Boyd realized he was unconscious, but he didn’t really understand what was happening. He had a recollection of the battle, and Fleon attacking him, but everything after losing his eye was gone. He wasn’t screaming in pain on a cavern floor though, instead he was in a professional wrestling ring.

Zina was wearing a yellow and red spandex outfit. Her hair was under a yellow bandana. She had grown extensively more muscular and was sporting a blonde moustache. She was considerably taller than she was prior to this moment, and her skin glistened with tanning oils. Her shirt was torn in strips in the front revealing a large amount of cleavage. The contrast between her bustiness and the moustache left Boyd feeling confused. She still managed to effectively walk the line between “hot” and “too hot” which Boyd hadn’t understood existed until recently, and was still working his way through, particularly in regards to the dual presence of moustache and breasts.

Boyd looked at her quizzically and was ready to ask the question when she started talking.

“Look here Brother, I’ve searched your memories for a suitable form to try and guide you through this and this here is the best I can come up with. You haven’t responded to my previous forms so I had to use my noggin’ to come up with something a little different. How does this form suit you Brother?”

“I guess the accent is pretty good.”

"You betcha Brother. See we’re a team, The Mega Team you might say. And part of being a team is trusting one another Brother. This Sunday, when you and I get in the ring to take on the Powers that Be, we gotta be on the same page Brother, you understand me? I need all my little Zinamaniacs out there to eat their vitamins, and get their Ranks up, so we have a chance to be Tag Team Champions. Ya got me Brother?”

“Not quite? Who are the Powers that Be? I don’t remember them. Is that Macho Man? Dude, Hulk whooped his ass good at ‘Mania 4.”

The wrestling ring morphed back into an office and Zina melted back into her traditional CXO Zina form. “I tried, but it’s just too silly. I don’t understand how anyone ever found that idea convincing. Regardless, we need to get on the same page. Obviously you are a bit unaware of your Foray’s members. I probably should have alerted you to the methods of the Filary a bit sooner, but until just now, it was off limits. I need to explain a few things to you.” Zina leaned back in her chair and looked at Boyd before pulling her glasses down and setting them on the desk.

"Foremost, you have been removed from your Foray. This means you are on your own, at least for now. Your removal is obviously quite problematic, but not unsurmountable or permanent. I’m working on a fix for this. Second, to help you understand why, I have appealed to… it doesn’t matter. I can give you some information that I couldn’t earlier. I can’t tell you everything that I would like to explain right now, but I can at least explain this to you. It was decided you were at a distinctly unfair advantage having no prior knowledge of the Filary and you should be given a fair fight.

Zina shuffled some papers on her desk and found a particularly long scroll.

“I have to read this verbatim as this is the only thing I am allowed to say. ‘The Filary are an ancient race of beings that are wholely dependent on Mana for survival. Like many of the races that rely upon Zenith, The Filary’s society is built primarily upon the near unlimited flow of Mana from Zenith to Fillal, their home planet. All of the Filary are devotees to Ioer, whom they consider to be…”

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

Zina put her hand to her ear and winced in pain. “Why? Because it’s not even fucking true? What do you mean? Why do I have to tell him that version of thin…. Fine, I get it.” Zina continued, “All of the Filary are devotees to Ioer, their Goddess. Their entire society is powered by Ioer. She requires one of two things…” Zina put her hand to her head and winced in pain again. “Fine, fine. Ioer…” Zina rolled her eyes. “Ioer uses either Mana or another source of Mana-like energy to provide for The Filary. In the event she has access to Mana, she pumps this throughout the society and it allows them to continue in relative comfort.”

"I feel like there’s a but coming?” Boyd said.

"A big one,” Zina responded.

Boyd cackled with glee to Zina’s dismay.

“In the event sufficient Mana is not available, the only other source of power sufficient for Ioer to operate society is through the use of Souls. The Filary have the unique capacity to see and interact with the intangible essence that yields life. It has different names in many different languages, but the best translation to English, your language, is that of a Soul. Ioer is extremely particular about how Souls are used. Because of this, The Filary are also extremely particular about how Souls are used. Foremost, they do not believe in waste. When any of The Filary die, one of two things happen. Most likely, is that the Soul is recycled into another body and it continues its existence, never remembering its past life. The second option is Combustion. That’s when….”

“Fleon eats the Soul like a snake and then vomits up white fire for a minute and destroys everything around him.”

“Most typically no, in that case, Fleon was duty bound to remove the Soul from your weapon. The Filary do not allow Souls to be used for what they consider ‘evil’ which is, in their eyes, anything other than their own purposes….” Zina winced again and tears fell from her eyes. She doubled over in pain.

"The Filary do not allow Souls to be used for evil. Fleon broke your sword because of this. Most typically, Combustion is used to…” Zina sighed. “Combustion is used for the benefit of the whole society.”

"They use the Souls to power their society?”

"Almost. The Souls are used to empower Ioer. Just pretend there was a creature that could absorb all that power instead of just expel it all over an innocent cavern. Fleon and the other paladins collect wayward Souls and then use them to invigorate Ioer. She then transfers that energy throughout their society like some sort of nuclear reactor.”

"So they like reverse baby bird Souls to her? And she shoots the power back out?”

Zina typed into her computer for a bit, wagged her head back and forth and then smiled, “Surprisingly effective analogy. This is essentially what happens.”

“So where do Souls come from?”

“From anything. From The Filary themselves usually. It is considered the ultimate punishment. Because their society knows that rebirth is inevitable, it is the only true death. It is reserved for heinous crimes.”

“Or from random mole trolls?”

“I cannot comment on this unfortunately.”

“So what now?”

“So now you have been expelled from your Foray. Your body is sitting unconscious on the floor of a cavern in a dangerous area of a place you have no right or reason to be. I cannot help you beyond what is happening here, but my recommendation is that you rapidly get somewhere much safer. There is a town near your position. This would be advantageous to you. That is the most I can do for you.”

"I just want to get back to Oklahoma.”

“No matter what others have told you, I am doubtful this is possible. I will tell you that the one thing that can potentially help you is me. But Boyd, I am afraid that is a very long road. Start with the town. Oklahoma after. We have a lot to accomplish before we think of Oklahoma.”

"Like what?”

"Like freeing me.”

Boyd stared hard into Zina's eyes.