Meanwhile in London UK;

"Did you follow our terms Kieran?" Called out Douglas Dunderave from the other side of the roof. They were on top of the the Regan Riches store, it had been the place that Douglas had chosen for the hostage exchange.

"Yes! I did, now show me my son." I called out, if they were lying and they had already killed him everything would've been for nothing.

Douglas smirked, he had two other men with him, I recognized one as Larry Stalks, but I didn't know the other one. So many good men had left to join them, I didn't blame them of course, the civil war had broken out quickly, it didn't give many people that much time to decide what side to choose. And even if they wanted to come back, wanted to join my side, the others would take it out on their family.

"Of course, of course, but I want to see what we asked for first." Douglas asked, calm and collected. How did he do it? I was sweating in and out of my suit and cloak, not that it was the smartest thing to wear on a hot day.

"Yes yes, here." I pulled out the paper, my name had already signed it. The paper was not just any paper, but a document. It was how people decided who was going to lead the sorcerers. Who would take over the syndicate. I would have ripped the document to shreds if possible, but it was magic bound.

Douglas' eyes lit up as soon as the paper was brought out. He waved to Larry and sent him down the steps nearby. There were two rooftop entrances, thats another reason they probably picked this place. Larry soon returned, pushing someone forward into view. The hostage was lead to Douglas who grabbed him by the neck and held him close.

"How can I tell that it's really him, I want to see his face." I requested with as much authority as I could. Douglas removed the bag from the hostages head, revealing the hostage true identity. "Adrian!" I cried out, tears welling up in my eyes at the sight of my son.

"Dad?.." He called out faintly.

"Now that you two are acquainted, it's time to get this started. So this is how its going to work out, you'll go halfway and drop the paper, don't try to fight us or Adrian dies. Then head back to where you stand now, we'll send over your precious son and then when he get to you, we'll go and retrieve the document. Then we can all be on our merry way." Explained Douglas, not even a hint of worry in his voice.

"Ok." I swallowed, my throat was dry and my forehead was slick with sweat and my palms were clammy. I slowly made my way across the roof, the seconds seemed to take longer, as if I had slowed down time. I knew it was just my head, I wasn't thinking straight. I dropped the document on the ground halfway through and made my way back, walking backwards. I couldn't look away, I wouldn't put it past them to double cross me and attempt to kill me right here and now.

Douglas shoved Adrian forwards, he did a light jog over to me where I hugged him fiercely. "Are you okay? Did they hurt you? You're safe now." Tears escaped from my eyes. I looked at Adrian, he was so afraid, I still couldn't believe that they had gone after him just to get at me. He was only thirteen year old.

"Oh Kieran, you've become so predictable." Mused Douglas, he had the document already. "I kept thinking to myself, there was no way the great Kieran of Serkath would topple over this easily. I expected so much more from you." He nodded to the man on his left. "Kill them."

Six men came out of the door a few meters behind us, I shoved Adrian behind me and I back up against the railing. It was a 40 foot drop, there was no way either of us could survive. If only I could fly.

I scowled, "you bastard I should've known you wouldn't let us walk away."

He grinned at last, "It was only a precaution, we weren't sure if you even bring us the right thing, but here it is." He brought his hand to his chin, as if he was thinking. "Lets just say we're tying up loose ends."

I sighed, I didn't want to have to do this. It would only make it stronger. I looked up at the nine men in front of me, I had been friends with a few of them before all this. "I'm so sorry," I said gravely.

There was no need to say anything, I had a mental connection with it ever since I had released it. I turned around, not wanting to see what happened next. I made sure Adrian wasn't looking either. I knew what would happen next.

And then they started screaming.

* * *

"So you really did it then." Said Angela, her disgust obvious.

"I had to..." I mumbled, "the war isn't won yet. If I hadn't done it then I would already be dead and the war lost."

"But what about when we win the war? What about all the lives it'll take? It gets stronger with every death, it is fuelled by chaos and you know that." She yelled furiously, "how much longer can you hold it."

"The deal was eternity, I can hold him for longer then even I expected." I said back, getting angry wouldn't help my situation.

Angela scowled, "every bond can be broken. I'd say you have a month, sorry, we have a month until it kills us all. If it gets out then the entire world becomes your responsibility." She turned and stormed out the door and into the hallway, quickly being consumed within the flood of people.

I sighed and took a seat, I was in one of the many conference rooms within Syndicate. Most of the people who had come to meeting were leaving, they had already heard what why had come to hear, and they didn't want to stick around any longer.

I get up and head to the door, close behind some of my colleagues. I had something to do. I made my way through the winding hallways and galleries towards one of the less popular places in the Syndicate.

The prison.

I walk up to the guards who I knew as Zachary and Mason, who turned to me ready to fight. The guards wore simple clothing, they didn't hold weapons and could almost look like bystanders to the normal eye.

"Identification please." Zachary asked me, sternly. I handed over y ID to him and he verified it. Despite being the very leader of what was left of the Syndicate, I still needed to give my ID everywhere. Shapeshifting wasn't a common ability, but there were some out there. "Good morning Mr. Holiday come on in."

"Thank you Zachary it's just a visit I won't be long." I told him, hoping he wouldn't come along inside.

"All good sir, take your time." He resumed his post with Mason and stood guard for any possible intruders.

The prison didn't seem big, but magic can hide quite a bit. The first rooms walls were lined with cells, these were the people who weren't sorcerers. I kept walking up to the wall and walked through it. Illusions, one of the powers he wished he had.

These prison cells held the sorcerers, each one enchanted to disabled all magic inside. I walked down one of the three corridors and all the way to the end. Around here were the criminals who weren't going anywhere this lifetime. The guards had gotten tired of walking so far into the prison, so they sorted them by timespan in prison.

I reached the last cell, I looked through the hatch quickly, as if worried that it would have escaped. I sighed when I saw it lurking in there, it's shape undefined in the darkness. This was only a quick checkup, it shouldn't take long.

"You back already? You really do love me darling." Sang Alyssa Ziraloft, from the cell next door. She always did this, wether it was just a break from talking to herself I didn't know but it was annoying. I shut her hatch to drown out anything else she could say.

I turned to the last cell where I opened the door and entered. I quickly felt my magic drain away from me, like a surge of energy disappearing into the wind. There it was.

The Whysp.

"So you're back..." It hissed quietly, it's voice a whisper yet loud, like an echo in a large room. It was how it always spoke, creepy if you ask me. "Here to get me to kill more... you already know my answer is yes... let me consume..."

"No I'm not here for that, but that day does come. I just came to check on you, make sure you haven't escaped." I told it, I couldn't show any fear in front of it. "And now that I know all is good, I'll be on my way now." I turned to leave.

"I could leave right now..." It whispered from behind me.

I turned around, "then why don't you?"

"Because you told me to stay... I am bound to you for forty-three more days..." It hissed, "my freedom comes..."

This was news to me, I now had a time limit. Forty three days to defeat the rebels and cage it. Easier said than done.

"But you gave me eternal service, that was the deal." I countered.

It gave a sound like a low chuckle, "all bonds can be broken dear friend... I grow stronger every day... In forty-three days I'll be strong enough..."

It was making me. It knew what Angela had said not fifteen minutes ago. Of course it knew, the Whysp knew whatever he needed to know. How? No one knew, the only person who knew anything about it had died a long, long time ago.

"Why are you telling me this?"

"Because... theres nothing you can do about it anyways... I am patient... my time comes..." It gave another chuckle. "I can show you..." Without any hesitation or consent from me, it punched the ground. I finally got a good view of its hand. It was clawed, sharp like a knife each finger. The rest of him was there, but almost like it was hidden behind a wave of mist. I couldn't see any defining features.

I look around, nothing had happened. I didn't expect it to, powerful or not the cells would of disabled its- CRASH. I whirl around, to see the cell door of Alyssa Ziraloft fall to the floor, the view was quickly obstructed by Alyssa herself striding into view, her veins glimmering with power.

She laughed, looking at her arms. "Been a while since I last felt it. It's been too long." She thrust her hands out at me and the wind pushed me into the back of the cell, holding me against the wall. I was in the cell, I couldn't fight back with powers.

She held up her arm and levelled it at my head. "I'm not gonna drag this out for you baby, I have some escaping to do." Her hand crackled green, and she flexed her arm in preparation.

The wind held me against the wall by my waist, using my arms freely I reached down to my feet and pulled a small knife out of my shoe. She reacted quickly and my chest was pushed up against the wall as well. The wind rustled in my ears and the crackling intensified, she was rusty from being locked away for so many years. Using my wrist I flicked the knife at her, it sailed true and landed where I had directed.

Her eyes widened and she toppled backwards, her hands fell and the crackling stopped. I fell from the wall onto my feet, and I approached the corps of Alyssa, quickly pulling the knife from her heart and sliding it back into my shoe where i could clean it later.

I looked up at the Whysp that stood to the side silently. If the Whysp could smile, it would be smiling now. "All bonds can be broken Kieran Holiday... All bonds can be broken."

I shut the door on it and walked away, leaving the body for the guards to fetch. I would tell them when I left what happened as I passed by.

My mind was still reeling, I had never told it my name. Not that it mattered, it had already proven what it was capable of. I was afraid of it.

Forty-three days, and all hell will break loose.