"I severely miscalculated," uttered the newest appointed Capital's Knight of the city of Erten.
He and the nine Chief Guards of the city of Erten were several dozen leagues away from the burning building with the four Chief Guards trapped in it. Ropne only stood there and watched it burn.
Every lick of flame igniting another brick or stone, maybe even metal objects. Nothing was melting.
Ropne witnessed the two guards nearby run to the building as they pulled out leather bags from the bags on their backs. Making two circles and tapping above their middle point on the leather bags the two guards had water forming in them. The action of water made in pure panic expended more from them than they intended too.
That was a mistake on their part to not adjust their action with their placebos.
The two guards threw the leather bags into the building through the burning windows before they collapsed from exhaustion of the fuel for the action of water.
Water surged out of the leather bags pouring over the burning stone floor. Ropne outside meanwhile dragged away the two guards. He knew how to do the same action of water. He knew the action of ice too.
But why he didn't use it? For the same reason as the two guards fell unconscious. He had no placebos for intent control on him.
So he prayed. Deep within his heart ran the prayer to the Lady of Repentance and her messengers.
'My Lady, save the ones caught in this disaster. I beg of your kindness. Save them.'
He had dragged the second guard across the street. The citizen the two guards were about to reach held her silence in fear. Her mouth wide open, the scene reflecting in her eyes.
Bursts and clicking noises echoed over the street from the fire. People were stepping out of their homes and saw the towering pillar of fire. Few stepped up beginning to draw the action of water on containers they could get the fastest.
Before any one of them could do anything, a shadow vast enough to plunge the street in darkness came for a moment. Then it lightened to a soft shade.
And a knight appeared.
His armour's paint had faded. Not because of time. The armour itself was brand new. It faded because of the battles the knight had endured. Mix of silver and red cut apart due to the scratches from numerous hits he had withstood.
This was the Capital's Knight.
"Stand back!" His voice landed on everyone's ears.
His sword left the scabbard. A longsword exhibiting the hues of emerald and obsidian cut apart the topmost storey. The flame rescinded from it as the storey went up blasting into its constituent materials vapor form.
The middle and ground storey were cut up with strange shapes. The ones that separated perfectly from any support to the ground sublimated.
"Now! Prepare buckets of water." He had done all that without moving from his place in front of Ropne.
Ropne watched as the Capital's Knight ran into the burning building. The people of Erten realized what order was asked of them.
Capital's Knight in the meanwhile caught the remaining leather bag with the sourceless water action pouring out of it. He swung it hard enough that the bag shredded.
"Crap!" He punched the mystical flowing water with the same hand that had grabbed the handle of the bag. Within his body his will lifted to encapsulate the water in the element he was trained in.
Smoke.
To his advantage he was in a smoke filled environment, only the problem was there was too much of it. The breathable air had vanished the very moment the ignited wind touched the building.
Holding his breath the best he could, he grabbed the smoke and shoved it into the breaking structure of the sourceless water.
"Now, expand!" Forcing the smoke in as the sourcelss water found another distinctive will touching it. Water followed as best it could. Washing away the heat, absorbing more smoke and smothering fire.
Slowly stone and brick began not burning but melting. Some of the half burned stone bonded with the smoke in the water that touched them.
Capital's Knight did not stand in the hall he had entered. He ran to the hall he had perceived people to be in.
At the same time, two Chief Guards that had accompanied the Capital's Knight reached the same building. Other seven went to the other burning buildings in the city.
Smoke-infused water became water-infused smoke as the sourcelss water ran out.
People who had created buckets of water from the action of water were already running to pour at the burning building. Ropne hurling massive amounts of it running from one spot to another as the buckets ran out. People ran to create more while Ropne's feeble strength matched his structure he had perfected as a guard back during training.
The structure of the sourceless water vanished. Now only pockets of smoke remained. Many of which were not in control of anyone.
Ropne and the others had no idea of that. They only knew that the Capital's Knight is doing all he could. They had just seen him this morning, the very morning that hadn't even changed to early noon. And now, they were facing possible death of one.
A trembling whisper ran through the volunteering crowd. "He hasn't come out yet. Is he?...Is he dead?"
"Will we be massacred for killing the Capital's Knight?" They had heard proclamations by the previous Capital's Knight Linda of the capital decimating cities because they orchestrated the death of a Capital's Knight.
Through the smoke came the voice of one that could crack iron swords. "Not. Today."
A ball of curtains made of smoke rolled out of one part of the sliced burning building. The one behind it pushing it was the Capital's Knight.
Smoke coiled and rolled in the ball. At rare moments people could see some of the older Chief Guards of Erten within. At another there were unknown faces. The ball's size itself spoke that there could be plenty people in it.
Ropne recognised them all. He did not had the faintest idea if any were alive. To him, he believed only The Repenter would know of it.
The two Chief Guards that had come had already subdued over eight cut sections of the building. Capital's Knight called out to them, "Take care of this Chief Guards Mon and Winston. I'll be waiting at the hospital church."
"Yes, Capital's Knight Balrund!" Cried out Chief Guard Mon and Chief Guard Winston.