"Very well." Max couldn't hide his shock. "How did you guys come upon a warwolf?"

"I saved him when he was a pup." Tsugi said, patting Ruzo on the head.

"That means you've had him for at least ten years. It takes them ten years to get to their full grown size. And he's huge!" He had a glint of excitement in his eyes.

"Have you seen other warwolf's?"

Max shook his head. "No. They've nearly gone extinct and are rare to find." He clapped his hands and rubbed them together. "Well, let's get going then." He turned on his heels heading back the way he came.

"Well, if Max is vouching for you guys, he can carry your bodies out by himself." Pike grumbled.

"Will you leave them alone?" Max shook his head.

"What's the plan?" Lugo asked.

"Not really a plan per say, just go through and kill monsters." Max shrugged.

"You're the leader and you don't have a plan? What if something happens? How many floors are there? Tunnels? Is it just greer’s or are there others? How do we know when we've completed the mission?"

"Just full of questions aren't you?" Max arches a brow at him.

"Of course! You should always have a plan. Without a plan, that's how people die!"

"That's why we wanted experienced people who can handle themselves. There is no plan. You go in and kill as many as you can. When you're done, you leave."

"That's a horrible plan even if it was one." Lugo shook his head in disbelief, irked by the ignorance of the so-called leader. "Forget it Tsugi. Let's just head back. This is stupid."

Max scoffed. "You were talking all high and mighty before, now you want to back out?"

"Of course! I'm not going to risk our lives for the stupidity of the likes of you."

"Well, you are more than welcome to leave if you're scared. We did warn you about inexperienced newbies." His taunt whirled in Lugo's thoughts.

"What do you two think?" Lugo turned so that Ellie could read his lips. "I will follow whatever you two decide."

Tsugi explained the situation to her.

{What do you think?} Ellie asked.

{Honestly? I don't like it either but we've already signed the contract. If we don't at least try, I'm afraid it's the orphanage that'll get the rough end of it.}

{Still I don't think it's a good idea.}

{I say we do it, but I don't really trust them either. I'd say stay close and don't venture off. If for some reason the tunnel splits, stick together. And if things go south we can have Lugo take us out immediately.}

{Okay, sounds like a plan.} Ellie smiled.

Tsugi turned to them. "We'll still join you guys, but us three are not splitting up. If I find that you guys are reckless we are gone."

Max held up his hands as if in surrender. "Hey, you do what you do, mate. Like I said, I warned you. We aren't making you guys join us. You're the ones that insisted."

Although his statement made sense, Tsugi couldn't help but feel like they were coerced into it. Perhaps it was just her lack of trust in people.

"So if you folks crossed the marshlands then you must be from Quihaul."

Lugo opened his mouth but Tsugi quickly answered, "yes." Which earned her a bewildered look from Lugo. She refused to trust people with any information they needn't know.

"Wait up!" A voice called from behind them. They turned around and saw two gorgeous women in their late twenties bounding up the path toward them. One had blue hair and the other, orange. Tsugi tilted her head as the women looked oddly familiar. Searching through her memory, her eyes widened once she’s found the one she was searching for.

"Maki? Princess Aylin?" She muttered.

The two women caught up to them, smiling and gasping for air. "How'd you know our names?"

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"It – it's me – Tsugi and this is Lugo." She gestured to Lugo who bowed, beaming at them with delight.

"It's been quite a long time, ladies." Lguo grins from ear to ear. If the god of love were to come down, even Lugo himself would be awarded with the most charming smile award.

"Oh my!" They both gasped in awe, covering their mouths in shock. They scrutinized the two of them up and down like they were a piece of meat on the market.

"Look at how much you've both grown!" Aylin beamed. "Wow! I'm amazed at how – handsome you both have become!"

"Nah!" Lugo blushes, obviously trying to sound more modest than he appeared to be at the moment. "But Tsugi here has grown to be such a pretty boy hasn't he?" He wrapped an arm around her shoulder, pulling her in for a side hug.

"What are you two doing here?" Tsugi asked politely after shrugging Lugo's arm off her shoulders. If only her looks could hurt him, she wanted to dissect that damn look from his face.

"We're here to join the raid." Maki said with such excitement, Tsugi could've sworn she reverted to being a teenage girl for a moment.

"Really?" Tsugi said in disbelief. She remembered when she had to save them some fifteen years ago, their demeanor was very different from back then.

"Hey." Aylin quipped. "Don't look at us like that! We've learned a thing or two since you last saw us."

"Well, let's see then." Max said as he approached, crossing his arms.

"Fine." They both stuck their noses into the air with haughtiness.

Standing back Aylin raised her hand through the air and water droplets formed into a ball in her hand. Flinging it through the air she hurled water bullets to the nearby tree causing wood chunks to go flying until there was a hole in the trunk.

Tsugi nods, slowly. It was decently executed, but it took her too long to muster the energy.

Max frowned and nodded approvingly just as Tsugi does, then turns his awaiting gaze to Maki.

Maki backed up and an energy rose in her that raised the hairs on Tsugi's neck, giving her an uncomfortable feeling. Maki's body burst into flames. Even from the distance they stood from her, they could feel the heat scorch their skin similarly like the hot desert sun at midday.

Tsugi's eyes widened and she did all she could to control herself, but she couldn't help her heaving breath, feeling like she was falling into a bottomless pit. Tortuous nightmares flipped like a picture book through her mind: the pain; the torture; the endless deaths; the searing sizzle of her skin; the grip on her neck. She couldn't breathe and she could feel it tighten, squeezing the life out of her. She was losing herself. She wanted to crawl into the corner and stay there – forever.

Lugo quickly grasped her shoulders as she stumbled. "Are you okay?" He whispered so that no one else would notice. "Tsugi? What's wrong?"

Lugo's gentle touch had ground Tsugi to earth and she was coming back to her senses, slowly but surely. "Nothing." She gasped, breathing in controlled, meditating breaths. "Nothing. I'm okay – I'm okay." She chanted to herself, as though the words would somehow be her savior. Her breath was shaky and so were her shoulders that refused to stay still.

Lugo held onto her firmly, refusing to let her fall. "Whatever it is, it's okay. I'm right here. I've got you." He whispered.

She hadn't realized that even fire magic could trigger her fear. She chuckles to herself. Even something as stupid as that could bring her down to such a state was beyond hilarious. Her powers were nothing compared to her fathers, and yet her darn brain can’t even separate the difference.

"Wonderful." Max clapped and nodded in approval.

Tsugi gathered whatever composure she had left and stood as straight as she could, glad that no one else had noticed. In fact she was just glad she didn't blackout from the intense fear. So intense in fact that she felt the tips of her fingers tingling, as one would when itching for battle.

But why didn’t she black out like she usually did?

Normally it was Ruzo who usually brought her back from her nightmares. And yet Ruzo wasn’t even within reach. She turns her gaze to Lugo, standing beside her with his arm firmly wrapped around her shoulder.

Was it him? Is it possible for him to have brought her back from that state? It can’t be – can it?

No one had ever been able to bring her out of her intense fear before. What changed?

"I can't believe how big Ruzo has gotten!" Maki and Aylin were admiring him with Lugo chatting them up.

{You okay?} Ellie asked, leaning over to scrutinize Tsugi's face. {You're so pale.}

{Yes, I'm fine. Thank you.} She inhaled a deep breath and cleared her throat. {That's Maki, with the orange hair and Princess Aylin with the blue hair. I saved them about fifteen years ago from a group of harvesters. It seems they'll be joining us.}

{Oh! That's how you all knew each other.} She nodded, assessing them from a distance. {I think Princess Aylin is very beautiful. She and Lugo would make a cute match.}

{What?!} Tsugi snorted. {No way.} She felt a twinge of an oddly unfamiliar feeling and she didn’t quite know how to sort it.

Ellie gasped. {Is that jealousy?!}

Tsugi flushed a deep red all the way up to the tips of her ears. {NO! Why would I be jealous! I'm only saying that Lugo's no match for her.}

Ellie laughed. [You can deny all you want but I sense jealousy. I just don't know for whom.}

Tsugi ignored her and kept walking, following after the group as they trekked up the hill.

There's no way this new feeling is jealousy – right? No, it can't be. She has no reason to be jealous. She didn’t know Princess Aylin that well and Lugo? Well, he’s Lugo. That in itself should explain why this sounded absolutely preposterous and therefore – impossible.

She shook the ridiculous thought out of her head, not giving it another moment of her time.

"Was she born deaf?" Max asks, walking alongside Tsugi. Ahead of them were Lugo and Princess Aylin talking and laughing as though they’d been long lost lovers.

"Ellie? Yes."

"Bummer."

"How? Just because she can't hear or talk? I'll have you know she's a great person and a highly talented healer."

"Oh so she's a healer."

Oh damn her and her big mouth. Tsugi wasn't sure if she was pissed at herself or at him for somehow managing to coerce it out of her. Or maybe both.

"You act like I'm planning something evil." He chuckled. "Calm down mate. I'm not planning anything. It's just – greer’s aren't that smart. They just behave like any other animal. Although they are still dangerous, we just need to kill them and that's it. That's why I didn't have a full blown plan. It should be simple enough in itself, as long as people don’t decide to do stupid things, we will be just fine.."

He sighs, rubbing his forehead as though he were exasperated. "I don't know why you don't trust me and frankly I don't care. Whatever you –" he waved a hand gesturing to Tsugi’s little group. "newbies do, just don't get hurt or cause anyone to die for you."

Reaching the end of the path, they came upon an entrance to a magnificent wooden door, built into the wall of the mountain. The chattering amongst the group ceased to a halt when Max and Pike headed to the front, pulling the giant creaking doors open.

"Welcome to the Mogden Mines." Max announces.