The hidden flame

PROLOGUE

The night was growing thin as my army started to tire after days upon days of fighting, this will be the last night, I will end it once and for all. I stride  through the dead elf bodies lying peacefully in the soft snow, tracks of crimson blood running through the freshly fallen snow, never stopping until merging with another line of liquid from my fallen men, a river of death connecting to more death as it flows through the ground.
If I can not defeat barrette it will be my blood spilling in the snow at my feet. Standing in the mass of death and gore Barrette waits patiently astride his nightmare steed, from a distance the horse looks as it should but as I get closer the skin that was never there in the first place starts to disappear leaving Behind bone and carnage sticking out left and right, even the beasts head is nothing but bones and teeth. In the middle of the battle field barrette remains confident as I continue to approach him on my valiant panthera, his white mane blending in with the snow blowing in the wind and ice being sprayed in my face, his tail sways in challenge, ears pointed straight to show no fear lurks on this side of the battle.
we stop a few feet from the bone beast and barrette, he slides off in a short easy movement, puffing up snow under his clean brown leather boots indicating he has been sitting up on his high horse this entire battle, that would explain why I hadn't seen him with his men. He was sitting up here looking pretty while his friends fought and died down there alone and without their leader fighting beside them, shows how much of a coward he is, can't even fight his own war.
I slide off my panthera and it runs back to help the army. My hands burst into hot orange flames dancing on my finger tips as I lift my hands up to my head, showing off just a little bit. "Let's end this once and for all barrette." I yell over the loud noise of war and swords clashing as fellow elves die before my eyes. My men. Barrette summons his own magic if you would even call it that, it's wrong or at least how he uses it is. 5 years ago he decided he didn't have enough power and his people had to much there for he sought out a grand witch from the dead zone to the west of ocaella, she sucked almost all the power out of his kingdom and pushed it into barrette giving him the power of his entire kingdom and leaving the people with just enough to survive. he may be more powerful then me but I have always had the brains and that's exactly how I plan to beat him.
Thick black smoke forms a giant cloud around him in protection, i already know if someone tried to penetrate it, it would just bounce off leaving no damage at all. "Is that victory in your voice Reagan? If so I must confess I'm confused because it appears as if my demons are demolishing your pretty elves by the minute." He talks as if under all the darkness and corrupt magic there isn't a good elf, an elf that used to be my friend. Well no more, my friend is gone and he isn't coming back, I know that now. I see what he is capable of or maybe he has always been capable of this and I have just been blind to it as if I didn't want to see what was right in front of my face all along, pretending to be my friend on the outside but actually my enemy underneath. I can't stop the question from forming on my tongue and tumbling out "what happened to my friend? I don't recognise this man standing before me now." He appears confident but then scrunches his hands up, remembering our friendship for a second to know he should fear me even just a little bit. " he is gone" that's all I need to hear for me to strike. His black smoke shoots into a wall blocking my fire ball in an instant as I planned for him to do, this way he wears himself out dodging my attacks, then when I strike for real he will be to weak and tired to react at his usual speed and letting my fire burn out the darkness giving my old friend one last moment before it all ends.
Fire balls, fire arrows, concentrating on not creating anything to large that will deflate my power to fast but is proving effective as barrette starts to sway on his feet and breaths come out in fast bursts of warm air in the cold night sky. I start to get closer preparing for my final attack. I merely need him a bit more worn out so I use my fire to form a small but hard wall of oranges and blues and reds, sending it flying towards him, I almost think it might actually hit him but as it gets about a few feet near him his barrier slides up slowly but still blocks it all the same.
It's time, I throw ten blue arrows soaring for his shield and as I planned they pierce the black smoke like a hot knife going through butter. He drops to the ground as one of the arrows slices his left cheek leaving a red line just missing his eye. While he's distracted I throw all my power into a large wall made with the strength of steel, I send it forward and this time it hits home, slamming into Barrettes Chest, knocking him into the cold snow where I meet him and place my feet either side of him, drawing my sword I point it at his throat but not cutting the skin just yet.
" what will you do now Reagan, Kill me? No, you don't have it in you to kill your oldest friend." I wish he was correct I really do, I mean what kind of person does this make me. Probably one that would do anything for his kingdom but at the cost of one of his own, someone who fought beside me and was there for my wife and me when we lost our child. No this is not the same person I must remind myself of that, I can't fall for his tricks anymore.
"You were right, you're not my friend anymore. he is long gone and all I'm left with is a monster." His fists curl at his side, his lips press together. he knows I'm right. But no matter how much I wished for it to happen I didn't really think it would but it did " fine I surrender." He looks away, embarrassed he has lost. "You can't kill someone who has surrendered, that would go against your code wouldn't it Reagan." That smug smirk returns and stays put as he continues to talk "you didn't expect me to remember that did you?" I can't let him do any more damage to my kingdom or anyone else's, he doesn't deserve to live after all he has done. Just this once I tell myself, just this once I will kill a surrendered man.
I just hope his son will be better and won't follow in his fathers foot steps. "and I bet you didn't expect this" I push the sword through this throat earning a horrible groan. as barrette slowly dies a blue spark flys out of his mouth into the pitch black sky, disappearing into the clouds probably never to be seen again. Could It have been his spirit?