“Does the battle still continue?” asked a cold, unshifting voice which seemed to be only a bit annoyed about the entire situation. “Surely by now, Eon and Lias would have the situation under control. I didn’t see the need for you to summon me.”

            “Mind your mouth, Emrit! You’re speaking to the King.” Reprimanded another man, this one tall, handsome and noble, having long blonde hair and bearing the seal of the Aquaron family.

            “Perhaps you should mind your mouth. Or would you rather I do it for you, Arrone.” Emrit replied.

            “Why you-”

            “That’s enough you two!” the King spoke, his captain of the guards now by his side. “Sebastion, where are the others?”

            The crown guard replied “The head of Natura is away helping the villages as you ordered prior to this whole occurrence. And the Lord Firestone is on the way, I would like to believe.”

            “And what of the Lord Electora?” asked the King.

            “Well, I would assume he and his house left the capital. They probably foresaw the issue based on the number of recent demon attacks and took it upon themselves to retreat to their stronghold in the mountains.”

            “Nothing but cowards.” Commented Lady Lillian who stood at the far right corner of the room but whom now approached the King.

            “You should not refer to your companions as such, Lady Aerite,” the King reprimanded the only Lady of the room who shifted her head sharply in response, flinging her long white hair in the process.

            The king sighed a hand on his forehead, only glancing forward when he saw the eccentric, huge form of Ratuna Firestone entered the room. “You took your sweet time to get here, didn’t you?” the King asked.

            “Well, I didn’t see the need to hurry.” The Lion of a man let out a roaring laughter, despite the clear annoyance of his fellow companions.

            “Can we just get on with this already? Why are we here? I’ve already sent my two strongest to battle the situation, I don’t see how else I can help.” Emrit questioned, hurried to leave and return to his chambers.

            “This is a meeting to discuss the matters occurring. Well, at least future occurrences such as these. The one right now, as Lord Emrit has said, is already being handled by some of our best. And soon enough, a battalion of men lead by my brother will be there to assist.” The King paused and took a breath “The reason I summoned you despite everything that is happening is because I have a suspicion and the longer I wait, the deeper that suspicion grows. So I’ve decided to just to put everything out there. Based on what has been happening, Sebastion and I have come to a conclusion. There is a traitor amongst us, one which sides with the Demon King and whom is a threat to all of humanity.”

            The room went silent but not for long as Lord Aquaron questioned “And what do you have that would suggest such a thing, if I may ask?”

            “Isn’t it obvious?” Lady Aerite cut in. “Rifts are opening in the world. Rifts that can only be opened from the human side.

            “I mean, I’ve figured that was always the case. That’s why I keep my distance from you lot.” Commented the Lord Stronghold

            “Yes, well said, Lady Aerite.” Sebastion commented. “There is indeed a traitor. But fear not, the King has his absolute trust in the ones here today. However, it is undoubtable that the traitor is a Gifted, since it is only but a few of you who knows the secret to open a gate. A secret that even myself does not possess.”

            “So you believe that we told that secret to one of our successors?” asked Lord Firestone. “Well hate to break it to you, my lord. But I’ve done no such thing. Aside from my first wife, none other knows of it in my familia.”

            “I’ve only told Eon.” Lord Emrit stated bluntly.

            “And I’ve told only my first and second children.” Lord Aquaron said.

            “And I’ve yet to tell any.” Lady Marie declared.

            The King glanced at Sebastion, and then looked once again at the three leaders before him. “Then we must keep those who know under a watchful eye.”

            “And what of Nutura and Electora?” Lord Aquaron asked.

            Sebastion replied in place of the King “Both the Nutura and Electora families are out of the kingdom. From what the King has told me, you must be nearby to open a rift. So for the time being, we have eliminated them as suspects until and if they return.”

            “Yes, about that.” Lord Emrit began. “But wouldn’t that place them perfectly in position for opening the other rifts that popped up throughout the country. Not to mention, opening a rift takes a great deal of time and effort. Especially for that huge one out there. A member of one of those two families could have easily left that rift to grow slowly over time and went on their way. If someone inside the kingdom left, you would know. So if you ask me, that puts those two families high on the suspicion list. More so for those Electoras who left just before this whole thing happened.”

            “You do indeed have a point, Lord Stronghold. However as of now, all we can do is observe.” Sebastion replied and then turned to the King who quickly said “Well, that would be all.” and dismissed the meeting.

~

            The situation had gotten much dire by the time Evan arrived and most were too preoccupied to even notice Evan hovering above. Eon had made sure to give the boy a sharp eye when he saw him but soon after leapt back again to attack the monster.

             Now, a leg of the shadowy creature made its way in to the human realm. Evan glanced back to see the battalion of men marching forward lead by his uncle. They would also arrive soon but Evan doubted they would be much help, with the exception of his uncle who was a very skilled Gifted.

            But as of now, Evan couldn’t quite do much other than to wait. While he was motioning the giant storm cloud in the direction of the battle, it moved much slower that the cloud he rode on. Not to mention, it was incredibly heavy. But still Evan did what he could to speed the process, he stood still on his floating cloud and concentrated on bringing the storm now that he had stopped moving himself.

~

            “Halt!” commanded the tall, muscular man with short trimmed hair who wore the royal robe and bore a remarkable resemblance to the King. “Ready the catapults and fire at your discretion, the same goes for the bastilles and those bearing crossbows. The rest of you, hold your ground here. If that monster somehow gets out and starts marching to the walls, it’s your job to stop it in that scenario.” And with that, the man along with about ten others approached the battle unfolding.

            Now in addition to the five who first came, there were now nine other Gifted along with a battalion of about a hundred men relentless attacking the monster with giant stones, arrows, fire, wind and water. “Eon!” shouted the man, “Come down here.”

            “Commander Marcus,” Eon gave a small bow. “What are your orders?”

            “Yeah, about that.” Marcus rubbed the back of his head. “Report to me any weaknesses you may have discovered.”

            “As of now, nothing particularly stands out as a weakness except for the fact that it’s stuck behind that rift until it opens more.” Eon replied.

            “Well, I was afraid you might say that. Seems like we only have one option then.” Marcus began, “We’re going to have to close the rift, hopefully it can chop off its leg and arms when it shuts.”

            “But how? As far as I’m concerned, father has only told me how to open a rift. Not a way to close one.” Eon stared into his uncle’s eyes, looking for an answer.

            “Well it’s simple really. For a rift to stay open, it needs a constant supply of magic energy. For one this size, that must be a considerable amount. So find the source, and the rift will close. However, the problem is that the source could be anywhere within a hundred mile radius. It can even be spread out on different spots, which is most likely what happened.” Marcus explained.

            “So you’re saying it’s almost impossible to get the rift shut before this monster comes into our world?” Eon asked, out of great concern.

            “Pretty much. But we still have to try.” The man then changed his tone of voice and shouted “The first five gifted who came here: Raus, Maya, Rill, Lias and Eon will spread out in search of the source of the rift due to their high mobility. The others will remain here and hold off that beast. Got that!”

            “Wait, what source?” Lias inquired, landing next to the commander.

            “All you need to know is that there’ll be creepy weird markings and probably a bunch of dead bodies around. The smell alone should give it away. Though it’s probably located somewhere far in the forest or nearby mountains.” Said Marcus fierce and firm.

            “But why woul-”

            “You’ve got orders kid! Get to it!” cut in Marcus before Lias could finish.

            And with that, the five Gift raced off in different directions in search of source of the rift while the remaining soldiers struggled to keep the monster at bay. All the while, Evan had been preparing from the short distance, and by now, the storm had arrived.