Bloodlust

As the dust settled, Chase pushed himself out of the ash... As did Sazir on the other side of the crater.

The Wendigo's right hand had become entirely made of ash, and slowly began to fall to the ground piece by piece.

Chase did not feel much better himself though, his body was layered in burn marks, as well as frostbite located on his neck and shoulder. 

Blood was filling his vision quickly, and he had to make do with what he had in terms of energy reserves.

Neither had access to their swords, and Chase doubted he had enough energy to even conjure it back to his hands.

Both slowly stepped forward, as a sacred duel could only end in the death of the losing force.

Sazir grinned, even though he was in no situation to actually do so.

"You are stronger than I gave you credit for..."

"Is that what you told Blaze when you took his life?"

"I did not kill your father boy... Look at me, look at my scars, I should have died to your father on that day..."

"Then pray that the gods show you mercy..."

Chase lunged forward, summoning flames within his grasp. His fist started to glow from the rage of fire within them.

Sazir met his attack head on, weaving around the first enflamed fist. Chase lowered himself underneath a power spike of ice that had plummeted down from the skies above. 

Then with a powerful amount of spirit, he threw an uppercut directly at the jaw of the general of Frostfang.

Sazir blocked it with his arms, but felt the immediate pain of the attack, recoiling backwards.

Chase lunged into the air above, and shot down as he lost his vision temporarily to the amount of blood flowing into his vision.

Slamming the ground with a burst of flames, he turned toward the heavy breathing of Sazir, and shot out a barrage of flames at the man.

Sazir had somehow gotten around them, and summoned a spike of ice that had nearly penetrated Chase's skull.

Then as he coughed up blood, he screamed from the bottom of his soul.

"FEATHER FLARE!"

The world around him had been consumed in explosions of Phoenix fire, causing both to be launched in opposite directions.

Chase angerly pushed himself back to his feat, although not without a few new burns.

"FOOL!"

Sazir screamed.

"Are you trying to kill us both!"

Chase laughed, and leaned back feeling the ash fall on his own skin.

"I came here for one task and one task only, I will take your life if it's the last thing that I do!"

Sazir scowled, as Chase wiped the blood from his own eyes.

"So be it..."

Then Chase had realized his fatal error, and the true reason he had felt little hope in this duel of theirs.

Chase was weak, there was no doubt about it.

Sazir had climbed two star outputs in the time since the championship game, and now stood six stars higher than Chase in terms of power.

There was no logical way for Chase to win this fight without killing himself in the process, but in all honesty, the euphoria of the battle had truly grown on him.

Was it irony to say that he had been enjoying it?

However, now he stood on the path that would certainly lead him to his demise.

Chase had not accounted for one fatal error, as it was usually around ten to twelve star output when powerful people usually learned to adapt their catalyst to more than one source of energy.

Chase felt gnawing on his mind, as Sazir gazed into his eyes from afar.

'Nexus Energy...'

Then the world around them collapsed, as Sazir elevated on a pillar of ice, outstretching his arms into a welcoming position. 

"Behold child... The Frozen Forest!"

The ground ripped itself apart, and the walls of reality became a simple and breakable concept, as Chase fell into a chasm of his own mind.

He landed on a thick blanket of snow, as he felt memories that weren't his fall into places that they should never have been.

A dark and pained voice yelled from deep within the mental confine.

"You have not realized that I have a Trinity Art... Leander has failed as a teacher if he could not even tell you that much..."

A Trinity Art... Which means that it so much worst than just a Nexus Art... 

"How!"

Chase tried to scream, but his mind had gone cold, and his body had been nearly entirely immobilized. 

"No..."

Then the images of the world flashed, as giant trees of ice grew from the ground below, and Chase had once again been submerged in a forest of unknown origin.

When he stood up, he spotted four children walking through the woods and chatting aimlessly.

Two girls, and two boys were in a place that no child should have ever been.

"This is a bad idea guys..."

The boy with white hair said, as he fiddled with a small ivory bracelet. 

"Relax!"

The girl with ebony black hair yelled playfully.

Chase had to practically dig through the mud and snow just so he could get closer.

"Sazir... Stop whining..."

The eldest girl with silver hair said, annoyed by what looked like her younger brother.

These were not Chase's memories, so he felt very uncomfortable to actually see such a scene with his own eyes.

Crawling forward, the sight of the fourth child came into vision.

"Dad...?"

A confident boy with orange hair, and a cocky smile was swinging a topaz battle axe lazily at his side.

Although he said nothing, he looked like the happiest person in the world.

"What if they catch us?"

Sazir said, clearly frightened by the circumstances.

"We are only killing a powerful monster!"

Blaze yelled, as of not feared at all. Then he playfully smacked Sazir on the back.

The two looked about the same age, and clearly had been great friends, as somehow Blaze's unasuring assurance had calmed him down.

Chase pushed the ground as hard as he could, lifting himself into a gait. 

"Wait!"

He yelled.

Then as three of them continued forward, the girl with ebony black hair and a face that he couldn't quite see, finally stopped in her tracks.

"Lilith?"

Blaze called for her, but then looked behind her, and a terrible dread overcame Chase.

"Go on! I have something I need to do real quick."

Chase could have sworn that he made direct eye contact with the younger version of his father, but the image of the memory had fractured slightly so Blaze nodded and turned back around.

As Lilith stood there silently, the world around them became blurry and shrouded in some sort of external force.

Once she turned around, Chase's blood ran cold at the terrible amount of familiarity. 

She had bright green eyes, identical to his own, and a soft pale face. 

"It's okay..."

She whispered.

Looking around at the strange world, she let out a wistful sigh.

"Sazir had grown quite strong since now... Hasn't he?"

Chase fell to his knees, and screamed.

"STOP PLAYING WITH MY MIND!"

He yelled for Sazir but The Wendigo seemed idol at the moment, as no voice called back from the void, or even had been listening for that matter.

It would have been nice if he heard even the most wicked of laughter.

Then Lilith snickered, putting a hand over her mouth.

"Are you actually frightened by his Trinity Art?"

Chase recoiled back, and found himself unable to move again.

"I don't know what is real and what isn't..."

He honestly said.

Lilith looked around, and chuckled again.

"You are my child... You should have no problems breaking through Nexus Energy."

Chase felt his blood begin to warm up, as if the girl had somehow broken through the dreamscape in order to help her son.

"What about Sazir! What happened to him?"

Lilith's face turned cold.

"That boy has carried curses beyond your current comprehension, he was once a great friend of me and your father, as the memory suggests... However, destiny has a weird way of bringing down strong figures with its inevitable demise in the distant future..."

"Eternity!"

Chase yelled.

Lilith looked at her own son with a hint of disgust.

"Screw that guy."

She said with a shrug.

"I am a goddess, he has no business interfering with your path. Now go along little birdy... Time does indeed have to play out eventually..."

"Wait..."

"What is it?"

"Where are you?"

Lilith smiled.

"Whether you find my withering soul or not, does not affect the wonderful things you will accomplish in your longing time in this world..."

Then the image shifted, and with a slight smirk Lilith vanished, and Chase found himself standing in the ruins of Willowmere.

In front of him, he watched as Sazir and Blaze battled in the dead of night. 

Hung from the top of a broken pillar, was his grade school teacher...

The picture made him want to throw up, but he steeled himself and watched the fight play out.

Blaze was winning, and winning with honor at that. Even though his sickly body could hardly keep up with The Wendigo, he was putting a number on the general of Frostfang.

Sazir looked terrible, his body was ruined and his mind was injured badly.

Chase did not know how he could see into the mind of Sazir, but he was sure that he could.

Then the fight stopped, and Blaze stood over Sazir's crippled body.

Sazir looked up with dread and sadness.

"Blaze... I am sorry..."

"Save it for the afterlife Sazir..."

"But your son..."

"Destiny does not yield for mortal restraints... You of all people should know Eternity's saying by now..."

"How do you know that..."

"How do you think I! The son of the bird of flames, carry the curse of corruption?"

Sazir looked at the ground.

"He is watching..."

"They both are..."

Blaze smiled, as a third powerful force entered the fray.

Chase closed his eyes, as Blaze was terribly overwhelmed by Rhysara, Queen of Frostfang...

Then he stood back in the center of The Frozen Forest.

Sazir's wounded figure stood on the opposite side of the forest.

"You are strong... Stronger than me..."

Sazir said with a sigh.

"No... I am not."

Sazir shook his head, as embers began to consume his mind.

"You have seen the truths... And you have not buckled under the pressure of my Trinity Art..."

Chase looked at the ground.

"Which means my mental fortitude will overpower your mind."

"Leaving me nearly brain dead..."

Sazir nodded with a sad smile.

Then he bowed to Chase, with frozen tears falling from his dread consumed eyes.

"I ask of you... Heir of Vallmora... Take my life!"

Chase shook his head.

"There is no honor in execution..."

Sazir looked up and chuckled.

"Something your father would have said..."

Chase lifted his blade, which he obviously did not have in the external world, but it made for a cool scene.

Pointing the blade at Sazir he grinned.

"Then let it be a draw... But when we both break free of this world... Face me with all of the strength remaining in your soul... I do not wish to fight a crippled man... Show me the strength of The Wendigo Sazir! SHOW ME WHO YOU ARE! Sazir of House Frostfang..."

Then the world cracked, and Chase woke up where he had once been standing and gazing into the eyes of his enemy.

They remained in the exact same point of time where they had both lost consciousness.

Chase grinned.

Flames began to inherit his will, as his broken armor became orange from the heat of his flames.

Sazir grinned right back at him, as the once snow covered ground froze over once more.