The blood mist was eerily quiet as the floating island cut through it. There were no cries of Demonkin or sings of the Demons themselves. There was only the myriad of silent screaming faces in a void of crimson.

For nearly two days this continued without any signs of change. If not for the assurance of Mare that we were indeed moving forward it would be easy to assume we were lost in the endless sea of blood. The complete emptiness of the scene left me restless and worried.

The fact that there were no Demonkin on the ground below could only mean that they had all been recalled to Ater-Albus. The only reason the Demons had not yet acted to halt or at least hinder our advance could only be because they were completely confident in stopping us at the city.

I tried to ignore my worries as I turned away from the blood mist and returned inside Dragon’s Nest. I had used every waking moment these past two days, training in preparation for the coming battle with the Demons. The Divine Body was incredible but it would take months or years before I would be able to make any noticeable progress in it. For now, the ability would have to remain as a short burst of strength only usable in the most desperate of circumstances. Instead, my focus returned to the golden flame.

During my last confrontation with Berith, I had somehow managed to control the gold fire but since then, I found it frustratingly unresponsive. No amount of coaxing could get the small golden spark to act. None of my normal fire control exercises exhibited any results. I was not completely out of options yet though. I had seen many strange methods of fire control in my four hundred years of experience. However, many of them were dangerous to perform and sometimes even life-threatening but if it allowed me to access the flame it was worth it.

I grimaced at the prospect of what I was going to try next. Currently, in one of the free rooms of Dragon’s Nest, a fire was roaring. The entire room was filled with red hot coals. Coals that would then be shoveled into a bathtub just for me.

“I saw what you are planning. Why are you hiding it? You did not even tell your parents. Are you sure this will not hurt you?” Donte asked as he intercepted me on the way to the room.

“It will absolutely hurt,” I mumbled tersely, “I am resistant to fire, not immune to it.”

“Then, why do it? Will it even help you?”

I shrugged in reply, not entirely sure of the answer myself. “About two hundred years ago the other calamities and I stumbled across a strange tribe, isolated from the other realms. The people there worshiped fire as if it were a divine gift. Their numbers were few but every single one of them had an innate talent involving fire. Curious, I spent about two weeks in the tribe and learned the truth about the source of this strange phenomenon. It was a ritual of sorts that each and every child of the tribe went through. They were submerged in fire and coals while their bodies were flooded with chaotic energy. They either awakened an innate talent for fire or died a miserable and painful death.”

“That’s barbaric! How many children died in such a terrible ritual?” Donte gasped.

“The success rate was only about one in twenty children,” I said with a shake of my head, “And most of those died from their injuries within a week.”

“Less than five percent! Why would you want to do that to yourself?” Donte shouted as he moved to stand in front of me.

“I cannot die from this level of fire. At most, it will hurt, a lot,” I replied as I came to a stop and looked at Donte, “I need to completely unlock the golden flame if I am to stand on even footing with the Demons. I am running out of time. The normal methods did not work so, I have to try things like this. Out of all the unorthodox methods I know, this is actually one of the milder processes.”

“Alright, no! I am putting a stop to this right now!” Donte shouted. He put out his hands to either side and blacked the hallway so that I could not get past. “I am not going to let you hurt yourself just because it might, maybe help you control a flame you do not understand.”

I frowned as I saw the determination in Donte’s eyes. “You may have some control over Dragon’s Nest but do you really think you can stop me?”

“Maybe not,” Donte said with a shake of his head, “but you also cannot stop me from telling your parents what you are up to. I think they would be interested in hearing all about it.”

I narrowed my eyes as I stared at Donte. I flexed my domain slightly, not enough to force him to the ground but more than enough to make his stomach turn. He did not flinch as he met my gaze firmly. The two of us stared at one another in a standoff for almost a solid minute before I sighed in defeat. “What do you want?”

“Huh?”

“What do you want in exchange for not telling my parents?”

“Are you really trying to bribe me to ignore this? I told you, I am not going to let you hurt yourself. End of discussion. I will keep watch over you, every second, day and night, if that is what it takes to knock some sense into that stubborn head of yours.”

I crossed my arms in frustration as Donte refused to back down. In the back of my mind, I could understand what he meant. None of the unorthodox methods had a very high chance of success. Most were just wild shots in the dark in hopes of understanding the flame a bit better. If it were not for the direness of the circumstances, I would never even consider using them. I obviously did not want to hurt myself but if we faced the Demons the way I am now, someone important to me could die. That was a chance I could not take.

The stalemate between Donte and me was only broken when Mare spoke up. “The half-wit is right, shorty. There is no point in you continuing these silly experiments. None of them will help you. After all, you said it best yourself. The golden flame is pure lifeforce that takes to form of fire, not actual fire. If you actually had any chance of success, I would not allow the half-wit to stand in your way.”

“Will you please just use my name!” Donte grumbled in frustration at the disembodied voice.

Unable to direct my frustration towards anyone, I scowled at the ceiling. “Eavesdropping is a bad habit, Mare.”

“How else am I supposed to keep myself entertained?” Mare replied flippantly, “Regardless, you know I am right.”

“Well then, since you know so much, how do you suggest I control this stubborn ability?”

I could almost hear the indifferent shrug in her noncommittal voice. “Rather than worrying about that, your time would be better spent with your family. There is too little time left before your next confrontation with the Demons. No amount of training will make any difference now.”

Facing the criticism of both Donte and Mare, I relented. My shoulders slumped and I leaned against the nearby wall. “You’re right, you both are. I just hate being powerless like this. If something happens and I could have stopped it, I would never forgive myself.”

Donte placed a comforting hand on my shoulder. “You are the strongest person I have ever met. I know that when the time comes, you will protect everyone.”

I smiled at Donte’s faith in my ability and took a breath. “I guess I should spend some time with everyone else before our next battle. Come on, let’s go.”

Donte and I returned to the ground floor of the mansion where I saw Mom, Dad, and Charly preparing for a meal that, thankfully, Cyra was cooking. I could not help but smile as I joined them. For the next two hours, my worries about the upcoming battle faded away. I was able to forget it all and simply enjoy the moment.

After a rather eventful dinner that ended when a certain overgrown lizard stole most of our food, Sebastion, Dom, and Svend joined us to discuss our plans for when we arrived at Ater-Albus.

“Well, Sebastion, you said you would come up with a way to get past the splinter cannons you created. I am waiting.” I said resting my hand on my hip as I looked up at the man.

Sebastion coughed uncomfortably as everyone’s eyes focused on him. “Plan might be a bit of a strong word.”

“In other words, you have nothing,” Dom said mercilessly.

“If you have a way into that death trap, I am all ears,” Sebastion growled back menacingly.

I placed my head on my head and sighed. “Please do not squabble. We arrive at the city in three hours but that does not mean we have to attack right away. Our plan accounted for us being away from the army for two weeks.”

“Let’s think through this logically. What are the defenses of Ater-Albus and what are its weak points?” Svend asked, transitioning into full commander mode. At this moment it was easy to see his experience in leading men against superior opponents.

“I was preparing to fight against a full-scale invasion within those walls,” Sebastion replied dismally, “One thousand splinter cannons and enough ammunition to fire continuously for three months without stop.”

I crossed my arms thoughtfully. “Using your talent, splinter cannons are strong but they are not without their faults. Our first advantage is they do not have your domain. That means none of the attacks will have any kinetic force, only heat. Second, while your talent reacts as fast as you can think, splinter cannons have to be manually aimed and fired. Finally, our third advantage is actually the blood mist. Demonkin cannot necessarily see any better than we can through the mist. That means the Demon, Aym, will likely be acting as their eyes and commanding where to fire. Their accuracy is likely to be terrible.”

Svend nodded approvingly. “Even without the kinetic force, Sebastion’s talent can melt steel in less than a minute. I can probably power through a few dozen simultaneous attacks with my body but with a thousand cannons there, I cannot force my way into the city. The second weakness has some potential. Theoretically, if someone was moving fast enough, they could draw fire from the cannons without getting hit but it is risky. Even if it takes a moment to aim, the light fired from those cannons can still reach you in the blink of an eye. A single misstep and you will end up roasted alive. The Demon, Aym, acting as their eyes, however, is something we can use. His talent to see through solid objects is powerful in this circumstance but it is not without weaknesses we can exploit.”

“What about the city itself? Can we tunnel underneath and avoid the cannons altogether?” my dad interjected.

I chuckled in reply. “I would never leave such a flaw in my capital. Underneath the city is the same material as the walls and far thicker too. It would take us at least a month to carve our way through that even if the Demons did not try and stop us. There are also no secret passageways into the city. They are too easy to exploit during a siege.”

“There are a few inside the walls leading into the palace though, assuming we can get that far,” Sebastion said, “Flying into the city is impossible without getting spotted by the cannons. Even without Aym, The Demonkin would see us the moment we got too close. That leaves only a few possible ways to enter without getting bombarded by hundreds of cannons. By hugging close to the walls, we can reach either the east and west gates into the city or the aqueduct entrance in the southwest. All of which will probably be crawling with Demonkin.”

“I think I am starting to understand why you were having trouble coming up with a plan,” my dad said sympathetically, “It sounds like it will be impossible to take the city by force.”

“You think this is bad? You should have seen it when I ruled,” I said with a grin.

“What do you mean?” Dad asked curiously.

I waved my hand dismissively. “The only reason Sebastion had to create so many splinter cannons was that he could not figure out how to activate the city’s true defenses. Isn’t that right, Sebastion?” Sebastion shifted his gaze away, not looking me in the eye and I grinned. “Get me to the throne and I can retake the entire city in an instant. Other than Envy, no Demon will be able to stop it then.”