Logan smiled as he saw the group change course, 'So, they're gonna try to sneak past me? I don't think so'
"Let them think they've outsmarted me," he told his men, "Then we'll get them."


***
"Calisto, when they attack us, you get Miha to the city," said Wintrin.

"Wintrin, won't you need my help?" asked Calisto.

"Maybe, but they are fighters as well. We should be able to hold off Logan or Shirl. I believe it will be one of them. Eldentine and Carolyn know how to hide their aura's better. I wouldn't have sensed them with all this noise."

"True. I'll take two of the other's just in case," she said glancing at Ryo and Sage.

"Good, inform them and Miha. Be ready to leave at any time."

"Of course." With that she walked to the three of them.

***
"Now!" commanded Logan and with that his men charged towards the party. Silently he called upon the power of the sapphire and a deep blue glow of power surrounded him.

Cye was the first to see the charging troops. He quickly donned his subarmor. Kento and Rowen were quick to follow and soon seven of the warriors were in their subarmors. Ryo, Sage, Mia, and Calisto began to run toward the city undetected thanks in part to an illusion crafted by Dais.

Wintrin then called upon his powers. All around him the warm summer air became cold and his eye's were now solid blue.

While the Ronins fought off the army Wintrin looked for the rival mage. Soon he spied Logan, who was slowly casting a spell to call forth a storm.

"Logan!" called Wintrin, considerably louder than he had before, as he gathered blue energy in his right hand.

"You should know better than to interfere! Now you will die by my hand," yelled Logan as he redirected his energy in to a sharp blade made entirely of what seemed to be air itself.

"I do not believe so, you would have to defeat me first," was his reply as he sent forth the artic blast. While Logan recovered from that he quickly formed a weapon of his own, a quarter staff made entirely of what appeared to be ice. Soon after the two mages began to fight, alternating between weapons and spells.

"This is getting boring, lets take them out faster," said Kento, "Armor of Hardrock, Tao Gi!" In a flash of scrolls and sakura petals the warrior of earth was now fully armed. He began to fight more soldiers immediately.

"Armor of Strata, Tao Inochi!"

"Armor of Torrent, Tao Shin!"

"Armor of Cruelty, Tao Chu!"

"Armor of Deception, Tao Nin!"

"Armor of Venom, Tao Ko!"

"Armor of Darkness, Tao Tei!"

Soon all of the present Ronins were taking out the soldiers much faster than before.

"They're like mages!" cried a soldier as he and several other's ran from the battlefield. Logan caught site of this.

"Cowards," he muttered as he blasted Wintrin with a blast of plasma. Wintrin blocked this with a shield of solid ice, the ice melted on contact but it had done its job. Then he put Logan on the defensive by throwing several shards of ice at him. Logan blocked most of them with an air wall but one cut through and grazed his cheek.

"You'll pay for that!" he growled and began to build up a massive plasma attack.

"You link to play with wind, huh? Let's see if you like this! Arrow Shock Wave!" cried Rowen. The rest of the enemy soldiers were either defeated or running. Logan was completely unprepared for the golden arrow that pierced his left hand, and wasn't even expecting the shock wave's power as it coursed from the arrow and into his body.

"You will pay for that, boy!" he snarled before he called upon his power to teleport him back to the citadel.

"Thank you, Rowen," began Wintrin back in his usual near whisper, "We need to meet Calisto, Miha, Sage, and Ryo inside the city."

"Anytime, let's go," said Rowen as he shifted back to his street clothes.

"You must be Miriamele. I trained your mother, you resemble her strongly," began Magda, then

she looked to Calisto, "And where is Wintrin?"

"He stayed back to stop one of his followers from stopping us. The rest of Miriamele's friends are with him," answered Calisto.

"Then these must also be your friends," she said looking towards Ryo, Sage, Yulie, White Blaze, and Aurora.

"Yes they are, and please call me Mia."

"If you wish for me to call you Mia then I shall do so. But first, please, tell me what your friends are called."

"Of course, they are Ryo, Sage, Yulie, White Blaze, and Aurora."

Magda looked closely at White Blaze for a moment then whispered to him, "So Great One, we meet again."

At that moment three sharp knocks sounded on the door. Magda hurried to the entrance and soon led Wintrin, Rowen, Kento, Cye, Dais, Kale, Kayura, and Sekhmet into her remarkable home.

"How the..." began Kento as he began to step back out of the house to verify what he had seen. "Yes, the inside is bigger than the outside. There is no time to waste on that explanation. Mia follow me, it is time to begin your training. Wintrin, I would have your assistance."

A lone figure sits on a large stone overlooking the city of Celine. He was half elfin with short blonde hair and gray eyes. He was wearing a green shirt and tan pants underneath a brown tunic. Slowly he pulled a panflute from his tunic. He lifted the pipes to his lips and began to play a soft and mournful melody. His name was Laith.

"Magda, why do you need my assistance?" asked Wintrin, "My power is of Ice while that of the Faramiir's is Fire."

"True, her mother was a Fire Sorceress. But her father was an Erian." At that Wintrin looked completely surprised.

"Who?" he asked, his voice showed his confusion.

"Gwaine Erian. I thought you would have known. He was a very powerful Ice Mage."

"I know, I understand now why you need my assistance."

"Good," and with that she turned to Mia, "Now then, first you need to find your power. If you don't learn to summon it at will then you can never hope to contain it. And if you are wondering why you have not ever felt it before, the answer to that is simple, unlike mages, the power only begins to show in sorcerers by the time they become eighteen, however they tend to be more powerful."

"How do I find it?"

"It is different for everyone who possess such power. However it might prove more difficult for you. You see, you source is split between fire and ice. That is why he wants you as his slave or destroyed, and he doesn't care which either. You see it is possible that you could combine the two forces without them canceling each other, but instead creating a far more powerful force know only to the Ages of Legend. Now I would like for you to try to find your power."

"Alright, I'll try," responded Mia as she closed her eyes and began to concentrate. Several minutes later she reopened her eyes, it was an unsuccessful attempt.

"Try searching with your emotions and keep you mind clear, like a mirror," suggested Wintrin.

"Yes that would help, but you should also try to focus on your source. Fire would probably be the easier on to find. Nynaeve (AN Pronounced NIGH-neev), your mother, first called upon her power by imagining a wall of flame," agreed Magda.

"I'll try that," said Mia as she closed her eyes to try again. This time the result was a dim red glow that surrounded her, and when she opened her eyes they were completely red. Soon however the power faded and her appearance reverted to normal.

"That... was amazing," she gasped.

"Yes, the experience is exhilarating. Especially the first time," said Wintrin.

"You did very well Mia. Now we will teach you how to control that power, then you must find the other half of your source," said Magda.

"So, exactly what are we up against?" asked Sage.

"An old evil to this world. I doubt he even knew of the existence of your powers until today," began Calisto, "He has four Mages that serve directly under him, Logan Mage of Air, Shirl Mage of Earth, Carolyn Mage of Thunder, and Eldentine Mage of Fire. Each one bear a gemstone amulet that increases there powers tenfold. We do not truly understand the full extent of his power, but it was enough to murder all but Miriamele of the Faramiir line. Queen Nynaeve was on of the most powerful sorceress there was and she was barely able to hold him back long enough for her maid servant to escape with her infant daughter."

"Logan seemed powerful, but he left pretty fast when Rowen shot that arrow in his hand," said Kento.

"An arrow? That shouldn't have been able to strike him, not with his power over wind. Believe me, I know," she said as she glanced at her quiver.

"My armor is the Strata, It's power source is air," explained Rowen.

"I see, and I believe you said you had fire earlier," she said looking to Ryo who nodded in response, "What of the others?"

"I bear the armor of Torrent and through it I am allowed to wield the powers of water," answered Cye.

"The armor that chose me is the Halo and its power comes from spirit and light," answered Sage.

"Mine armor is Hardrock and I fight with the power of Earth at my side," said Kento.

"My armor is the armor of Darkness, it is also of Winter and the Jackal," said Kale.

"Mine is of Deception and of Autumn and the Tarantula," said Dais.

"I bear the armor of Venom, Summer, and the Cobra." said Sekhmet Some people say Dais has Summer and Sekhmet has Autumn, I just pick one for my stories and go but I am not consistent between stories so about half will most likely be the other way around but I try to be consistent for each individual story.).

"And I have the armor of Cruelty, Spring, and the Ogre. I am also the last of the Ancients Clan and I can wield the Swords of Starlight."

On a pedestal of pure obsidian lay the shattered remains of a pure white crystal. A chain of white gold lay coiled next to the shards. Where there had once been a sense of life in the jewel there was now only the dull glow from what little light could find its way into the chamber. Out from the shadows a gnarled and clawed hand reached out from the shadows, a dull glow came from it and the shards began to glow with life and reform. However the gem soon reshattered, the cause being that a single shard was not among the remains. The hand withdrew to the shadowed figure to whom it belonged.

Wintrin watched as Magda taught Mia several ways to use her newfound power. At the moment she was learning the art of forming a weapon from her magic. After several attempts the end result was a fine katana that appeared to have a thin layer of glass holding the flames inside. Of course there was no glass, the blade was pure flame. With how easily the power came to her he realized that she would reach the other half of her source with similar ease. But would she be able to combine them?

Suddenly he began to feel a very familiar pain in his left arm, right below the elbow. He tried to ignore it at first but it soon became impossible to ignore. He instinctively grabbed his arm and lifted a crude but strong shield around it.

'No, I won't allow you to have it, the crystal must not be restored!' he thought, the pain soon left but so did the remainder of his strength. The shield vanished with his loss of consciousness and the only proof of the encounter was a bright red mark that lay directly over the embedded shard.

"Wintrin!" yelled Mia as she hurried to the fallen Mage's side.

Magda turned to see what had happened, "Mia, are any of your companions healers?"

"Yes. I'll go get him," she said as she hurried to get Sage's assistance. Soon Sage, Calisto, and Kayura joined them.

"Blood and Fire, not again!" swore Calisto as she recognized what had happened.