Unbroken

Chapter 1: Unrivalled

What Ingressus didn't know, however, was that Achillean was more than prepared to fight him. In the beginning, the Deathsinger may have been the one to teach the Tidesinger all that he knew about combat, but it would be this new power within the Nestoris that would perfect his edge against the Voltaris, giving him the last upper hand in battle. He didn't know for a long time, that night, for Achillean had promised people that he would not let his title go to his head and kept his attacks simple and coordinated in the ensuing force; but with the Deathsinger growing desperate, Achillean was forced to play his final hand.

All cards were finally on the table.

When he countered Ingressus' arm shield with something other than his signature Aggrobeam, and instead replicated the Deathsinger's Shotgun Song, Ingressus was forced to stop and do a second take at the Tidesinger. For a single moment, they stopped and Ingressus struggled to collect his thoughts. He knew that Achillean's Aggressium Song was his Aggrobeam, his father's Song – it was the only Aggressium Song that he had been hit with since the Great War began, and it had been used to excess during their battle on Mt Velgrin, almost to a fault. He had learnt the best ways to counter it, knowing that there was nothing that Achillean could do to change it. Yet, what he had just seen was unthinkable.

Unless...

He looked at Achillean, closely. He looked into his eyes with great focus and saw the immediate absence of anything other than power. Deep within the golden glow was a pulsing red energy – a flame – that sparked behind them within the command centre, governing his every move, blindly pushing what appeared to be a whole Ardoni, but was instead only part. Ingressus straightened himself to stand tall next to the flames that poured thick smoke into the air around them, encasing the two in an area inescapable and he smiled and narrowed his eyes as Achillean relaxed his stance, awaiting the Deathsinger's next move.

"I know that look," he said, his voice low. His conniving grin grew and he slowly walked closer to the Tidesinger. "I know it well..."

Achillean said nothing and continued watching Ingressus closely. He barely moved bar fiddling with his staff in his hand, changing his hold to better be ready for the inevitable strike. Ingressus stopped merely a foot away from the Nestoris and holstered his weapons, his suspicious smile still beaming and his eyes still studying him from head to toe. He took a long look at Achillean's free hand and spotted a brief flicker of rogue Aggressium energy swirl around it. He raised his eyebrow. Achillean had the most self-control of any Ardoni that Ingressus knew, besides himself. It didn't matter what pressure that boy was put under, he could always hold his own, bite his tongue, and hang back. The same went for Songs. He rarely let his emotions show in Song, yet, that flicker of Aggressium energy was real – it could not be ignored.

There was only one reason that Ardonia's hero would be struggling to maintain his hold on control, and Ingressus made sure that his eyes never left the Tidesinger's in study, watching his reactions with the most scrutiny.

"Is that..." He trailed off for a moment, hearing his mind trying to talk himself out of asking. "Is that the Prime Song... Achillean?" Ingressus didn't need an answer to know that the Tidesinger had given in and was wielding the most powerful Prime Song in existence, but he just wanted to hear it from the one who swore that Prime Songs were the bane of the Ardoni.

Achillean's gaze hardened as he stared back at Ingressus.

"It is, Ingressus." He couldn't contain the corrupted smile that spread across his face. "Yes, it is..."

Once again, Ingressus spotted that pulsing power at the controls, behind Achillean's eyes and his teeth slipped through his lips, pleased that even the wholesome, innocent party, destined to be Ardonia's hero could fall to the power of the Prime Songs. He laughed.