Zephyr: The Elemental Clans

163 - Rising Tensions

*Three Weeks Ago*

Dagan Zephyr - POV;

Seven days.... seven arduous days had dragged on since the devastation Fenix City had faced at the hands of Blaze. The grievous fallout of the cataclysm had dispirited much of the surviving population; citizens and warriors alike. It required all of our to recover from our disheartened devastation, one which continued to burn like a piercing theough our hearts. It was only then that we managed to just barely begin our painful journey towards our home; Zephyr City.

The circumstances were serious when we'd departed so very long ago, however none of us had anticipated that our return would be marked by such abhorrant sorrow and inexplicable agony. As we dragged our tired bodies through the gates of our Residential District, we were met by an overwhelmed Catherine and the stoic Regulus Seraphim Zephyr the Third.

The Regulus' advisor embraced Alva tightly in anguish, barely able to catch her breath as she wept bitterly. The rest of us could only look on blankly; our minds numbed and demolished from our severe trauma.

Seraphim narrowed his eyes as he witnessed the scene before turning around and marching away nonchalantly. We couldn't be bothered to address it in the slightest, and that was a reasonable decision considering he seemed to be giving us some space before he inevitably bombarded us with questions...... and bombard us he did.

Three days after our return to our home, we were called to the Regulus' abode where the six of us were seated infront of the stern figure of our clan's leader.

"I'm sure you all know why you're here. There have been numerous reports from various sources claiming outrageous events to be the truth. No one seems to have discovered all of the facts surrounding this incident as of yet. I must get to the bottom of this at once and to do that, I want to hear everything. Tell me what happened!" Lord Seraphim announced seriously.

We all hesitated for a moment and exchanged unsure glances. Seraphim grew rapidly impatient and abruptly slammed his fist into the table as he boomed, "SPEAK!'

"It's alright children," Catherine assured us from where she stood, next to the patriarch, in a soothing, sweet voice, "Please tell us all that you know. Even if it may be difficult to accept, we need to hear this for ourselves. That's the only way we can put things in motion to deal with this tragedy."

Calmed by her voice, we built the resolve to divulge what we were aware of.

"During the Grand Finale battle," Alva began, "all of us had gathered in the stands to bear witness to the event ourselves. When the barrier broke, I found myself being swept away by the stampede of patrons. Before I knew it, I was outside and unable to get back in due to the non-stop outpouring of panicked souls from every entrance."

"We on the other hand faced something quite different," Fira mumbled, "an explosion in our vicinity launched us into the wall."

"We were knocked unconscious," Rydia finished, "As a result, Fira and I knew nothing else until emergency responders woke us after the climax of the attack."

"I myself had been buried along with Indira and Aquarius when the blasta commenced," I added, "Together, we were quite capable of emerging relatively unscathed, however a greater threat awaited us on the surface. Rex Blaze, the second-in-command of Blaze and the Right Hand Man of Duran himself had anticipated our return. Accompanying him were a duo of artificial humans; aplarently Duran's children."

"Artificial humans? What do you mean by that? I'd like to hear more if you can," Catherine pressed.

"It seems that Duran was trying to build the most powerful warriors he could as he thought normal people just weren't good enough. Finally, according to Rex, he succeeded in this mission. He created a pair of beings known as The Children of Azazel by combining his DNA with that of Legendary Beasts," I explained.