When he came to a few minutes later, Thalleous quickly remembered the raging skirmish. He looked in the direction of the shrine, but saw nobody there.

Thalleous cursed, picked up his sword, and ran into the forest, where he could see a faint red glow. He followed it, and could hear Ingressus shouting at Kaikortrias.

"Turn over the song!" he yelled. "I won't lay a hand upon you if you turn over the song!"

Ingressus was closing in on Kaikortrias. The Mendaris master tripped, and Ingressus used the mistake to his advantage. He raised his blade and killed Kaikortrias. Thalleous stopped and stared at the body for only a second before continuing his pursuit. Ingressus saw Thalleous coming, and rather than block or dodge the oncoming blow, he simply stood there, sword and the ready. As Thalleous raised his blade, Ingressus used the Protessium prime to shield himself from the blow.

Thalleous realized what Ingressus had done. "You killed Redorent!"
"He had his chance to submit," Ingressus said as he parried a blow. "He did not take it."

Thalleous prepared a third strike, but was knocked aside by Ingressus.

"Let me go now and I shall not harm you," Ingressus shouted. "I do not wish to spill more blood on this night."

Thalleous realized something. Ingressus was not asking to take him prisoner, he simply wanted to live and let live. Ignoring this, he charged at Ingressus. Ingressus blocked all of Thalleous' blows The Voltaris ran off, in pursuit of the fourth prime song.

Thalleous knew he would not be able to defeat three primes, so he ran back to Eterden, surrounded by flames. As the heat spread and the fire burned, ardoni could be seen crying and running. He finally reached Eterden, Sarrettus standing outside.

"Redorent, Kaikortrias, and Frenorath are all dead," He yelled, panting. "Aegus may still be alive."

"What of the prisoners?" Sarrettus asked. "Did they do it?"

"Only a couple are still alive. Ingressus has all but the Aggressium prime."

Sarrettus cursed. "I'll report this to Major Lucidren. Inside!"

They both ran in, and began to alert their troops of what had happened.

Just as they were preparing to extinguish the fire, the door to Eterden opened. Aegus Nestoris shambled in. He leaned on his staff, clearly fatigued.

"Where is Kaikortrias?" He asked.

"Dead," Thalleous said. "Ingressus has the primes."

"Not all of them," he said, panting. "I barely escaped with this."

He held up the Aggressium prime. The ardoni surrounding him lifted their heads.

"The most powerful of the four," he coughed. "We must secure it. We must bring it to Sendaria."

"Are we not to pursue the other primes?" Sarrettus inquired.

Aegus shook his head. "Ingressus is far too powerful with the three. The one must be kept away from him until we can mount an assault."

"As you wish," Sarrettus said. "I shall alert our major of your return." He turned away.

"Thalleous," Aegus said. "You were a champion. You know this song."

"Yes," Thalleous said. "I wielded it once."

"Use it again," Aegus said. "On the journey to Sendaria, we may very well be attacked. I trust none but a champion to use the primes."

Thalleous stared at the song, mesmerized. "As you wish, Ky-Aegus."

Aegus walked over to a bench, sat down, and fell asleep. Thalleous beckoned to one of his sergeants.

"Alert your troops that we march to Sendaria."

"Yes, sir." He ran off to perform his task. Sarrettus returned, a piece of paper in his hand.

"We move now. There is no time to waste," he muttered. "I saw Aegus give you the prime. He made the right choice."

"Thank you, Ky-Sarrettus." Thalleous ran to the door, determined to stop this new threat.