Vesryn stood in the village surrounded by dead tartareans and half tartareans. He breathed heavily as he looked toward the sky. As he walked over to a tartarean that was still alive he wiped the sweat off his forehead. Vesryn placed his foot on the tartarean's chest causing him to cry out in pain. The tartarean had qualities of a plebeian which meant he was a half breed. His piercing yellow eyes gazed up at Vesryn.

"Why and how have your people come to my land?" Vesryn asked in an angered tone as he put pressure on the tartarean's gaping wound. 

"One of our leaders made a deal with a king to help gather people to help awaken an arch dragon that could possibly help with the dragons that destroyed our home..My leader Anon desired conquest so we came here.” The tartarean said with a smile. Vesryn looked at him silently as he began to wonder what king would be foolish enough to help tartareans. He was aware of the rumors that the large number of tartarean appearances were coming from Heoria. To him the plebeians were the only possible answer to those foolish enough to help them. Vesryn was aware that plebeians had odd relations with tartareans throughout history despite them not being the only ones. For him the Vesper king was the only logical answer but he needed to know why. 

"So a king I assume from another continent helped you, why?" Vesryn asked as the tartarean nodded as he struggled to breathe. He had a gaping hole near his heart. In order to permanently kill a tartarean the heart had to be completely destroyed. This tartarean was lucky enough to only have his heart grazed by Vesryn's spatial tear spell. 

     "Yes and because we made a deal with him. We give him revenge and he'd be willing to make peace with us so long as we didn't cause trouble." The tartarean said with a smile but cried out in pain when Vesryn pushed down on his chest. 

       "Yet here you are, causing trouble!" Vesryn said angrily as he raised his hand. "Where do I go to find the gate and the tartarean known as Anon?" Vesryn asked as the half tartarean remained silent. Vesryn sighed as he lowered his hand and pointed it at the half breed's chest. A part of his chest exploded causing him to gasp for air. He became motionless as he took his last breath. Vesryn sighed as he looked at the sky wondering when Taegan would arrive. It wasn't long before he got his answer for he began to hear footsteps. He turned to see Taegan with a strange look on his face and he wasn't alone. Beside him was a tartarean with black limbs. His spiraling red eyes glared at Vesryn menacingly as he stepped closer to Taegan. The black limbed tartarean placed his hand on Taegan's shoulder.

       "You weren't kidding about how powerful this one could be, Taegan." The tartarean said as he started to approach Vesryn. Vesryn raised his hand with an annoyed look on his face. Vesryn became certain that this tartarean was none other than Anon. He pointed his finger at Anon and drew a line in the air aimed across Anon's chest. A large gust of wind blew through the air toward Anon but there was a distortion in the atmosphere. Vesryn looked surprised as the tartarean smiled while still walking toward him.        

         "Impossible." Vesryn said as he tried it again but had no effect once again. Anon chuckled as he raised his right hand which had a gauntlet covering it. In the palm of the gauntlet was a sphere that was a galaxy like color. 

          "You didn't think I'd come to this land unprepared for your type of magic? Anon asked playfully as he stepped a few feet away from Vesryn. Behind Anon was a large group of tartareans. Vesryn was outnumbered once again but this time he was fatigued. Not only that his arm was still badly burned and it pained him to move it. He tightened his grip on his dagger as he readied himself to fight once more.

       "Why can't you stay  where you belong?" Vesryn questioned angrily as the tartarean looked unhappy. 

       "The land of Valenthia has become overrun with dragons. We traveled to Heoria and got refuge there but I’m not one for peace.." Anon said sincerely but Vesryn scoffed at his words. He spit at the tartareans feet with a scornful look on his face.

       "You chose the wrong continent to set foot on!” Vesryn snarled as the vampiric tartarean turned toward Taegan.

        "You may have a powerful army but your people have no real trust in each other. It’s only a matter of time before the queen is betrayed." Anon proclaimed as he returned his attention to Vesryn. "Allow me to meet with your queen in order for us to make a deal. This is the last time I'll try to be like the other tartarean leaders. If we can’t come to an agreement, well the kingdom will fall.” Anon said as he held out his hand waiting for Vesryn to extend his in return. Vesryn swung his dagger trying to cut the tartarean's hand. Unfortunately the tartarean was quicker and evaded with ease. He used his small wings to float in the air away from Vesryn. Anon stared at his hand disappointedly before lowering it to his side.

      "I'm one of the royal knights who has sworn to protect the queen and her kingdom. You tartareans will not settle on our land! Anyone foolish enough to betray the queen will be slaughtered with extreme prejudice!” Vesryn roared as he raised his hand upward. The tartarean looked up to see a spatial rift appear above him and his army. Spears of magic energy came raining down upon them. Those that knew they wouldn't be harmed remained still while others scattered away. In this moment Vesryn made his move creating a portal to move to the tartareans running away. In a matter of seconds he took out the tartareans that separated from the group.

More blood contaminated the ground beneath his feet. Cries of pain and agony filled the air as Vesryn continued moving around the village using his portals. When his eyes wandered for a moment he saw Taegan wielding the sword. In a fit of rage he moved toward him trying to attack him. Taegan was prepared and readied himself with the Reaper sword. Unfortunately, before Vesryn could reach Taegan, The tartarean Anon appeared before him and slashed him across his chest. As he fell backwards he saw the tartarean licking his fingertips which were covered in Vesryn's blood.

       "You may be powerful but your arrogance is quite annoying. I'm one of the best blood magic users in my family so I could easily kill you. I could even make you a puppet of mine and have you destroy the kingdom.." Anon said slowly as Vesryn looked at him as he sat on the ground.  The hair on his neck stood on end as he slowly stood to his feet. Tartareans used magic that was often described as sorcery because of the negative effects it could have on the enviornment and even the caster. Their magic was only meant for harm and nothing good.

        "Give me that sword and I'll consider letting you live." Vesryn said as Anon began to appear annoyed. 

       "You cannot win this fight since I now have the taste of your blood. You are mine if I so desire it!" Anon said with a grin on his face causing Vesryn to be angered. As he stood silently for a moment he heard a loud booming sound up above. He looked up to see a large ship appearing from a portal that opened up. Vesryn realized he had finally received reinforcements but he was unsure if they'd be of any help at all. He was already fatigued and the fact that the tartarean now had his blood he'd be a liability. This infuriated him to a whole other degree that he never experienced before. They watched as the ship landed in the distance. Vesryn opened a portal and headed over to the ship. He emerged from the portal to see seven knights emerging from it. In the rear was a young woman who was wearing less armor. It was Vesryn’s squire Thalia Bitoris. These knights were believed to be some of the strongest of Rosaniya's army. The woman at the head of the group was the first in command under Rosaniya, the palatine. Her name was Lura and Vesryn had a disliking for her. Despite him being the strongest and most talented he was nothing more than a high ranking captain. Above him were the three generals and she was above them. The three generals were Vesryn’s family members which angered him even more.

      "Captain Shaynore, what's the status of threat?" Lura asked in a stern tone before she looked down at his wounded arm and chest. She waved her hand motioning for Thalia to hurry over. She rushed over to Vesryn's side and looked at him worriedly. She stepped beside Vesryn and began rummaging in her satchel. She took out a vial of potions that she placed on Vesryn's burns. He watched as she began to wave her hands as magic circles formed around his arm. She began mumbling something as Vesryn returned his attention to Lura.

     “You should’ve brought me with you, sir Shaynore.” Thalia mumbled nervously as Vesryn scoffed at her remark. He noticed her tense up and paused before continuing her healing spell. 

   "I've reduced their forces a great deal but unfortunately, the six of you are not enough reinforcements. Their leader has an artifact that makes anyone who knows spatial magic useless. Not only that but Taegan is over there with the sword. The tartareans and their leader is a blood magic user. He got a hold of my blood so..." Vesryn trailed off, annoyed that he was reporting to this person who he deemed to be beneath him. She nodded her head before glancing over at the others.

    "Were you able to get any sort of information from them?" Lura asked as Vesryn nodded hesitantly.

     "He gave me a story about Valenthia that had forced them to flee. From what I understand there is more than one leader. The others are apparently more peaceful than this one. He also implied that some of our people may want to get rid of the queen." Vesryn said, looking over his shoulder to see the tartareans still gathered around each other in the  distance. 

       "In the queen's eyes all tartarean lives must be extinguished regardless of whether their intentions may be peaceful." Lura said she placed her hand on her sword and stepped past Vesryn. He quickly placed his hand on her shoulder. 

      "I don't know what else he has in his possession that could put us at a disadvantage so we'll need to be careful." Vesryn said with a serious look on his face. Lura gently brushed his hand off her shoulder.

      "You head back to Astria, we'll handle the rest here." Lura ordered, causing Vesryn to scoff at the way she spoke to him. 

     "I'm not about to be sent home like some useless low ranking foot soldier!" Vesryn said angrily as Lura sighed vexingly. 

     "You're injured and you've spent a great deal of your mana fighting already. You said he got a hold of your blood so if he knows how to control you then you'd only be a liability. I'm ordering you to go home because the queen can't lose one of her best. Also, tell everything you just reported to me at once." Lura ordered without taking a single look at Vesryn.This angered him because this meant he was accepting defeat and couldn't live with that. He had never lost to anyone ever in his life. This was the second time he had been bested which infuriated him. Reluctantly, he waved his hand, opening a rift in the space before him. He knew he was far from the kingdom which would take up a great deal of energy to create a portal that extended that far. He didn't want to waste his strength nor did he want to take orders. Not only that he wasn't ready to accept defeat but he had no choice to admit to it. Before he stepped through the portal he noticed Thalia trying to follow him but he raised his hand. She looked confused as he shook his head and turned away. She may have been his squire but he didn’t like having her around and at the moment he wanted to be alone.