Mathew only made it halfway down one of the branches leaving the trunk of the tree when he realized that one of his summons wasn’t following him. He turned around to see Cherry standing in the archway to the trunk staring back at those they left behind.

“Cherry come on! We need to get going.”

“I’m not going! We can’t leave these people behind to just die.” She looked back at Mathew, concerned on her face.

Mathew jogged back to her, “We don’t have time to argue on this. Come on!”

Cherry still didn’t move, “Mathew, are you sure this is the right thing to do? I don’t think we can fight the Dungeon Boss alone. We are going to need their help.”

“Did you not hear the plan?” He was starting to get annoyed with her. “We split up and cover more ground from this point forward. Plus you heard the message. The Lord wants me. Not them. We go and kill him, and they all stop dying.”

Cherry looked down at her hands, “I’m not going with you then. I can stay and help keep them safe and alive.” She mumbled something else. The sounds of wind and battle made it hard to hear what was said.

“We don’t have time for this. Come on or I’ll just unsummon you and take you with me that way.”

“You are doing it again I said!” She half shouted. “You ignore my input every time! I’m not Agnox or Jeffery who just listens to whatever you say. I’m not going to let people die for no reason. That’s not who I am Mathew. You said you listen to me and care about my opinion so fucking listen!”

Mathew blinked. He's never seen Cherry this angry.

“You going after the Lord is exactly what he wants. You go to him alone even with your summons, and at best Agnox or I dies. I’m not letting you do this to yourself or anyone else. You said you were a leader and fought with your people. So why are you leaving them behind? Is your stupid pride so huge that you can’t see what you are doing? You are acting like those you say you are better than. So stop acting like someone you say you aren’t and act like the man who says he is the best and fight with them!”

Cherry pointed back at the group of Blue Oak’s fighters. “They follow you blindly here and you are leading them to their death. That is not who I am. I am a healer. A helper. Someone who guides and protects. Not someone who lets people die for the betterment of one person. It’s my duty as a Dryad to preserve all of creation. You are keeping me from that duty.”

Mathew started to sneer at her, “You can’t tell me what to do. I’m the guy in charge here. You are working for me to keep me alive. They are doing the same. If I die or get hurt, who will kill the Lord? I’m the highest level guy here, Cherry! Think damn it!”

“I am thinking! You have a weakened soul! You barely stood against Keith. You need more than just Agnox and I to help you. You need more help. It’s not just them I want to keep alive, it’s you too!” Cherry stomped her foot. Her eyes filled with frustration that Mathew did not seem to listen to her.

Mathew watched as another one of Blue Oak’s people got blown off the side of the giant tree. “Cherry, people are dying and we are arguing. Fucking come on.” He went out to grab her and yank her but she pulled back against him. It didn’t stop him from actually pulling her, but the act was there.

“No. You are letting them die. You could go up there and stop that wind mage, but here you are trying to pretend you are right. Just for once Mathew, listen to me. You know I’m right, but you refuse to listen to me for some reason. Is it because I’m Gaia’s child? Is it because I don’t like violence? Is it because I’m not agreeing with you on everything as Agnox does? What is it!” She yelled the last line, louder than Mathew ever heard her speak.

Mathew took a deep breath. He was tempted to just unsummon her and go fight the Lord alone. Anger was pooling in him. The stress of the situation on top of the sounds of battle kept ringing in his head.

A whisper of an idea came to him, “Use the ritual on her. Absorb her power and do what you want.”

He froze as the hairs on his neck stood up. “That’s not my idea. I’m annoyed with her. Not pushing the edge of killing her.”

The voice came again, “She isn’t listening to me. She is doing what she wants. Not what I want. So why should you listen to her?”

He turned around, trying to figure out who said that. Mathew swore to never use the ritual. No matter what he thought of Cherry right now, that wasn’t an idea that crossed his mind.

“Boss, we need to move either way. What are we doing?” Agnox asked. “I will do whatever plan you follow, but I think Cherry has a point for once. I had to save your life from Keith. If Henderson and others are there, think of how much easier it would be against the Elf.”

Mathew looked over at the imp. Agnox almost never suggested a plan that went against his own. Always adjustments or questions about how to implement it. The imp was ready to give his life for Mathew.

“Fine. But if this fails, it’s on you.” Mathew said as he walked back the way he came toward the staircase. He was going to kill this wind mage and then continue the argument with Cherry.

Those on the stairs gave Mathew weird looks as he returned. “Was that way blocked off? What are you doing back here so soon?” One of them asked.

Mathew didn’t respond. Instead, he climbed the stairs four at a time, rushing up them. He moved passed everyone. “Anyone who needs healing goes to the Dryad. Agnox and Jeffery with me. Let’s go help Henderson kill this bitch.”

As Mathew climbed higher, it was harder to hear anything over the whooshing winds. He put up a single [Mana Shield] to help mitigate the force of the winds.

He saw Henderson with a giant sword pierced into the ground. She was holding her ground well, but Mathew knew if she let go she was a goner.

In the middle of the area, a female elf was sitting lotus style. She had her eyes locked onto Henderson, a torrent of winds blowing around her. The elf glanced toward Mathew and her face had a bit of surprise on it.

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“She didn’t expect me to be here. Must have thought I ran off to fight her Lord. Sucks to be her that I am here.”

Mathew went to throw a [Mana Bolt], but halfway toward his target, it got blown away. The winds picked up for a moment causing him to almost lose his footing. Jeffery was right there. The giant wolf was too heavy to be blown away without a lot more force.

Henderson took a single step forward and quickly stabbed her sword down into the ground again to prevent her demise. Her mouth was moving, but Mathew couldn’t hear her words. They were toward the wind mage, that much was apparent.

The winds were too strong to accurately use any ranged attack. He would need to find a way to get closer. He didn’t doubt Henderson could reach the mage, but that defeated the reason why he came back.

Mathew grabbed onto Jeffery’s armor and pointed toward the mage. The wolf seemed to understand him and slowly moved forward. His claws dug deep into the wood leaving deep scars.

Each step forward took vast effort. The closer they got, the more intense the winds felt. Mathew’s knuckles were white with how tightly he was holding onto Jeffery.

Henderson was making progress as well, but slightly slower. She only had a quarter of the distance left and Mathew could tell she couldn’t move any closer. If she did, she wouldn’t be able to stab her blade into the wood before she was blown back.

An idea came to Mathew to help her out and inform her that he was there. Just before Henderson was about to step forward again, Mathew conjured up a [Mana Shield] to temporarily block the wind.

She didn’t let the barrier surprise her, completely focused on moving forward. She took the opportune moment and took two steps with the short time she had before the shield was blown away.

Henderson spared a glance back and saw Mathew. He gave her an ‘it is what it is’ shrug and both knew they would talk after this fight.

Jeffery continued to claw his way closer. Mathew was halfway toward the mage. When he saw Henderson was ready to move, he would conjure yet another shield for her. This sped up her progress tremendously, crossing the gap at the same time it would have taken her to move two steps.

The elven mage wasn’t sitting idle anymore. She got up and stepped away from Henderson. Doing so shifted the winds drastically. Mathew had to shift his weight so he wasn’t shoved away in a different direction.

The shift in winds nearly caused Henderson to be blown away. She held onto her sword with one hand. Her whole body was flapping in the wind with almost no control.

Her grip was slowly slipping away. Mathew and the mage could both see that. He cursed at himself for what he was about to do, but he couldn’t let her die like this. Not when he was actually here and could help.

For the first time, Mathew activated his newest spell [Far Step]. In a blink of a moment, Mathew appeared right next to her. He quickly activated an ability and another spell back to back. Chains erupted from him and grabbed onto Henderson while a pair of [Mana Shields] broke the powerful winds temporarily.

He yanked Henderson closer to the sword so she could grab the hilt while he wrapped his arms around her. The entire time he knew his chains were seeping into her flesh, burning her, and draining her life away slowly. Mathew knew she could handle the pain. It was better than the alternative of falling to her death.

Mathew looked over at the wind mage with his squinted eyes. He trusted Jeffery and Agnox were safe and probably still moving closer. He didn’t dare let go of Henderson’s body. The powerful winds caused his robes to flutter rapidly making a motor-like sound.

The mage grinned and pointed at both of them with both of her palms open. The wind's ferocity seemed to double. He tightened his grip around Henderson’s armored body, praying that she could hold on just a little bit longer.

While he held on, he slammed the ends of his [Frostrim Chains] into the floor, anchoring him to the ground further. He took a moment to look at the wind mage as she continued to push the wind at them.

Mathew took a deep breath. He knew Henderson couldn’t hold on much longer and the mage didn’t look like she was giving up. He tried to activate [Far Step] again but realized it had a longer cooldown than he expected. He wouldn’t be able to use it for another minute or two in fact.

Instead, he relied on what he knew best. The winds were powerful but he had to fight against them. He conjured his spear in his hand and a gray energy covered it fully. His Axiom of Piercing had to be enough to fight through the wind.

He wrapped his legs around Henderson and pulled tight on his chains as he sat up. The winds blasted at his fully exposed body, but he let the winds pull his arm back. He strained for only a moment and used his entire body to yank himself and the spear forward using the chains.

The spear was made to ignore the air, and with his understanding of the Axiom guiding it even further, it sailed through the headwind. However, it did not reach its goal. Just a foot away from the wind mage the spear stopped in the air and started to fall back.

Mathew fell backward and was barely able to hang on to the chains. Henderson’s head snapped up seeing the spear stall and her golden aura vanished. In its place, a silver hue appeared. She lunged at the short distance left between her and the mage and grabbed the spear as she pushed it the final foot of distance.

The wind mage's face twisted to show the pain from being impaled. Henderson grabbed the mage's body to prevent herself from being thrown away by the winds. In just a few moments the powerful typhoon-like winds died down as the mage died.

Mathew didn’t get up just yet. Silence fell around them as the winds no longer deafened him. He was breathing heavily and rolled over onto his back.

Jeffery and Agnox walked over to the dead mage, ensuring she was truly dead and not faking it. Henderson was kneeling, her arms shaking from being overused.

Over their heavy breathing, Mathew heard Henderson speak out to him, “I thought you ran off to fight the Lord. Was he that much of a pushover that it only took you a few minutes?”

“No. I came back for other reasons. Kinda glad I did. If not for me, you would have been blown off the side of the tree.”

“I had her. You just sped up the process.” Henderson looked down at the spear in her hands and walked over to hand it back to Mathew. “So why did you come back?”

Mathew stood up and returned the spear to his personal storage. “Let’s just say a little annoying voice in my head wouldn’t let me go alone.”