Aaron ran the entire way back to his dorm room. He was already making a mental list of all he would need to take with him. He wouldn’t need many weapons, he mostly used his water from his water pouch. What kind of clothes? A winter coat? He had no idea what kind of terrain they were heading into. All he knew was that he would be searching for something he believed was dead.

He burst through the door into his room to see Tace packing supplies so casually it was as if everything that just happened was completely erased from his mind. He held up two cross bows, examining them with an experienced eye. As much as he tried to act casual, Aaron could read though the cocky grin and see the nervous anger rising in his friend. “Which one? Ol’ beaute, or Long Runner?” Tace asked.

Aaron shook his head, “Why do you name your weapons?” he asked.

“Because they have personality,” Tace said, pointing one, Ol’ beaute, and testing the trigger. He smiled, “Almost as much as me.” He tested the weight of both and nodded, a decision had been made. “Ol’ beaute it is.” He threw the cross bow onto his back, tightening the shoulder strap carefully “What kept you so long? Remember, next time we’re here, it’ll probably have been trashed by battle, anything you want to keep, take it.” He ducked under his bed and pulled out a long roll of cloth. Unrolling it he revealed all of his prime choice weapons. Swords, short bows, various projectiles, bolas, and throwing blades. It wasn’t exactly permitted to keep non training weapons in the dorm rooms, but Aaron and Tace had a bit of sway with the elders when it came to keeping their prime weapons close. Plus Tace was able to name drop on them. Being from the powerful (and wealthy) bloodline of Nuria seemed to get a great deal of respect from all the elders.

Looking over the selection Tace strapped to his self his primary choices for weapons, but he, like Aaron, preferred to travel light. He looked over the swords and sighed, “My father gave that one to me.” He said quietly.

“So take it.” Aaron said.

Tace picked up the silver short sword and looked it over, “Yeah…” He shrugged and strapped the frog to his belt, “What do you think?” he asked, “Won’t get in the way?”

“You tell me.” Aaron shrugged. He looked around at his half of the room, practically bare compared to Tace’s half. He ran a hand over the smooth stone walls, “It will all be gone by the time we get home.” He said, “Our home…”

“Dude, are you getting sentimental?” Tace asked.

“Yes.” Aaron replied honestly. “We’re about to be thrown into the war.” He said, looking back to Tace.

“I thought you were looking forward to that?” Tace asked, his teeth grit as he tied his bracer on by himself, using his mouth to hold the other string.

“I was, but I always thought that the academy would be safe.” Aaron sighed, then shook his head, “Never mind, it’s just a building. Just a place.”

Tace snorted, “You sound like my old man.” He went into a mock gruff tone, “We’re Fire people, my boy, we’re nomads, a building is just a building, but the world is an adventure.”

Aaron nodded, agreeing with Tace’s impression of his father. Aaron had always liked the man, Ezra Nuria. He and Tace were a lot alike in many ways, but Ezra had more wisdom and less of the ‘hot head’ approach to things that his son had. “How long has it been?” he asked.

Tace froze, not looking at Aaron. He stuffed the last of his weapons and supplies into his pack, “A few years.” He said quietly. “He stopped writing three years ago. No news, no messages. Just… gone. Old bastard finally got too lazy to write.” Aaron knew the father and son were close, that Tace simply said these things to soften the blow and the reality that his fathers’ disappearance most likely meant he was dead or supplanted.

“If you’d like to talk about it.” Aaron offered.

“Dude, seriously, just stop right there, back up, and go the other way.” Tace said.

“I mean, I understand.”

“Shut up.” Tace said, fists tightening around a shirt he was folding. “What the hell kept you so long, anyway?”

Aaron sighed, “Marjix was supplanted. He fixed the rune, and then fell for a trap. I fired the bow to stun the supplanter long enough they could decapitate him.”

Tace was silent for a minute, thinking on this. “You really wanna hear me talk about my old man?” he asked.

“Think of it this way. At least you have memories of him.” Aaron bowed his head in respect. “I can’t even remember what my father looked like.”

“Yeah, but,” he looked at Aaron, “it’s my family. How would you feel if you discovered you had family still alive?” The room went silent. Tace flinched, “Wait, I didn’t mean to say that.”

Aaron shifted his position and lay down on his bed, “Hey, it’s okay. For all I know, I could still have living family members.”

Tace leaned forward, “Really? Do you think so?”

“How am I supposed to know? I don’t remember.” Aaron tapped his right temple subtly and looked over to Tace, “You know, I sometimes envy you for that. You at least have memories of your father, I have nothing.”

Tace threw an old dirty sock at Aaron, “Well that makes me depressed. Way to be a dickhead about this.” He smiled lightly, “Thanks though.”

Aaron nodded, “I know. Don’t worry; I’m here to annoy you all the time.” “Now come on, travel gear only, let’s get ready.” He stood up, moving over to pack his own supplies.

The two were working quickly, used to having to rush to prepare for missions on short notice. Aaron stopped as he was strapping his bag shut. “Do you hear that?”

Tace lifted his head from his bag, where he had managed to smuggle some weapons inside his clothing and survival gear. He tilted his ear towards the window, “Thunder maybe?”

Aaron shook his head, “I don’t think so, listen,” they were both silent again, “it has a rhythm to it.” He stood up and went over to the window, only to immediately duck back away from it. “Get down!” He yelled.

Tace had learned long ago not to question Aaron, to the point that his command caused no confusion, just the reflex action of dropping flat on his stomach. A second later something crashed through the side of the wall, into their room, and through the other wall.

Tace sprung to his feet, shaking dust and debris off of himself, “Holy shit! What was that?”

“Catapult missile.” Aaron coughed, “Looks like the attack is starting sooner than we thought.” He tried to stand, but found he couldn’t, something was pining him down on his back. “Help me with this thing, will you?”

Tace looked down at Aaron, a support beam from the wall had fallen over on top of him. “Hold on.” Tace said, jumping over the debris of the wall. As he tried to lift the beam, he asked, “Where did that come from?”

“The wall.” Aaron replied, not attempting to hide any sarcasm.

Tace grunted, “I can’t lift it high enough on my own Aaron, it’s too heavy.” He started to lower it again, the beam slipped slightly and came down further, now pressing Aaron into the floor.

“Go get help.” Aaron growled, though he regretted speaking, as the beam pressed further in as the air escaped his lungs.

“No time. One catapult missile means another, soon. Actually, I had another idea,” said Tace, “Hold still.”

Aaron turned his head as much as he could, “What are you going to-“

Tace generated a flaming sickle in his hand, broad bladed and white hot. He slashed the flame-blade into the wood, slicing through it more easily than a blade would, but not as easily as Tace had hoped. “It’s gonna get hot!” He warned Aaron, pushing the blade through the wooden beam, retracting the flames just before they got to Aaron’s shirt. With some effort he hefted the wooden beam, which cracked and split in half at the weak point Tace had made. It was still heavy, but Tace was now able to lift it enough Aaron could crawl out from underneath.

“Thanks for that.” Aaron muttered, “Are there others who are hurt?” He looked to the hole in the wall where the stone had crashed through, seeing it had crashed through Trevet’s section of the room, and out into the neighboring student’s room. A crowd of cautious students were slowly creeping out of their rooms and down the hall to see what had happened. Aaron picked his way through the debris and into the other room. The furniture and beds were destroyed, but there was no sign of the students having been in the room at the time, “There is no one here.” He said, relieved.

A second more thunderous crash shook the whole dorm wing now. Tace looked at the ceiling above them, “They’re targeting the student hall! Damn them!”

Aaron nodded, “Come on, mission time.” He ran back to their room and grabbed his bag and his water skin pouch and headed for the door.

Tace grabbed his pack and followed after him, “Do you ever go on a mission without that thing?” He asked, looking at the water skin, made from what they assumed was striped otter leather. The water skin was not uncommon for any who traveled, but to those with power over water it was also a weapon. Aaron had owned only one water skin his whole life, saying he had grown accustomed to the way this one sat on his shoulder. Tace didn’t know though, that this was the one thing Aaron had left from his former life, the life he knew nothing about.

Aaron shot him a glance, his blue eyes flaring slightly, “It’s personal.” He muttered. He and Tace tuned the corner and broke into a run. Walls and rooms around them groaned and began to crumble as the foundations were struck out. They were almost to the end of the hall, about to turn to the stairway, then the windowed segment right in front of them exploded inwards, the stonework shook and crumbled as the projectile boulder crashed and rolled to a stop jamming half the stairway. Tace blanched when he heard a scream from the other side, a leg was trapped under the boulder. There was nothing they could do from this side to help whoever it was.

Aaron and Tace were forced back as the walls around them began to cave in threatening to hit them with projectiles of wooden beams, shards of glass, falling stonework, and the ever conscious threat of the catapult slung rocks. Other students in their dorms were now fleeing the attack as well, making the way through to the only other stairway a slow travel. Ilar was standing at the stone archway to the stairs, pressing his weight against it for dear life, using his quaking to keep the foundation together. “Is that everyone?” He yelled as Aaron and Tace approached. Aaron nodded grimly and the three ran for the stairs. As soon as Ilar stopped using his powers to hold the archway together the whole thing began to crumble, caving in only moments later. Aaron shivered as he realized that the attacks were almost too perfect. Someone had known just where to hit to do the most damage to the dorms.

“Just how many catapults do they have?” Tace yelled over other startled students as they ushered them to the stairs. “And how the hell did they get them here so quickly?”

“Maybe they’re not catapults.” Aaron said, “The Supplanters have been attacking more of the farming districts… what if they’ve supplanted new earth quakers?”

The thought was sobering. Element controllers were highly sought after by Supplanters, simply for their powers. It was the most frustrating part of the war. Only element controllers had the strength to go up against the Supplanters, but the only reason they were the only ones strong enough was because the Supplanters were taking and using their own soldiers. It was something that had been steeled into every person from a young age, element controller, hybrid, or neutral. If you saw someone, a friend, a family member, or a stranger, being supplanted, you had no choice but to kill them.

When they reached the stairs through the crowd, Aaron and Tace were shoved to the railing against the swarm of students. Ilar began barking orders to the students, telling them were to go and to not panic. Despite that Tace and Aaron saw already one student shoving his way down the stairway, causing a little girl to fall and roll down a few steps, she was almost trampled underfoot, but Ilar had seen her as well and made a quick rescue, scooping her up and holding her close to his chest.

It was clear they were not going to get down the stairway quickly, and the foundation was breaking faster than the kids could exit. Aaron pulled water out of his pouch and in one fluid movement formed a snowboard-like contraption and froze it into ice, allowing him to slide down the stairway banister at a breakneck pace. As he slid down he shot blasts of water at the support beams and anywhere that the stone was beginning to crumble. As the water splashed against these they froze instantly, returning some stability to the stairwell, hopefully enough to keep it up before the students were all out of the way. Tace waited for the last of the students to be ushered down the steps, then turned to run down himself. A last minute thought crossed his mind and he smirked, then he ran up to the banister and using one hand flipped himself over the edge, freefalling all the way to the bottom. A second before he hit the ground he shot a flame out of his hand towards the floor, the propulsion slowing his descent enough to allow him to land safely in a cat-like stance. He stood up and held his hand to his head, swaying slightly at the sudden loss of energy. Aaron appeared next to him, eyeing to make sure he was okay, and then both were running again.

A bell was sounding in the outside courtyard over the shouts of the students, where the mass of students were heading. Aaron and Tace went the same way; chances were that the elders would be outside with the crowd. The second Aaron and Tace stepped through the large cedar doorway Aaron spotted one of the elders. “Elder!” He called out, “Elder Josiah!”

The elder in question, Josiah, was the youngest Elder on the committee, in his late thirties by Aarons guess, with knowing blue eyes and hair that was just turning grey. Josiah was one of the few elders who had no powers. Some believed he was actually a telepathic or maybe weakly empathic, but it had never been proven. The elder turned to face Aaron and Tace as they ran up, “Boys! I saw the boulder crash into the dorms! Thank the Spirits you’re okay. Elder Malachi is waiting for you two in the storage hall. Go there now!” A rocky missile crashed on the ground three yards away from them, showering the small group in dirt. “No time to waste!” Josiah yelled, and without another word turned and ran into the crowd, calling out orders as he went.

Aaron nodded, “Alright then, let’s go.” He looked to Tace and the two began running towards the entrance of the collapsing building.

The storage hall expanded over the back half of the left wing and into the lower basement, which was a converted old catacomb that branched out beneath The Academy. It was deep and full of crates that had been accumulating for hundreds of years, with walls three times as tall as the rooms were wide. It wasn’t a well-lit area, and it was often the case that wanderers got lost within its many dark passages.

Aaron and Tace walked side by side into the main entry of the storage hall, hoping that they wouldn’t have to go into the lower catacomb section. As they walked in however, the elder was not there, only a large boulder which had crashed in from the roof above, smashing to bits when it had hit the ground. Tace groaned when he realized the elder must be in the catacombs, and held up a fire-ball in his hand to light the dark corridor. “Okay… let’s do this before I lose my nerve.” He said, walking to the stairwell to the catacombs. It was a large stairway, wide enough for four or five people to go down shoulder to shoulder comfortably, but as you went further into the catacombs everything narrowed, the light faded, only to be replaced by the fragile moonstone torches that lit the way in a pale blue and pink light. The moonstone was a delicate and beautiful thing, illuminated from within, emitting a cold light that was safer than flames. Tace had often heard that the great hybrid city, Vas Kelrain, used these fragile stones as lighting in the night, even putting them into their stonework or jewelry. He laughed at the thought. The moonstone was so fragile, how did they keep it from shattering? Even shouting too loudly could fracture one of the gentle stones. How could they prevent this in a city where Bat Hybrids ruled the night with sonic voices?

Sadly, the catacombs light source had suffered many years of abuse, most of the moonstones had been left neglected over the years, and most were broken or fractured, dimming their light to a dull flicker. Others were so covered in dust and cobwebs that their light was covered like a blanket, and those lights too began to dim.

Despite the diming light surrounding them it was rather obvious to both Aaron and Tace where they needed to go. There was a bright light coming from somewhere deep within the catacombs, the light radiating out from within the dark heart. Above their heads was the main courtyard, where the Supplanters were attacking without remorse. They had successfully destroyed the front gates, and the runes that were carved upon them. Now the drones and the warriors marched forward, ready to attack The Academy.

The sound of a heated fight continued to grow louder and louder, echoing through the catacombs in a sobering grim reflection. Heavy booms that sounded like thunder told them when another boulder hit the academy. Screams of pain told them when a young student was hurt, shouts of warning told when one was supplanted. It was not going to end well for the school.

“This doesn’t make sense.” Tace said finally, “We were told only hours ago about the Spirit… and in that time a Supplanter army just happens to start marching for us? We’re on the other side of the mountains; they had to have been coming for at least a week. How did we not see them coming?”

“Rumors fly faster than the messenger can run.” Aaron said quietly. “Whoever gave the Elders this information, who knows if it wasn’t given to someone else as well?”

“Whatever the case may be. This whole thing is fucked up.” Tace said. “I hate being left in the dark.” He shuddered, looking at the celling far above them, debating the chances of it caving in and falling on them. The sounds of shouting grew louder, amplified by the empty space. For an old storage hall, it had amazing acoustics.

“It sounds like the elders are going to call for a retreat.” Aaron said. “This will not end well.”

“The students will get out in time, don’t worry.” Tace said. A large boulder hit the ground far above their heads shaking dust loose, which rained down onto them in thick blankets. The nearby moonstone torches were rattled loose, falling and shattering on the floor below.

The duo coughed in the dust, Tace growled as the fire went out in his hand. “That’s it,” he took several steps further into the chamber. He stood still for a moment, then took a deep breath and yelled “MALACHI!”

All was silent for a moment, then in the distance a loud crash reverberated, coming from the same direction as the light. Tace and Aaron looked at each other, “Run?” Tace asked.

“Run.” Aaron nodded.

Tace bent down into a sprinters position, then shot off like a rocket, a mere blur to the human eye. One of the many perks to being a fire wielder was a gift for speed, and Tace was the fastest runner in the entire academy. He rushed down the dark corridors, dust rising up in clouds behind him as he went. The method to this was that Tace would scout ahead and locate the target, in this case the elder, and signal to Aaron where he was.

Aaron saw that they had come to a section of the catacombs where there was an upper walkway above them. He clambered up, moving silently but quickly through the dark, always edging closer to the lighted space ahead. The sounds had not ceased to echo through the catacombs, more crashes, a sound of a struggle, but who was fighting?

He saw the light up ahead, and that Tace’s trail went the same way. He ran, thankful that the small walkway went the same direction as his target. Ahead the catacombs opened into a large chamber, the end of the catacombs as they had been built. Ancient crates were piled up here clear to the ceiling, their contents long forgotten, some more than likely rotten or turned to dust from the passage of time. Cobwebs were thick in the corners of the walls, dust like a carpet under foot. Here the moonstone torches were all broken and gone, but there was no need for them right now with the source of the light, which illuminated this room more than it had been in hundreds, maybe thousands of years. As he neared the end of the walkway he could hear more clearly the sounds of a struggle, and just as he was about to look over to see the scene below him a stream of fire flared up. He paused, thanking his lucky stars he had been one second slower, then slowly peered over the edge just long enough to gain an understanding of the situation below him, and what he saw was a surprise indeed.

The source of the light that Aaron and Tace had been following was a portal, which alone was enough to shock to Aaron. Opening a portal took great mastery in the dark energies of the world, which was forbidden in most territories, including at The Academy. It was oval in shape, at least nine feet tall and four feet wide, and it shone with a blue-white light that lit the open space. In that open space stood Elder Malachi and Tace, the latter of whom was currently fighting with a figure who had its back turned to Aaron.

Aaron didn’t need to see it fully to know what the figure was, he and Tace had fought off many of them before, and even killed more than either cared to count. It was a supplanter. Aaron’s face hardened, these evil spirits who believed themselves dominate over all were the source of his deepest hate.

This particular supplanter was one of the stronger ones Aaron had seen, not like the drone that Tace had blasted outside the gate, or even the one who had taken Elder Marjix. This one was able to block Tace’s offensive attacks seemingly easily. In one quick moment the supplanter gained the upper-hand and knocked Tace backwards, using enough force to send him flying several feet before he landed against a stack of crates, one cracking and caving in slightly under his shoulder. The supplanter, back still faced to Aaron, braced to lunge forward, ready to finish Tace.

Aaron leaped into action at that moment, quite literally in fact. He jumped off the edge of the walkway and landed on top of the supplanter, pinning him to the ground. He braced there, keeping the supplanter immobilized despite its angry yells and thrashing, when Tace yelled, “Behind you!” Aaron didn’t even have time to react, something large, the size of a small man, and hairy and multi-legged, lunged out from a dark corner, tackling and knocking Aaron off of the Supplanters back. All Aaron could comprehend at that moment was that whatever it was it had pincers, and he was trying desperately to keep them from biting him.

Tace scrambled to his feet, wincing with the pain in his shoulder, and charged forward. “Get off of him!” he yelled. He produced a large fireball in his left hand, and in his right he created his sickle flame.

Tace released the fireball, aiming it directly at the creatures back. It struck, and the creature turned to face him. It was then that Tace was able to identify what the beast actually was, a spider damnon. Tace skidded to a halt, a mere three yards from the giant arachnid. “Oh, crud.” He backed up slowly, and then began running; the spider followed him, stepping off of Aaron, who quickly got to his feet.

While Tace was dealing with the giant spider, Aaron turned his attention back to the supplanter, who was moving towards Elder Malachi. Aaron moved forward, trying to tackle the supplanter again, the supplanter however wasn’t too keen on going down again and flipped Aaron over his shoulder, throwing him directly into Elder Malachi. The two fell back and to the floor in a crumpled mess.

Aaron got up as quickly as he could, glancing to the elder, “Sorry, Malachi.” The elder nodded in understanding, shaking slightly with old age, Aaron moved into a defensive stance, preparing to fight.

The supplanter hissed through rotting gums and browning teeth, “You dare try to fight me, boy?” he asked, as if some noble sickened by the sight of a disease ridden beggar.

“You dare attack our home?” Aaron spat, voice equally as bold and noble, “What are you doing here?” He asked, though he knew very well. Honestly the question he desired to ask was ‘how did it get into the catacombs’?

The supplanter laughed, it was a cold, dead sound, with no real joy or mirth behind it. “An assassination. The spirits cannot be allowed to reawaken.”

Aaron ran through his options, he could fight the supplanter, but it was no doubt one of the more powerful supplanters if it was being sent under the impression of fighting a Spirit. He could injure it, but that would only slow it, not finish it off. There were several other options that ran through his head, but he discarded them quickly, fighting this thing was the best solution.

“If you walk away now, I won’t kill you.” Aaron warned. The supplanter glared and stepped forward, ready to fight, and kill, Aaron. “Yeah, didn’t figure that would work.” Aaron said, pulling water out of his water skin. He pushed his hands forward, sending the water crashing into the supplanter. In retaliation, the supplanter pulled a small throwing dagger out of his sleeve and threw it at Aaron, narrowly missing him, but nicking the collar of his shirt an inch short of his throat.

Aaron glared at him, “You asked for it.” And the battle engaged.

Meanwhile, Tace was dealing with the giant spider. Between the supplanter and the giant spider, the supplanter was more deadly, but the spider was more aggressive. Tace had climbed up onto a large pile of crates, and was slashing at any part of the spider that got too close to him. The spider lunged, its pincers barred, Tace jumped sideways to avoid the attack. The spider landed on the crate, completely destroying it and all its contents. The damnon spider turned, raising its two back legs and rubbing them together, creating a strange hissing sound, a primitive form of a warning as it prepared another attack. Tace shook his head to clear it, then shot another fireball at the beast, hitting it in the face. The damnon screeched and tried to beat the fire out, crashing into crates and flailing its legs aimlessly about.

Tace sniggered as he watched the spider flail about, however all merriment ended as it once again turned to attack him, the fire extinguished, but anger in full boil. It leapt at Tace, who had to move quickly to keep out of the way of the poisonous fangs and bone crushing legs of the spider, diving to the side with a roll to gain distance. Several times the spider tried and lunged at Tace, each time the fire wielder narrowly escaped untouched.

Suddenly the spider stopped attacking, it stood stalk still, and its two front legs lifted high into the air. Tace growled at it warily, unsure what to expect next. His answer came when a blinding, white-hot pain seared through his mind. Tace swayed, but for the moment remained standing; he wrapped his hands around his head, trying to focus his mind. “What-” He choked, cursing himself for not preparing for such an attack, the pain doubled, Tace fell to his knees, screaming. “Ach!! Get out of my head!”

He knelt there, trying to mentally fight off the invasion of his own mind, but the spider had the upper hand. Tace began to hear things, voices, echoing around in his head.

“Kill the boy…” They echoed, “Destroy him.”

Try as he might, he couldn’t get the world to stop spinning and teetering, he couldn’t get the haunting voices to go away, and the pain continued to increase. He felt numb, he couldn’t focus anymore, the world slipped into darkness unlike anything Tace had known. He blacked out.

Aaron saw his friend collapse, and the spider creeping up on him, poison dripping from its large protruding fangs. “NO!” he yelled, throwing an arm out to send an attack at the spider, meaning to slice it in half with a rush of water. The supplanter charged him in his moment of distraction and tackled him to the floor. Aaron winced as the cold, dead fingers raked across his back, leaving a burning sensation where they traced.

The supplanter held him there; much like Aaron had done to him earlier, then leaned over and hissed in Aaron’s ear, “You will all die, flesh-bound. All must die!” The supplanter drew his blade, readying to stab Aaron in the heart from behind.

Aaron struggled to break out of his grasp, unsuccessful in his attempts. The supplanter was just too strong and held him in too good a hold. Aaron glanced over at Tace, still unconscious, with the spider leaning over him. The damnon began to produce some of its natural webbing, and began wrapping Tace up like any spider would it’s next meal. Aaron struggled even harder, as soon as the spider had finished wrapping up Tace it would administer the lethal bite, he couldn’t let that happen. “No…”

Just as the Supplanter began to bring it’s dagger down, aimed at Aaron’s heart, Elder Malachi seemingly reappeared and grabbed the hilt of the blade. The supplanter hissed, “You! Old fool. Be gone, your weakness will kill you soon enough.”

Malachi held onto the hilt of the dagger, and raised it up high over the supplanters head, “Yes,” he said, “I daresay it might. But until age or sickness takes me I, and every warrior of old, is sworn to battle your kind to the end.”

The supplanter hissed angrily and leaped at the elder. The two collided and went rolling across the floor. The elder, despite his age, proved more than capable to fight this enemy. It was pure fact of his many seasons as a warrior that he held his own, he knew almost exactly how the supplanter would move, the logic of his next attack, where to move to deflect, where to step to dodge.

Aaron was about to pursue the two, but then he remembered Tace. Running over he picked up Tace’s crossbow, the strap had broken and fallen off of his back in the initial attack with the supplanter. He aimed and fired at the spider’s back, piercing the fleshy exposed joint between the thorax and abdomen. The spider screeched in pain, but Aaron had successfully gained its attention. It turned and lunged at him, fangs barred. Aaron didn’t run, or even try to dodge the creature; instead he glared at the beast, focusing on its poisoned pincers. A two inch thick layer of ice formed around the fangs, the spider let loose a sound something like a startled shriek and stopped dead in its tracks, desperately trying to knock the ice off of its sensitive fangs.

Aaron sufficed that the spider was at least distracted for now and hurried to Tace’s side, ready to heal him if need be. He knelt next to Tace, who was slumped on the floor, unconscious, and covered in a tight layer of spider silk. Aaron didn’t see any bite marks, nor did he sense any poison in his blood system. “Tace?” Aaron shook his friend, trying to bring him back to conscious, all he got was a pained groan, Aaron sighed, at least he was alive. “Damnit, fire wielder, fine time to fall asleep!”

A cry turned Aaron’s attention back to the elder and the supplanter. Malachi had managed to take the dagger away from the supplanter, and burry it several inches into its right thigh. The supplanter in retaliation struck Malachi across the face, sending him sprawling. Elder Malachi’s age finally caught up with him, old bones and weary muscles collapsed and refused to stand back up. The supplanter took the blade out of his leg, black coagulated blood oozed slowly from the wound. Before Malachi or Aaron had time to react, it drove the blade, still covered in its own blood, into Malachi’s shoulder, angling inwards towards the chest. Malachi hollered in pain.

Aaron took off at a sprint, “Elder!” He yelled. The supplanter stood back, as if to admire his work, he heard Aaron coming and turned to face him. Aaron jumped and, using both legs, propel kicked the supplanter, knocking him down once again. It was stunned, or at least the body was

Aaron knelt down beside the elder, “Malachi, hold on.” He grabbed the hilt of the blade, “I need to pull the dagger out.”

The elder gritted his teeth, blood spurted up into his mouth as he spoke, “Do it quickly, lad.” Aaron pulled the blade out, the elder let loose a gasp of pain. Blood spurted up out of the newly opened wound, Aaron discarded the blade, throwing it to the side, and quickly clamped his hand down on it to prevent it from bleeding out. After a moment Aaron took his hand away from the wound, “It’s not bleeding…” He was astounded; the dagger had been buried fairly deep.

“The supplanters blood,” Malachi coughed, “…is spreading.”

Aaron silently calculated his options, supplanter’s blood, while technically just dead human blood, was a poison to anything non-supplanter thanks to the tainted ichor created by the supplantation process. In the worst cases this poisoned blood could actually turn those unfortunate enough to have come into contact with it into a supplanter pawn, even lower in the chain of power than a drone, which was more of a glorified slave.

“I’ll try to pull it out.” He moved into a better position and placed his hand back over the wound, focusing his energy on pulling the poison from the elders body. He reached out with his powers, sensing the blood. He could feel the elder’s own blood being contaminated and changed by the Supplanters. He focused on that. He pulled the largest amount out first, discarding it in disgust. Blood flowed more quickly out of the wound, Aaron knew he was on the right track. Behind him the supplanter slowly stood, picking up the blade as he did so. Neither the elder, nor Aaron noticed him approaching.

Just then Tace moaned, catching both Aaron and the Supplanters attention. Aaron turned, spotting the supplanter instantly. He jumped up, reacting before the supplanter as he kicked the dagger out of its hand. He then pulled the remainder of the water out of his water skin, and used it all in one solid stream to throw the supplanter back against the far wall of crates. The supplanter landed on his feet, only a few feet from Tace.

Aaron stiffened, realizing his impulse attack had just put Tace in danger. He moved to charge forward, to challenge the supplanter and get it away from his friend, however the spider damnon, cautious though it was now of Aaron, leaped at him, defending its master and tackling Aaron in the opposite direction that he wanted to go.

Tace’s eyes slowly opened, the first thing he saw was the supplanter standing over him. His defenses rose, but not quick enough. The supplanter bent down and picked Tace up one handed by his shirt. Tace struggled to break the supplanters hold, thrashing and kicking, but because of the webbing the supplanter was able to hold on to him.

“Let go, you bastard!” Tace snapped. A short flame rippled out from his body, incinerating the webbing, freeing Tace. He kicked and thrashed, but the supplanter held him tightly, unfazed by Tace’s attempts.
Aaron managed to leap over the damnon, using what water had spilled on the floor water to freeze its legs to the ground. The ice was only strong enough to keep the spider pinned for a moment, and as Aaron ran he heard the ice breaking and shattering behind him. “Tace!” He yelled, running towards his friend.

The supplanter gave Aaron a cold smile, lifted Tace even higher above his head, and then threw him into the wall of crates behind them.

Tace hit the wood, and then fell to the floor in a crumpled heap. Surprisingly Tace managed to stand up and shake his head, “Is that all you’ve got?” He asked the supplanter, unaware of a small trickle of blood running down his nose. The supplanter however smiled wickedly and shook his head, pointing up at the crates. Tace turned to see the crates had been knocked off balance by his collision and were teetering on the edge. They begin to fall. “Oh shi-“ he swore, he spun his arms around himself, forming a spherical fire shield. As the crates fell and hit the flames they were deflected, burned, and the weakest turned to ash, but the pile of rubble soon built up high enough that it didn’t even matter if the crates hit him or not, Tace was buried.

“No!” Aaron bellowed, still running for the supplanter. The spider leaped onto his back, Aaron twisted himself around and, growling angrily, kicked with both legs into the spider’s thorax, sending the giant arachnid flying through the air. As he hit the ground he flipped himself back onto his feet and placed himself into a fighting stance. The supplanter moved past him, almost as if he didn’t see him. Aaron turned, watching as the supplanter moved away from him.

“Go die in the battle above.” The supplanter said, in a cold, monotone voice. “Leave me to my task to kill the spirit.” It stood there a moment, the sound of the spider scuttling back to its master echoing through the chamber. Slowly it crept out of the shadows, coming to a stop at the supplanter’s heels.

“I will not back down!” Aaron growled. While he believed the spirits were dead, he would remain loyal to the mission, and therefor he had to protect the spirit from the supplanter… even if it was dead already.

“But you can’t fight,” the supplanter pointed over towards elder Malachi, clutching his chest tightly, trying to slow the heavy bleeding, “If you fight, he’ll die.”

Aaron’s eyes shifted between the supplanter and the elder. A large pool of blood was forming under the elders body, his wound still bleeding dangerously. The spider hissed, Aaron’s eyes flew to look at the beast. It rocked back and forth on its legs. The supplanter gave a cold laugh, “Be careful, flesh bound, my pet has a taste for blood.”

The spider took off, so did Aaron. The spider reached the elder first, but Aaron was right behind her. The spider barred its fangs and reared its front, Aaron just managed to run up in front of it as it did this and kicked it in the face, sending it sprawling backwards past the supplanter.

Aaron kneeled down next to the elder, and re-placed his hand on the wound. The supplanter gave a cold laugh, and stepped up to Aaron. Aaron glared at him, but didn’t say anything. The supplanter leaned over, his face close enough to Aaron’s to make him gag at the horrible smelling breath and rotting teeth, “Why not just let him die? He is old, and death is inevitable.”

“It is not his time to die.” Aaron said, “I have to do what I can.” He was trying to figure out if the Supplanter was toying with him or buying time. Probably both.

The supplanter shook its head, “I never will understand you flesh bound, you fight when loss is inevitable.”

“If we do not fight, loss is inevitable anyway.” Aaron said, still growling, it was taking all his self-control to not let go of the elders wound and attack the supplanter.

The supplanter nodded, turned, and walked away, the spider following at his heels. “Foolish.” The supplanter spun around and pointed at Aaron, “All spirits will die, no life will be spared. You flesh-bound are not worthy of the blood of the Mist.” And with that he stepped through the portal, the spider following closely behind.