intensity was numerous times higher than what he was used to deal with, this was hardly the first time he saw himself in such position, so he more or less knew what to do.

While training him, ZenTar had made sure to bomb him with every fire attack he was able to call forth, so he would be ready if and when the time came. Of course, even though ZenTar was pretty strong, he would never be as strong as a royal such as FeiWan, even taking into account the fact that FeiWan was much younger than him. Many people possessed fire daitai, but those could never be compared with the daitai most of the El’Dur’s direct descendants carried. In their case fire was deeply ingrained into their bodies, flowing through their veins like a living thing, almost integrating a fundamental part of their essence. Royals like NimRen, who only possessed a few fire daitai and, in her case, the rest were water based, were truly rare. For that some reason there were even a few voices who argued that she should not be considered an El’Lin, and thus should not be allowed to carry the name Wen.

At least ZenTar’s training menu had made him relatively familiar with the overwhelming, horrifying sensation of being about to be swallowed by a sea of flames, allowing him not to panic. Redirecting his energy towards the daitai he knew he needed, he braced himself for impact.

Wind danced around him like a furious ring, but not just any wind. In fact, whoever saw it from outside would only see a raging mass of barely contained darkness. And then, when the heat had become so strong he could no longer breathe, he unleashed the wind over the column of fire almost like a devouring wave of nothingness.

A loud, deafening roar echoed throughout the entire forest, the differential in temperatures sending him, and everything else flying back, even uprooting some weaker trees from the ground. And then there was a loud sucking sound that made even his hair stand on end, when the vortex of air he’d created swallowed all the fire, before a deep silence returned.

Grinding his teeth, he quickly undid the wall of protection that he’d raised in front of him, and that still hadn’t been enough to completely withstand the impact. If he could avoid it, he did not wish to show other people the true nature of his daitai. Especially not someone like FeiWan, who would quickly make the inevitable associations. Still, even though he’d been thrown back against the dirt wall, at least he’d managed to survive.

Groaning in pain, he forced his legs to obey and tried to scramble back to his feet.

This was most definitely not his day …

“What … the heck?!” Came the expected furious bawl and ZaiWin looked in the voice’s direction, to see a red-haired boy also in the process of getting up. There were green leaves sticking out from his hair and clothes, and his green eyes were glowing from pure fury. “What was that?” he still demanded, all imperial-like, as if he honestly expected some servant to answer him, and then his cold gaze finally found him, standing right there, in front of him, and his entire stance immediately changed. “You!! You freaking bastard! Was it you?” he shouted, already marching towards him in wide steps as if ready to punch him, and ZaiWin made his best to straighten his back and hold his ground, even though his first instinct had been to try and keep away from him as best as possible.

His energy was running really low, now, but he could still put up a fight if he had to. On the other hand, with his energy levels so low he’d be at a clear disadvantage, if he were to enter some kind of daitai duel against FeiWan.

No. Better to conserve his energy for now, he coldly decided just as FeiWan grabbed him by the collar of his tunic, practically raising him from the ground, and slammed him hard against the dirt wall on his back. Should he feel his life in danger, he’d stab him straight through his heart, ZaiWin decided, redirecting his energy to one of his most fierce, most dangerous daitai. Not even FeiWan would be able to defend against that. Not from so up-close, anyway.

“You filth! How dare you interfere??” FeiWan demanded, green eyes ablaze, and ZaiWin raised his hand and opened it, showing him the fiery crystal that had since then lost its glow.

“Wen NimRen sent me,” he simply declared and FeiWan’s gaze turned to the crystal, a deep frown appearing on his forehead.

“That useless woman! Always taking pity on the weak!” he growled and then turned to look at him again.

For a strange moment he just stared at him, as if he were trying to figure something out, and then simply tossed him to one side, like some discarded object, making ZaiWin fall on his knees.

“Beat it, mud-head! This has nothing to do with you!” he declared, glaring at him with nauseated despise, and then turned to face the dirt wall still firmly standing in front of him.

“Are you still there? You worthless piece of shit!” he shouted and ZaiWin couldn’t help follow him with his gaze, kind of amazed at hearing such foul language coming from one of the esteemed El’Gin’s lips. “Of course you are! You are nothing but a coward, after all. Born from a family of cowards that dared try to murder a five-year-old!” he shouted, placing his hand against the wall, and ZaiWin quickly stood up again.

“I’m innocent! I didn’t do anything!” came the sound of a crying, muffled voice. “And I am sure my father didn’t do those horrible things either!”

“Lies from a traitor’s mouth!” FeiWan spat, his face a mask of cold hatred and regal superiority.

“You should just take him in. Allow the High Council to decide!” ZaiWin thought it better to intervene and was immediately shot with a deadly glare from FeiWan.

“What did I tell you, filth? Scram! Before I bury you together with him!”

ZaiWin clenched his fists, forcing himself to disobey his command. FeiWan was older, bigger and, most likely, stronger than him. And he was furious in a way he’d never seen him be. Oh, he had been on the receiving end of much of his anger and despise, when they’d been younger. But this … this was completely different. And even though he might have believed NimRen’s words when she’d told him that FeiWan would not kill him, now he wasn’t so sure anymore.

And why was he here anyway? Trying to do what?, he wondered, looking at the dirt wall. Traitor or no traitor, the poor kid hiding on the other side had no chance of getting out of this alive, even if FeiWan were to spare him.

ZaiWin, on the other hand, had other, much more important things to take care of, responsibilities and expectations to live up to. Was he really going to risk dying in that forsaken forest for some kid that would soon be dead anyway? No. No he was not, he decided, releasing part of the tension that left him combat-ready.

He had already done his part, fulfilled NimRen’s wish. He had tried to stop FeiWan, had even directly antagonized him. That was more enough.

The rumbling sound that rose from beneath his feet startled him and then he saw the huge dirt wall waver and undulate. First he thought that it was FeiWan’s doing, that he was finally tearing it down. But then, something on the older boy’s face told him he was wrong.

ZaiWin’s heart skipped a bit, his eyes widening in horror. He knew this cold, uneasy sensation. He’d felt it before, fighting against a band of thieves that were proficient at using earth daitai. Only this was much stronger, much more dangerous.

Without taking a single instant to think things through, he immediately diverted his energy to another daitai and rushed forward, at full speed, arm outstretched, jaw set, eyes fixed on his target. FeiWan only realized how close he was already too late, his face an expression of anger and surprise, before he was violently pushed back by a wave of thick darkness.

ZaiWin quickly tapped the ground with his feet and made his best to jump as high as he could, wishing he could fly like ZenTar could. The grumbling, growing sound was the only thing he could hear now, and then the overwhelming noise of rocks collapsing on top of each other, almost as if a mountain had been blown to pieces.