Legacy by Christopher Pastrana (best reads txt) 📕

and not his own men. What once had been grass and plant life was only charred dirt and blackened blood.
         Nearby Reinhardt could hear the sound of something dragging slowly across the ground. Slowing from a sprint to a jog, he began to search for the cause of the sound. It hand't been hard to stumble across what was the noise. A trail of displaced dirt lead him straight to a badly burned person dragging themselves across the ground with a single arm, the second arm having been completely removed from the shoulder.
         It was obvious she were in extreme pain. With every pull Roas managed to pull herself closer to where she had last seen Reinhardt fighting. Tears soaked what he could see of her remaining clothes. Only a few long black hairs remained intact, tied hopelessly to the burned shirt. Moving next to her he watched her legs dragging helplessly behind her. Long shards of ice had been driven into her back, paralyzing her from her waist down.
         "Roas, it's me, stop moving." Placing a gentle hand on her back he rolled her into his arm, cradling her head like a baby's. Most of her body had been damaged beyond hope of healing. Her will to fight on surprised even him, but it would be unlikely for her to live more than a few minutes.
         "I was...looking for you. When I couldn't...find you...I asked for that...dragon to help." Dried blood lined the sides of her mouth, and her right eye was swollen shut. The fight with Briven had been worse than he imagined.
         "What do you mean, asked for it to help?" If she honestly believed that she had been behind that dragon's arrival on the battlefield than she was losing her mind as well.
         "I felt it...up there. I sent my energy out to it... and it came." Considering her words he thought about the strange blast of fire that shot into the night sky after Zephyrus had killed Astraeus. There was still worlds of unknown knowledge about the powers of elementalist. Maybe there was something to what she had said, but this wasn't the time to consider the option.
         "It's okay Roas, Please stop moving, I'm here for you now." Cradling her head in his arm like a baby he looked over her wounds. One of her eyes was swollen shut and the other had a large cut across it. At least he wouldn't have to explain that he would be joining her soon.
         "Reinhardt... Klaas lied."
         "I know he did. I'm going to make him pay for it."
         "You...don't understand. It wasn't...just Briver. Fire, Ice, and water...we did what...we...could but they were too much."
         This was wasn't about making an alliance between all of the masters. All of the people he had led into this war, everyone who had trusted him to lead them, had been thrown away in an attempt to make sure one of the masters couldn't break away from that union. They were playing with the lives of everyone on the planet, and he needed to know why.
         "Thank you for telling me this Roas. They can't surprise me now. I'll kill all of them if I have to, but Klaas will die for this."
         "Reinhardt, just leave. You can... still live a normal life... somewhere." Tears were pouring from her eyes, honestly pleading with him to save his own life, knowing that fighting a group of masters would be a guaranteed death. With the inability to see his body, she hadn't been able to tell how hurt he was. Blood was flowing more freely from the tattoo's and blisters were begging to form along the burning lines. He probably didn't have much longer than she did.
         "Roas, these men are responsible for this war. I don't know why they are doing this, but I can't let them continue." Unable to get any more words out she just clung to his arm with hers and cried. Rain had begun falling over the destroyed city, and the gentle patter dripped down his hair, onto the dying woman. Not knowing what to say to her he just sat in silence, holding her gently until her breathing stopped, and her tight grip on his arm loosened.
         Placing her on the ground with care, he rose to his feet and opened his mind, searching for the masters. He caught a slight hint of their power and knew where they were heading. With all of his remaining strength he took off running, set on filling the night with just a little more blood. Legacy

    Dirt crunched underneath Reinhardt's feet as he impacted the ground. Blood was freely running from every spot touched by the strange tattoo's now covering his body. It was a clear sign that he was dying, and it wouldn't take long before the overuse of his powers would kill him. His eyes fixed onto the temple he had finally reached, and he readied himself for what needed to be done.

     The Temple of Ten Heavens was an impressive sight. Reinhardt would have enjoyed marveling at it's magnificent design, but today it wouldn't be enough to tear the pain from his heart. Tears blurred his vision of the building. His last few moments with Roas ran over and over again in his mind. There hadn't been anyone since the death of his family who made him forget his cursed life, but now she was gone.

     Guaging what energy he had remaining, Reinhardt pulled what little of his power back as he could. The power running through his veins took away his limits, his only limitation was his body. Every second mattered if his vengance would be fullfilied before he died.

     Red light peeked over the mountains as a new day began. Trees in this part of the world were scares and didn't grow very tall. The grass didn't react like most of the strange Duzee grass and stood straight up, regardless of stepping on it or not. Reinhardt guessed it was because the Temple of Ten Heavens was deep within a valley that was concieled on all sides by thousands of feet of mountains. Without his enchanced strength it would have been impossible to have gotten in except through the one opening in the valley, the Gates of Twilight.

     It was believed that the ten twilights would bring piece to all mankind when they returned from Paradise, a plane of exsistance for those who died. Nobody knew what the twilights were supposed to be but everybody had a theory about them. Reinhardt noticed movement near the top of the temple and watched as people began to make their way into the morning light.

     Zephyrus was the first to step out into the valley. Hate touched Reinhardt's face when he saw the wind master, but it didn't compare to what he felt when Fire Master Briver appeared. Sitting on a nearby step was the pompous Master Conners, still looking down on him. Klaas emerged from the darkness of the temple, and then Reinhardt knew his suspicions were correct.

     “I’m so glad you could join us Reinhardt. You may have noticed our little deception by now, but I am proud to say that we have accomplisdhed our goal! This war is over, at long last. The Whitlow will soon have control over every nation.” 

     “Spare me your lies, Klaas! You have no intention of ending the mindless   slaughter! The Whitlow used me to kill the only master who couldn't be controled by your sword!” The tattoos on his bleeding worse now. Reinhardt couldn't deny having used a lot of power against the dragon, and even getting to the temple had consumed too much.

     “You’re right, but I wouldn't be the first to attempt it. I only successfully united all of the masters so everybodycould benefit. With a single supply of weapons and goods, I will be able to supply all six nations with the things they need to fight a ‘war’ that doesn't really exist. People need something to fight for, a reason to hate someone else. I plan on giving them exactly what they want. The Duzee will wage countless bloddy battles for centuries with Icilee. Ental and Fatir, Wanve and Rornin. It doesn't matter who the fighting is between, it will make us stronger as a people.”

     “Millions of people will die, and all you care about is money, Klass?” 

     “You can’t expect a peasant to understand something like this Klaas. Just get on with it and kill him.” Master Conners said, apparently bored with the conversation as a whole. Reinhardt did understand what they were trying to say. By producing wars the Whitlow was keeping mankind in a constant state of prepairdness, never letting them go dull and risk being blindsided by a real threat if one appeared.

      "This peasant killed that dragon when nobody else could. Don’t underestimate what kind of an ally he could beConners! We wouldn't have to worry about any elementalist threat ever again!” Klaas sounded angry, but Reinhardt knew it was just the effects of his sword. With obedience on his side he had managed to control everybody and make them follow willingly.

     “Sorry to interrupt your brainstorming session, but I will never join with you. I agreed to help end this war, and if that means killing you all, then I will.” Reinhardt didn't have much time left. Pain ragged freally over his entire body now and he knew he wouldn't be able to fight for an extended length of time.

     “We have all seen you fight! You’re strong but you refuse to kill, and to top it off you don’t use that useless sword! How can you possibly stop all seven of us?” From the temple Master Yesenia Master Joer, and Master Jusbra of Earth emerged. All six masters stood before him now, and formed a barrier between him and Klaas.

     Everyone had different feelings or moods visible on their faces. Conners looked as aruggent as ever, a few others looked interested, and a few were even bored, but nobody looked freightened. Him and the masters wouldn't be prepaired for what was about to happen.

     "Klaas, this ends here, today. You're playing with the lives of people will end along with your own. I hope all of your money follows you to hell."

     With one smooth motion Reinhardt released his cloak, while reaching up to take the handle of his long sword in hand. Master Zephyrus looked confused when he could finally see the vine-like tattoos that now covered Reinhardt. His skin, which had been blistering before, looked to be gray and cracking now. There was no denying that he was dying.

     Zephyrus drew as much power towards him as he could, still unable to completely harness his new abilities, but before the new master could move to attack Reinhardt was moving. The hundreds of feet between him and Klaas disappeared within a few seconds. Even though it was killing him, Reinhardt’s power had made him far stronger than anyone they had ever faced