It was a cold, early spring morning as he walked through the village, he could see his breath on the wind, and the chilly air stung his nostrils when he breathed in. He could feel the cold nipping at his ears, even through the hood he kept wrapped tightly around his head. But he didn't feel cold. On the contrary, he felt a strange warmth emenating from deep within him. And it had only intensified in recent days. He'd become stronger, faster, and more resilient as the days went by. But he was also afraid. He felt the fire within him, growing stronger. He felt furious, indignant, but for no good reason. When he was out hunting, he could focus, he could control it. But not here. Here he saw the beggars sitting against the stone walls of the tavern, and smelled the alcohol and rot on their breath. And he felt furious. Here he saw the woman walking by with a wry smile, with her cloak held tight against herself, her cheeks blushed ever so slightly as she headed back home, sure that no one would know where she'd been the previous night. And he felt a powerful rage. He heard the legion's messenger from the town square, calling everyone together. How dare they send an envoy here. This town, these mountains, they had retained their independence for years now, removed from the worries of the world, tucked away in this high valley. Yet the Legion felt they had to control the whole world, that all of Theresia had to be under their banner. How dare they.
"How dare you." He muttered, sending plumes of hot steam out of his mouth as he blended in with the croud, listening to the legion courier.

"Is this everyone?" The courier asked, looking over the croud.
"Everyone that could be bothered to listen to us, yes." Said the man in black and red armor standing next to him.
"Ladies and gentlemen, I am not here to conscript any of you, I am not here to annex your kingdom into the republic of Theresia, I am simply here," He paused to look out over the croud, making sure they were listening.
"To warn you." He said.
"About what? Good question." He said, beginning to walk back and forth across the makeshift stage.
"No matter how removed from the world this town may be, you've no doubt heard of the Elemental war. You heard how the Immortals took down the element of light, and how they conquered his tyrranical empire. But what you did not hear of, was the corruption of Fire." He said. The croud muttered amongst themselves for a few seconds.
"I thought as much. You see, when the Legion faced the element of fire in Caerin, they destroyed his physical body, leaving the element itself to find a new host. And that it did. It found the Voidbreaker. A ferocious being possessing incredible, world-ending power, had the element of fire bound to it. The Voidbreaker was temporarily defeated, and hidden away in the far reaches of the world. But the Dragon Flame Templars, during the Elemental war, were forced to release the Voidbreaker once more, and it wreaked havoc on the far side of the oceans, decimating the land, reducing it to a charred shell of crumbled kingdoms and ruined cities. The Voidbreaker was never seen again, but his influence lingers, a furious, burning rage that has surfaced in a most unfortunate manner. Now the fury and rage of the Voidbreaker has manifested in the souls of any mage who dares to tap into the power of Pyromancy." The courier stopped for a moment as the croud muttered among themselves once more, unsure of what he was saying.
"And that is what we came here to warn you about. Previously, pyromancy was about unleashing your inner rage, releasing the power within you, and letting go of your fury and hate in a blinding show of power and fury. But that has changed, drastically. Now, deep in the core of every pyromancer, there is a power. An overwhelming, rage-inducing power, that is pressing out against the confines of their minds, waiting for an outlet. And it doesn't take much, believe me." The courier said, taking a step back. The man in black and red armor stepped forward, and removed his helm, revealing a feline wilderfolk, with half of his face horribly scarred, covered in deep burns, and with a metal plate seemingly welded in place of his left eye. The croud gasped collectively and took a step back.

"I know. It's horrible." The wilderfolk said, grinning lospidedly. He was completely missing his left cheek, and several teeth. In their place were metal spikes.
"I was a Marauder for the Legion, assigned to a rescue mission near the borders of Ak-Dovurak. A team of researchers hadn't reported in weeks, so my detatchment was sent to bring them home. My wife was a Pyromancer, a damn good one. But as time progressed, she became angry, furious at every little thing. She had been placed on forced leave multiple times for burning down buildings out of fury. But she insisted on traveling with me. And no-one would tell her no. So she went with me." The Marauder said, sitting down on the edge of the stage and removing the armor on his left arm piece by piece as he continued.
"We arrived at their campsite, to find it wrecked and abandoned. So we tracked them into the borders of Ak-Dovurak, and as we went further in, we found more and more of the research team, all dead. Torn to pieces. This infuriated my wife, and, try as I might to calm her, it was no good. I would look into her eyes, and I saw..." He paused. His good ear twitched as he took a deep breath.
"I saw madness. She wasn't just angry, she was lost to her fury. I tried to get her to go back with me, to inform the Legion, but as she and I argued, the Hordes of Ak-Dovurak found us. And they attacked from all sides at once." The Marauder stopped as a tear slid down the right side of his face.
"And she lost control." He said, choking as he took the last piece of armor off his left arm. The croud gasped in horror as they saw it. A massive, mechanical limb, seared into his flesh at his shoulder. They saw his chest was covered in horrible burns, scarred wounds, and deep gouges that made it seem as if someone had cut valleys into his flesh.

"My wife did this. But the rest of my detachment suffered worse. She tore them all to pieces, the wilderfolk of the horde, as mad as they are, were nothing compared to her. She lost control completely. When she came to her senses, and saw what she had done, she took my blade, and drove it through her own heart." The marauder said, his ear laying flat against his head, and the end of his tail twitching subtly.
"I wish I had died with her there. But instead, I travel from village to village, warning you all of what may happen. Within the borders of Theresia, all pyromancy is hereby banned. Since you are not part of our collective, we cannot tell you it is forbidden. We can only warn you." He said, clicking as his armor snapped back onto his arm with a sudden clang. He stood up and placed his helmet back on as he walked away.
"This is what we're trying to prevent in Theresia, but outside of the collective, we can only warn you. Call on the Legion and we will answer." The courier said, setting a small scroll down on the stage as they walked away.

He thought about the Marauder's words for days after they had left. Even as he was hunting, the warrior's wounds haunted his vision. He found himself spending longer and longer days out in the valley, for in the village he was plagued by nightmares, all of them similar. He would awaken inside an inferno, and hear screams swirling around him, but above it all he would hear a crazed laughter. And he would awake in a cold sweat, realising that the laughter was his. He shook off these thoughts as he walked towards his village, carrying two deer over his shoulder, and a pack full of salted meat on his back. He heard screams, and at first he thought it was laughter. But as he got nearer, he heard them again, and saw his sister running out towards him. He dropped his load and ran to her.
"Kane!!" She screamed, pulling her dress up as she ran.
"Mary, what happened!?" He shouted as she ran towards him. She was crying, and stumbled as the tears clouded her vision.
"Bandits!" She yelled as he helped her up. Bandits never came this far into the mountains. They must have followed the Legion's couriers.
"Bastards." He muttered. He felt a powerful fire ignite in his chest as his vision flashed red.
"No! I can do this without you!" He said, gritting his teeth and forcing the fire down. He drew his bow and untied his dagger, racing into the village. He nocked an arrow and skidded around a corner, drawing the bow as he slid. He focused and saw one of the bandits chasing after the baker's son, and released the string. The arrow landed in the bandit's forehead with a thunk, and he went limp, hitting the dirt face first. Kane drew his dagger as he continued into the alley between the blacksmith's shop and the tailors. He heard a scream and readied his dagger as he rushed out from the alley. He saw one of the bandits charging the blacksmtih, and he grinned. The blacksmith pulled his massive hammer around and cracked the bandit in the side of the head, shattering his skull.
"Kane!! Time for some flames, boy!!" The blacksmith said, hoisting up his greatshield as an arrow bounced off it. Kane let an arrow fly and killed the archer on his house's roof.
"I can't! What if I lose control!?" Kane shouted as a bandit rushed him. He lept back as the bandit's sword hit the dirt.
"Even if you did you wouldn't save them all, boy!" The bandit said, rushing him. Kane felt a powerful fury ignite in his chest again, and a bolt of fire shot out of his chest, against his wishes, and cut the bandit in half.
"That's it boy!!" His father cheered, grunting as a bandit's axe hit his greatshield.
"That wasn't me!" Kane shouted angrily, nocking another arrow and letting it fly. But instead of a subtle woosh, it was a sudden bang, and the arrow became a razor sharp cinder that sliced through the distant archer's armor. And a ring of fire flew outwards from Kane's bow, igniting the tailor's shop.

"Take them down, Boy!! Don't you listen to those legion-" His father stopped to slam his hammer onto the bandit's arm, breaking it in two.
"Pansies!" He finished, bringing the hammer down onto the bandit again.
"Let it out, Boy!! Let's see what you've got!" A heavily armed bandit taunted him as he charged towards him.
Time seemed to slow to a crawl as the fire grew stronger in Kane's chest, and he saw his nightmare come to life around him as the smoke swirled around him. He heard screams, and saw the bandit rushing ever nearer. He tensed every muscle in his body, and took a deep breath.
"I can control it." He whispered. And then he let go.

Far down the mountain, a lone farmer was unwrapping a sandwhich his wife had made him, when all of a sudden there was a furious explosion, that knocked him into the air, and scattered his sandwhich to the winds. As he flew head over heels, he looked back to see the top of the mountain had detonated, with a brilliant pillar of flame twelve miles long shooting out of it's southward facing side.

Kane opened his eyes as the smoke began to clear, at first he couldn't see anything, but as the valley winds picked up once more, he saw what he had done, and sank to his knees as his eyes filled with tears, and his heart lept into his throat. Everything in front of him was gone. If it had been in his field of vision fifteen seconds ago, it was gone. His house, his garden, the village well, the farmer's fields, the orchard. The entire southern third of the village was now barren rock and magma, with dense black smoke rising into the air, carried away by the gentle valley winds. The southernmost mountaintop was gone. There was a clear path cut through the very earth, all the way to the southernmost mountain. It hadn't collapsed, it hadn't fallen inward. It was simply gone. Kane looked around him, and saw everything behind him was in flames.
"Dad?" He asked, choking, looking around frantically. He stumbled to his feet, wiping his eyes.
"DAD!?" He yelled, running towards his father's greatshield, propped against the side of a stone wall, still aflame. He grabbed it to pull it away, but the dense oak wood crumbled to ash in his hands, and the metal bars fell away , revealing his father's broken body laying against the stone wall.
"NO!!" He screamed, hitting his knees. He heard screams, and turned to see someone stumbling through the flames. He ran to them and wrapped his cloak around them to smother the flames. They were still screaming as they laid against him. He pulled the cloak back and stared in horror. The scorched body laying inside his cloak had been his sister. He could only see her shining blue eyes. She could not speak, she could only scream in pain as her skin still smoked. A single tear flowed down her cheek as she stopped screaming finally.
"Why..." She whispered softly, going limp in his arms, her eyes still open as their brilliant blue glow faded before his eyes. He was in shock. He held her limp body against his chest as the fire inside of him began to surge again. He threw his head back and screamed as a pillar of fire shot into the sky, blowing the clouds apart and wiping he remains of the village away in a wave of cinder and smoke.
"You bastards." He whispered as he stood up, his sister's body falling into ashes in his hands.
"If you hadn't come here, I would still have them." He panted.
"I'll kill every last one of you!!" He roared, shooting out of the scorched valley on a pillar of flame.

He soared through the air towards Theresia, but as he neared their border, he saw something flying out to meet him. He spun and created a massive blade of solid flame, bringing it around as he neared the object. But whatever it was slammed into him much faster than he anticipated, and knocked him to the ground. He stood back up in a daze and released a pillar of fire outwards randomly, hoping to catch whatever it was, or at least decimate their village and make them pay. But a huge shield of black energy appeared, and split the beam in two. Something landed on him, bouncing his head off the ground, and then punched him, sending him hurtling into the black energy wall, which shattered when he hit it. He lept back to his feet, and slung his arms outwards, creating a massive tidal wave of fire that scorched the very earth. A beam of blue fire shot from the other side of tidal wave, cutting it in two, and slamming into Kane's chest. Kane cupped his hands around it and formed a ball of fire. He hurled it forwards, and it swelled to three hundred feet in radius. Whoever he was fighting lept straight through it, with huge claws composed of blue flames surrounding his hands, and tackled Kane to the ground.
"Yield! Before you destroy all you've ever held dear!!" The warrior shouted over the roaring flames.

"I already have!!" Kane screamed, as a brilliant explosion of flame blasted the warrior off of him. He roared as his whole body caught fire, and charged at the warrior, channeling his flames into each punch. The warrior moved with blinding speed, blocking each punch that Kane threw, but each impact created a red and blue explosion of flame that blasted craters into the ground around them. Finally the warrior caught both of Kane's fists and crushed his right hand, forcing him to his knees. As Kane looked up, he realised in horror who it was he was fighting.

Standing over him, clad in darksteel chainmail, his eyes and hands glowing a furious blue, his long, silver hair flying about wildly in the winds they were creating, was Ryckithyn, Immortal King of the Legion of Thunder.
"LOOK AROUND YOU!!" Ryckithyn roared, his voice like a thunderclap that shocked Kane to his senses. Kane looked around to see a decimated city, flames and smoke reaching the skies, and he heard screams coming from everywhere.
"IF YOU CANNOT CONTROL THIS FIRE, I WILL CONTROL IT FOR YOU!!" Ryckithyn roared, placing his boot on Kane's chest and kicking. Kane felt a sickening snap, and screamed as his right arm was ripped out of it's socket. He felt the fire in his chest surge to life again, and felt the wound sear itself shut. He watched in horror as Rychithyn tossed his arm to the side and rushed towards him again. Kane looked at his right shoulder and saw an arm of flame materalize, attached to his shoulder. He jerked forwards as the arm punched of it's own accord, and impacted Ryckithyn squarely in the face, creating a shockwave preceded by a ring of bright red fire, that sent Ryckithyn hurtling away. Kane looked at his new arm in shock.
"I'll make them pay." Kane whispered, clenching his fist. The fury inside of him roared to new heights as he hurled building-sized orbs of red-hot flames into the city around him. He cackled maniacally as he blasted a two hundred foot tower into rubble, reducing it's stones to magma that splattered even further into the city, causing destruction wherever they landed.
"Enough." A thunderous voice echoed around him. Kane looked up just in time to see Ryckithyn's flaming claw clamp down on his neck. Try as he might, no matter how much fire Kane emitted, nothing would loosen Ryckithyn's grasp.
"You cannot be controlled, and to kill you would cause more devastation than you've already created. Goodbye, Kane." Ryckithyn said, drawing a long, thin blade from his back. He spun around, slashing the blade through the air, and as he completed his spin, Kane realised he had cut open a hole in the air itself. Kane felt an impossible amount of power surge into him as Ryckithyn hurtled him into the void. He poured all of his power into a final escape attempt, trying to rocket away from the voidbreak, but something very large, and very solid slammed into him, and carried him through the break.

Nichole gasped as the cold air rushed by her, and when she opened her eyes, she was in a dessert, standing next to Micheal.
"Nichole, Micheal. This is your team." Marwallah said, releasing their hands and stepping back to reveal a tall man with cold blue eyes and short black hair, wielding silver blades, dressed in tight-fitting leather armor, with strategically placed steel plates. Next to him was a short raccoon wilderfolk, covered in spiraling tattoos, wearing similar leather armor. He had a single mechanical eye on the right side of his head, that glowed a soft red. Sitting on a rock on the other side of the man was a short feline wilderfolk, with dense white fur, striped with blue. She wore thin leather armor, designed for maximum movement.
"This is King." Marwallah began, motioning to the tall man.
"He is the only psychic to ever resist Matilda, and the only registered 13th echelon psychic in history. He will lead the hunt." Marwallah said as King bowed briefly.
"This is Chip. He is a Voidwielder, and Zoe's  partner. He will be your battle tactician and tactical support. " Marwallah said. Chip nodded, but did not bow.
"And this is Zoe. She is your energy expert, healer, and, aside from you, Micheal, your hardest hitter." Marwallah said.
"She's the hard hitter?" Micheal asked. Zoe rolled her eyes.
"Yes, Micheal. She absorbs all forms of energy and redirects them however she sees fit. She can unleash of the energy she's stored in short bursts, or in one massive blast. And she's been gathering energy for this mission for months now. Or did you not notice her eyes?" Marwallah said, grinning. Micheal looked closer, and saw Zoe's eyes glowing a subtle blue as she grinned at him.
"So what am I then?" Nichole asked, feeling inadequate suddenly.
"You are the feet of your operation. You are to move from your insertion point across the entire planet, gathering intelligence, and maintaining a psychic link with King, so as to keep your team updated. You are to locate and