I bid farewell to the old man and left the cave. “I hope he recovers his powers quickly. We’ll need them.”

I had learned a lot, though some doubts still lingered in my mind. The sages—those beings who seemed like gods—apparently made the same mistakes as any mortal. And this whole business of time travel made me question if my actions would truly change the future I knew.

I descended the mountain as quickly as I could. When I reached the path through the mountains, I searched for Aeryn nearby, but I couldn’t see her. “Aeryn?!” I shouted, feeling a knot form in my stomach. I scanned the area more carefully. Maybe something had forced her to flee. This time I raised my voice. “Aeryn!”

Suddenly, I heard rapid footsteps approaching fast. It was her. She came trotting toward me, chirping happily. I knelt down, relieved. “I thought something had happened to you, partner. We’ve got work to do,” I said, stroking her neck. I quickly mounted her. “Let’s go, girl. Back to the semi-humans’ village.”

With the reins firmly in hand, Aeryn started running. The rain was falling harder, and dark clouds filled the horizon. The wind struck my face with intensity. As we moved away from the mountains, I spotted the forest of the spirit. Aeryn kept her pace, but I noticed she was getting nervous. She made several uneasy sounds.

“What’s wrong, girl? There’s a benevolent spirit in that forest. Or… are you nervous about something else?” I asked as we passed along the outskirts of the woods. Aeryn grew more agitated. I looked around but saw nothing. To my left was the imposing forest; to my right, the open horizon. Ahead of us, the path stretched directly to the village. The rain and wind made it hard to hear anything.

Then a deep noise started to resonate. I couldn’t pinpoint its source, but it grew closer with each passing moment. Aeryn kept running hard, but something was coming at us from underground. “Aeryn, dodge it!” I shouted urgently.

Massive roots erupted from the ground, trying to ensnare us. Aeryn, with impressive agility, dodged them, veering off the path. But more roots began to emerge, attacking furiously. “What the hell is going on?!” I yelled, unsheathing my sword. Between Aeryn’s evasive moves, I managed to slice through some of the approaching roots. However, one managed to trap one of her legs.

The impact threw me to the ground with brutal force, sending me flying several meters. I landed with a groan, my sword knocked far from me. I quickly looked at Aeryn, who let out a loud cry of pain. Her leg was clearly fractured. “Aeryn! I’m coming!” I shouted, scrambling to my feet as fast as I could.

I unleashed a surge of chaos magic at the roots holding her, forcing them to recoil. As they retreated with a deep, guttural sound, I ran to retrieve my sword. But before I could reach Aeryn, something began to emerge from the ground. It was enormous, far larger than Eldrek.

I froze, stunned by its size. Its body was covered in dark moss and thorny roots that wrapped around its cracked, bark-like skin. Sinister fungi and withered plants sprouted from its crevices. Its face, with eyes glowing like embers and sharp, jagged teeth, exuded pure malice.

“This… this is a distorted version of the forest spirit,” I muttered to myself, stepping back.

The creature moved toward me slowly, but its roots lashed out with incredible speed, attacking relentlessly. I dodged and slashed at them, relying on my magic to hold my ground. But there were too many. One root pierced my leg brutally. I screamed in pain, dropping to my knees. The root withdrew quickly, leaving a bleeding wound.

Despite the pain, I refused to give up. I channeled my chaos magic, summoning the dark mist that had helped me before. It enveloped me like a shield, corroding any roots that touched it and forcing the creature to halt its attacks.

Limping, I put some distance between us and circled the beast, my mind racing with worry for Aeryn, who was still on the ground, injured. The rain intensified, and thunder roared above. I realized the water was starting to dissipate my mist. I cursed under my breath. The creature noticed too and began to advance toward me with giant strides.

“You won’t take me down without a fight. I’ll bring you down with me if I have to,” I said aloud, gripping my sword tightly and bracing myself.

Just then, the creature stopped and looked behind me. Confused, I heard the rumble of footsteps approaching fast. “What the hell?” I muttered, turning to see.

Khoryn’s group was charging in on their drakkin, weapons in hand, shouting fiercely. A grin spread across my face. “Perfect timing, you damn lizards!” I yelled.

The lizards approached quickly, spreading out to surround the beast. Roots burst from the ground, trying to trap them, but the drakkin were agile enough to evade the attacks. Additionally, each drakkin spewed fire, creating barriers that burned the branches before they could reach them. Within seconds, the lizards closed in and began attacking the beast’s legs with their weapons. A single strike didn’t do much, but I noticed how coordinated they were, focusing their attacks on the same spot. It was almost like they were chopping down a giant tree.

Meanwhile, I limped over to Aeryn, who was still whining on the ground. I rummaged through my things and pulled out two of the potions Kaerith had given me. Popping one open, I drank it in one gulp.

“Ugh! That’s disgusting!” I groaned, grimacing.

By the time I reached Aeryn, my leg was already starting to heal. I handed her the second potion. “Aeryn, take this. It’ll help you heal.”

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Without hesitation, she drank it, coughing slightly and cringing at the taste. “Yeah, I know. It’s awful,” I said, trying to reassure her. Within seconds, her leg began to realign and mend itself. The process was painful, and Aeryn let out a piercing cry. I stayed by her side, trying to comfort her.

Meanwhile, the lizards continued their ferocious assault. Every time they seemed on the verge of severing one of the creature’s legs, it would regenerate, sprouting new branches and roots to protect itself. Realizing this, some of the lizards leaped off their drakkin and began climbing the beast’s body, hacking, slashing, and even biting at it. I watched in amazement and muttered, “These lizards have guts.”

The creature thrashed, trying to shake them off, but its movements were too sluggish. Its roots, however, were quicker and impaled several of the lizards. Even as they fell, they roared in defiance. Khoryn, the most agile of the group, deftly dodged every attack as he climbed higher and higher, until he reached the beast’s head. From my vantage point, I saw him leap and plunge both of his daggers into one of the creature’s glowing eyes. For the first time, the beast let out a deep, guttural wail, staggering backward.

Khoryn didn’t stop there. He relentlessly stabbed the eye, tearing apart its soft tissue. It seemed that area couldn’t regenerate. But before he could continue, roots sprouted from the creature’s face, skewering Khoryn in multiple places and suspending him in the air. The beast wailed, clutching at its injured eye with its massive hands.

Without thinking, I charged forward. Chaos surged through my sword as I roared, my voice cutting through the thunder and rain. I struck one of the beast’s massive legs with all my strength, slicing deep into it. The creature lost its balance and crashed to the ground with a thunderous impact. The tremor shook the earth, and it released Khoryn from its roots.

The lizards seized the opportunity, swarming the beast and attacking with unrelenting fury. The creature writhed, unable to defend itself or rise. I climbed onto its torso, driving my sword into its chest with all my might. Chaos poured from the blade, spreading across its body and corroding everything it touched. “Let’s see if you can handle this, bastard!” I shouted.

The creature’s screams were deafening, but in a final act of desperation, it began to sink into the ground, as if being swallowed by the earth itself. Everyone lost their footing and tumbled to the ground. When I looked again, the beast was gone—no trace of it remained. It had escaped into the depths.

Panting heavily, I stared at the ground where it had vanished. The lizards around me roared in victory, but I noticed several of them were badly injured. Some lay motionless, impaled by roots, while others, wounded but standing, still growled defiantly. A short distance away, Khoryn lay on the ground, barely alive. I quickly got up.

“Take care of the injured! Use the potions!” I shouted to the others as I ran toward him. I pulled out one of the last potions I had and handed it to him. “Drink this!”

Khoryn, pale and nearly unconscious, managed to gulp it down. He was bleeding heavily, with puncture wounds all over his body, but soon the potion began to work its magic, closing his wounds. Between coughs, he muttered, “What the hell was that naga thinking when she made this stuff?”

I couldn’t help but chuckle. “You lizards are too damn stubborn to die, aren’t you?”

Khoryn struggled to his feet, his expression defiant. “A few scratches won’t stop me,” he said with a weak grin, still managing to roar.

The rest of the injured lizards also began to recover. Kaerith’s potions were proving to be even more effective than I had expected, though the process didn’t seem any less unpleasant.

Khoryn, still regaining his strength, looked toward where the beast had disappeared. “What the hell was that thing? I’ve never seen anything like it.”

“I’m not sure,” I replied, wiping the blood from my sword. “But I met the spirit of this forest once, and it had similar abilities—though it didn’t look anything like what we just faced.”

I paused, choosing my words carefully. “I hope I’m wrong, but I think that mage who’s behind all of this somehow corrupted the spirit, just like he’s done with other races.”

Khoryn furrowed his brow and scratched the back of his neck, clearly unsettled. “Are you saying he can transform any creature to serve him?”

I met his gaze, frustration creeping into my voice. “I don’t know. But if that beast was the spirit, it means he can corrupt anything.”

The thought left Khoryn deep in thought, his gaze distant as if trying to process what this meant for the world we knew. Meanwhile, the rest of the lizards mounted their drakkin, preparing to leave. They looked battered, but their determination hadn’t faltered.

I walked over to check on Aeryn. She seemed fine physically, but her eyes betrayed lingering fear from the ordeal. I knelt beside her and stroked her neck gently. “It’s okay now, girl. You’re fine. What do you say we head back to the village?”

Aeryn let out a low sound, hesitant but compliant. I climbed onto her back, giving her a reassuring pat. Looking around, I saw the lizards were ready, mounted and in formation.

“Let’s move,” I said, adjusting the reins. With Aeryn leading the way and the lizards flanking us, we set off toward the village. The clouds still blanketed the sky, and the rain had eased slightly, but the weight of what we had just faced lingered heavily in the air.

“Thanks for the assist back there,” I said to Khoryn as he rode alongside me. “If it weren’t for you guys, I’d probably be fertilizer by now.”

Khoryn smirked. “I suppose it was fate. We were already on our way back when we spotted that colossal thing from a distance.”

Fate. That word was starting to pop up way too often in my life.

“Tell me something, Khoryn, just out of curiosity… why are you so different from the other lizards?” I asked, glancing at him. “I mean, not just physically. The way you fight is completely different too. Your agility is leagues ahead of theirs.”

Khoryn laughed as we continued down the path. “That’s because I wasn’t raised with these lizards. I grew up somewhere else, with a different kind of lizard.”

My curiosity piqued. “A different kind?”

“That’s right. Among humans, you have distinctions too, don’t you? Different features, different skin tones. It’s the same with us lizards. Where I come from, lizards are more like me—leaner, quicker. We have different customs and fighting styles, you see?”

“Got it. That makes sense.” I wanted to ask more, but I hesitated, unsure if it would be too intrusive. My curiosity must have been written all over my face because Khoryn chuckled again.

“I know what you’re thinking. You’re wondering why I’m the only one from my kind here.” He grinned at me, amused.

I laughed back. “You’re not just agile, you’re observant too.”

“There’s always been a rivalry between my people and these primitive lizards over who’s stronger. I came here to prove I could stand on equal footing with them. We lizards are proud creatures, as you’ve probably noticed. It’s as simple as that.”

“Fair enough. Well, that pride and stubbornness saved my ass today.”

At that moment, I felt a connection with Khoryn that I hadn’t expected to forge with his kind. Once again, fate was showing me just how unpredictable it could be.