Through ruined houses, through broken walls, along streets where even the stone smelled of death — we ran. Norris kept glancing back, controlling the distance.
“No more than three meters!” he repeated.
“Any farther — and I won’t cover you!”
He moved like a true beast of war. Not a single wasted step, everything precise. We were still children, but by now we understood: without him, we wouldn’t get far.
We heard them before we saw them.
A hum that made our temples ring. Pressure in the air — like the moment before walls collapse. And then an explosion that made the house ahead fold in on itself like paper.
And out of the dust, they emerged.
Not ordinary demons.
Black silhouettes, robes, bodies as if woven from smoke. Eyes like embers. Every movement left behind a trail of black fire.
“Ranged mages,” Norris said calmly.
“Stay with me.”
And he moved forward.
I raised a water dome around Norris in one swift motion. The first black beam struck the dome — the water boiled, but held.
Norris shot me a quick glance, as if he hadn’t expected it.
“Stronger than you look…”
And then he crashed into the demon ranks.
One strike — five mages fell apart, as if blown away.
A second swing — another dozen vanished into ash.
We finished off what he didn’t have time to kill.
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Finn held a line of fire, keeping gargoyles at bay.
Siren tore the air with wind, knocking flying creatures down.
Astra healed on the move, not even looking at her own feet.
And I…
I threw everything I could.
Ice.
Water.
Stone.
Wind.
The demon mages fell one by one.
Two minutes later, the street went quiet.
“Up!” Norris shouted.
“Take the high ground and fire into the line!”
We rushed into a ruined building, climbed shattered staircases. The floor rippled under our feet, but held.
And when we reached the edge of the roof — there, ahead of us, stood an army.
Goblins.
In armor.
Shields.
Spears.
Their formation was even, heavy. Almost a legion.
They advanced like a living wall.
And at the same moment, we all felt the air above the roof grow thick with mana.
Finn raised his hands.
It was the first time I’d seen fire gather like that — not tongues, not flames. A sphere, slowly rotating, growing, glowing, until it became the size of a house.
Diameter… about ten meters.
“Finn, what are you—” I started, but it was already too late.
“Away you go!” he shouted with a wild grin.
And hurled it.
The air roared.
Mana compressed.
And the fireball plunged downward, leaving boiling flame in its wake.
EXPLOSION.
Half the street vanished.
The goblin formation collapsed into itself.
Shields flew apart, armor melted as they ran.
Half the army was wiped out.
Elinia stood beside me.
The wind around her was so dense that her hair lifted as if she were standing in a storm. She raised her hands to the sky and pulled mana upward.
The clouds came instantly.
As if she had called them by name.
Thunder.
Light.
STRIKE.
Lightning tore through the goblin ranks. Some burned instantly, others were thrown aside like rag dolls.
And… yes.
Her accuracy… wasn’t great.
“You hit our own!” someone screamed from below.
Elinia flushed and coughed.
“I… I’m sorry.”
But it was already too late for the goblins.
The goblin formation wavered.
They began to retreat, dropping spears and shields.
And Norris stood below, lifting his head toward us.
And for the first time…
for the very first time…
he smiled.
A real smile.
“Now those are children…” he said quietly.
“Now those are… mages.”
He looked at me.
“Zen. You were supposed to be the ‘healing boy.’ And you… what even are you?”
I didn’t answer.
I just looked down at what remained of the army.
At the smoke.
At the sparks of ash.
At what was left after Finn’s fire and Elinia’s lightning.
And for the first time, I understood:
The war had only just begun.