Gi and Tiria swam up around the curve of the Encampment. The giant kelp still drifted over the top of the Encampment, blocking out all but a few spare rays of sunlight. Long shadows provided ample room for ambushes on either side without Elizabeth's means of sensing their enemies.

Tiria dipped her head down into the very top of the encampment now that they'd swum above it for one last breath. Otters could hold their breath for a decent amount of time, but it might get tight if they had to battle.

Like they'd planned, Tiria followed along one of the giant kelp trees, keeping close to it so that her [Skulk] ability would assist. Since Gi only had [Concealing Light], he had no recourse other than to charge straight ahead and act as bait.

And bait he was.

They'd managed to get perhaps a quarter of the way towards the surface when four Dragon Pikes shot out of the shadows. Fear gripped his heart as it was only a couple days ago when he'd been unable to kill even one of these and now four were barreling towards him.

Strength through Danna, he thought and steeled his nerves. He had made several improvements since the first time he'd fought them and he had a member of his family that he needed to protect. He couldn't lose now.

His enemies shot towards him, but he didn't react keeping at his same pace as he moved. He didn't want to stop as he fought which did come with some risk if they came across another patrol, but stopping each time might cause Tiria to drown so he'd have to manage.

As the four of them drew only fifteen feet away, Gi let loose with a standard burst of [Divine Bolt]. Like before, it's structure was changed by the water and even at this distance, two of the bolts missed. Unlike before, the one that hit didn't simply slide off of the Dragon Pikes scales. Instead, it scored a deep gash down one of the Pike's flank, forcing it to veer off, twitching.

Gi smiled at his increased firepower, but he couldn't stop there. He flooded his heart with Aether, activating [Head Bishop] and trying to infuse it with meaning as he did. It must have been a success because two otters swam out and immediately darted in opposite directions firing off [Divine Bolts] of their own.

Like his, they change course sporadically, but even the one that did manage to hit didn't do any damage. It made sense that they weren't as strong as he was, but still, he'd hoped. His main plan had succeeded though and each of the three Pikes split off with only one chasing Gi now.

It felt like his Aether moved a bit quicker as he charged it today, but in a well practiced move by now, he fired off his fractured shot just as it came close. Its head exploded in bloody gore and Gi slipped out of the path of its corpse.

His summons had disappeared after he stopped feeding [Head Bishop] Aether, but they'd done their job. Spinning, he oriented towards the closest of the Pikes and started charging [Divine Bolt] back up again. It took longer trying to charge it directly after a shot, but by the time the Pike had reoriented on him, he had enough juice to blow a hole in its side the size of a frying pain.

It flailed about, but the cloud of blood around it told Gi that it wasn't back in the fight. Gi started to dash for the last one that his other summon had distracted, but it was already barreling towards him. Unfortunately, the first one that he'd carved into was also diving back into the fray.

He was screwed. Four was just too much for him to handle.

No. He stamped down on that despair. His regular shots had managed to do some damage now. That meant he had one more thing he could try. He kicked away using every inch of speed to get him enough to charge his [Divine Bolt]. They were a bit slower than him, but not enough for him to get enough space to shoot them one at a time.

He had to do this in one shot.

Once he'd charged his [Divine Bolt], he swam directly into one of the kelp trees, turning to slam his back into it, and let it completely arrest his momentum. Then once they were only an otter length away, he fired his overcharged [Divine Bolt] in the standard burst. The first two shots carved the healthiest Pike in half, its body splitting and hitting the kelp above and below Gi. His third shot changed course again, but it slid along its scales gouging another line in the very first Pike.

A second gouge out of its flesh didn't stop the beast. Its teeth opened to slam down on him and Gi felt the briefest instant of regret. Even with Danna's help, he was just too weak.

An incredible brown blur tackled the Pike just as it was about to tear into him. Gi gaped. Tiria had stopped it using [Charge]. Some sense of understanding started to blossom in him, but the Pike recovering from her [Charge] meant that he had to focus on the fight. He started charging up his Aether and swam towards the Pike as it awkwardly flopped to recenter itself.

Forcing his Aether to move just a bit faster, Gi slammed his paw down on its snout and released his fractured [Divine Bolt]. Gore exploded into his face and the taste of blood joined the water he breathed. He wanted to hack it out or take the time to recover, but they couldn't afford it. They were on a clock.

The two of them continued their swim upwards. From her spot near the kelp, Tiria grinned widely and Gi couldn't help but mimic it. He didn't know why she was happy, but for him, he finally had someone he could trust to watch his back. Well, someone with more attention span than a toddler at least. He didn't want to completely count Poe out. He was loyal if nothing else.

The two of them were only attacked once more on their way to the surface, but this time it was only a group of three which Gi dealt with handily using [Head Bishop] to distract. The two of them broke the surface near the middle of the lake and Tiria took a deep gulp of air.

Light had just peeked fully from the horizon where the sky-ocean met the ground and banished the telltale grey of its coming. Gi's eyes were peeled on the shoreline, but he couldn't see any teal light that would reveal Krayli's summoned bow. In the mass of monsters and bodies, it was difficult to tell whether she was there at all, but he was confident that the battle was over.

The side of the lake closest to the river was blood red and Gi could still see the opportunistic Dragon Pike eating the bodies of those monsters who died close enough. There were no towering Slendermen or giant dragons in the sky. From here, it looked like a bunch of jobbies were picking through the bodies for any kind of loot and Gi felt a tinge of greed.

"Come on, let's move closer, but be prepared to dive back down if we see Krayli. This is not how I'd like to fight her."

Thankfully, the two of them were able to get underneath the shadow of the bridge without seeing any sign of Krayli. The two of them ducked into his house, but Poe wasn't there. So that left him with a conundrum.

He couldn't just stay in his house, but at the same time, he risked running into Krayli. Gi still wasn't confident that he could beat her even with his new upgrades. He fretted about the decision for a few moments before he realized that if he didn't choose then he'd already made the choice to stay.

Better to just go all in.

He stepped out of his house and ran smack dab into Jalx... And Krayli. Flinching, Gi started charging up his [Divine Bolt] when an icy finger on his throat made him stop cold.

"Not yet, little jobbie," Elizabeth practically purred. Gi recalled her maniacal laughter as she slaughtered over a dozen Dragon Pikes into paste and he gulped. Bewilderingly, Krayli only stared daggers at him, but didn't attack. Gi looked across at the unlikely trio of Elizabeth, Krayli, and Jalx. What the hell was going on?

Jalx answered his unspoken question in his usual stoic time, but this time it had an edge to it. "Hazz is still missing. I've got the remnants of our clan out looking, but we need more help. Welcome to the team."

Gi was flabbergasted. What the hell was going on? "Wait. Please explain this to me."

Jalx sighed, clearly annoyed. He pointed to Krayli. "She wants to kill you because you killed her clan leader. Can't say I blame her. I'd want the same. So I'm stopping her from killing you until we find Hazz. You're welcome now get to searching."

Gi turned to Krayli. "Why are you going along with this?"

She started to snarl something, but Jalx cut her off. "I won't interfere with her trying to kill you after. Elizabeth I paid off. Let's - What now?"

A shrill voice interrupted Jalx. "Boss! Boss!" Poe landed on his shoulder and practically screamed in his ear. "I found all kinds of good information today! Smoked pork, Body Orbs, and I followed the creepy blue kid!"

Poe seemed to notice the others for the first time. "Oh it's Uncle Jalx! Why's your nephew hanging out with those almost otters?"

A confused look passed across Jalx's face. "What?"

"You know, the almost otters. Some of them wear armor. Yeah, they took your nephew all the way to some big house full of almost otters. I spied all the things."

Jalx's stoic facade broke and anger was carved across his features. "The Ferrous Clan..."

He started to march off when Elizabeth grabbed his shoulder. If it was anyone else, Gi was confident that they would have lost their arm. Elizabeth maintained her cold tone of voice though. "You can't pay me enough to attack one of the Ground clans head on."

"Do you expect me to just leave him there?"

"Yes. There's easier ways to restore your clan."

"Not for me."

Jalx shrugged off Elizabeth's hand and started to walk off again. Gi and Krayli eyed each other, the latter probably trying to decide if she could murder him now. Gi didn't activate any skills, but he churned his Aether, prepping it in case violence suddenly broke out.

Tiria chose that moment to speak up. "Gi can help!" Everyone including Jalx turned to her. She didn't waver in the slightest. "My Progenitor is excellent at creating plans and Danna values family. We understand your concern."

Gi would have never thought he'd be contemplating murder on a member of his own clan, but here he was. He was just about to begin denying it when he considered her idea. If he could form a team up with this group, it might give him an opportunity to talk with Krayli and convince her that he'd follow Hillin's wishes.

Going against one of the Ground clans sounded difficult. The gist he'd gotten from Poe was that they were the ruling class of the lower levels. Still, it wasn't a fight so much as an infiltration. Gi's gaze landed on where the jobbies were still collecting whatever they could find from the massacre on the shores of the lake. One of the Ground clans would absolutely have loot for him to take as well.

It was a risk for sure, but ultimately what decided it for him was what Tiria had said about family. Gi had been so focused on his own weakness that he hadn't spent much time thinking about family. Danna's realms were both Family and Strength.

His Focus from the Child Stage, Strength through Danna, had started to feel incomplete. He'd assumed this was because he himself wasn't adequate enough, but maybe there was more to it? Some concept seemed to float just outside of his conscious thought and he felt like if he could just-

"Could you actually?" Jalx asked, having walked back to the group and staring him down.

This time, Poe answered for him. "Oh yeah, Boss, is the best planner. One time in the Child Stage, this golem lied to us and then we lied to him too and everyone knew it but we still worked together and then boom boom boom. We made it here! It was a great plan."

Krayli growled. "The plan where Hillin died."

"Hold on," Gi said, raising his paws to stop his clanmates from "helping" anymore. "I think I might be able to come up with something that will work, but I'll need some time to prep."

Jalx didn't seem satisfied. "We don't have time."

Elizabeth cut in. "Bursting in the front door and ripping jobbies in half doesn't rescue your little doll. It just gets you killed."

Jalx seemed about ready chew up rocks, but instead he sat down crosslegged. "Fine. You've got until noon. If there's no plan by then, I'm going in myself."