The forest burns around them.
Smoke rises. Trees crack and fall.
Kaelion charges forward, the Earth Stone's energy surrounding him —
his fists now hardened like stone, his steps shaking the ground.
Three Soul Knights block his way.
One swings a huge broadsword.
One rushes with a spear.
One prepares a soul energy blast.
Kaelion doesn't flinch.
The broadsword Knight swings down —
Kaelion sidesteps, grabs the Knight's arm, and with a roar, hurls him over his shoulder, smashing him into the dirt.
The Spear Knight thrusts forward —
Kaelion stomps the ground, a spike of stone SHOOTS up, piercing the spear mid-thrust and knocking the knight backward.
The mage fires a soul blast —
Kaelion raises a wall of stone, blocking it, then bursts through the wall, punching the mage across the clearing.
"I'M DONE RUNNING!" Kaelion roars, louder than the chaos around him.
Meanwhile —
Sylena fights at Kaelion's back, using gales of slicing wind to keep archers from closing in.
Raik teleports through the battlefield, grabbing downed enemies and tossing them into trees or teleporting them into the air to crash down.
But even with all that, more Soul Knights keep coming.
And then...
The Soul General finally steps forward.
The ground seems to tremble heavier with every step he takes.
He grips his giant axe and points it at Kaelion.
"You... the boy with the Earth Stone."
"You'll make a fine new soul soldier."
The General charges — faster than anything Kaelion expected for his size.
BOOM!
Kaelion barely dodges the first swing — the axe carving a crater into the earth.
The shockwave knocks Kaelion off his feet.
The General swings again —
Kaelion crosses his stone-covered arms and blocks it — barely.
The ground splits beneath him.
"You can't win, boy. Surrender the stone." the General growls.
Kaelion's arms tremble. His strength is almost at the limit.
But he looks the General dead in the eyes.
"You want my stone?"
"Then break me first!"
He slams his fists into the ground —
and a wave of rock pillars erupts under the General's feet, throwing him off balance.
Kaelion uses the moment, sprinting up one of the pillars, launching himself at the General.
"RAAAAH!"
With all his strength, Kaelion punches the General straight across the jaw —
sending the giant staggering backward for the first time.
Everyone watching freezes.
A sixteen-year-old kid just rocked a Soul General.
The General wipes his mouth —
a trickle of greenish soul energy leaking from his cracked mask.
His eyes blaze with rage.
"You'll regret that, boy."
But Kaelion stands tall, fists clenched, the earth itself swirling around him.
"Bring it."