Suddenly a bar of metal comes out of no where, wraps around Will and Alea both and sends them hurtling backwards.

  They end up slamming against the wall ringing the arena, grunting as they hit, and then the metal bar releases them and dissolves.

  Will looks up and can’t believe his eyes.

  A part of him notices that what Amos did to them to get them out of harms way, he did to every single person on the arena floor. They were all pressed tight to the wall to keep them as out of harms way as possible. Once their restraints dissolved, they all rapidly streamed out. The people in the stands were already fleeing, quickly emptying the arena.

  But the majority of Will’s attention was taken up by the cyclone of green fire slowly spinning where Belial had just been standing.

  Will looks around for Amos and can’t find him.

  Then massive spears of metal, each the size of a small tree, come crashing down out of the sky and slam down into the twisting pillar of green fire. A dozen or more screaming towards the center of it.

  Just then Will spots Taleya appearing about fifty feet in the air. She slashes down into the pillar and a crescent of something comes off her blade and slashes down into the flames.

  Will thinks he catches a glint of a rainbow of colors in the crescent but he’s not sure because it quickly disappears into the inferno. What happens when the fire comes into contact with her attack confuses him. The flames quickly turn black and then disappear, a gap appearing in the deadly pillar before more flames fill in the empty space.

  Will’s not sure exactly what’s happening but whatever she’s doing seems effective.

  Then the pillar seems to vanish, and two massive streams of fire rocket out to either side of where the center of the pillar used to be.

  Two rivers of flame move faster than Will can track and before he realizes what happens, he notices that Amos and Taleya were on the receiving ends of the attack. Blasted into the now empty stands.

  They don’t stay down for long, a few seconds after being launched into the stands, they rocket back into the fight.

  Will can’t follow it at all. Not even just individual hits, but any movements whatsoever. All he saw was flashes of attacks. Flying metal here, gouts of bright green flame there, and impacts of their hits sending hurricane force winds at them. Each hit sounds like a crack of thunder and pushes the limits of what his hearing can endure.

  He glances frantically from side to side looking for the closest exit. Do they dare run like the rest? Amos said to stay as still as possible, but wouldn’t it be better if they were out of the way completely? Or would Belial take advantage of their movement to attack them?

  Will’s frozen to the ground with indecision.

  But even in the midst of his indecisiveness he can’t take his eyes away from the fight. He can barely see it, but what he can perceive amazes him.

  He witnesses the upper reaches of power and it captures him. The heights they had to climb to achieve this power astounds him.

  He looks at their power and he sees people who can’t be pushed around. Can’t be coerced, bullied, manipulated, or intimidated. He sees freedom and peace of mind.

  Will became obsessed with getting stronger soon after he started his journey here, but witnessing the Emperors fight lights a deeper fire in him.

  I want this power. I want this strength!

  His eyes stay fixed on the three fighters as they blur back and forth, trading blows and attacks.

  One thing confuses them though. These three are supposed to be insanely powerful. He can only guess that they must be incredibly high in cultivation. A level which he can’t imagine many people reaching. If that’s true, then how hasn’t he and Alea been killed in the cross fire? How is the arena still standing? How is the city still standing?

  Will has no one to ask, but the only guess he has amazes him if true. Despite this overwhelming power, is their control really this high? Because if it is, that means their control rivals their strength.

  There’s a lesson there, but Will’s too fixated on the fight to focus on it.

  A bright green flash ignites and Will and Alea both shield their eyes. Even with his eyes covered the brightness is almost too much for him. And the sheer heat of it makes him feel like he’s being cooked alive.

  The next second a portion of the stands explodes about a hundred feet to his left.

  The heat and the light cut off and as Will’s eyes clear he see’s the impossible.

  Amos is lying half buried in rubble, bleeding from his head. He struggles as he slowly gets up, his right arm hanging uselessly at his side, blood running down his arm and quickly dripping off his fingertips. His left hand is pressed against his side, which also looks to be soaked in blood.

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  Taleya is standing next to him. Cuts and burns all over her and breathing heavily, but compared to Amos, she’s in much better shape. She thankfully still has her sword gripped tightly in her right hand.

  They both glare at an arrogant looking Belial. His green vest had come undone, his hair is slightly in disarray, but besides that his only blemish is a long cut along his left cheek.

  “Surrender you two! You will not win. Give me the children and go.”

  “You think we’d let you take them anywhere? We know what happens to those you ‘take in’.” Amos says.

  Belial’s voice lowers and his brow scrunches as he directs his threat. “You think I’m afraid to kill you? You think the threat of your friends means anything to me? I know how the world works Amos. No one will come after me. No one will seek retribution. I’ll get two new grunts and you’ll be dead, or I can just get two new recruits. Your choice. You should be grateful I’m even giving you one.”

  “Are you so blinded by your power that you’ve forgotten who I am? Forgotten where I come from?” Taleya says from beside Amos.

  For the first time Belial seems to hesitate slightly. His eyes shift to Taleya and he seems to pause in consideration.

  “I haven’t forgotten you witch. But you’re friends are no more conce-“

  “Connections?! Do you really think that’s all you have to fear from me?”

  The air around Taleya seems to shimmer and bend and a crack forms in Belial’s confidence. Will thinks he see’s nervousness there. A trace of fear.

  He sees Taleya as her enemies must always see her. As a master practitioner of not just one, but two powerful, arcane and esoteric magics. A master swordswoman and a fierce fighter. A force to be reckoned with.

  “There is a reason my country has never been successfully invaded. There is a reason why we are feared.” The shimmering around her intensifies. “Allow me to remind you.” She whispers.

  Taleya moves so fast she disappears to Will’s eyes. At the same time, Amos throws his left hand forward and an absolutely massive spear of metal erupts from under the stands and shoots towards Belial like a missile. Will’s not sure, but he thinks the spear is even spinning rapidly as it moves forward.

  At the same instant a pillar of green flame twice as tall as the last one is formed. This time though it’s wider towards the top, more resembling a tornado. And it is spinning much faster than the last one.

  The spear is inside the green twister in an instant, and another second later it is sent flying off behind and out the other side, the first quarter of it burned away. The effort seems to make the tornado slightly smaller.

  The same instant the spear is sent into the flame, a massive shimmering crescent of an energy Will can’t identify is sent down from above the twister. It cuts the tornado in half and the flame dissipates as it’s cut. Resulting in the twister getting shorter and shorter as the crescent descends.

  It reaches about thirty feet in the air and is slowed to a stop. The twister dissipates entirely and Belial is exposed, his hands outstretched above him, a small column of fire extending from his hands to the crescent that is still pushing down. He’s braced, knees bent, teeth bared as he tries to overcome Taleya’s attack.

  Her attack feels different than just force. This isn’t him reading the aura off of it. He still can’t do that yet. This is more like instinct. A nonspecific feeling he’s getting. Force is definitely there, but it feels like there’s more to it than that. It’s as if Belial is fighting off multiple different attacks at once that’s condensed into Taleya’s one crescent of energy.

  A second later Taleya shoots down out of the air, slams her sword down and behind the crescent of energy, adding more weight and power to the attack. Belial braces even harder as the ground cracks underneath him and he sinks several inches into the earth.

  He maintains his stance though, preventing the crescent from descending on him.

  Amos stands off to the side, leaning against a large piece of rubble. His eyes are fixed on the battle of life and death in front of him, his arm still useless at his side. His bleeding seems to be even worse than it was before.

  Taleya and Belial struggle against one another for several seconds, neither giving up an inch. A few more seconds later Belial’s bared teeth curl up into a cruel smile. The crescent started losing its size, and Will could only guess that meant it was losing its energy as well.

  Will sees Taleya grit her teeth, muscles straining, pushing with everything she has to overcome Belial. But sometimes even trying as hard as you can, you can still fail. Will’s fear ratcheted up another notch as he realizes his masters might not be able to stop this man from taking them.

  Then his stomach drops as Belial bends his knees slightly and then yells as he pushes out another massive gush of flame up through his attack and into Taleya.

  Alea yells next to him in despair, tears in her eyes as she reaches out for her master.

  Taleya gets blasted upward as the flame blasts through her crescent attack and smashes into her, rocketing her into the sky. Belial then disappears and the next thing Will knew, Taleya was being blasted back into the earth with another gout of powerful green flame. Dust quickly fills the air after the heavy impact.

  Will stares at the spot Taleya was hurled into in disbelief. Tears form in his eyes as he’s sure his master has just been killed right in front of his eyes. He looks despairingly back at Belial as he appears back on the ground again, his sadistic smile even wider as he regards Amos.

  “So old friend? What’s it going to be? Enduring shame is a much better fate than death.”

  Will hears the sound of shifting and falling rocks and he sees Taleya pull herself roughly from the crater Belial had created with her body. She barely gets to her feet. She stands, shakey, breathing heavy, her shoulders slumped forward. She looks like she barely has the strength to stand.

  He sighs in relief. He can’t believe she survived that.

  But his heart clenches. His masters don’t have much left in them. They won’t be able to fight to much longer. And if they continue how they are they’ll die.

  Will wants to do something! Find some way to turn the tides, to tip the balance in their favor. He clenches his fists tightly, tears starting to stream down his face in frustration and fear. He can’t think of anything! What can they do?

  “I’ll give you this much.” Belial says. “You’re tough. Like a cockroach.”

  Taleya coughs up blood and glares at Belial.

  “Amos.” She says. “I’m sorry. It’s the only way.”

  Belial frowns. He looks to Amos and then back to Taleya.

  “No!” He must of felt what she was trying to do because he shouts and leaps for her.

  She disappears in a twist of space. She reappears next to Amos, grabs his arm in one hand and points her open hand at Will and Alea. She yells and Will feels space twisting and bending painfully around him.

  He looks panicked back and forth from his masters to Belial.

  “Amos!” Will cries out desperately.

  Green flame fills the space between them as rapidly as if a nuclear bomb were detonating right next to them.

  …and then they were gone.