Chapter 23

It was a simple plan...

Is what I would like to say. But it wasnt Thena calling the shots this time.

Arthur stared at me with one eye, while his eye patch shifted as he spoke, "you got that Torin?"

"oh yeah, got it" I did not get it actually. I was distracted by agnir's constant humming and gleeful giggling. Ever since she woke up she's been in a cheery mood, but I couldn't talk to her just yet. This also meant I couldn't remind her that she was talking out loud.

"trignir? Agstin? Ah we will figure it out later" agnir continued to humm to herself, completely oblivious that I heard each secret whisper she said. Even the more personal, keep it in your head, type conversations. "Yes, we could live in the village... 3... Maybe 4?" I couldn't really focus on either conversation and instead got a mixed blurb of both.

Arthur stared at me and squinted, "you sure you got it? Because everyone else knows what to do but your still sitting there cluelessly..." He was getting impatient. Our descent to the ground was almost over and apparently I was supposed to be doing something.

"it's really hard to hear you... I think I have some water in my ear from when Claire jumped in the boat" I pretended to try and dislodge some water from my ear by tilting my head and hitting it with my hand.

Claire giggled, "trust me, I would know!" Water started pouring out of her ears.

Byron pulled his feet away from the puddle, "do you want to get us all killed? What if I was using lightning just now?" He brought up a good point.

"so anyways... Yeah I don't know what you were saying to me..." I sheepishly averted my eyes from Arthur's cold stare.

He groaned, "you won't be with Thena this time. It's you and Claire. Frankly her and Byron weren't going to make it very far without killing each other... Literally" Byron's eyes widened as he tried to avoid Claire's obnoxious splashing. "Plus you two will have a really cool party trick. Steam"

I looked at him funny. Agnir's hums were still there but I was able to pick up more from the conversation. "So Claire and I will create a smoke bomb and we sneak in?" It was a good idea actually.

Arthur folded his arms, "you can't follow us, they can see you regardless of smoke or steam. You'll have to use the sewer entrance after escaping. I'll lead Thena and Byron into the castle to find your sister. You will be a bit further behind climbing through the sewer system. Claire will help you to infiltrate any obstacles."

Honestly this was a solid plan. Arthur knew where he was going and Claire was so excited to work espionage that she had memorized the route already. Thankfully I could sit back.

There was one issue though... So far agnir was still a secret. Using her physical manifestation required I called her name, and if I did then everyone and their mom would know that agnir was with me. I could still use her flames without any issues, but my lack of magical training was apparent and my body was still going to burn because of her intense heat.

The boat was closer to the ground now. Byron and Arthur were ducked so they wouldn't be seen. Thena was with her steed Rapnir, and Claire and I were supposed to jump off and run at the guards.

The castle gates were tall and gloomy. Ice frosted the edges of the bricks and metal. Drezir stood at the gate, but they had not noticed the small boat gliding down from above.

Arthur spoke, "Thena's light magic is really coming in handy right now" I noticed that the sun was behind us and when I turned to look, I was instantly blinded by Thena's blade held high.

The guards couldn't see us because we were hidden in the bright light of what looked like a second sun.

"now!" Arthur whispered his command. Claire jumped on the boat backwards and started doing some flips, her gymnastics were flawless. Meanwhile I clumsily stood at the edge of the boat and looked down.

How far down is that? Will my legs break?

Arthur hit my knee so that I fell forward. I barreled face first towards the ground landing with a thud. Claire gracefully posed on her feat ready to dance.

I looked up dazed, the Drezir started cackling and lazily walking towards us. They pulled out their ice weapons, a few with swords, spears, and even axes.

Claire pointed at me, "you ready hot head?" She winked.

I could feel flames come out of me instantly without any will of my own. Agnir was suddenly filled with rage, "can I eat her?" She said while clenching her teeth. I didn't know why she was so mad but I started to circulate the flames from agnir towards Claire.

"let's go!" I shouted at claire as agnir's intense flames poured out like a beam towards her. Claire shot her water magic towards me as well. We ran at the guards. Steam erupted from our clashing magic. The area was difficult to see through now as a thick mist filled the air. We just had to hold it for 10 seconds... Which frankly was a really long time. Especially when the enemy could see you and you couldn't see them.

I heard Drezir start to surround my position. Claires mission was to incapacitate them while I dodged... Or tried to at least.

I heard a whoosh in the air and a cold icicle flew by my face just barely grazing my cheek. I fell down to the ground in surprise, though I'm not sure what I was expecting. To be fair this was only my 2nd or 3rd time fighting people at all...

I started to realize that I was in danger. Grave danger. One second I was blasting magic, now I was crawling on the floor hoping I wouldn't get killed.

"Torin, I'm going to ignite you, if their ice comes close it won't hurt you!" I could feel agnir's flames getting hotter.

"wait, wait wait!" Just then an ice sword lodged into the ground next to me. "Ok yeah do it!" I cried.

Suddenly I was burning. Flames erupted from me. The mist started to dissipated around me revealing several decapitated Drezir. A few were started to swing at me. I confidently walked towards them. The first Drezir, who seemed to be missing both eyes, suddenly looked confused as his sword became just a hilt. I punched him swiftly. His frozen skull melted. The second one saw what I did to the first and dropped his weapon then held his arms high. I stepped forward, but Claire swiftly kicked its head away. The body fell over.

"wow you're so hot Torin!" She said it like she was flirting with me. She bit her knuckle like she was trying to hold herself back.

The flame got hotter, "alright she's dead!" Agnir was raging mad.

"Ahhhhh!" My skin was definitely melted off this time. "Agnir! Stop!" I shouted it. The flames cooled quickly.

"Torin! I'm.. I'm sorry! I didn't mean to hurt you!" Agnir was suddenly brought back to her senses.

"it's alright. I'll be alright..." I looked at the damage, my skin was black and charred.

A stream of water floated and coated my body. Claire knelt down next to me, "this should help." She had wide eyes which meant that she was utterly shocked. The cooling water start to heal my skin, significantly faster than Arthur's magic could actually, which was remarkable.

"so..." She said, "agnir huh?" Her face turned into an excited grin. There was a hint of crazy in her eyes that terrified me.