Scarlet Flame

Chapter 28

There was a loud crach on the docks, and I turned to see what had caused it. All of the ships that belonged to our allies were on fire. My eyes widened in panic, but I was relieved when I saw Xavier and the others made it out.

"Where's Mason?!" I asked Chloe. She sttod beside me, her eyes full of fear. All of this terrorized her, but I knew she was strong, and she'd make it out of this.

"He went up there," she pointed towards the village, away from shore. I nodded and hugged her.

"I'll see you when this is all over, okay?" I leaned back to look at her face. She nodded slowly, all her attention on the scene ahead by the shore.

"Hey, listen," I waved my hand in front of her, and she looked at me. "Stay near Xavier. He'll protect you." I reassured her.

"Okay. Scarlet?" She asked as I stood up. Her eyes were mixed with emotions.

"Yeah?" I asked, looking at her.

"Be careful." She whispered. I nodded, took her hand, and squeezed it. We gave each other a small smile and parted ways.

My feet led me up the sand and towards the village. There were screams coming from it that I could hear clearly, and I rushed even faster. What I saw shouldn't have been surprising to me, but it put me in shock.

All of the houses were on fire, villagers were screaming and running, and Aqua Raiders were destroying everything they could.

"Margaret?!" I called, weaving in and out of each group of panicked villagers. There was no response, and my eyes glanced up.

The sky seemed dark, the only thing illuminating it was fire. Flying above everyone with a menacing grin was Mary. She caught sight of me and laughed.

In attempt to ignore her, I told myself I had better things to worry about. Like, where was Margaret? Or Mason? What was Gareth planning to do? Who was leading this whole thing?

In order to find them, I knew I'd need a better view. So, I did my best to climb onto the nearest building. I made my way to the roof, surrounded by heat and flames. It didn't bother me as much as it would bother a normal person though. I just did what I could to control the fire to keep from burning me.

It was almost impossible to recognize anyone through all the panic and fighting. From the height I was at, I could see the shore. Although barely visible, I could see Gareth stating at the sky. I followed his gaze and, once again, saw Mary. Is he trying to make eye contact so he can-

My thoughts were cut short when I heard something behind me. I turned around to see Mason, and his sword in his hand. An evil grin was plastered on his face, and I stepped back. Now I understood what Gareth was talking about.

"Mason? What are you doing?" Though there was no need to ask him. I could see what was going on clearly.

"Getting ready to kill you. In case you haven't noticed yet, I'm the leader in all of this. This whole time, I've been controlling the Aqua Raider's every move." He chuckled.

"It was bad enough pretending to be innocent for Dean. I couldn't stand how he could just control fire at his will. That's why I eventually had him killed. Ya know, there aren't many people with that ability left. Let's see...There's you, a few people around here, and your father. Now think about it. Your father is most likely dead, and so are the people around here. But you," his grin widened, "You could join me. You'd be the last of your kind left, so there wouldn't be a problem. And it'd be easy to rid of those supporters, you know, the ones who don't have the ability but still do what they can to help."