In a different land, the threat was growing.
Without any other Kingdom's knowing.

'Prince Arsement's condition is stable, but something very unusual has happened'
'As long as he's still able to rule the Kingdom then I don't really care'
'B-But Sir, he's somehow become...a hybrid'
'What?!'

The doors to the Infirmary were slammed open, and the Ignis Prince pretended to be asleep again as his Father's brisk footsteps approached his bed 'Interesting... He's finally discovered his powers, this is good. Now we need to know how he reacts'
'We've tried cooling him down, but whenever we use water or ice it obsidianises, as you can see on his neck' A gloved finger prodded his skin and Preston flinched 'I know you're awake, boy. Just sit up' His Father spoke with a surprisingly gentle tone, causing the Prince to open one eye slowly 'What... What happened?' His throat was sore, and as he sat up the room seemed to spin.

'You know how I used to be a lava hybrid, correct?' King Blaine asked, and his Son nodded 'Well, I never gave those powers up. I couldn't let anyone know about it so I had to create a living vessel., that's when I met your Mother. We fell in love and soon had a child-,' he paused to look at Preston, who's charcoal eyes were full of confusion '-I now had my vessel, so in other words I gave you my powers'
'So... I'm a lava creeper now?' The teenager looked at his hands and suppressed a scream, as they were now made of the boiling substance known as lava 'Your skin is covered in a thin layer of clear obsidian, so you're not going to fall apart any time soon' The King joked, but his Son's breathing quickened 'So you basically cursed me' He spoke finally, his voice slightly sarcastic with a hint of betrayal and hurt 'Son-'

'I've become a freak because of you!' Preston stood up, relieved to see that he was wearing his fireproof black jeans and black hoodie (What could he say? He lived in the fire Kingdom for all time's sake, he couldn't be wearing flammable clothing) 'Don't you dare take that tone with me Preston, I am your Father and you will listen-'
'I wish you weren't my Father!' The boy screamed, his voice ragged 'Then you could've had a Son that didn't disappoint you when he was alive, and I wouldn't exist. It would be better for everyone'
'What do you mean "Was Alive"?'
'I'm going to do what I should have done a long time ago' The castle shook as he finished his sentence, and everyone in the room stumbled 'What's going on?!'
'I don't know you dimwit! Get the Guards-' The King was cut off by a dark-haired Warrior running through the doors 'Sir, Kenneth Purton has rebelled and now the Aether is attacking us. What should be do?'
"Kenny, what're you planning?" The Prince thought, backing away slowly as all attention was on the Warrior before running through the back door, heading towards his room where he locked the door and slid down the wall, burying his head in his hands and starting to hyperventilate 'Okay Preston, just breathe... Oh who am I kidding, I can't calm down like this! Seriously, now I'm a... What even am I?!'

'I think the correct term is a lava creeper, Preston' A familiar voice said, and his head whipped towards the window to see his blond friend leaning against the frame 'Kenny? Everyone's saying you rebelled... Did you?' The American looked down and sighed, nodding slightly 'I couldn't just stand by and watch innocent people be killed, it's not right. You probably hate me now, but-'
'No! No, not at all! I'm glad someone in this place finally saw some sense, but how did you get here? I thought you guys were sent to try and take over Atlantis or something'
'It was the Aether actually, and yeah. But I accidentally drenched Ali in water and ended up siding with the others, so I told them I had a friend here'
'They ended up attacking' Kenny shook his head and jumped into the room 'That's not us! Truncatis thought we had their Prince and Princess hostage so they attacked. Lachlan and Vikram are trying to stop them, but it's not going well and I think Noah's still passed out. How're you feeling, anyway? Apart from the whole lava creeper thing'
'Better than I was. I can actually walk by myself now,' The Prince joked 'How did you know it was me anyway?'
'When you're scared or nervous you talk to yourself' His blond friend pointed out, grabbing his arm 'C'mon, we're gonna have to jump... By the way, don't tell the others you're the Ignis Prince, we don't know how they'll react' Before the hybrid could protest, he was being pulled out the window and onto the back of a small white and gold dragon.

'Okay, when did you get a dragon?!' Preston yelled, his heart racing 'It's not exactly mine. It belongs to Lachlan, but I kind of borrowed it without him knowing. The dragon's name is Lil' Lachy by the way'
'Who names a dragon - Duck!' A ball of fire barreled over their heads, and the two looked down to see half of the Ignis Army surrounding a small group of about five people 'Oh no...Hang on, we've got to go fast and it'll probably get very dangerous very quickly'
'You definitely know how to-' The words were taken from Preston's mouth in the wind as they shot down towards the group 'Are you crazy?!'
'Most likely! Lachy, keep above the battlefield and make sure you don't get hit by any projectiles or fire, got it?' The dragon snorted, and Kenny vaulted off into the middle of the group 'Sorry I'm late'
'Finally! We were getting worried...where's your friend? I thought you went to get him' The ex-warrior pointed up 'He's on the dragon, but don't freak out'
'...He's a lava creeper hybrid'
'Yup'
'Guys! You can talk about it later, they're about to get through the barrier!' A thick wall of vines around the teenagers fell to pieces, and the only girl took a few steps back 'Kenny, hold them back with a water barrier. Vikk and Noah, go into the shadows of the Warriors and slice them. Rob, use your bow to shoot down any aerial attacks. Lachlan, use your sword on anyone who gets through' The group all nodded and did as they were told while the girl looked up at Preston 'You alright up there?'
'Depends. What's the situation down there?' She made a slight tilting movement with her right hand 'I don't really know how to explain it, but we've got to get out of here asap. Do you know how to make fireballs or something?'

Preston looked at his hands and sighed 'I don't know, this only happened to me recently. I could-' The winged lizard beneath him yowled, and he looked down to see an arrow sticking out of it's ribcage 'Lil' Lachy's been shot. What do I do?!'
'Fly him down! I should be able to-' The dragon tilted as he flew down, causing Preston to slip and fall into the crowd 'Mother of-!' His heartrate sped up to an inhuman rate, and a large ball of fire surrounded him as soon as he hit the ground.
"What just happened? Why aren't I dead? A fall from that height should've killed me!" Were the words running through the Prince's head as he looked around slowly, a loud ringing in his ears.
'-res-on! W-re a-- -ou?!' He heard someone shout as he shakily stood up, looking around to see fire and lava everywhere 'Preston?! Where - thank the gods!' The hybrid was knocked down again by someone running at him, wrapping their arms around his torso 'If you ever pull a stunt like that again I swear to all things holy - Never do that again' Kenny shouted as his voice trailed off, squeezing the Prince tightly.
'Kenny - I need to breathe' He joked, and the Guard got off him and extended his hand 'What even happened anyway?'
'Don't ask me! Ask someone who saw it, like Amelia. She was the one who told us everything, all I saw was an explosion but we thought a fireball had backfired or something'
'The dragon was shot, so I fell off... I don't know what happened after that'
'Lockyati was shot?! Oh no. If Lachlan loses anyone else then...We need to get back' The two started to run, but a dagger embedded itself in Kenny's arm before they got close to the group.

'You're...You're not going anywhere, you traitor' Ali spat, his left eye twitching as he threw another knife 'What the Hell Ali?! Just let us go! I've already beat you - What kind of dagger was that'
'Poison. Do you like it? It's my own creation' Nobody needed a second guess to know that the Swordsman had gone insane, from his posture to his tone of voice 'I've got an idea' Preston muttered to his wounded friend, who nodded before turning and vomiting 'Ali Johnson, as Prince of Ignis I command you to stand down!' The dark-haired teenager's eyes widened 'P-Prince Arsement?! O-Of course your majesty, right away'
'Now leave and never come back' The Prince growled, watching as the Guard ran away before turning back to his friend 'Are you okay?'
'He really needs some lessons on how to poison people... It only lasted a few seconds. Good job telling him to back off by the way' The blond joked, though he still looked pale 'C'mon, let's go back to-'
'Kenny!' A new voice yelled, and the two looked over to see a boy in a red hoodie speeding towards them 'What just happened?!'
'Nothing much. I just got poisoned and Preston was-' The lava creeper made rapid movements with his hand behind Lachlan's back, and the teal-eyed boy frowned 'Nevermind. By the way, this is Preston' He grabbed the Prince's arm and dragged him back to his side 'Can you not?' Preston muttered 'Oh hey! I'm Lachlan' The Australian waved slightly, before looking back at Kenny 'Amelia saw Lil' Lachy crash somewhere over by the forest. I've tried searching but... They took Landon, Kenny. They could've killed my Brother!'

'Maybe he just got scared and ran away, Lachlan. We'll find him, I'm sure of it'