“Okay, this should be the spot,” Otso says, leading the group through the forest.

Miller and the others enter a large clearing with burn marks covering the ground. Everyone looks around cautiously as Fiona walks forward, examining the ground. Otso follows after she checks the remains as he checks the area around the hill.

“This is recent. If I had to say it was about a week ago.” Fiona says.

Miller nods. “This is likely the aftermath of the battle from then.”

“Judging by the fact flames did this, it was likely Mila.” Ivar looks over the area. “She likely lost control and unleashed her power.”

Otso digs into the dirt and pulls out a small broken gemstone. “I found it!”

“What?”

“The teleport stone. Or at least part of it.” Otso hands it to Miller. “It seems like it got burned out.”

Rufus stares at the stone. “It’s dead. Likely overcharged.”

“How so?” Sam asks.

“Teleport stones work by pulling Mana out from the person who comes in contact with them and using it as the power to teleport them across a set distance. Glyn manipulated it to change the frequencies it teleports on to let us set where we can teleport to.” Rufus says. “Judging from the state it's in, it seems like a large amount of mana hit it at once, and then it was fried out from being overcharged.”

“What happens when it's too charged?” Miller asks.

“It kind of explodes. It expands its field and anyone caught up in it is teleported around randomly. They could be anywhere.”

Everyone pauses for a moment.

“You said they only send within a set distance. Glyn may have altered it to teleport to a wider, but it's still a set distance, right?” Sam asks.

“Yeah, that’s right. But if it's out of control, then it should be set to its default status.”

“What would be the range for that?” Ivar asks.

“Hard to tell. But it's likely not too far, honestly.” He says.

Sam nods. “Then that’s it. Miller, are you paying attention?”

Miller nods. “Yeah. Our best bet is to search the surrounding islands and then go from there.”

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

“Yup. But it’s been a week, so they could’ve spread out more by now.” Otso says.

“How? Where would they get a boat?” Faye asks.

“Unlike you, some people can swim and are better at making even small boats,” Ivar says. “With the right weather, you can move between the islands easily.”

“Either way, if we move now, we can catch up to them easily. Our ship is faster than anything they could make in a rush, so there shouldn’t be an issue.” Fiona says.

“What do you think, Boss?” Tan asks.

“If they're not on this island, then we don’t need to be here. We should search for the closest island from here.” Miller stares off into the distance. “If they got spread out, then the enemy was scattered, too. Hopefully, they were able to get away with all the chaos.”

“So, let’s get moving!” Tan flies into the air.

After a few seconds, Tan flies down from above with a panicked look on her face. Everyone stares at her, concerned, before she rushes over to Miller and grabs hold of him.

“Enemies! We have to get off of this island!” She yells.

“What?”

“Lying in wait for a trap?” Fiona asks.

Faye glares. “Then let’s fight them off.”

“We can’t run in recklessly. These guys have numbers and power, not to mention there’s something super freaky about them.” Otso says.

“Calm down Tan. What did you see?” Miller asks.

“One ship. With about a dozen people on it. They were about to land. Most of them were wearing cloaks, but there we three who weren’t.” Tan pauses. “Oh, one of them was Xia Bai.”

Miller pauses. “I see. If Xia’s still a Queen, then it's best to remove her from the field.”

“What about the others?” Rufus asks.

“Divide and conquer,” Sam says. “We’ll separate the two Pieces and the cloaks should go down easily on their own.”

“Ivar, you draw one of them away, Tan and Faye. You two join him when you see an opening. That leaves Sam, Fiona, Otso, and Rufus to do battle with the other and the cloaks.” Miller says.

“What’ll you do?” Tan asks.

“Miller….”

“I’ll handle Xia Bai. I fought with her before, so I know most of her tactics and skills. On top of that, she’s not in her right mind, making it easier for me.”

“Are you sure about this, Miller?” Sam asks.

Everyone turns to Miller, concerned as he nods. “I can do it. I swear I’ll come back after I defeat her and then we’ll deal with the other enemies.”

“But she’s a Queen, right? If Mila’s anything to go off of Queen’s are powerful, right?” Faye asks.

Fiona nods. “I don’t like the odds of this. But we can’t afford to have our enemies group up or hunt us down.”

“On top of that, if they discover our ship, we’re screwed, so we’re up against a time limit,” Ivar says.

“It’s a lot to go against.” Otso looks to Miller. “I think Miller’s plan is probably the best we could come up with in this situation.”

“I can do this. We have to do this.” Miller looks at the others. “We’re up against strong opponents. Pieces who have more power than any one of us. But they're not facing one of us and we’re going to keep them separated. We don’t have our heavy hitters, but we need to strike hard and fast if we’re going to stand a chance.” Miller takes in a breath. “Let’s win this fight and then go find the others! We’ll rub it in Glyn’s face how we managed to get a win without him!”

“Yeah!” Everyone yells out.

“I’ll head for the water. I’ll hit the weakest one and drag them into the sea.” Ivar smirks.

Faye nods. “Me and Tan will strike at just the right moment and take them out.”

“I’m counting on you to back me up.” Fiona smirks.

“I’ll try my best,” Rufus says.

Sam looks at Miller cautiously. “Be safe. And come back, understand?”

Miller grabs Sam’s hands and they blush. “I promise I will. We’ll win this fight; I promise you that.” He says, staring into their eyes.

“Alright. Let’s win this fight.” Sam says, determined.