Eliza was allowed to fight when they encountered the next group of Rakna. She surveyed the dead Rakna that littered the ground, their bio-luminescent spit coating the cold, stone ground. The Rakna had come in a pack of fourteen this time, but that still didn't stop them from being wiped out. Eliza almost felt bad for the little bugs. She looked down at the spit on the ground, and her arm twitched, Her arm shuddering as she remembered the burning pain.

Thinking back on how much she had struggled against the blasted things, She was embarrassed. Sighing, she went to go meet up with the others, dumping some water on the spearhead of her spear to clean off the spit that coated it.

She came up to Demitrus, who was busy cutting into another Rakna. He pulled out a couple of spit sacs and piled them next to him before glancing at her. He smiled as he went to put one of the spit sacs in the food bag. Eliza leapt forward and caught his hand before he did.

"Are you insane? All the food is in there!" she hissed.

Demitrus only smiled, "So?" he said, raising an eyebrow.

"What do you mean So!? You're going to ruin our food supply?" She said in disbelief

"Our food supply? Didn't you want nothing to do with my freely offered food earlier?" He smiled, clearly enjoying himself.

Eliza glared at him, "Don't change the subject; I thought you were smarter than this; Who in their right mind stores food with that!" She said, indicating to spit sack filled with that infernal substance

"And you would be right! I'm glad you believe in me!" He said joyfully, and with a flourish, he pulled another smaller bag out of the bigger one. He opened said bag, and inside she saw a bunch of the spit sacs. He slipped the spit sac in his hand into the bag.

Quietly Eliza looked from his brightly beaming face to the bag of spit sacs in his hands.

"You're unbelievable. Do you always mess around with people like this?" She said.

"Surely you must expect this by now?" Demitrus said, raising an eyebrow. He carefully began to pick up the nearby spit sacs and put them into the bag.

Eliza sighed; she really should expect it by this point. "Why are you even collecting them in the first place?"

He shrugged, "Leo told me to; if you're curious, try asking him." He said, putting another in the bag.

Eliza's eyes were drawn to the open bag of food, and an idea crossed her mind. If he wanted to play games, then why couldn't she?

She bent down and picked up a spit sac that he had yet to get to. It somehow felt both slimy and leathery, or in other words, absolutely disgusting. Hopefully, it wouldn't burst. Her eyes met Demitrus, and he gave her a confused glance, wondering what she was doing.

She gave him a bright smile and said, "Here, catch." Then she lightly tossed the sac at him.

His eyes widened in surprise as he immediately tried to catch the sac of spit with his free hand.

While he was distracted, she went for the bag of food. By the time he had finished fumbling with the spit sac and placed it with the others, she had swiped several rolls and chunks of cheese and was retreating away with her gains.

"Are you crazy!? Give me back my food!" He called out, miffed.

Eliza gave him a bright smile, giddy, as she came to a stop a few steps away. She tilted her head to the right and thoughtfully tapped the roll on her right cheek, "Am I insane? Who knows, maybe? as for this." she held up the food she had taken, "I'm confiscating stolen good and repurposing it, don't worry, it'll go to a good cause." then she took a bite of the roll.

It was stale and bland, but Eliza was beyond caring at this point.

She turned and walked towards Leo, a slight smirk on her face. When she went to pass him, he merely looked at her with his blank gaze.

"What? He was asking for it." She said as she walked by. He sighed.

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A few minutes later, everyone gathered and continued down the road again. Demitrus gave Eliza a look that promised payback. She held his gaze as she finished off the last roll, satiating her stomach. He could bring it; whatever he tried, it was worth it.

Finally, they reached their destination. In the distance was the Crystal Node upheld by the dwarf statue. In its dull blue light was a revolting sight.

Demitrus spoke up sarcastically from beside her, "Joy, they sure do establish themselves quickly." The group stopped as they surveyed the multitude of Rakna surrounding the crystal. It seemed to Eliza as if several of the Rakna were in some kind of trance as they basked in the blue crystal light.

"What do you see?" Leo asked.

"They've set up their nest around the crystal," Demitrus responded.

The crystal and its statue were coated in a layer of the Rakna's spit. Large eggs were held in place by the hardened substance, and many smaller Rakna scrambled over the eggs, taking care of them.

"Wonderful." Leo sighed, "How many big ones?"

"I see two and the queen," Leah said.

Eliza could guess which she was talking about. They were humongous, standing almost as tall as a young horse. She could already tell that they would be a pain to deal with. One of the two was larger than the other, and the Rakna moved around it as if it was directing them.

Further back, right next to the crystal. She saw a creature that vaguely resembled a Rakna.

It had the same legs, a tentacled mouth, and a body covered in chitin. But that's where the similarities ended. The queen looked like a large bulbous worm on legs with tentacles and was a little smaller than the two big Rakna around it.

Eliza swallowed back her disgust. She had seen some weird-looking Demons, but this had to be one of the most repulsive. She watched as a bulge moved through the queen's body as it arched up. The bulge reached her mouth, and a flood of the Rakna's signature spit came flooding out, with it several eggs. The spit quickly solidified, and the smaller Raknas swarmed the eggs.

"Is the plan the same as before?" Eliza asked.

Leo shook his head, "No, with the queen and older Rakna. They'll be much more coordinated and intelligent. To make things worse, the older ones are much better at sensing their prey, even if it isn't moving. Attacking them head-on would be suicide."

"What are we going to do then?" Leah asked.

"We're short on time, so we need to be quick. We'll do what we were sent here to do, draw as many away as possible," Leo responded grimly.

********

With a stab of Eliza's spear, the last visible Rakna on the street fell to the ground. The area cleared out she gave a nod to Demitrus and Leo.

Demitrus opened his bag and gave her the bag of Rakna spit sacs. She took the bag and watched as he and Leo left down the street towards the Crystal Node, another torch in hand. Eliza and Leah then planted torches around the street before gathering as many stones as they could carry. Once gathered, they climbed up the rubble of a half-collapsed two-story building and positioned themselves on top. Eliza set down the bag and leaned the torch against the balcony of the building, giving both her and Leah light. And then they waited.

They had circled the nest to another street, and they had been fortunate enough to find this building down one of the side streets. It looked sufficiently defensible for their purposes, so they set up camp. Leah nervously fiddled with some string that she pulled out of her pocket, looking off in the direction the boys had gone.

"Are you worried?" Eliza asked, watching the street.

Leah jumped at Eliza's voice, "N-no, not at all," she stammered out, but Eliza could tell she was lying.

"Where did all that confidence from before go? You guys can easily kill a large number of the Raknas." Eliza asked as she slightly tilted her head in confusion.

"Normally, yes, but this is a nest we're dealing with; we've never dealt with a nest before. Did you see how many there were?"

Of Course, she had seen them. She hadn't been able to count them all, but she had counted at least thirty of the smaller Rakna roaming about the square.

"Just smashing in the heads of as many as you can, we'll be fine," Eliza said as she looked off toward the Crystal Node. She could vaguely see its blue glow crest the top of a few ruined buildings. They had come out pretty far. The other team better be grateful for this.

"Where do you get all of your confidence from?" Leah asked

Eliza thought for a few moments before she responded, her voice taking on a somber tone, "My father. He taught me that the moment a fighter doubts they can win, then they have already lost the battle to come."

"Even if you're facing overwhelming odds?" Leah asked as she looked over to Eliza.

"Even if. If you decide you've lost even before the fight begins, then your loss is guaranteed; if you believe it's possible to win, then you have a chance." Eliza said.

"But what if you would live if you didn't fight? Or you lost quickly?" Leah asked

Eliza let out a self-deprecating laugh," If someone or something wants to fight and you don't? They only target those close to you." she said, shaking her head sadly; Dyrene's face came to mind.

"I'm sorry," Leah said sadly.

"For what," Eliza asked, turning her gaze from the lights above to Leah in confusion.

"For what Leo said about your parents, I'm sure they're wonderful people. He cares about us, and he didn't want your actions to hurt us," she said quietly.

"Why are you apologizing for that? That's between Leo and me and besides. We've already resolved it. More or less." Eliza said, brushing it off as she returned her gaze to the street blow.

Eliza felt Leah poke her on her shoulder, drawing her attention back to Leah. "Still, There's a reason he did that, but he went too far no matter the reason. So I'm sorry." Leah said emphatically.

Looking at Leah's earnest gaze, Eliza sighed internally, but she gave Leah a grateful smile, "Thanks, apology accepted." She said. That was when she heard the sound of running in the distance.

Turning, she saw Leo and Demitrus's torchlight appear down the street. Soon after, both of them came sprinting around the corner. They then booked it towards the building that Eliza and Leah were both in.

A few moments later, a veritable tide of Rakna followed in their wake. There were so many that it seemed like a sea of chitin and tentacle to Elizas.

Eliza turned to look at Leah, who nervously picked up a stone and gave her a reassuring smile,

"You know what to do, drop them when they get close to the building," Eliza said.

Eliza picked up a sac of Rakna spit and lobbed it at the closest Rakna. The sac burst over the Rakna, and it went down, its legs constricted by the substance.

Eliza lobbed a few more of the sacs before Demitrus and Leo had made it to the building. Without even slowing down and in an acrobatic feat that Eliza wasn't sure she could do, they leaped up the rubble and clamored onto the roof of the building.

Demitrus took over lobbing the Rakna spit, and Eliza picked up her spear and intercepted one of the Rakna who got adventurous and tried to leap over the gap. Eliza stabbed it mid-air and, with a fling of the spear, threw it down to the street below. Almost immediately, another one took its place. It was going to be a long battle.