UNITY

Blaze quietly chuckled as the dust from the battle cleared.

Sazir was found screaming and rolling in the ruins of the schoolhouse. The pain in his arm refused to fade, as he could feel the incinerating flames tearing away his own skin.

Rhysara snarled at the injured man, "Hand over the Shard of Ice, and you might be given mercy."

Blaze slowly stood from his crouching position, while at the same time he welded the charred skin on his forearm back together with a small flame on the tip of his pointer finger.

Rhysara tossed aside the helmet with the shape of a rhinoceros.

She then wasted no time in starting their battle, rushing toward Blaze.

He brought his battle axe up to meet her attack but was left with nothing but air. Rhysara was already under the large axe as she brought her longsword up with a vertical slash toward his jaw.

Blaze threw himself to the side, only seconds before the long blade could split his head.

He landed in a small patch of fire poppies that had caught fire a couple of meters away. The orange-haired man slowly picked his rugged body up as he began to cough violently.

"You are growing weak, old friend..."

Rhysara said with a sigh as she charged toward Blaze quickly. She was already upon him as her longsword met his chest in a horizontal slash.

Blaze felt an intense burn in his chest as the wound began to spill out large amounts of blood.

She then landed a front kick into the hunched-over Blaze's stomach, sending him flying back and landing inside a small crater about twelve meters away.

Blaze coughed blood into the air as he lay with his back to the ashy dirt.

'Damn it all, I'm out of energy!'

He thought to himself as he ripped a small orange gem off the guard of his battle axe.

Blaze sat up slowly, held out the crested gem in his hand, and closed it into a fist—crushing the small orb.

An intense fire spread from his closed fist throughout his exhausted body, giving him one more boost to give Chase enough time to escape.

Blaze shot over the crater's wall, landing mere meters away from the Commander of Frostfang.

He reached back and delivered a massive horizontal slash with his axe.

However, the axe was met with Rhysara's longsword.

Blaze retreated his axe, letting her sword awkwardly push into the air.

The inflamed man jumped straight into the air, letting a fiery explosion erupt from his body.

Blaze winced in pain as he could feel his own consciousness fade away.

As he began to fall, he lifted the battle axe above his head and began to bring it down with the rest of the power that he had left.

Rhysara lifted her blade horizontally to meet the inferno.

...

The blades met with a crash as shards of silver flew from the scene.

Blaze stood with his axe impaled into the ground as blood dripped from the gash on Rhysara's face.

However, a small ivory dagger sat pierced through his chest.

The commander backed away slowly, with a somber expression, as she wiped away the gushing blood from her face.

Blaze fell to his knees on a ruined stone floor that was once a small shop.

"I was in no power to decline the order to kill your son," Rhysara said quietly as she turned her back toward the dying man.

"However, once you die, I will take the Shard of Ice to my superiors and trade it for your son's life."

Blaze scoffed as he spat blood.

"You fool, just because you pay them doesn't mean that anyone will stop going after him."

Blaze coughed as he attempted to speak again.

"Chase is the direct son of the house of Tartarus. Even the gods will target him at some point..."

Rhysara laughed.

"The boy is within the forest now. If he survives that, then I am sure the gods will have many other problems attempting to kill him."

She paused and spoke in a sad tone as she began to walk away.

"Goodbye, old friend. I will ensure that the higher-ups think the boy is dead in your honor."

The sun began to crack through the tree line as Blaze lay quietly back on the ground.

Once Rhysara had left, Blaze began to speak quietly.

"Lilith, if you are alive, may you please protect Chase..."

He paused and took a deep, ragged breath.

"...And guide my soul to the fields of peace, my queen."

Blaze shut his eyes as his body shuddered.

'Chase, I am sorry that I could not teach you much or be a proper father, but please survive and thrive in this terrible world,'

he thought to himself as his consciousness faded away into a state of nothingness.

Blaze had died as the sun began to creep over the Dark Forest...