Propped up against a wooden beam holding a fabric wall of the Command Post, Geryon watched the group preparing for the upcoming battle. Huddled close, Zelenia and Helian spoke in hushed voices with worry etched on her pretty face. Renuo sharpened his trident just beyond them, Kalisa walked around muttering incantations of protection, Tegen remained his usual self, silently staring over the ocean, and Aeris stood beside Heela talking.

None of them had seen battle; Geryon could tell from them being so nervous and fidgety. As a Kemiji, Tegen would've experienced fights, but the large beast-man had shown nothing close to what his race was known for. The Earth Elemental was gentle, quiet, and a lover of nature. So, it was just him. Great.

He surveyed the Command Post again—the Rovaneim had removed the wooden benches and tables of the overlook to make room. From how one viewed it, the open space could be a blessing or disastrous if the fighting is shared with them up here. Far to the left sat the cage holding the Fangril spawn; about ten men stood by it to ensure everything worked. But Geryon had been through enough battles to know things never went according to plan.

Even though Geryon forced himself to look around the Command Post, his eyes kept drifting back to the only thing he could focus on: Aeris. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't tear his attention away from her. When she started to turn because she felt someone's eyes on her, he'd look back at the others until she stopped being paranoid. But even then, he heard the soft ring of her beautiful voice, felt those penetrating eyes look over him, or caught a brief scent of her in the breeze.

Everything about her entranced him. It was embarrassing how much her presence affected him. Never had some woman had this kind of effect on him. He didn't have this trouble with the past two Air Elementals, and one had been a woman.

Geryon shifted. Being a man was his excuse. Of course, I would be attracted to a woman as beautiful as she. But this was more than just a mere attraction of the opposite sex. A magnetic pull enticed him to get closer and test his limits. Anytime they became close, the air sizzled; feeling it, both would move away, unsure about the sudden reaction. How he longed to just reach out and touch her though—just to run his fingers through that golden hair! But there was no telling what the simplest of a touch would do—

The discomfort tinting her voice pricked his senses and set him on edge.

"I don't like this, Heela. Everything about this just seems wrong."

"Then why don't we just go? Suggest it to the others. I'm sure they feel uneasy about this too. I definitely do and I'm not even a warrior," Heela said, ending with a dry chuckle that had no humor in it.

Aeris turned on him. "Leave knowing we could've helped?" She looked out over the dark sea, distant in some somber memory. "Knowing I could've helped save lives? No. I will never allow that to happen."

Heela placed a hand on her arm. "I know. Sorry."

She took a deep breath as she folded her arms. "Which is why I don't want you up here when the fighting begins."

Stunned, he stared at Aeris. "What! Why!"

She turned, beautiful features hard in firmness. "Because as you just said, you aren't a warrior; you aren't a fighter. You're armed with merely a dagger and a guitar."

"Aeris... I can help!"

"Help by doing what, Heela? Playing a lullaby to put Fangril to sleep?" She took a breath to steady herself. "I cannot protect you while protecting myself and the others. If anything happened to you..." Moisture brimmed in her silver eyes as she cupped his face.

"But what if something happens to you?" His voice carried the same thickness of emotion.

She grinned at him. "You know me. I have the lives of a cat; just eight more to go."

"That's not funny."

Her hand dropped back down to her side. "So, will you go back to where it'll be safer?"

"How do you know it will be safer?"

"It'll be safer." Her eyes drifted around. "Anywhere is safer than being out here in the open."

"And that just makes me feel loads better," Heela said.

She turned back with that dazzling smile. "I will be fine."

"I hate to point this out, Aeris, but you've never been in battle."

"No, but I have been in skirmishes. A battle is just larger and more organized. I can handle this." She kissed the top of his head. "Now go."

With a heavy sigh, Heela turned and headed back toward the elevator that had brought them up here.

When Heela got out of his sight, Geryon pushed off the wooden beam and walked to the edge of the cliff beside Aeris. Hundreds of Rovaneim moving on the beach made it look alive.

"A battle is a lot more than just an organized skirmish," Geryon whispered.

Aeris released a heavy sigh. "I know, but he needed to hear my confidence... which I don't have." The last bit shook with nerves.

A hand raised to grip her shoulder for comfort; on second thought, it clenched, and he turned back to the sea. "I've been through many battles and you know how to defend yourself; just listen to me, rely on your instincts, and you'll be fine."

"Is that all we have to do?" Zelenia asked, suddenly beside him.

Geryon fought from jumping. He had been so absorbed in Aeris that he forgot the young Moon was near. His eyes lifted from the fear in hers to realize all the others were close. And looking at him for guidance.

"Yes. Battles are more psychological than physical. If you don't believe in yourself, your doubts will get you or another killed." He finished by looking at Renuo specifically. The others would be fine once adrenaline and the will-to-survive seized them, but the fisherman was the weakest mentally.

Renuo's eyes dropped to his feet. On top of fighting Fangril's demons and protecting the others, Geryon would have to keep an eye on him.

"Are we ready?" Lord Callidus suddenly asked; Geryon turned to see him and his two bodyguards approaching.

"Can one ever be truly ready for combat where many will die?" Zelenia asked in a quiet voice.

The Seteri Lord gave her a small smile. "I'm afraid not."

He looked over at a Rovaneim positioned beside a large gong, and nodded. The soldier picked up a mallet and swung; the gong echoed loud, signaling the start of the operation.

Electricity popped and sizzled; even though the buzzing grew louder, it couldn't drown out the Fangril spawn's screams. Geryon kept his eyes glued to the sea, but saw Aeris wince. Her head turned repeatedly to look at the cage with pain on her face. He couldn't say he wasn't heartless, but the cries had no effect on him—the monster deserved pain; a Fangril spawn did nothing but destroy. All demons showed no mercy, so they didn't deserve pity.

For a few minutes, the level of voltage remained steady, then it was boosted. Zelenia whimpered at the spawn's blood-curdling screams. Interestingly, Aeris edged further away, as if she could put more distance between her and the cage. With the increase of electricity, which magnified the cries, Fangril shouldn't take much longer to get—

Metal crashing on metal boomed, followed by screams of men in agony. Geryon whipped around to see the contraption holding the spawn had practically exploded—electricity streaked from the metal cage, striking men all around as the hideous spawn escaped. Insect-like but with no eyes, just thousands of feelers, antennas, and legs squirming, it was huge. The spawn grabbed five men in one pincher and snapped them in two.

So much for things going smoothly. Geryon rushed toward the creature; realizing Tegen, Lord Callidus and his bodyguards were the only ones running with him, he stopped and turned. Eyes wide, the other Elementals just stared.

"Come on! We can't do this on our own!" he said.

Helian snapped out of his shock. "He's right." He looked at the others. "We have to help."

Zelenia nodded, and she, the Sun, Kalisa, and Renuo ran past him. Geryon started to follow when Aeris, still frozen, caught his eye. He began to urge her like the others, but the fear and uncertainty in her eyes gave him pause—it wasn't the spawn causing her to be afraid; her eyes were on the electricity shocking men.

Before he spoke, the creature released a terrible screech, making everyone drop and cover their ears. Hundreds of demons emerged out of the dark sea. Snake-like demons with one or three eyes and clawed arms slithered out of the cliffs along with mutant wolves, and flying creatures dove out of the sky.

Zelenia looked at him. "What do we do?"

Geryon quickly turned strategic—Lord Callidus and his bodyguards needed the most help against the Fangril spawn. All the other demons moved much quicker, so someone fast needed to handle them.

"Take care of that thing!" he ordered as he pointed. "Aeris and I will keep you clear behind!"

The group separated: most headed to the insect-demon, while Geryon and Aeris faced-off against the smaller demons as they drew their weapons—a line of fire hardened into his sword, and she pulled her swords out of the air.

The wolves sprinted toward the two fighters; the gigantic snakes ripped apart the fabric walls and wooden beams to follow. Since Geryon fought as quick as a wildfire and Aeris moved lightning fast, the first wave of abominations quickly fell under their sharp blades. Growing smart, the others simultaneously lunged and retreated—trying to claw or bite one of the fighters before getting out of reach.

Realizing what the demons were doing, Aeris began to twirl her swords as she danced around to dodge the attacks. As a mutant wolf lunged, missed, and tried to jump back, she swung a sword down in its direction, and like an invisible whip, air wrapped around its torso and she snapped back her sword, pulling it to her. Once near, she sliced the demon into smoke.

Dirt and demons flew around as Aeris whipped air. One of her lashes knocked a wolf into a brazier, knocking it over. Seeing the small fire, Geryon told it to rise and attack the demons. As he commanded, the flames grew in height, then lashed out like a striking snake. Wolves howled in pain as they ran with their coats on fire, snakes hissed and writhed as they burned, and the flying demons crashed as their wings caught fire.

"Good timing!" Aeris yelled as she backed up to him. "I need a break; I haven't used Air this much before!"

"Don't thank me yet!" Geryon yelled back. "I don't have the best of—Shit!"

With the on-fire wolves spreading the flames by running and the wooden beams of the Command Post giving it fuel, the blaze had grown out of control. In desperation, Geryon threw his hand out toward the flames, forcing them to die down. But the fires kept inching closer and closer to him and Aeris.

"Get out of here before it surrounds us!" he ordered her.

"I'm not leaving you!"

"It won't burn me; it will you. Now go!"

"Geryon!" she screamed in warning; he looked to see a burning wolf leaping through the flames at them.

Geryon swung his sword just as Aeris did, and their elements collided. With a loud roar, a fire tornado spun away from their blades, incinerating the wolf. The cyclone continued to grow in height and intensity as it spun around them, gaining strength from the burning fires and lashing out tongues of flame. The force either incinerated demons or flung them off the cliffs on fire. When the inferno died out, there were no remaining fiends or still-burning fires—just tracks of the tornado and piles of ashes.

Fire and Air stood there, breathing harshly as they looked around. Geryon couldn't believe what their elements had created together—if he had known something that destructive would happen, he would've fought beside the past Air Elementals all the time. He looked at Aeris to check on her—dust dirtied her, sweat matted her hair, and soot splotched her face, but she was alright. He grew envious that she had stopped panting, unlike him. From being the Air Elemental, air came back to her easily.

Fighting raged all around them, most coming from the Rovaneim on the beach. Geryon and Aeris turned to find the rest of the group, with Lord Callidus and the Seteri bodyguards fighting the monstrous insect demon. They ran over to help.