KINETIC

The young boy, William, ask his question with an expectant look on his face. Leo had of course noticed the boy on the cart but he hadn't questioned why he was there because he was having a conversation with Dreifus.

"I don't know... I didn't see her once we arrived." Leonard answered.

Williams face dropped but it was clear that he understood Leonard's circumstances. The seriousness of war was common knowledge, so much so that even a young boy like William was aware.

"Who is this boy, Leonard?" Leo asked.

"We found William and his mother at an abandoned town a fee days ago. His mother was injured and we were bringing them to Zoren after completing our mission." Leonard answered.

"Since she's not here, I assume something happened with his mother. Where did she go that she isn't with you now?"

The healer was the one to answer "The woman had a strange injury that resembled human teeth marks. She was unconscious the entire time right up until we were nearing Zoren, then her body started to change.

Her skin turned red, a third eye and horns appeared on her head and wings sprouted from her back. She took to the sky and flew towards Zoren and we followed.

We weren't even aware that the city had been taken, nor did we know that there was a battle to re-take the city happening."

" I was curious about your timely arrival but it seems it was just a coincidence. As for the woman..." Leo looked at William with a solemn expression.

"I'm sorry to tell you this William but your mother died in Zoren." Leo said.

Williams mouth opened and his eyes widened from the shock "She... She can't be dead... How... How do you know, you said you didnt know her!?" His eyes were filling with tears and he couldn't control his voice.

Leonard and the healer were also down after hearing this piece of news. They were both hoping to find Williams mother and help her recover, now they just felt sorry for the boy.

"A woman with red skin, three eyes, horns and wings on her back attacked me during the battle. I didn't just see your mother die, William, I was the one who killed her." Leo said.

"What...? You... Killed my mom?" William froze. Tears were still pouring out but his eyes seemed a bit dead and empty.

"I know this will be hard for you, especially since I'm the one who did it. You might feel like I'm to blame for her death and if you decide to hold onto that opinion then so be it.

Before you decide, I'll tell you the truth of what happened. Your mothers mind was being influenced by a man who's name is John.

John has the same red skin, three eyes and horns as you saw on your mother and he was the one to change her into that creature.

He's the reason your mother is dead. He was the one who forced her to things she would ever have done. If you can find it within yourself to forgive me, then you'll realize the true focus of your anger should be John." Leo explained.

"He's right, William. John is to blame, not Leo. We can't bring your mother back but I can make you a promise. We will make sure that John pays for what he's done, not only to your mother but to all his victims during this war." Leonard said with conviction.

William didn't say anything in response, the dead look in his eyes still remained. He turned away from the others and sat facing the edge of the cart. He stared at the wooden planks for the rest of the ride.

***

Trent was sitting inside a room, staring at the wall ahead of him. He didn't blink or move even a single muscle.

Suddenly, directly infront of Trent, a trio of people suddenly appeared with a flash of light. One of the three was wearing a cultist robe without a mask on, his eyes were purple and his skin pale.

Another of the ones who appeared was a behemoth of a creature with scales over its body. The final one of the three was John.

As soon as the three appeared, John immediately stumbled and began to fall over. He created a small barrier that he caught himself with and leaned on like a table.

"So I take it there was a problem?" Trent said with a smug attitude and curious tone.

"What do you think!?" John shouted. "The Royal Army was there to take back the city. Leo, Leonard and the new guy Connor were all there. Leo even killed my new fucking subordinate!"

"I take it you were defeated then. ~Sigh~ The master is not going to be pleased." Trent said with an annoyed tone of voice.

The barrier John was using to keep himself up suddenly vanished and he collapsed to the floor as it did.

"What's wrong with you? Did you get fucked up that badly?" Trent asked with a disdainful expression and tone.

"Fuck yo... Aarrgghh...! Leo broke one of my spikes that was covered in poison and threw it at me. I never realized how much my poison hurt!" John shouted while wincing from the pain.

"I always assumed you would be immune to your own poison. Like how abilities don't hurt their user, unless it's because it's an ability you have because of what you are..."

"Just get one of the healers for fucks sake!" John shouted.

"Alright, alright fine, geez you don't have to be such an ass about it." Trent said while rolling his eyes and walking out the room.

John lay on the floor waiting for someone to come and heal him. As the pain continued to affect him, he kept thinking about the source of his pain.

'I'm gonna kill you! I'm gonna fucking kill every single one of you! Turning me into a monster, disrupting all my plans, killing my subordinates... I've had enough!' John shouted within his thoughts, the image of Leo flashing through his mind as he did.

And then something occurred to him, a plan to take his revenge.' I might not be able to hurt you physically, but there are other ways to defeat you. I'll just take away the things that are precious to you...' John thought, smiling for a moment before his face contorted from the pain again.

He looked up at the massive scaled humanoid creature beside him "I've already taken one away from you, the rest will come in time..."

***

"Leo, you're back. How did it go?" Clay asked as everyone climbed out of the cart.

"We took back the city but had some issues along the way. Connor is quite injured right now and will need some time to recover, we're not sure how long." Leo replied.

Clay nodded in understanding then looked at Leonard "I'm surprised to see you here. If you're coming back with Leo then you must have been at Zoren."

"Yeah, I just happened to get there when the battle was happening so I joined in. That's the short version anyway..." Leonard replied.

"We can talk about it all later with the other leaders. I see you found Snythe as well, that's...good." Clay said with a less than enthusiastic tone.

"Yeah well, his appearance was a bit suspicious and his story is the same way. But that's a story I'll tell you when others aren't nearby." Leo said.

"Who's the kid?" Clay asked while looking passed the others to William.

"It's part of my story but basically he was rescued by us and recently lost his mother." Leonard said.

"I see. Well, let's get going, we need to hear what happened from you and there are other important things we need to discuss with you." Clay said as he turned and started walking.

The others all followed behind him. Even Snythe was following, although he was around 10 meters behind the rest of the group.

" Oh yeah, Nila came back." Clay suddenly said.

" Really? It's been months since I've seen her." Leo replied.

"She was on a secret mission for the Supreme Commander, that's why you haven't seen her at all this entire time."

"I was a bit curious about it, I mean she was supposed to be on the same type of mission as Leonard and he came by once or twice."  Leo said.

"I would have come by more often if I could have. Constantly traveling around the kingdom was really exhausting..."  Leonard said, a deep sigh escaping him.

"Well, that's done with now. If everything is going to happen like I think it will, the war isn't going to last that much longer." Clay said.

"Why do you say that, have the cult done something that gives us an opening?" Leonard asked.

"Not exactly...well I suppose it could be looked at that way. You'll know what I mean once the meeting is over." Clay said as they continued through the base to the War Room that was used for meetings between all the leaders.

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