Uliraf, Rosalis and Graydon sat in the chambers, trying to calm their nerves for the battle that was yet to come. Rosalis walked over to the window and squinted, spotting a glow on the ocean. “Uliraf!” She called out. He looked over to her from the table at which he was sat at.

  “Yes?” He asked.

  “What is that?”

  Uliraf walked over to her and looked outside. His mouth dropped open slightly. “It’s a fire ship, and it is sailing right for Wolfholde.”

  The king of Doyeya looked at his custodian and herald. “Is it done?”

  “The fire ship should be arriving at Wolfholde’s castle right about now.” The custodian replied. The king chuckled.

  Rosalis, Uliraf and Graydon made their way to the shore, attempting to get to the dromon fire ship in time. Rosalis went to help Uliraf push the rowboat out to the sea, when suddenly, Gradyon grabbed her hand.

  “I will not let you.” He told her.

  “You can’t stop me.”

  “It’s too dangerous.”

  “So help us.”

  Graydon frowned, growling, and released her, allowing the boat to be pushed out to sea. He then climbed into the boat after her. He took hold of the oars and proceeded to row at four knots. They made their way to the fire ship and Graydon and Uliraf took their grappling hooks and cast them onto the ship. The hooks clamped themselves down onto the gunwale and they proceeded to board the ship. Coughing and hacking through the black smoke, they looked around for anything to help them stop the catastrophe. Uliraf called out and they looked at him. He pointed down at the deck and immediately, they understood. Following after him, they made their way down into the hold and breathed a bit of fresh air. They then stared in shock at what was in front of them. The hold was filled to the brim with powder kegs, enough to blow the kingdom sky high. They quickly realised that they did not have much time before the fire would burn through the deck and to the gunpowder. Uliraf grabbed an axe hanging on the hull of the ship and Rosalis looked around, quickly taking another one. Without hesitation, they proceeded to break through the lower deck, cracking and splitting the floorboards. Seawater quickly poured in. Wasting no time, they dropped the axes and made their way back to the deck. Casting away the grappling hooks, they jumped into the sea, just as a burning mast creaked and collapsed, and climbed back onto the boat as the fire ship began to sink. They turned around and the last they saw of the fire ship was a burning mast that cracked in half and splashed into the sea. Uliraf rowed them back towards Wolfholde. Rosalis stared at him, noticing his expression.

  The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

  “What’s on your mind?” She asked.

  “It is just something that I’m thinking about.” He replied. “It is not important, it probably won’t help us anyway.”

  “Any idea is better than no idea.”

  “I was just thinking about the pyromancer.”

  “A pyromancer?”

  “Not a pyromancer, the pyromancer. He is the only one in the known world. He was a wizard that decided to focus on fire magic, tried to build up his powers. He thought that what was the point of learning all of the elements when you could just focus on one and use that? The level of power, the sheer destruction that fire magic could cause. It’s something that I tremble to even think about. He lived somewhere in the forest between Frinnor and Wolfholde, but then disappeared without a trace. No one has heard from him since. That was...years ago. I’m talking at least a hundred. If, somehow, we manage to find him, he would be an excellent addition to the army.”

  “Indeed, but...where do we begin?”

  “I do not know.”