Aviarachner and Sandskar stopped fighting immediately; they both turned to him. Sandskar brought the platform closer to himself, his eyes alight. "This...this changes things, Aviarachner. We should come together to stop them first, and then we can come to a deal later."

Thaedric didn’t know what was going on, but he knew enough that something was wrong. And a lot of things were coming. The mana was stretched thin to his senses as it was used to power different things.

So he put his bleeding finger into his mouth until his healing kicked in.

Thaedric didn’t want to think of things, people capable of stretching the mana of a world thin. To anyone’s senses, the mana in the air is like a sea; some areas have higher concentrations than others, but they are connected so that if there were any disturbances, they could be located.

Right now, the whole sea was tight and stormy as different powers grabbed onto it to do their bidding.

Aviarachner shook her head, all her eyes looking at Thaedric with greed. "I’m afraid it’s too late. I will retreat for now. It’s not worth my..."

She didn’t get to finish. They all felt it at once. The mana changed and heat bloomed around them like hellflowers in the dark. All the small Sandskars and Aviarachners caught fire by the mere presence of the aura.

An arrow of blue burning fire slammed into Aviarachner and burned her to ashes before she touched the sand.

A smiling man stood there, his hair burning blue fire, and he wore a bright blue robe. He stood on an arrow that gently spun in the air.

He held an empty bow in his hand. He looked at Sandskar. "You, Sandskar, is it? Do you see a bird fall? I killed one for myself right now. Hummmmm...I must have burned it. Again!"

Then he moved closer, and the surroundings coughed fire randomly. Thaedric gritted his teeth against the heat. The man noticed and smiled. "Oh...I forgot how weak those who are weak are." His aura vanished, lowered.

Thaedric looked at him. The man’s eyes were like blue stars, and they shone with the intensity of one too. The man landed beside him on the sand platform. "So you are the one that made that much noise in the mana space."

Thaedric was taken aback. Everything about the man was fire; even his voice was like liquid fire in the air. And his smile was like the fire that lured moths before their death.

"I’m sorry for that." Thaedric stammered, but then he straightened. He gave a small smile of his own. "A mistake on my part."

The man nodded. "Very well." He looked up and frowned. The clouds were darkening rapidly. "I’m here now. Make a contract with me."

Thaedric heard the threat. He understood it, and that made his resolve harden. He hated being forced to do things. "Why should I make a contract with you?"

The man was baffled. "I am very powerful," he said. Then after a pause, he continued. "Why wouldn’t you want to make a contract with me?"

’Because you lot are not telling me why you all want the contract!’ Out loud, though, Thaedric turned to Sandskar. "Is he the most powerful here in this...world?"

Sandskar looked at the fire man, then he bowed to him. "Lord Azurael is powerful. But in this world of the Ancient Destroyers, he is not the most powerful."

That’s it then. Thaedric could buy himself time. Maybe another idea would come to him then, but for now, he adjusted himself and straightened. "I am Thaedric Hydraeus. Scion of the Great Clan of the Hydraeus. Champion of the Storm God! And I say here, I will only make a contract with the strongest. Nothing else!"

His voice echoed, amplified in the mana and through it. And they heard him. Everyone in the world heard him. And those that could, answered.

Sandskar flinched as the whole mana space became a whirlpool as mana was pulled like a leviathan drinking. He stood up and shrank; his metal, sand, and flesh became a dark cloak and wrapped around Thaedric.

Thaedric watched the now Ancient-turned-cloak surround him in surprise. He heard Sandskar’s voice in his head. "I’ll bend all my power in protecting you from the backlash that is about to turn this place upside down."

"You dare turn away from me? Azurael, the Burning One?" Intense heat warped around Azurael, but Thaedric didn’t feel it as Sandskar lit up in response.

Azurael didn’t have time to face him because, from the now dark sky, a figure in blue also descended. The figure was a fat man with deep-set eyes. He carried a large long case on his back.

"Ah!" He grunted. "I can’t believe you got turned down, Azurael! Such a pity, but I will be the one to have the contract. I am the only one worthy of it."

Sandskar wrapped tightly around Thaedric and carried him back, levitating him away from the two. "This is bad. You have called a lot of them here, Thaedric. You drew attention."

Thaedric grimaced. This wasn’t part of his plan, but he would gladly accept it. Even then, he found himself leaning forward. His blood sang and danced. Tangled. This is power.

Thaedric wanted it. His bloodline demanded it.

"That is Eros, Life Bringer," Sandskar said.

Thaedric saw what he meant by that. Directly under Eros, on the sands, even though it was a semi-desert, trees started growing, and plant life grew and coiled in the air.

Azurael lifted his bow and, without an arrow, he drew it, manifesting a burning arrow as he did so. "Let’s not talk with our mouths!"

The arrow fired a streak of blue light that met conjured waves of water in its path and died. Eros laughed as the waves twisted around him.

"You are right! Let’s go!" High-pressure water shot off in a straight line, as big as a pillar.

Azurael used his bow to cut the water in two.