Five blurs raced through the forest, as they headed towards the edge of the kingdom and deeper into the Devils' Maw.

"Cy, that way." Miri said as she pointed to a higher location, Cybelline nodded.

Behind her, four very determined boys followed her like little ducklings, she didn't stop them. Afterall, she was much younger when she started her training.

The little hand tightened on her back, Miri buried her face in Cybelline's back, "They're up there." Her entire body shook in anxiety and fear. Cybelline looked up and whistled. They were now at the base of the largest mountain.

Devil's maw had gotten its name by the giant, jutting mountains that bore strange resemblance to the gaping jaw of some unimaginable demon of the the deep.

"Boys." Cybelline gently unraveled the distressed girl from her back. They stopped next to her. Cybelline smiled, "I'm going to go alone. Don't come after me, find a safe place to hide. Get yourself up a tree, people usually forget to look up. If you don't hear back, take this and your sister to the closest town." She gave them all the money she had on her.

Ceric opened his mouth to argue, but Cybelline shut him down, "Will you be able to help me if you went with me?"

He closed his mouth and shook his head, his hands in fists. Ryion came over and took Miri's hand, "We'll hide well, we promise"

Cybelline ruffled his hair, "Thank you."

"You'll come back." Miri suddenly said, "You're our hope."

Ceric looked at her with a slight frown, but when Berin nudged him in question, he only shook his head.

Cybelline grinned and made a shooing motion, "Get. And don't forget to make the mark I told you about, it'll make it easier to find you later." They disappeared into the trees.

She climbed the summit and almost rolled her eyes, why was it that all dramatic things ended up on cliffs, edge of buildings, or some tower? It was almost as if the writer had a fear of heights and was projecting it onto her characters. Or watched too many action movies.

BOOM. A heavy boulder fell next to her, and Cybelline made the jump to a much safer ledge on the cliff. She glowered at the sky, was this punishment for her questioning how the story was going? She threw up the middle finger and continued to climb.

The top of the summit was a wide span of land, dusted by large boulders and gnarled trees. On any given day it would've been a beautiful large field...

BOOM

Rocks rain from the sky, Cybelline cursed and darted for cover, a rain of shale followed thereafter. Cybelline looked for the source headed towards its. It was a dangerous, slow journey as she had to continually dodge all the rocks and miscellaneous missiles that flew around her. Wind whistled and howled, gathering dust and sharp debris the closer she got, she was stuck in a tornado.

A huge boulder came at her, she threw herself to the side, missing it by an inch. The last time she'd ran through an active warzone was three years ago, it wasn't even half as dangerous.

She took another step forward and smashed headfirst into a clear barrier, it threw her back onto the ground. Cybelline sat up and cursed.

She couldn't see into the thing, and then the world went silent.

A force, pressing into her lungs, sucked her towards the barrier and just as she was about to crash into it again, she was through.

But she still couldn't breathe, something had closed off her throat and lifted her high into the air. Beside her, was a man in grey with a black mask, inspected the newcome thoroughly. He patted her head, "Now, where did you come from?"

"Let the child go." A voice, deep and commanding said. Cybelline looked up, it was Jinon. he was dressed in silver, battered armor. A cat sat his feet. There was gold edged fire in his hands as he faced a man in dark grey.

The man in dark grey cloak smiled, "Finally, he speaks." He lifted a hand and Cybelline fell down. Rather, she was smashed into it as the man in grey landed gracefully on the blackened earth strewn with bodies of dead soldiers and mages.

She coughed and spat out a mouthful of dust, then climbed out of the hole her impact had made.

The man in grey raised his hand again, and Cybelline was frozen again, though this time, she could still breathe and to her relief, speak.

"About time you showed up old man." Cybelline admonished Jinon, "Next time try to be a little earlier."

Jinon tsked, "I'm not the one who was idiot enough to climb a mountain during a hailstorm of boulders."

"Ahem. I'm still here." A slightly amused voice called out, "Or did you two forget the mortal peril that you face?"

Cybelline frowned at the man who interrupted the conversation between her and Jinon, "And you are?"

The masked man bowed, "Mattias, at your service. Though I doubt you'll live long enough to enjoy it."

"Challenge accepted." Cybelline retorted.

Mattias smiled, gave her a slight, mocking bow, and turned back to Jinon.

"Jinon, what have you been up to all these years?" The man said with a genuine smile, as if he had seen an old, dear friend. "Why is it that you won't visit me? It's always me that has to find you. We've know each other since we were lads, is this how you treat an old friend?"

"Have you considered maybe you're just a dick and no one wants to be around you?" Cybelline asked, "Maybe take a hint?"

The man in grey turned around, his bright blue eyes, hidden behind a grey mask inspected the youth and turned to look at Jinon, "Is this your son?"

"Who the hell wants a child like that?"

"No mother of mine would marry a beard like that."

They both glared at the man in grey, who seemed to have reached a wholly wrong conclusion from their reaction

Mattias began to chuckle, which became full blown gales of laughter.

"You...behind her back..." The man in grey wiped a tear away, "If she could see you now. Did you ever regret it?"

His voice had changed from the pleasant baritone to a much harsher hiss, "Did you regret leaving her alive? If only you hadn't betrayed her, perhaps the person sitting beside her would be you. Perhaps we would still be friends, and I wouldn't have to hunt you down like a dog."

"Mattias. You're no match for me."

"We'll see." The man in grey named Mattias grinned and took out a box, in it was a crystal that seemed to shine with the power of the sun, "You know, I acquired this recently, the blood of a elf. So very rare in this day and age, with the fae and folk nearly all gone." He took the crystal blood drop and swallowed it. Power spread across his body through his veins in flashes of blue.

Jinon looked down at his cat, "You take care of his beast, I'll take care of him. We have to destroy him before he absorbs all that power. Get to Cy and get her off the mountain."

Mattias's eyes narrowed and he turned to Cybelline, "You're not worth my time. Caephius, rip the boy apart!" A those words, a snarl ripped through the air as a giant grey wolf howled and came straight at Cybelline, it's silvery yellow teeth reaching for her neck.

A roar that shook the earth followed as a golden blur crashed into the wolf. Cybelline blinked, a lion the size of a school bus was now fighting with the slightly smaller wolf.

"What do you feed your animals here?" Cybelline still could not move, but her mind was racing with thousand ways to distract the man.

"Halfing flesh." Mattias answered with a grin "At least my wolf does. She gorges on the bodies of half-breeds. Their magic helps her grow beautiful and strong." His smile was vicious, 'While I don't prefer the taste, I definitely have been known to enjoy the succulent wings of fairies. Elf ears are a delight and a delicacy."

Jinon's hands suddenly tightened, "Where are my friends, Mattias?"

Mattias smiled, "You mean the old couple? Don't worry they were too weak, the male had used up most of his magic. Though that female was a worthy fighter."

"What did you do?" Cybelline's voice had gone quiet as well.

Mattias shrugged, "I was going to throw them down the cliff, but I haven't had the time." He pointed to towards the ravine that was miles deep, "Legend has it, this was one of the last strongholds that we humans had conquered from the fae."

He paused to think, "Windmare, I believe it was called. Here, the last of the fae and folk threw themselves over these cliffs rather than be captured by our people." He looked around, "Ah, there they are." He wave his hand and two people appeared, laying next to each other on the grass.

"You bastard." Jinon drew his sword, "You deserve to die."

Mattias shrugged, "So do you." He looked the other man with disdain, "You were the worst of all of us. And, Jinon, I wouldn't be so sure about who's stronger now."

Jinon charged. Mattias laughed and threw the ball of lightning at Jinon, who dodged it with ease. Just as Jinon was about to reach the other man, Mattias took a step back and clapped his hands, Jinon went flying backward.

Mattias laughed, "If only you had been practising magic like the rest of us, perhaps you wouldn't be this weak. Are you surprised at how much I've grown?"

Jinon got to his feet, "How many people had to die for you to gain this much power?"

Mattias smiled, "They're not people, they're Fae and Folk. They're destined to die for our glory." He showed his arm, on it was five stripes of white dye, "I've finally become a Master, one of the ten ever to exist." His grin was vicious, "You know, when we fought side by side, I never thought I would ever surpass the greatest warrior of our generation, perhaps the world."

Jinon jumped to his feet, raised his sword, it began to glow red hot, turning the air around it dry and heated, "I was going easy on you."

He seemed to become a blur, arriving in front of Mattias in an instant. Mattias didn't even have enough time to throw up his defense when Jinon used the butt of his sword and punched the mage in the face, Mattias crumpled to the ground.

ROARRR. The cat that had transformed into a lion sank its teeth into the wolf's neck and threw it back. With a yelp the large animal tumbled toward its owner, it's body landing a few feet away.

Cybelline found that she could move, she stood and stretched, "I think I need to be properly introduce to your pet." The wolf got up, shook itself and ran at her. Cybelline waited until it was so close she could feel its hot breathe, reached forward and ripped out it's eye. She gripped it by it's head and body slammed it into the ground.

The wolf's howl pierced the air, as the two men stared at the child. Cybelline ignored them and aimed again, this time, cutting into its sensitive nose. The animal rolled around in pain. With a kick, she sent it over the edge of the cliff. She turned around, "Sorry, what's your wolf's name again? I didn't catch it."

"Leave. Mattias, you are no match for us." Jinon said again, this time, his sword was pointed at the man's throat.

To Cybelline' surprise, Mattias smiled.

"You could have killed me just now, Jinon, but you didn't." Mattias said as he wiped a trickle of blood off his chin. "You know what your greatest weakness had always been?" In his hand, held a piece of short black hair. Cybelline's hair.

He pointed to Cybelline and started muttering. Cybelline felt her body rise into the air again, she fought to stay grounded but found that she was held in the air like a ragdoll.

Pain, unimaginable pain began to spread through her, it was if she was being torn apart, piece by piece.

The skin of her hand began to split, magic burrowed itself into her flesh like little worms, cutting into her in infinite ways. It was pain unimaginable as all of her skin began to split apart. Cybelline felt as if something, someone was eating her alive. Blood seeped out of her body in tiny rivers, it soaked her clothes and bathed her in red.

"It takes time to form a Blood Curse, and luckily with all my new power, I was able to do it sooner than I thought. You see, I knew that I might not be as strong as you yet, but I know your weakness." Mattias said, his face pale with effort at sustaining the magic, "I just learned this spell, I read that whoever experiences it would wish to die within a few moments."

"STOP!" Jinon roared as he realised, "Take me instead." Jinon threw down his sword, "Do whatever you want, just, stop."

Mattias laughed, "Jinon, you have always, always been too kind-hearted." He raised his other hand, and a ball of light appeared, it struck Jinon in the center of his chest. The lion roared and became a cat again, falling to the earth as Jinon knelt, unable to stand any longer.

Cybelline's body fell back onto the earth with a soft thud, she felt the edges of her vision blacken, the world falling more and more silent. She had been wrong. Her strength had meant nothing in the face of true power. She thought she could save Ithos and Myrai. She thought that if she was already strong enough. Had she been wrong all along to ignore magic?

Unbeknownst to her, two new mages had arrived, they bowed to Mattias, whose face was now bloodless. They held him up as he inspected the now injured Jinon, "Take him with us."

"And that one, Master?" One of them asked, Mattias looked at the bloody body, he waved a hand, "Throw it over. Thow all of them over."

A pair of hands grabbed Cybelline roughly and the last thing she remembered was the vivid blue sky as she fell to the unknown darkness below.