"There it is." A satisfied smile lit up Omar's face.

"I don't see it." Andrea shook her head.

"What are you talking about? It's right there." Omar pointed meaningfully in front of them.

Andrea looked at Omar, a little concerned. "Um... there's nothing there. No. Thing."

"Nope, there's definitely something there."

"Maybe your 'sixth sense' isn't working properly."

Concord squinted at the forest in front of them. "It looks like just more forest... but Omar might be right. He is not misled by his eyes." Concord carefully clambered down from the tree. As soon as his feet touched the ground, he knew the truth.

"It's there, all right."

"What do you mean it's there? There's nothing over there! I can see it!" As soon as Andrea said it she realized how absurd her statement sounded.

"But remember, Andrea," Cascade told her, "Sephtis creates illusions. I bet that there's no forest there. Just a base."

Andrea nodded slowly. She was starting to understand.

"Omar can see it because of his sixth sense and his super-hearing. Concord can see it because he can tell there's just one large object with people moving around it, and not a bunch of still trees, just by feeling the ground."

"Yeah, I get it now."

"Well, hurry!" Emanai told them. "I don't want to stay 'ere too long! If ya'll don't come back quickly, I'm gonna... well, I'm not sure what I'm gonna do. But hurry back!"

"We will." Cascade leapt off the tree and used a vine to swing to the ground. Omar simply jumped.

"Come on." Concord ran forward. He suddenly disappeared.

Andrea gasped. "That's pretty cool, actually." She ran forward and jumped through the invisible barrier. The others followed.

In front of them stood the base, looming in the failing light. It had taken them what felt like an eternity to get to the base, having to deal with several monsters and other things of the sort.

The base was made out of sharp wooden poles and sticks. It was large and looked relatively stable. There were many open walkways where people were pacing about. The only area with a roof was in the center. It was reasonable to assume that Sephtis stayed there.

"So... how are we going to do this? Got any complex plans for us?" Andrea asked Cascade once they were hidden safely behind a bush.

"Hmm. Well, I was thinking about just... rushing in there and burning it down."

"So you want me to do all the work?"
"Kind of. However, it does sound as if these people aren't exactly big supporters of Sephtis. I think that if we give them a chance to escape, they'll take it. Only light the place on fire to scare them away and to trap Sephtis. I'll track Sephtis down and try to capture him. Omar and Concord, make sure that if there is anybody actually loyal to Sephtis then they're not a danger to us. If anybody attacks us or you, then attack them back. Though try not to kill them."

"I like this plan. It's not too complicated."

"Less complicated plans are less likely to go wrong."

"You've said that before."

"It was worth repeating."

Andrea nodded in agreement. "It probably is."

"Does everybody know what we're doing?"

"Yup."

"Yeah."

"Yes."

"Good. What are you doing?" Cascade looked pointedly at Andrea, then attempted to stifle her laughter, unsuccessfully, at the silence which followed.

Andrea blinked a few times. Then she remembered. "I'm going to try to set the base on fire, but not try to kill Sephtis' workers, and yet trap Sephtis in his enclosure thingy."

"Basically." The smile was still on Cascade's face. "What about you two? Omar, Concord?"

"Concord and I are going to stop you guys from getting killed while you do the things you need to do," Omar replied. "We're on defense."

"Yes. That is what we will be doing." Concord nodded in agreement.

"Good."

"What about you, Cascade?" Andrea asked jokingly. "What are you going to do?"

Cascade looked towards the base and a long sword appeared in her hands. "I am going to stop Sephtis from getting away. Potentially capture him. But, if need be, I'll finish this. I won't let him hurt anybody else."

Andrea was about to object when she saw the steel in Cascade's eyes. She would do whatever she wanted.

Cascade's patience had reached its limit. She was tired of Sephtis' unjust regime. She was willing to do anything to stop him.

Concord looked around the bush and eyed the base. We can win this. I know we can. After the thought, his eyebrows rose, Concord having surprised himself with his own confidence. He was used to shying away from dangerous situations, but this time he did not feel like running. He knew that his friends had his back if anything went wrong, and it reassured him. He knew that he wasn't alone.

"Concord, you ready?" Andrea whispered.

Concord looked back towards his friends and smiled. "Yes." He nodded. "I most certainly am." Then he turned, took a deep breath, and stepped out from behind the bush. Behind him, the others followed. Concord glanced back at them, winked, turned forward again, then propelled all four of them across the open space towards the base.

Andrea let out a deep breath and rubbed her hands together. "Let's do this."

Omar propelled Andrea upwards, rocketting Andrea into the air.

As Andrea flew through the air, supported by strong gusts of wind, she launched balls of fire at points on the base, making support beams collapse and go up in flames. Carts of materials and huts went up in flames as well. Pandemonium broke out amongst the base members.

A group of troops came running towards Andrea, swords drawn. Before they could come close, the ground suddenly bulged before them, throwing them to the ground in the makeshift earthquake. Concord grinned off to the side.

Andrea kept moving forward to the center of the base as several guards stationed there turned towards her, drawing a mix of makeshift weapons--spears, short swords, and knives. But as Andrea raised her hands, flames rose around her in a wall creeping towards the underprepared army.

Then Cascade touched down on a platform as well and ran towards Sephtis' enclosure with her ice sword in hand. Sephtis' fighters could see what they were up against: a mix of flames, earthquakes, and an ice sword. The mercenaries had suffered a humiliating defeat the last time that they had faced off against the Elementals. Sephtis hadn't cared for them when they fought for him, and they had been severely punished for losing. Many of their friends were gone. Now that they saw that Sephtis would be distracted, they did what Emanai had done. They turned and fled.

As Sephtis saw what his troops were doing, he stepped out of his enclosure, ready to berate them for their insolence, only to come face-to-face with Cascade.

Cascade did not hesitate to launch her attack. She barraged Sephtis mercilessly with her hard, icy sword, leaving him no opportunity to launch an attack of his own.

The blade seemed to come from everywhere and nowhere; where Sephtis had thought he saw one, by the time he looked, it was gone. All he could see were quick flashes of blue and Cascade's willowy form, standing a few inches taller than him. All he could do was put his sword or his dagger in a position to block the strokes. But his arms were tiring fast. He wondered how Cascade's arms were not.

Suddenly, there was a pause in the attack. Just a short moment of hesitation, of tiredness that seeped through Cascade's untiring demeanor. Sephtis took the opportunity willingly. He suddenly dropped into a crouch and swept his foot across the ground towards Cascade, causing her to fall. Then he turned on his heel and ran, collapsing the roof of his enclosure on top of Cascade. If that didn't take care of her, he would get her next time. When he was more prepared and more powerful.

As Cascade fell, she dissipated her sword so as not to impale herself. She heard a crackling sound above her, and desperately created a shield of ice above her as the heavy roof crashed down. But by the time she dissipated the shield, she realized she was trapped under a load of rubble that was rapidly deteriorating. She shouted aloud, and was surprised moments later when wood and beams started to shift off of her. She clambered out from the rubble and came face to face with Omar. He had been using a small tornado to blow the large pieces away. Cascade was impressed. "Thanks, Omar. I wasn't sure how I was going to get out of there."

She gave him a hug.

Omar nearly jumped, the sudden hug from Cascade catching him off guard. But in a moment he settled into the embrace. Nobody's ever hugged me before. It's wonderful.

After a few moments, Cascade stepped back and looked around for traces of Sephtis. But she could no longer see him. "Damn. Another illusion."

The base was nearly empty; nearly all the mercenaries had left. Andrea's face wore a satisfied smirk as she saw them run for cover in the forest, throwing all their weapons down at her command. But when Andrea looked around and saw the indignant expression on Cascade's face, her smile fell. She climbed up a ladder to meet Cascade at the top.

"What's wrong?" Andrea put her hand on Cascade's shoulder.

"He's gone." Cascade pushed off Andrea's hand, crossed her arms, and took a step away. "And I nearly got crushed."

"It's all right, Cascade. You'll get him next time."

"No. We don't know if we'll get another chance. I should have tried to capture him instead. I shouldn't have been so arrogant."

"You did your best. You just need to practice some more."

"If I wasn't ready, I shouldn't have taken him on. This was our one chance."

"You know that's not what I meant. We all need more practice. Besides, he doesn't have his mercenaries to help him anymore. We'll find him. You did as well as any of us could have done."

"I suppose." Cascade sighed and sat down on the platform, her feet dangling over the edge, looking over the base as it slowly went down in flames. "I was just so sure I knew what to do."

"We all learn from our mistakes." Andrea chuckled. "Trust me. I have a lot of experience."

Cascade had to smile at that. It was a wan little smile, but a smile nonetheless. "Thanks."

"No problem." Andrea grinned at Cascade and thought about the fact that only a few months ago she would have thrown Cascade off a cliff for failing, and now she was giving her advice. "We've come a long way."

"We certainly have." So they sat in companionable silence together once more, on the base that was slowly burning to the ground.

The companionable silence was interrupted. The platform they were sitting on collapsed.

"EEK- AAAAAAAH!" Andrea clawed at the wooden beams as she fell, panicking, as there was nothing below them but thorn bushes and the ground.

Meanwhile, Cascade was falling, her legs crossed and her hands behind her head, with a grin on her face, watching Andrea in her panic.

Andrea was puzzled as to how Cascade could be so calm when they were in such a perilous situation. Suddenly, their falling slowed, and they levitated a few feet above the ground, safe from the thorn bushes. "Oh. Wait... did you know that was going to happen??" Andrea looked at Cascade and raised her eyebrows.

"I certainly did. After all, that was the job that Concord and Omar were assigned. I don't think they were going to fail at it. They're pretty determined people, you know."

"Right." Andrea gave a rueful smile. She wondered why she hadn't thought of that. It had just been a short moment of panic. She always panicked in such situations. She still had no idea how Cascade could continue thinking in such a calm fashion when she was in peril. But then again, it seemed she only acted that way occasionally. Andrea would have to look into the matter at a later time.

"I found out something." Concord told them once they had brushed themselves off.

"What did you find?" Cascade asked calmly. Inside, she was boiling with anticipation of what Concord was going to say, but she waited patiently for Concord to answer her query.

Concord held the silence. He enjoyed leaving the others in suspense right up until the last moment, when the suspense was at its peak. Then a huge grin broke across his face. "I know where Sephtis is going."