Arson's lips curled into a smirk. "Guess I'll just have to burn more land - faster."
Glacius's cold eyes narrowed. "Then I'll freeze twice as much - better."
Without another word, the two princes spun on their heels - Arson heading right in a blaze of heat, Glacius veering left with a wave of frost.
The ruined base stood between them like a fractured line - a symbol of their mutual humiliation - and now, they were determined to rise above it.
_ _ _
But there was one small problem.
Or... two.
Sylvia was still stuck to Arson by the fused vine, forced to stumble after him as his flames flickered along the path.
"Hey- slow down!" she snapped, tugging on the vine, but it only seemed to tighten further.
Arson didn't even look back. "If you can't keep up, maybe you should stop spreading your weeds everywhere."
Sylvia's green skin darkened with frustration. "You're the one who burned them into me in the first place!"
_ _ _
On the other side, Peggy flapped her wing frantically, still unable to dislodge the frozen feathers from Glacius's back.
"Could you not walk like a block of ice?" she snapped. "I'm practically dragging behind you!"
Glacius, as calm and composed as ever, didn't stop. "Perhaps if you controlled your excessive fluttering, you wouldn't have gotten stuck in the first place."
Peggy's golden wings flared with irritation, sparks of fairy dust scattering into the air. "Excuse me? You're the one who froze me!"
Both pairs were stuck in an awkward, unwanted partnership.
Despite the bickering, the competition was on.
Arson's path was a trail of scorched earth, every step leaving behind glowing embers and burning patches of grass. His fire seemed hotter than before fueled by frustration, humiliation, and an unyielding need to reclaim his pride.
Sylvia, against her will, followed - but wherever Arson's flames scorched the ground, she reacted instinctively, reviving the land with sprouts of green and tiny vines.
It was almost comical - Arson would burn a tree; Sylvia would regrow its roots.
A patch of grass ignited; Sylvia sprouted new life beneath it.
It wasn't just an argument - it was a silent clash of elements.
Each of them undoing the other's work - a battle of fire and plant, destruction and regrowth.
On the other side, Glacius moved like an elegant storm - each step freezing the ground in a sheet of thick ice, leaving a trail of snow and frost. His path was calm, controlled - a mirror to his frosty personality.
Peggy, however, was a burst of gold and light behind him.
With every flick of his frost, Peggy responded with fairy magic - warming the frozen patches ever so slightly, just enough to stop the spread of Glacius's creeping ice.
It wasn't a full thaw but it was resistance.
It wasn't just fire vs. plant or ice vs. light - it was two rivalries running parallel.
Arson and Glacius - racing to conquer more land, to be the first to claim power and prove themselves to Ragnar.
Sylvia and Peggy - struggling not just against their "partners," but against their own helplessness in the situation - stuck with the very enemies they were supposed to defeat.
Each step was a statement.
Each glance was a challenge.
This wasn't about alliances - it was about dominance.
And though they were trapped in their unwanted pairs - vines wrapped around fire, feathers frozen to ice - the race for territory continued.
Faster.
Hotter.
Colder.
Stronger.
It wasn't just a competition anymore - it was survival.
_ _ _
The sun dipped lower, casting long shadows across the torn landscape - one side scorched yet restored with plants continuously, the other frozen yet thawed by light.
For hours, Arson trudged forward, the fused vine still trailing behind him like a leash of shame and stubbornness.
Sylvia followed barely. Each step was a silent scream through burning muscles. The aftermath of two days of battle, their capture, the humiliation, the escape-it was finally crashing down on him.
His flames, once so wild and defiant, flickered weakly now. His steps slowed.
And then-
Arson collapsed to one knee, the ground beneath him steaming slightly from the last of his fire aura. He tried to rise again, gritted his teeth but his body betrayed him.
With a hollow breath, the Fire Prince fell forward, the embers around him dimming to a soft glow.
Sylvia, tethered to him still, barely registered it. She took one final step forward-then her legs buckled.
The strain was too much.
She collapsed beside him, the vine still glowing faintly where it bound her to his scorched arm. Her green skin was flushed with fatigue, her fingers limp in the soil. There was no anger now. No pride. Only the aching silence of shared collapse.
Meanwhile...
Far across the frozen sea, the frost-bitten trail of Glacius had narrowed. His breath came in steady but strained huffs, his frosted cape dragging behind him like a mantle too heavy for even royalty to carry.
Peggy, her golden light now faded to a flickering shimmer, staggered behind him.
The feathers stuck to his back had long since stopped glowing.
Glacius took one more step.
Just one more.
But his knees gave out beneath him.
The Ice Prince dropped to the snow-tinged ground, a brittle crack sounding beneath him as the ice finally shattered beneath his weight. His chest heaved, not from pain... but from the sheer exhaustion of carrying it all-the cold, the defeat, the pride.
Peggy, too weak to argue, fell with him.
Her wing draped limply across his back, still frozen in place.
Neither of them had the strength to speak. Not even to complain.
They didn't need to.
Their silence said it all.
And so-
In two different places of the planet...
The four rulers collapsed.
_ _ _
This is the end of Volume 1.
The story will be continued in the next volume.