War And Throne

Chapter 1 : Fire Spreads

Flames whipped at high speed from Darren's hands, moving quickly forward, swirling, then piercing and burning three trees at once in front of him. The young man roared and cried loudly, tears falling down his cheeks, his chest tight; he didn't care about the trees that were getting swallowed up by the flames. 

Anger mixed with pain had gathered together to form a lump that choked his chest. The young man then sat limply on the ground. His eyeballs were now red, radiating the fire he had created so ferociously. 

"Darren, what are you doing?!" 

The young man didn't care about the shouts coming from behind him; he didn't even bother to reply. Darren merely sat limply. His eyes were now tightly closed, along with the tears that were falling more and more heavily. 

"Hey, you burned those innocent trees, man. What's wrong with you, Darren?" The person tapped Darren lightly on the shoulder from the side. 

Darren still wouldn't give an answer, and the nineteen-year-old only looked down deeper, holding back his sobs. 

"Lake, why are you doing nothing?" "Put out that fire before it spreads further; it could be a serious situation if there's a fire." 

The pretty blonde girl with milky-white skin was instantly flustered; her lips were pressed together, and she was looking at her friend with a worried expression. "I can't!" she said loudly. 

"Why can't you?" 

Lake swallowed harshly, "there's no water here Finn, how am I supposed to put out the fire that's burning the tree?" 

Finn looked at Lake with widened eyeballs. "Then you'll have to find a way, any way, fast!" 

Lake nodded her head, then quickly turned around, running away from Finn who was crouching right next to Darren.

"For God's sake, Darren, say something right now. Why are you going crazy like this? Your rage is uncontrollable." Finn shook Darren's body. "You know your actions are very dangerous, not only to you but to others as well. Look at that fire you created!" 

Finn panicked at the sight of the growing fire in front of him, which was already engulfing the tree so fast that it burned. In his panic, Finn had even bitten his lip. 

Ignoring Darren for a moment, Finn turned his head back, facing Lake, who had moments ago started to leave. "Lake, what took you so long to leave? That fire..."

Finn's attention returned to Darren, who looked limp and didn't want to say anything. Finn didn't know why his friend could be like this; he could only guess. That's when Finn realized that Darren's expression implied a lot of emotions.

Oh no, what exactly is going on here? 

Finn sat closer to Darren, hugging his friend from the side. The madness created by Darren certainly had a reason, and Finn tried to pry that information out. Finn was both curious and confused as to why Darren was burning the trees. Darren has not yet opened his mouth to give an explanation; he just stays silent with a sad gaze that continues to stare at the ground. Now, Finn no longer forces his friend to explain right away. 

The most important thing right now is to put out the fire before it spreads everywhere. Finn can't do much, he himself is a creator of plants. Instead of being extinguished, the fire will only get more violent if Finn unleashes his power. Therefore, Finn immediately ordered Lake to immediately go looking for water because she came from the water clan. 

"I'm coming, Finn!" 

Finn immediately looked towards the source of the direction, Lake came carrying water, making Finn attack by a feeling of relief. Finn had already let out a long breath from his mouth. 

"Good job, Lake! Put out those fires right now!" Finn gave the order to Lake. 

Lake's lips pressed together in a straight line, and the girl rushed forward, carrying the huge blob of water above her head. Lake is a girl from the Water Clan, so the job should be a breeze for her. 

With one violent jerk, Lake immediately thrust both her hands forward, followed by a scream from her lips. The round blob of water she had formed instantly rushed forward, immediately extinguishing the fire in a matter of seconds. 

Successfully, the fire that ignited the trees was immediately extinguished, leaving only a thin plume of smoke. The three trees looked burned. Lake then joined Finn and Darren, sitting limply, her energy quite depleted. However, Lake felt proud of herself for having succeeded. 

Finn immediately smiled at Lake. "I knew that you could be expected; the fire is out; you did it, Lake."

Lake just nodded slightly without saying anything. In fact, she herself was amazed at being able to carry out this obligation; at first she was hesitant, but finally she managed to carry quite a lot of water. She deliberately formed the water into a giant round blob so that it was easy to carry. Lake is a water-bending girl, so of course she is very reliable in matters like this. 

Lake controlled her ragged breathing, her gaze moving to the three now-charred trees. 

"Where did you get that water, Lake?" asked Finn.

"There's quite a lot of standing water around here," Lake replied. Then she looked at Darren, who was still silent, as if the young man were a statue that didn't need to make any movements. "Darren, what the hell is going on here?" You wouldn't intentionally create a fire, would you? "You know we're at the edge of the forest; what if the fire spread to the other trees?" Lake moistened her dry lips, and the thought of a catastrophic fire gave her goosebumps.

Finn listened silently, letting Lake ask Darren questions; perhaps the young man would start answering now. 

However, after waiting for a while, Finn's hopes turned out to be too high. In fact, Darren is still silent. 

Finn was tired; he wanted to say more, but suddenly Darren stood up from his seat, making Finn and Lake look at each other in confusion. 

"Darren, where are you going?" Lake asked quietly before finally standing up herself, followed by Finn after her. 

Darren was still silent, not giving Lake or Finn any answers.

Darren then sped away, moving quickly through the darkness of the night, perhaps to his home or somewhere else. Finn and Lake have no idea which is true, but for sure, the young man didn't go into the forest. That was better. 

Lake and Finn exchanged glances. Lake folded her arms, while Finn bent at the waist. Their minds were currently only occupied by similar questions about Darren. 

more precisely, questioning what had happened to Darren that he could go out of his way to burn those three innocent trees.

There must be something going on; the Darren they knew was not like this. Darren did not get carried away easily, but the actions he had taken really made Finn and Lake wonder themselves. 

There was a reason behind Darren's actions a few moments ago. 

But what was that reason?