By the time they finished their meal, the sun had long set.

  It wasn’t difficult to find an inn with vacancies in a kingdom this large, especially further away from the docks, toward the wealthier districts.

  Early the next morning they set out toward the closer site, the one of unknown origin..

  The air had chilled significantly from the previous days’ travel. Corabelle’s jacket nearly wasn’t enough to stave off the heavy wind. While the dress was long, the frigid air still found its way up her bare legs.

  The trek up the range of hills toward their destination made Corabelle’s chest ache from the cold air that filled her lungs.

  While only a few hour’s walk by the time they reached the marked area on the map, she could barely catch her breath.

  The site in front of them was the charred, collapsed remains of a large manor. The remains of the walls, that were little more than rubble, littered the floorplan of what was clearly once a grand estate.

  Sections of crumbling stone wall remained standing, though they too looked as if they could collapse at any moment. The wind rushing through the remains, sung an eerie groan over the land.

  It felt as though the house itself were watching her. If she didn’t know better she would think it was haunted. Though, the estate appeared abandoned.

  “So,” She questioned, a shiver running down her spine. “Given the lack of raging elementals, I’m guessing there’s not just going to be wild elementals running rampant around the area. Do they have to be summoned?”

  “Not quite,” he replied. “If they’re here, they’ll likely be in their dormant phase and they’ll be near the core of the disaster. If I’m very fortunate one will remain dormant while I bind it.”

  He pulled out a necklace with a diamond shaped amber pendant, surrounded by bronze from his travel pack.

  “I’ll need you to wait here,” he told her as he clasped the amulet around his neck.

  “Why?”

  “Because if it isn’t dormant, or doesn’t stay dormant, it could be very dangerous. That protection spell I cast may work marvelously well against cuts and bruises, but will do little against raw, chaotic magic. All magic can bypass protection spells at least to a certain degree, but raw magic like that of an elemental, can easily pass through even master level protection spells.”

  “What about you then?” She questioned, the sense of unease that had enveloped her since they arrived only growing with each passing minute.

  “I can cast magical countermeasures against oncoming attacks, and if I can hurt my runebinds will heal me. You have no such Runebind nor are you advanced enough in your lessons to learn the spells that could counter an elemental, so it would be best for you to wait here where it’s safe.” He stated, firmly.

  “Alright,” she agreed reluctantly, as the hair pricked up on the back of her neck. “How long should it take to find?”

  “If it’s here, It may take a while. Unlike earth or water elementals, non physical elementals, like air or fire, can be very compact when dormant and hiding in very small spaces,” He turned to the remains of the building. “They’ll be hard to find…and there’s a good chance they’ll know I'm there before I know they are.” He hesitated, not making a move toward the building.

  “What’s wrong?” She asked.

  He turned back, his face was an expression she's not seen before on him and couldn’t quite place.

  He reached into the outer pocket of his pack, and pulled out the glass wand he’d been training her with, along with a small envelope, “Here,” He handed it to her. “In case something were to happen to me, this is the incantation and materials needed to return home.” His jaw clenched, darkness shadowed his face. “It might be some time but they will bring me back. I have too much work to do to remain gone.”

  He made an attempt to lighten his expression, returning to his usual cool indifference, but the shadow remained, “Feel free to practice your spells while I'm gone. Most likely I'll be back soon.”

  She clutched the frigid glass wand as he disappeared behind a segment of standing wall.

  She had always known hunting wild elementals was dangerous, but she didn’t think that Zaramir was worried until this moment.

  It took a lot to kill a Faedemon, she knew that from her readings. She didn’t think an elemental was strong enough to do it.

  Then again, there was the possibility a site of this magnitude could harbor more than one elemental. If he was ambushed and couldn’t counteract their attacks or couldn’t heal fast enough to compensate, then it would be possible.

  She looked down at her ring. This elemental was bound and still went on a rampage powerful enough to actually start to wear him out. If he had to fight more than one, especially unbound, she didn’t know how long he could hold them off.

  ‘They will bring me back.’ He told her that, but his face said it wasn’t a reassuring platitude for himself. That darkness in his eyes said it was anything but; as if he didn’t want to be brought back.

  Instead, it seemed to be more for her benefit. He was assuring her he wouldn’t leave her alone. The terms of their deal was that she would be released when the Fae destroyed him once his work was done. She didn’t know if something else killed him that she would be freed. In a gruesome way, the terms of their freedom were the same.

  She stared after him, the cold air chilling her to the bone. She wanted to follow him, to help, but she knew the last thing he needed was to worry about her getting in the way.

  So instead she stood in the cold, the wind rushing past her ears, preventing her from hearing far enough to tell much of what might be going on in the building.

  He was fine. She had to assure herself of that. The odds of there even being an elemental here was slim, much less a pack of them.

  The creepy atmosphere of the building did nothing to dispel her growing concern with each passing minute. As a light mist rain came down, coating the landscape in an eerie pseudo-fog, the feeling only grew.

  A loud crack, like thunder, resonated from her left, and she turned just in time to see a plume of smoke rise from the back of the house.

  He’s not alone in there. He found the elemental… or elementals…

  Her heart began to race as two more similar bangs echoed from nearby sending more smoke rising into the mist. This was followed by the sound of a very large amount of glass shattering, or perhaps ice cracking, she couldn’t tell.

  She gripped the wand tightly, crushing the envelope in her fist. She had to stay here. Whatever was shopping, she’d only make it worse.

  The sounds of battle continued, each time the noise silenced for a moment her heart stopped with them before another blast shocked it back to life.

  Finally she couldn't take it anymore. She shoved the envelope into her pocket and sprinted into the rubble, wand raised.

  She didn’t know what she’d do when she got to the fight but she’d do something, anything. She knew levitation spells, she could throw debris at it or maybe she could summon water and slow the elemental down. She would try anything and everything she knew.

  The author's tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

  She clambered over debris, around sections of wall, trying to make her way to the fight.

  It proved to be more difficult than it looked to make her way through the razed structure. Many sections of wall were just tall enough to see over but too tall to vault, leaving her to dash around a maze of stone and char as the sounds of the fight escalated.

  Finally she found the path.

  Sprinting around the final corner, she slipped, rolled her ankle on something, her side slamming into a fallen chuck of wall. She barely kept a grip on the wand as pain radiated up her ribs as her burn was torn open once again.

  A human skull stared blankly back at her as she sat up. She scrambled to her feet, her burn being pushed from her mind. The skull wasn’t blackened or cracked from debris. It was new, fresh picked clean of skin and bone.

  Nearby was another, then another. The entire floor of this segment of house was littered with bones. Some were older, many were brand new, but none of them seemed to have died from the flames that annihilated this manor. They weren’t charred, and were nearly complete. Though, scratches covered many of them as though an animal had torn the flesh from the bone with its teeth.

  A new sound of an explosion from nearby, broke her free of their lifeless stares.

  She hurriedly rounded the corner.

  In front of her was Zaramir, his whole body was bloodied, his clothes torn. Gashes and burns covered his skin, healing over quickly, but not fast enough to keep his clothes from staining a deep crimson.

  His jacket had been abandoned, runebinds glowing dimly through his shirt. His stance was slouched but every movement was erratic, frantic. A thinly holding wall of clear ice was erected in front of him.

  The most startling aspect of the scene, however, was his assailant.

  It wasn’t an elemental, or even elementals. It was a man, perched casually atop the remains of a fireplace, dozens of Runebinds lighting up his skin like fireflies as he launched glowing white projectiles toward the icewall. Each one that hit sent spiderweb cracks through the already weak structure, each impact threatening to shatter it.

  Unlike Zaramir, the assailant remained comfortable and unscathed.

  She recognized him. This was the man she’d mistaken for Zaramir in the village. All the Runebinds covering his arms and his ease of battle with Zaramir. This was no normal mage. He, too, was a Faedemon.

  His attention suddenly snapped, latching onto Corabelle instead. The glowing runebinds dimmed slightly.

  “Oh,” He purred. “Your pet seems to have joined the fun.”

  Zaramir’s attention whipped toward Corabelle. His eyes widened, “I told you to stay back!” His voice was hoarse, the Runebinds under his clothes also dimming.

  “Now, now. She’s got a wand. Let her play.” He slid down off the mantle, like a panther stalking its prey. “Come now. Show me what you know.” He extended his arms as if daring her to make the first move.

  “Corabelle, get out of here!” Zaramir threw hand up, and the ice wall moved, melting down from in front of him and growing from the earth in front of her. “Go home!”

  The stranger’s eyes flickered toward Zaramir. With a flick of his finger one of his Runebinds brightened as he launched a blade of summoned glass toward him.

  It landed with a sick rip as it easily tore through the skin of his leg, just above the joint, bringing him to one knee.

  “Eyes sharp, brother.” The other man chided.

  “Don’t,” Zaramir gripped the shard, ripping it free with a groan. He stumbled to his feet as the wound began to heal over though the healing seemed to have slowed, “Call me brother.”

  The cold amusement on the stranger’s face didn’t waver.

  Corabelle grip her wand as the shock wore off.

  She softly recited the levitation incantation under her breath, raising a hunk of stone debris, keeping her eyes trained on the man who’s attention remained on Zaramir.

  With the final words, she whipped her wand hurling the heavy hunk of rock straight at his head. It soared across the room, finding its target. His head snapped back from the impact, the rock falling to the ground in pieces as her concentration broke.

  The stranger rolled his neck, casually, working his jaw, “I must congratulate your brutality.” He cooed, dryly. “That would have taken the head off most humans. It’s really a shame it didn’t work out. It was a valiant attempt, truly. Next time, try a purely magical attack, cut out the middleman, it might work a bit better,” He brushed the rock dust from his hair.

  “Observe.” A fiery ball of cracking magic appeared above his hand, one of his runebinds glowing nearly as bright. He whipped it effortlessly toward Zaramir.

  With a stroke of luck, it missed his chest and he managed to dodge the bulk of the blast Insead it grazed his shoulder, searing the sleeve clean off. The skin under bubbled, melting.He screamed, gripping his arm just below the wound.

  The wound stopped oozing nearly instantly, but didn’t fully heal. In fact none of his injuries seemed to be healing anymore. His Runebinds had darkened, save for one, which glowed as dimly as dying ember; The one holding the wall of ice between Corabelle and the enemy.

  The other Faedemon seemed to notice the change too, “Oh come now, you can’t be tired yet, the fun just started.” The humor was wiped from his face, replaced by an icy boredom.

  “Go home, Corabelle.” Zaramir murmured, barely standing, heavily favoring his good leg.

  “Enough with that,” The other man rolled his eyes. “She’s clearly not listening to you. You know, you truly should have kept a shorter leash on your dog. Then she might actually obey you.”

  Zaramir ignored him, eyes desperate as he stared at Corabelle, “Please.”

  “Fae, you are pathetic.” The other faedemon spat. Another orb of flame appeared above his hand.

  “What do you want?” Corabelle questioned, drawing his attention.

  “What makes you think I want anything?” He questioned, the orb still hovering. “You humans alway think you can reason with me, negotiate, even bribe.” He his, pacing slowly toward the wall between them. “I’ve been around longer than you, even longer than him. I’m simply bored. There’s no negotiation, no bribe, no reason. There’s nothing you can offer me that I haven’t been offered a thousand times over and rejected in just the same way.”

  With the definitive final word, he smashed his palm into the ice. It exploded into a shard, the orb flying past her head into the tall section of wall behind her. It seemed to rock with the impact, bits of rubble falling to the ground.

  She ducked, but the wall settled upright, still.

  He had her by the wrist before she knew it, hauling her feet off the ground as though she weighed no more than a ragdoll. Her toes barely brushed the ground below her.

  The rune Zaramir placed on her seared as though a hot iron were being held to her forearm. Smoke wisped out of her sleeve, boiling blood slowly began to seep through her sleeve, staining it even redder. As much as she wished she could refrain from giving him the satisfaction, she couldn’t hold back the scream of pain as her skin bubbled.

  “Leave her out of this!” Zaramir’s last Runebind had gone dim as he attempted to make a move toward them.

  He collapsed to his knees, the hole above his knee pouring blood into the puddle below him.

  “But I didn’t even do anything.” He feigned innocence, as he slid Corabelle’s coat down her arm, exposing the rune that glowed red hot, the air filling with the smell of burnt flesh and oozing blood down her arm. “This pretty little mark was all you, brother. But I do apologize for hurting your wrist.” He laughed, lowering her just enough for her heels to rest on the ground, but he did not release her.

  “Just kill me.” Zaramir said weakly. “And let her go. There’s no fun in killing a novice mage. It will be too easy.”

  “That may be true,” He turned his attention back to Corabelle. “But you aren’t any old novice mage. My comrade has taken a liking to you, which will make it at least a little bit fun.”

  The sound of a wet thud brought both their attention back to Zaramir. The bloodloss had finally claimed his consciousness. He lay on his side, earth deep crimson below him.

  He growled, “Well, it won’t be fun now,” He gripped her wrist tighter in frustration. “But I suppose you should still kill you, wouldn’t want you telling anyone I am here.”

  He flung her against the wall behind her, her body colliding with more force than should be possible. It knocked the air from her lungs, leaving her wheezing on the ground.

  “Don’t fret.” A new shard of glass appeared in his fist. “I’ll make it quick. No sense is drawing it out. I’m not that much a monster.”

  Despite the splitting pain in her spine, she managed to just dive out of the way as the shard of glass struck against the wall where her face would have been. A shower of razor sharp shards rained down on her, slicing her skin open where they touched. Blood trickled down her face and hands.

  The stranger huffed, “Now if you hadn't moved it would have gone straight into your brain. You would have barely felt it. Now I'll have to pick glass from you before I eat.”

  A new Runebind glowed brightly as a dark blade summoned in his hand. A scimitar, that seemed to pull all light in from around it, casting the man into shadow.

  “See what you’ve done? I’m not bothering with more glass, now it’s going to have to hurt.” He paced toward her.

  She desperately tried to get to her feet, but pain shooting up her back kept her from hauling herself off her stomach.

  He stopped suddenly, just a few feet in front of her. His eyes were fixed above her, trained on the segment of wall.

  The scimitar fizzled away, the Runebind dimming.

  She realized what was about to happen the moment he took a step back.

  Pebbles fell around her, giving way to lager hunks of stone.

  Thunder cracked above them but it was muted by the head-splitting sound of the section of thick stone wall collapsing directly onto her.