"Well, duh, of course, I can fly! Or is that cool slang for you're happy to see me."

Tiria watched Poe fly in a little loop and almost cried. It was time. It was finally time. "Poe, I need your help."

"Ok! I'm the best helper. What do we do?"

Tiria couldn't quite see the cliff topped by the Eldritch forest since she still stood directly in front of the worn down inn that they typically stayed in. Part of her wanted to hop on Poe and go right now.

If she was in the same state that she'd been directly after Gi's death she might have.

"We have to fly somewhere, but first, we need to talk to the others."

"Ok!"

Tiria opened the door to the inn and Poe happily followed her inside. Orchid had made herself a web in one corner of the common room. Nori was leaned back against the bar with a strip of dried meat in her teeth while Chum and Glom played some card game nearby.

All eyes turned to the buzzing dragonfly that had entered their midst.

"Who the fuck is that?" Glom asked. The goblin was still a huge asshole, but he had finally stopped stalking them so was much more bearable.

"Hey Poe," Chum said, but his voice was more cautious. She could tell he already understood what this meant. Poe was immune to his concern though.

"CHUM! Hi hi!" Poe flew over to him and plastered his body against Chum's face and the priest chuckled despite himself. Poe started to fly to Orchid also but stopped himself upon seeing the web. "And hi, Orchid! Also hi goblins I don't know."

Poe said that but then he stared hard at Nori. It took almost two beats, but when he finally recognized her, he practically leapt in the air. "It's Nori! You're Nori, right? You look so much more grown up. I haven't seen you since you were half blown up in the Eldritch forest. Wow, small world, am I right?"

Nori frowned, meat still dangling from her teeth as she got to her feet. "I recall you pinning me down with your webbing and dive bombing me from the sky, you stupid fucking dragonfly."

She prowled over to him and Poe shrank away. " Did I do that? That doesn't sound like me..." Poe laughed nervously as Nori loomed over him.

"I used to really want to kill you. Rip those wings off your back, but... time changes things. Must be changing our current plans too." At that last part, Nori studied Tiria. "I suppose this means you're finally going?"

"It does."

Poe had hidden behind Tiria at Nori's aggressive words, but curiosity brought him back out. "Where are we going?"

Nori didn't answer. "Glom, I'm going with them. You keep everyone alive while I'm gone and I'll consider making you my second."

Glom tossed his cards on the table, and despite his assertions that he already was Nori's second, he stood up and bowed deeply. "I'll handle everything, Progenitor."

She'd never seen any of the goblins bow before but it was a clear gesture of respect. Hell, she'd never seen any of them shown any kind of respect before. It didn't change her thoughts though. "From what Nori said, the forest is dangerous. With the demons all around, we can't waste even a single monster. I'm going by myself."

It was Chum's turn to toss his cards on the table. "Like hell you are."

"Chum..."

"No. This is my clan too. Gi is my Progenitor too. I'm not going to wait in this inn if there's even a chance that my Skills would make us successful. I don't care if you're my Subgenitor. You don't get to tell me to wait behind."

Tiria wanted to argue. Since Gi's death, Chum had grown... precious to her in a way that he hadn't been before as simply her assistant. Those feelings urged her to force him to stay, but that same respect that she had for him couldn't deny his feelings either.

"Then I'm coming too!" Glom shouted.

Nori snorted. "No, you're not."

"You got it, boss." Glom sat back down.

"When do we go?" Chum asked.

"Now," Tiria said at the same time Nori said, "in the morning."

Tiria's look of consternation must have been telling as Nori immediately wanted to explain. "The forest is dark even during the day, but at night, it's a thing of nightmares. If there's any chance that we can complete your quest in one day, we'll need to take it."

"I can wait one more day, I suppose."

Poe practically vibrated in the air. "WHERE ARE WE GOING?!"

Nori sighed as though she'd rediscovered an old annoyance. "There's an eldritch forest at the top of the plateau nearby. Before you ask, yes, it's just like the one from the Child stage but worse.'

Poe's eyes widened. "Why would we go there?"

Tiria knelt, pulling Poe down low as she pulled out the compass that she'd gotten back in Igna from her [Expanded Pocket]. "We talked it over with one of the followers of Noctua. It's... a way to bring Gi back."

Tiria rotated the compass in her hand. Its casing was made of rough stone. One half of its face was completely white and the other completely dark. One of its meters had a soft glow, pointing the way towards the forest even now and whatever source of chaos that she needed.

"If we bring him back, we can bring the clan back together. If there's any of it left."

Poe looked from her to the stone compass, and for once in his life, he was quiet. "I'll come too then."

The air was somber for awhile, but all they could do was wait. She had gotten plenty of experience doing just that as they often waited to raid the demons' army or camps. It still didn't make it comfortable.

Poe eventually returned to his usual self being loud and boisterous as they played cards. After an initial dick measuring contest, even Glom stopped being a dick to Poe. The dragonfly was just too nice.

After a forever of waiting, they were sprawled around in floor trying to sleep, but Tiria was far too activated.

Time since Gi's death had done much to curb her crippling depression, but it hadn't changed the fact that her whole purpose had been ripped apart when Gi died and that she'd patched it up with the quest to bring him back.

Since she'd been blocked on that, her entire focus had gone into hunting demons. It was the right thing for the wrong reason.

"You should try sleeping instead of thinking at night," Chum said as he slid next to her.

Tiria snorted. "Trust me. I would if I could. My mind is not a joy to be in."

A pained look passed on Chum's face and she could tell she'd been a bit flippant about her dark thoughts. She hated to cause him so much trouble, but he was the one bright spot in her life.

She definitely relied on him too much, but... what was a little more?

"Would you..." Embarrassed, Tiria's tongue stumbled over her request. "Perhaps, we'd both sleep better if we held paws."

Chum barely held back a grin, but he immediately took her hand in his. "For both of us, huh?"

"I know how sad you get at night."

She had been joking, but his eyes were serious when they found hers. "I do sometimes, yes."

She squeezed his paw and he returned the gesture. The two of them looked into each other's eyes until Tiria became embarrassed again and gently closed hers to feign an attempt at sleep.

Magically, she did fall asleep, and when she awoke the next morning, her paw still clasped his. She laid there for a moment, enjoying the sensation, before the reality of their situation returned to her.

It was time to head into the forest.

Getting ready was a quiet affair even for Poe for once. Tiria checked her [Expanded Pocket] and they had a few days worth of food. According to Nori, they would either succeed or become corrupted in that time.

Once everything at the inn was taken care of, she, Chum, Orchid, Nori, and Poe walked the couple miles to the bottom of the cliff. Looming far above, the corrupted forest lay.

The light of the dawn struggled to pierce its trees, the area inside holding onto its darkness. Memories of Orchid flying off the cliff mixed with memories of Gi's body dropping onto the cliffs of Igna, but Tiria steeled herself.

That hollow in her heart where Gi had been wasn't gone, but the edges were no longer ragged. She'd honed herself in war against the demons and come out the other side stronger.

"All right, Poe. We're up first."

To his credit, Poe didn't complain or even make a comment. He stared hard at the forest for a couple of seconds and then activated [We Might Be Giants] to grow himself to a proper size. Tiria hopped on his back and a nostalgia for past battles washed over her.

Even with the threat of death, those had been easier times.

"We'll keep the top clear for you all to join us. With luck, whatever eldritch abomination that was there will be gone. If not, well... we'll keep the top clear."

A tap on Poe set the dragonfly's wings buzzing quickly and the two of them launched into the air. As long as this cliff took to climb, it was a short flight.

Shadows seemed to shift within the forest, but Tiria couldn't tell if that was a trick of the forest or actual enemies waiting to pounce.

"Be ready to catch me."

Tiria leaped off Poe's back and instantly one of the shadows shifted with an insane speed. Without hesitating, Tiria's feet barely touched the ground before she was rolling. Three strange whips of flesh lashed out from the darkness to strike where she'd landed.

Not hesitating, she activated [Waterborn Armory] and immediately flung two watery maces into the direction of the trees. Neither hit, but they did bring the shadowy figure into the light.

It was a goblin except... it wasn't.

Its legs were thick and muscular, more akin to a hare's than anything more humanoid. It had a thin torso with an enlarged head and ears and its right arm ended in three long tentacles instead of a hand. The goblin blinked in the bright sun and roared in agitation.

Pouring Aether into [Lord Commander], three all white otters appeared in front of her, charging towards the goblin while Tirira herself stealthed into the trees using her passive [One With Shadows].

Her summons barely made it within range before they were cut down by three furious lashes from the goblin's tentacles, but it did give her enough time to circle around it.

A watery mace crashed into it, her Domain sending both the force of her arm and the force of her Aether directly into its skull. The corrupted goblin flopped end over end like it was completely boneless.

For a moment, she thought she'd won, but the goblin shot back to its feet, ready to fight. A glob of web slapped into it from the side, pinning it to the ground. Immediately, it started to slice and tear with its non-tentacled hand but Poe shot another that knocked it over onto its side.

"It won't hold it long!" Poe shouted.

Tiria was already running. She dumped Aether into her Domain and the mace in her hand swelled with power. She leapt, arcing her back for as much torque as her C level Strength could provide before bringing it down. As it descended, the Aether she'd invested exploded and the mace grew to three times its size before it fell like a meteor onto the exposed torso of the goblin.

The force of the blow crushed it chest and neck, forcing its head to pop off. Its teeth gnashed and frothing green bubbles flecked its lips before it finally stilled.

The brief exertion was barely a warmup for Tiria, but she took a deep breath before pulling out the compass. Its light still pointed into the forest, the source of chaos it was sending her after must be even more corrupted than this one.

"Don't worry, Gi. I'll have you back soon."