Vesryn and Ava were on the outskirts of a village that had been nearly destroyed. Vesryn was using a pair of binoculars to get a clearer view of the condition of the village. Many buildings had burned to rubble and some needed dire repair.

 Corpses could be seen out on the streets and weapons were scattered everywhere. Vesryn looked displeased as he stood on top of the hill. He handed Ava the binoculars so she could see what he saw. Ava looked devastated as tears began to form in her eyes.

"There is no time to weep, woman. We must find Taegan before sunset if he's here." Vesryn said as he started walking down the hill toward the village. Ava was too scared to move because she didn't want to find her family dead. She knew if they were dead she'd feel so much regret for not making peace with them. 

Ava looked up at the sky causing her to squint from the glow of the sun. She sighed as she began to think a silent prayer to the gods hoping her family was alright. As she followed Vesryn she started to feel uneasy. It was as if they were being watched causing her to look at her surroundings. 

In the distance she saw a group of figures standing together. She abruptly stopped and froze with fear. Vesryn stopped realizing she was no longer following and turned around. He realized she was looking at something and turned his head. Vesryn walked over to her and grabbed the binoculars from her and raised them to see what she had been looking at. . 

"Tartareans…."Vesryn said unhappily as he handed her the binoculars again.

"What do we do?" Ava asked hesitantly while she continued to look in the direction of the tartareans.

"Stay here, where you're out of my way." Vesryn ordered as he waved his hand causing magic energy to form before him. Slowly, a portal opened in which he leaped into. Ava stood confused but then raised the binoculars just in time to see a portal open near the tartareans.

*

.Vesryn decided to attack without waiting for them to make their move. They all turned surprised as he lunged at one and grabbed him by his shirt. Before the man could react Vesryn withdrew a dagger and gutted him. Blood came spilling out of his stomach as he stumbled forward. Vesryn then moved around him but slit his throat in the process. A woman with long purple hair conjured up blue fire and yelled angrily as she threw the flames at Vesryn.

 It was then Vesryn noticed something under her sleeve. He realized it was possibly an artifact that could conjure fire. He opened multiple portals for the flames to disappear in. A tall muscular man with long black hair and yellow eyes leaped in the air with his iron club. Vesryn sighed as he leaped out of the way when the club slammed into the ground. The power behind his strike caused the ground to rupture apart and  debris sprung into the air. 

Vesryn was thrown off balance by the powerful force and one of the tartareans took advantage. The tartarean lunged at Vesryn who was still off balance. Before the demon could reach him,Vesryn disappeared into one of his portals.. He appeared next to the purple haired woman who turned and raised her arm with the artifact. 

A large flame burst out engulfing Vesrn's arm. The flame grew before Vesryn could touch her and burned his arm. He yelled out in pain as he stepped away from her. He leaped into another portal to regain distance. Vesryn began breathing heavily as he saw the skin on his arm burning. 

He was glad it was a normal fire because it meant it was easier to put out. He reached into his bag and pulled out a small vial of water. He immediately poured it all out on the wound because of how badly he was burned from the flames. Once the flames were extinguished he returned his attention to the enemies before him. There were four still standing while the fifth one was already taking his last breath. 

"What the hell do you want?" The purple haired woman asked, causing Vesryn to turn his gaze toward her. He was silent for a moment when he noticed she was wearing an amulet around her neck. It was an artifact used to cast an enchantment to disguise oneself. He realized she wasn't truly a tartarean but disguising herself as one. 

"You invade the land of my people and have the gall to ask me what I want? What I want is simple...I want you dead!" Vesryn yelled as he lunged at her with his dagger but was struck by a blunt object. Out of the corner of his eye he could see it was an iron club that was hitting him. He went flailing across the field and crashed into the ground. 

He cried out in pain as his arm began to burn even more. He knew he had to get his wound treated soon but he needed to get answers. Vesryn raised his left hand toward the sky as magic energy began to form as he prepared his next attack, he saw the four tartareans running toward them. 

Above them high in the sky a giant portal opened. A shower of spears made of magic energy came crashing down as they ran for him. When they realized what was happening they no longer were running to attack but to survive. One of the tartareans was moving swiftly in an effort to avoid the spears. Unfortunately, the energy based spears came down faster than he could move and struck him down. 

The large man with an iron club was another tartarean, The purple haired tartarean was easily evading the spears as she was getting closer to him. This made Vesryn uneasy especially when he noticed the other tartarean was missing. The ground beneath erupted, causing him to look down surprised. 

The tartarean came out of the ground and her skin was covered with stone. A large fist made of stone slammed into Vesryn knocking him into the air. As he was coming down he opened another portal and fell through it and reappeared closer to the village. He was breathing heavily as he felt blood trickling down from his nose. The purple haired tartarean was the first one to get to Vesryn. 

"Surrender now and I'll make sure my master doesn't kill you." The woman said, causing Vesryn to spit at the ground near her feet. She glared at him angrily as lunged at him and saw flames coming from something under her sleeve. 

The woman who attacked him from underground caught up to them with the two men behind her. They stood back a bit and watched from a distance. "Zali, report back to our leader, tell him that we have trouble." The purple haired woman said to her comrade she was referred to as Zali. 

Vesryn watched as she stomped on the ground causing debris to fly everywhere. She then jumped into a hole she created and disappeared. Vesryn was now dealing with three enemies before him. One of the tartareans was the first to make a move. He came at Vesryn swinging the club wildly causing Vesryn to become annoyed. Vesryn waved his left hand as a ripple in the space between him and the tartarean formed.

"Forgive me for underestimating you but this is where your lives end." Vesryn said as he waved his hand in a diagonal direction. The tartarean's upper chest was separated from the lower half of his body. A gust of wind sent an invisible slash sailing forward which tore through the other tartarean as well. 

The purpled haired woman stood frozen with surprise unsure of what she had just witnessed. Vesryn then turned his gaze toward her. "I can do more than open rifts in space....I can also tear through it." Vesryn said as he began approaching the woman who now stood frightened. She trembled in fear as she watched him get closer to her holding his dagger with his burned arm. "Where is Taegan Sylren?" Vesryn said in a demanding tone. The woman stammered as she struggled to speak.

"I don't know...we're supposed to be waiting for him." She replied, causing Vesryn to appear displeased. 

 "He doesn't exactly have a ship so he might be trying to get one." A voice said, causing Vesryn to shift his attention. Ava stood a few feet away from him and the purple haired woman. 

"Take her to Astria for further questioning; she's not even a tartarean. My guess is she's some sort of spy." Vesryn ordered, causing Ava to look surprised. The purple haired woman raised her eyebrow in confusion as she took a step back. Vesryn gazed at her as he reached into his bag. "I could kill you where you stand if I so pleased. Though, I prefer not to take the life of a woman." Vesryn said as reached over and tore off the amulet around her neck. 

She looked shocked as her appearance slightly changed. Her hair turned dark brown and her eye color changed. Vesryn frowned, realizing that she was nothing more than another highborn. A magic circle appeared around the artifact before it disappeared. Vesryn looked surprised, causing him to look up to see the artifact in the hand of the highborn.

"Thou take me for a fool, don't ya? Ya put me in this box and then I get executed by thy queen." The highborn said in her natural accent which surprised Vesryn. Ava stood by appearing confused and unsure of what was going on.

"You still have that horrid foreign Rithian accent and you know thief magic. You know I don't need that box to get you to the queen." Vesryn said in a confident tone that made the highborn uneasy. She covered her mouth as she cleared her throat. Rithians were highborns native to the kingdom of Rithen which was in Heoria.

"Pardon me, when I get upset my accent returns. Listen, I am indeed a spy and I'm trying to find my brother." The highborn said, causing Vesryn to have a suspicious look on his face. 

"I assume you're a spy for the Rithen Kingdom. Well unfortunately, the Rithians are not welcomed in the Astren land." Vesryn said in a serious tone as he stepped closer to the Rithen highborn who took a step back.

"Rithians are not welcome in the country of Astria where the kingdom is. Now there's no point to fight me when we have a common enemy." The Rithian said as she raised her hand to stop Vesryn from approaching her.

"What is your name, woman?" Vesryn said in a serious tone.

 "Amara Beldros and I suppose you haven't heard that the Rithen kingdom has fallen." She said in a serious manner but it was clear she was saddened. Amara was also nervous because she understood that Vesryn was unpredictable; she had no idea what he was planning. Before she could do anything else he appeared beside her.

He sprayed a strange substance in her face causing her to fall to the ground. She struggled to get up but realized something was wrong. Her body had become heavy and her movements were slowed. Her eyes became weighted as she collapsed slowly losing consciousness. She looked down at Amara for a moment until Vesryn held out the amulet he took from her. She took it from him confused. 

"What do you want me to do with this?" Ava panicked , causing Vesryn to look at her vexingly. 

 "Saria and Solara will probably be more worried about you than heading to Astria. You can either meet back up with them or go directly to Astria before she wakes up. Report her to the queen and let her decide what to do with her. Vesryn said as he turned away from.

Ava sighed as she watched him walk toward the village. Ava walked over to where Amara was laying and picked up the artifact. She twisted it and placed it beside Amara, then she took a step back. The object activated and opened as chains surrounded Amara. After a second she was pulled inside the cube and it closed. Then it shrunk back down to its original size.. Ava looked in the direction of Vesryn once more. He was a person that seemed to bemuse her by his actions.

One minute she felt she understood the kind of person he was but then she didn't. What did he plan to gain from trying to kill Ky? Now, she had to wonder what he'd gain by taking this Rithian as a prisoner. It was clear he did everything as a means for his benefit so what opportunities would this provide him. Ava's heart raced at the thought of the days to come and what other tragedies would transpire.