The plan had played out well. . .until it hadn't. It had been Parthenos's plan, the master perfectionist and strategist—as I had both witnessed and heard from Pisces. So, what went wrong?

  It all started almost immediately after Pisces had taken down the hex and light was penetrating through every nook of the Drunken Barrel as the sun lit up the morning sky. And then he made his entrance, zooming into the tavern so fast he nearly would have caught us off-guard had it not been for Pisces's quick thinking.

  The little room wreaked of smoldering air as his presence exuded an overwhelming aura. He was standing right there in the middle, with all of us surrounding him but he didn't attack. How could he? He couldn't see us but we could see him. I could see him.

  Concealed by Pisces's mystical wave, an illusion had been cast all over the place, allowing us to blend with the environment.

  His fiery eyes scanned the vicinity, as if sensing something was hiding in there. At one point, his eyes met mine and I had to fight the urge to swallow in the fear of him hearing me. He was just as terrifying as I had last seen him as he stood there, his tall scarlet body covered with flames that did not burn him. I could only pray our plan would work against him—against Aries.

  Aries continued scanning the room and it seemed he had totally lost us, until he paused, apparently noticing something through the illusion. He narrowed his eyes, looking directly in front of him where Pisces stood several feet away. He was about to take a step forward and if he did so, we'd lose the element of surprise.

  The next phase of the plan was underway. Pisces spread out her arms and sapphire glowing chains materialized out of nowhere, half a dozen of them, each shooting out from one side of the tavern's walls. The chains clamped around Aries's arms, legs and torso, holding him in place.

  Aries growled, the flames on his body violently spiraling all around him but Pisces willed the chains some more and Aries was having difficulty conjuring his fire. This was our queue. Aries was restrained.

  "NOW!" a voice called out from somewhere and I looked up to catch Parthenos breaking out of Pisces's illusive wave. She had been airborne the entire time, silently hovering above Aries with her magnificent yet deadly wings spread out.

  Parthenos descended on Aries, her wings returning to their normal position behind her back. She landed on Aries's shoulders, tightly wrapping her legs around him and was fast trying to strangle him.

  Skorpius and Leo followed, emerging from the illusion on either side of Aries. Skorpius dashed forwards and brought his hooked arm around, whacking Aries hard across the face, so hard that fiery sparks shot out of Aries's head. Skorpius moved past, paving the way for Leo who repeatedly struck Aries with his spiked tail, creating thin orange lines across his core.

  Aries howled, baring his teeth. He shook his body so hard I could feel the ground beneath me shake but as much as he tried, his efforts were only futile at the power of Pisces's chains and Parthenos's leg lock.

  It was my queue. Mine and Zak's. We had been situated farthest from Aries, by the store. Zak and I raced into the battle, joining the others. I took to the left, swiping the sleek double-edged sword Parthenos had given me. I struck at Aries's thigh and Zak did the same with his axe on the right. The blades would bounce off of his body, sending vibrations up my arms but the Zodiac appeared to be feeling the effects as he would cry out at every strike.

  We had Aries completely surrounded and overpowered. It was time to move on to the next phase—bringing him down entirely. We had all come to an understanding as we exchanged glances. At no point would Aries be allowed to use his legs. They were slender, sharpened and hooved; equipped for running and not just any kind of running—the near speed of light kind.

  I whacked at Aries's inner thigh but the sword kept bouncing off and Skorpius had to come to my aid. He jabbed Aries with his hooked arm, managing to tear through his skin, albeit only the surface and fiery sparks shot out from the point of impact. I went for Aries's left arm, wary of the small flames that would pop up occasionally. He went down on one knee. Leo wrapped his tail around Aries's other leg and then powerfully uncoiled, sending Aries down. Zak joined him in pulling down his arm as Pisces reigned in the chains so that Aries went down further.

  Parthenos got off his shoulders and conjured a blade three times as long as the one she had given me. It glowed white in her hands. She brought around Aries's neck, locking it there and trying as hard as she could to drive the blade into his skin.

  The final phase of the plan. Aries had been rendered entirely defenseless. The ambush had worked. It was now time to deliver.

  With one hand projected towards the ground, maintaining the restraints on Aries, Pisces brought her other hand forward, spreading out her palm. She then twisted her fingers in on themselves, unleashing a wave of energy that snaked its way towards Aries. I watched the wave slither over Aries's chest as I held him down. The wave attached itself onto the large crystalline symbol that ran across Aries's shoulders and down to his chest. Pisces was trying to pry out his insignia.

  At that moment, I wished we had someone like Tauros on our side. His strength would have come in handy but we had Leo, though not as strong, he was the only one whose strength could have come close to that of Aries. We had to combine all our efforts and it was beginning to show. I could feel Aries's muscles relax, however so slightly. His flames were dwindling. His struggling had lessened.

  Pisces twisted her hand, exerting incredible amounts of force on Aries's chest and a slight creaking sound emanated. His insignia was coming loose and he would be no more. If only we'd had a little bit more time. . .

  It was something none of us had accounted for during the formulation of the plan. Something was suddenly different. Aries was no longer fighting against the restraints. Instead, he let them take him completely down. His body had stopped flaming and his body had gone limp.

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  Had we actually done it? It was now up to Pisces to rip the insignia from his chest but then it glowed, lighting up in a brilliant bright red. A low whirring sound followed, like an engine firing up. The insignia's glow intensified and I heard Pisces scream after her hand caught on fire.

  "No!" she managed to say after noticing me trying to come and help, "don't let go of him!"

  But there was nothing to hold on to anymore. Sage's insignia finally let out whatever it had been building up inside and a violent wave of fire erupted, blasting me alongside everyone else, out of the tavern.

  A high pitched ringing noise resonated in my ears. I opened my eyes. My vision was distorted as strange images flashed past my eyes. I heard a voice call out to me. Pisces's voice. What was she saying? I couldn't understand. More images flashed before me and a fiery silhouetted figure came down on me. It was holding something in its arms and brought it down. A muffled scream followed and Pisces's voice was now clearer. Her face appeared over the silhouetted figure. She whispered something to me before her eyes shut and she fell. I tried to grab her but the images dissipated and I found myself clutching at dirt.

  My eyesight was restored and another voice sailed through my ears.

  The hunter's enemy rises. . .

  The high pitched ringing took over entirely, drowning all those other voices. I got up on my feet. My body felt woozy, shaken and out of place. I looked around and there she was, getting to her feet as well. I thought I had seen her falling in front of me. Ugh. . .I was so discombobulated.

  Pisces turned and our eyes met. Relief was written all over her face but then she winced, glancing down at her right arm. It appeared to have been glazed. The others joined us, recovering from the blast. We looked ahead of us where the Drunken Barrel had once stood now lay in a heap of ashes, with thick dark smoke billowing towards the sky.

  "Oh, you'll pay for that!" Zak muttered under his breath as Aries's form materialized out of the smoke.

  His whole body was ablaze and he could not have looked any scarier. He walked out of the debris and was greeted by an even bigger audience. The Chieftain and his men had made their way towards the area, no doubt after the events that had transpired.

  "Stay back!" a soldier yelled, hoisting Abinor's sigil with a flagged pole. He was addressing a young woman who had bustled her way through the other soldiers.

  "Let go of me!" the woman spat and I vaguely recognized her, what with her black hair with auburn endings and dark skin. She had on the same velvety caped gown from the first time we had met.

  "I thought I told you to stay home, Valeria!" the Chieftain scolded, his face weary under his golden crown.

  "And you should've killed him when you had the chance, father!" the young woman retorted, particularly directing her eyes towards me.

  Great, this again!

  Pisces turned and gave me a questioning glance. "Don't ask," I said, shaking my head. I didn't have time to deal with this. She had been Despyon's problem. Not mine. I had my own problems to deal with and one was already towering over everything else in its vicinity with its flaming appearance.

  "You there!" Chieftain Merkurion called out, making his horse step out from the rest of his men.

  Aries looked down at the chieftain, an amused expression on his face. "What do we have here?"

  "You'll address his highness Chieftain Ulmas of Merkurion with respect, demon!" the soldier that had called back the Chieftain's daughter commanded behind his helm.

  "Haven't your kind wreaked enough havoc among our own?" Chieftain Merkurion went on with unflinching glory and I was a little envious of his courage, especially bearing in mind everything I'd seen with Aries.

  "You forget your kind is the one that started all this," Aries's voice was grim and ominous. "Oh, but don't worry," he laughed and flames danced on his horns. "I'm about to call it a day, not long now." He looked up to the sky and the sun was hidden away by thick dark clouds that hadn't been there a second before.

  "I don't have time for this, playing around with you mortals," Aries turned to us, a twisted grin on his face, "and you."

  Thunder rented the air and Aries looked up to the sky again, this time facing the mountain which lay beyond the valley that was Abinor. Lightning was flashing over the mountain. Only over the mountain as the sky grew dark and expectant.

  "The moment is upon us," Aries muttered mostly to himself, still fixating on the mountain. "It is time."

  He turned to us, regarding each one of us; from Leo, Zak, me, Pisces, Skorpius, to Parthenos. It was as if he was pondering on what different methods he would use to kill every single one of us but then thought better of it.

  "No," he said, confirming my thoughts, "why end you now when I can have you bear witness to my salvation?"

  He turned to the Chieftain and his men. "I couldn't care less about you worthless scum!"

  Without warning, Aries unleashed a wave of flames. It soared over the soldiers and rained down on them in form of firebolts, burning unexpecting men down to the bone.

  The Chieftain fell off his horse which erupted in flames immediately after. He was calling out to his daughter.

  "Valeria! Valeria!" I followed his voice, weaving my eyes through the flames using Sage's vision until I found her. She had been pulled away from the rest, a fiery chain coiling around her.

  She did not appear to be burning as Aries settled her next to him. "Father! Help!" Valeria cried out.

  "Uh-uh," Aries raised a flaming finger at Parthenos who was spreading her wings. "Don't even think about it!"|

  He laughed. "That should do. A heavy price to pay for the sins of the father and all of you mortals! Soon, you will all learn your place." He was turning to leave as the others rushed to help the soldiers.

  Where is he going? He's getting away! My mind was firing up more than the flames on Aries's body. It was as if a switch had been flicked on inside me. A strange sense of power was taking over me.

  Rise, hunter. The Spirit awaits. . .

  That voice again. The same voice I'd been hearing ever since my birthday and all the time I'd been in Abinor. I did what I hadn't before. I decided to listen to it.

  The Spirit Equine awaits. . .

  There! I held on to that voice and just as Aries took his first step, my arm was raised again, awash with lightning. I glanced at it and discovered what it really was—a magnificent green glowing arrow. It rested in my hand. I let the voice guide me and I hurled the arrow at Aries.

  The arrow sailed through the air imperfectly and even spinning a few times before striking Aries in the back. But he had already tapped into his speed, pulling Valeria, the arrow. . .and me, altogether with him.

  "Desmond!" I heard Pisces's voice but it grew rapidly distant and so did the ashes of the Drunken Barrel. I was moving fast. Faster than I'd ever thought possible.

  Aries dragged me after him, unaware I was holding on to the arrow on his back as he hurtled through the valley. Everything around me morphed into fast flashing images and my vision waned as I grew lightheaded. It felt as if I was ascending but that was as much as I could make out. My eyes were weary. The speed was overwhelming and I finally gave in, my mind drifting away. The last thing I saw before blacking out was something materializing in my hand. It glitched and glowed like the arrow but it was bigger and curved with an ethereal string attached to it like a. . .

  Total darkness.