Jrax leapt towards Jraken and fired off multiple shots of fire at him the entire way. Jraken deflected the shots that would have hit him and ignored the rest. When Jrax landed it was with a powerful kick that Jraken narrowly avoided.

            He blasted fire in response at his father, forcing him to put up his guard. When the smoke cleared, Jrax had hardly moved. He also seemed to be virtually unharmed.           

            “Impressive, but I think you can do better!” He sprung forward with two fire blades he had quickly created. They were so bright hot that they hurt the eyes of anyone who stared at them too long.

             Jraken responded with fiery blades of his own. His blades were not near as bright, but they were engulfed with large wildfire that distorted the air around them.

            When the blades met, bits of fire flew off in all directions. Anything the fires touched melted instantly. The floor and what were left of the walls, soon became full of tiny holes as the battle between father and son raged on.

 

            Dravon could only watch on in amazement as his father and brother fought at speeds he had never dreamed of. The sun had now set on the Pyran capital. The light that tried to keep up with the warrior’s fire swords left long breathtaking trails as the battle raged on. He saw several ships shooting off into the night sky and people crowding onto the streets under dimly lit streetlights to see what was going on.

            There was no going back now. If his father had truly orchestrated this exodus, then every member of the Ferno family would be held accountable.

 

            Jrax thwarted one of Jraken’s attacks and kicked him in the chest. It was the first time he had gotten a decent blow to land thus far. He jumped up and rapidly threw a large fireball down on him.

            Jraken was slow to react and took the full force of his father’s attack, sending him through the floor.

            Smoke rose from the hole that Jraken had been blasted through as Jrax approached it. He lifted his hand up and started forming another fireball. Just as he was about to throw it down, another fireball flew in and hit it, forcing it to ignite right above him.

            Jrax looked over to see Dravon gathering more fire in his hands.

            “What are you doing?!” Dravon yelled angrily.

            He never imagined there would be a scenario where he would have to throw a fireball at his unsuspecting father. His thoughts and feelings had never been so conflicted before. There was no way he could defeat his father in a fight. He also did not see how it would be possible for his father to remain the King of Pyra. He had to get him off the planet immediately. With or without his brother.

            “Forget Jraken! Everyone else is leaving!” He pleaded.

            “This is exactly why I told you to get on the ship!” Jrax yelled. “Your brother is too dangerous to be left alive! He’ll be made into a weapon against us! If he isn’t with us, then he is against us! If you try to stop me again then I will be forced to kill you as well!”

            Dravon could not believe what he was hearing. Could he be right? Jraken undoubtedly had every Jhori Agency scouting him. No one could now question that he was not a prodigy. He was a true freak of nature. At just 13 years old he was holding his own against the King of Pyra himself.

            He was also one of the kindest and most caring people Dravon had ever met.

            He stood his ground. “He’s potentially saved my life more than once. A wise man once taught me that blood is thick, but honor is thicker. Brother or not, I won’t sit by until my life debts are repaid.”

            Jrax ignited his arms. “So be it.”

            Dravon ignited his arms as well and the two lunged toward each other. Dravon fought with everything he had, but the injuries from his fight with Jraken made keeping up with his father impossible.  

            With a powerful punch, Jrax sent his son through a wall and out onto the hangar where the king’s ship was sitting idly by. He tried to get up, but his body would not respond. He had been knocked so hard he was having trouble regaining his equilibrium. He could not even tell which way was up. He slowly started to feel like there were a thousand tiny insects crawling all over his body. The tingling pain took over his mind.

            “Stay down, Dravon. I don’t want to have to kill you too. Losing one son is hard enough.”

            “You’ll not be killing anyone!” Jraken shouted. He was standing beside the hole he had been knocked through. His clothes were torn apart and covered in burns. So, he ripped off what remained of his shirt and threw it to the ground.

            “But you have lost a son.” He said with contempt.

            “You were always her son anyway.” Jrax replied. He then ignited his entire body in flames that continuously circled around him. “This is something very few Pyrans have ever mastered! It took me a lifetime, but with this ability I have reached the level of the legendary ancients. I am now unstoppable!”

            “You’ve let your power consume you! This is the curse of our race!” Jraken reasoned.

            “Don’t spout off that Jhori deception in here, boy! Not while I’m still breathing!”

            Jraken was impressed when Dravon was able to ignite his arms and legs in flame. He never imagined someone could sustain them all over their entire body.

            “This is called the All-Flame. By controlling the flames that surround my body I can move at speeds unattainable by physical training alone! I am also completely impervious to damage! Unfortunately, this ability is why you can’t be allowed to live. If you ever mastered it, and let Jhori use it against us, it would bring doom to our people.”

            Jraken breathed in deep and let it out slowly. “You’re the one bringing doom to our people. As for this All-Flame technique, maybe you will actually be able to keep up with me now.”

            Jrax could not help but smile at the words of his naïve and over-confident son. When he leapt from where he was standing the force of him pushing off the ground made the floor collapse beneath him. He attacked Jraken at blazing speeds. Speeds even he was unaware that he could reach. Still, his son managed to deflect nearly every attack. They jumped from pillar to pillar in the remains of the large throne room as Jrax put everything he had into the fight. Each time they jumped off a pillar it broke apart and more of the ceiling came crashing down.

            Jrax yelled in frustration as he moved even faster in his attempt to connect a powerful hit. “This isn’t possible!” He shouted.

            Jraken tried to strike back with flames of his own, but Jrax’s All-Flame would just absorb it and sent it right back. His physical attacks did not seem to be having much of an effect on him either. He was beginning to wonder if perhaps his father truly had become unstoppable.

            Jrax kept up his relentless assault and eventually created an opening. He took full advantage of it and started waylaying on Jraken’s face and body. After a lengthy combination of punches, he kicked him to the ground with a spinning kick to the side of the head.

            “It’s over, son. You’re no match against the All-Flame.” He held up his hand and pointed his pointer and middle finger at Jraken. A small bright flame could be seen growing from the tip.

            Jrax fired the dense flame down at Jraken with intent to kill. Jraken barely avoided it by jumping high into the air. Far above what remained of the roof. Jrax followed right behind him. His fiery body leaving a long streak of light into the night sky.

           

            Several Pyrans who had remained in the city pointed out the visually stunning sight. Some older citizens even recalled seeing such sights before, back in the war. By now most people had realized that they had been abandoned by the elites. Nearly every capable ship was now gone. The king’s ship, however, was still proudly on display atop the palace. Leaving many to wonder what the king’s involvement in this exodus really was.

 

            When Jraken had reached the top of his jump and felt himself starting to fall he could see his father was still coming at him with great force. He gave a loud battle cry and a bright violet light burst from his body. The force of the violet light stopped Jrax dead in his tracks only a pace away from Jraken, and he too started to fall.

            Jraken unleashed another violet burst and he suddenly shot towards Jrax with immense speed. He kicked Jrax back down into the palace so hard he went through several floors. The structure of the palace had finally had all it could take and started to completely cave in on itself.

 

 

            “Come on! There’s no time!” Chren yelled from aboard the king’s ship. Dravon shook his head violently to try and get his bearings back. Looking down it was clear that he had lost a lot of blood. He got up and stumbled his way onto the ship.

            “I can’t work this thing! Get us out of here! The whole palace is caving in!” Chren urged.

            Dravon did not have time to think. He could feel the floor shaking violently and ran to the control room of the ship. He saw that their course was already charted so he hit the autopilot. As soon as he felt the ship take off, he collapsed unconscious.

 

 

            Jraken shot flames down to cushion his fall. He saw the king’s ship take off as he fell. He hoped that Dravon was just trying to get off the collapsing building, but it soon became clear that his brother had no intention of coming back.

            When Jraken landed he saw no sign of his father. He did not think he would have been able to survive having his own palace cave in on him, but he also didn’t think he would ever be able to defeat his father in a fight.

He recalled the bright violet flames. He had no idea what they were or how he had manifested them, but he knew that he had somehow tapped into an incredible power.

            “Prince Jraken!” A familiar voice yelled.

            “Instructor Skyla?! What are you doing here?” He asked.

            “We got reports of a great evacuation. I had to see if you were okay.” She had several Jhori troopers with her.

             “Find him.” She said. They all scattered immediately.

            “It’s not safe! Get these people out of here!” Jraken started to panic. If his father were still alive then he would very easily be able to kill everyone that came into his view. No Jhori trooper stood a chance against an Elementi. Especially not the King of the Pyrans.

            “Calm yourself, prince. King Jrax is no longer a threat to anyone. You saw to that. Go to my ship. I will shuttle you back to the academy. It’s the safest place for you right now. My men can handle this.”

            As soon as Jraken took a step toward Skyla’s ship he realized how drained he was. His shoes felt like they weighed as much as starships. He fell to his knees, and two of Skyla’s men came and helped him onto her ship.

           

            “We found him!” A trooper reported to Skyla.

            “Good. Tell everyone to return to the ship. I will speak to him alone.”

            “As you wish!” The trooper motioned at the others and they all hustled back onto their ship.

            Skyla approached the bruised and bloody Jrax. Several of his bones were protruding from his skin, and blood gushed from every opening.

            “He really did a number on you.”

            Jrax shuffled a little and grunted. “Who in the abyss are you?” He asked through his bloody teeth.

            “I’m Skyla. I am an instructor at the Jhori academy.”

            “So, you’re the one that turned my son against me?”

            “There’s so much more to it than that! I used his compassion for people and his love for an Onyxian girl. Nothing conceals logic better than love. You being a terrible father really made my job a little too easy if we’re being honest.” Skyla’s body then started to morph, and she soon had the appearance of Leader Laski.

            “Killing your wife Drelaine was probably the most genius part of my plan.” She admitted.

            Jrax coughed up blood. “You?”

            “I remotely set her ship to fly into the sun, left you a nice little suicide note, and then let your family marinade in self-pity.”

            “Darex will stop you. The Free Elementi will stop you! It’s too late. Jraken may be strong, but he can’t take on an entire army!”

            Laski then started to morph again until she had the appearance of Priestess Lys. “I am the Free Elementi. Darex is completely under my control. This rebellion was all my plan from the start. You Jrax, are just an insignificant little piece of my game. How you ended up siring ‘the wielder of the royal flame’ is beyond me.”

            Tears started to roll down Jrax’s cheeks.

            “Don’t cry, Jrax. It’s not very kingly.” She teased. “I wouldn’t have taken you for the fear of death type.”

            “I have no fear of death nor are these tears of sadness or remorse. These tears are of joy. You thought revealing your plan to me would lead me to the abyss of despair. You are wrong. I thought my wife died because of me. My son stopped me before I did something truly unforgivable. And now I am no longer a cog in your machine.” Jrax closed his eyes and smiled a genuine smile of one who’s heart had been lifted.

            Lys rolled her eyes with disgust and contempt. She held up a clenched fist and dark tentacles came up from the ground around him. They slowly engulfed him and squeezed him until he became an unrecognizable heap of blood and bones.