Shani dashed across the grounds at Tlaxor's very summit towards the palace of red stone and dark wood that gazed out at the sky-blue expanse of Lake Halapusa below.

Shani reached the palace itself, pausing at an ornate set of double doors only long enough to grab a handle.

"Shani!" Ella called. "Wait!"

Recklessly Shani heaved open the door.

A man in red robes waited on the other side.

Ella screamed her friend's name as Shani was instantly bathed in fire, the flames pouring out of the doorway in a roiling cloud.

After the red dissipated, Shani crumpled to the ground.

Rushing forward, Ella felt something hit her from behind. She experienced the familiar surge of heat as a fireball scored a direct hit on her body, knocking her face forward onto the ground.

Ella looked up at Shani's motionless form, smoking on the doorstep. An elementalist stood over Ella's friend, a fireball dancing in the palm of each hand. The man looked up at Ella and smiled.

Ella tried to get up, but she felt the pressure of a boot on her back. She could see two more men in red robes, moving to stand between her and Shani, yet the pressure on Ella's back didn't let up.

Four elementalists — maybe more.

Ella looked at her green sleeve, noticing how the runes on her enchantress's dress had dimmed. She was certain she couldn't withstand another onslaught of fire. Burned alive, she thought. She hoped it would be quick.

As Ella waited for the end she heard singing, an eerie, sonorous sound, completely incongruous in the setting. The voice was surprisingly rich, a male tenor, clear and growing steadily in volume.

Impossible as it was, the realisation came to her.

Ella suddenly heard a squelching sound, like a knife slicing through a piece of fruit. Lying on her stomach, she couldn't see behind her, but she saw a spray of red and the pressure of the boot on her back fell away, followed by the thump of a body hitting the ground.

A shadow moved through the air, flickering and dancing, and this time Ella saw the flash of white-hot metal as it took one of the elementalists in front of her from neck to waist in a fountain of blood.

The next elementalist spoke some words in quick, harsh syllables. Three balls of fire left his hands in rapid succession to strike the shadow, smashing against it again and again, coating it in flame.

The singing grew louder to compensate, and even as the shadow blackened and charred it wavered, finally displaying a man in green, a fiery sword held in his hands. As he sang he leapt forward, and a single blow tore through his red-robed assailant, sending a wave of gore splattering onto the ground.