Ruth and Papeht arrived at the battleground, only to find they were too late. The bear tribe and humans have already gone full out in their rage-inducing war.

“Oh no, we’re too late!” Ruth exclaimed, smacking his head.

“Where do we find your dad now with this crowd?” Papeht questioned, biting his nails.

“Well, we still got to find him!” Ruth rushed into the middle of the area.

“Hey, wait up!” Papeht rushed after him. When a blunt force hit him by the back of his head, causing his body to fall and tumble on the ground. Papeht moved over and struggled to open his eyes. “Ugh, who the heck hit me from—?”

From above him, a familiar man looked down at him. “Hello, long time no see.”

“Stels, is that you?”

“It’s a good thing I checked,” Stels said as he pulled out a teleportation crystal.

“Wait, what are you—?”

Stels grabbed Papeht by the shirt collar as the crystal shined.

.-.-.-.

Meanwhile, Aehaby walked outside the fort, all while searching for the others. At the corner of her eyes, a small shining aqua light flew through the air. She heard a familiar faint cry coming from it. Curious and determined, she ran off to follow the source and entered a mysterious dark cave.

Aehaby picked up a burning torch from the sides of the wall and continued to walk forward. She felt an unholy presence in the area, as the dark mist blocked her vision.

Now, where could that witch be?

“Oh, are you looking for me?” A familiar voice echoed in Amy’s ears.

“K-Kira?!” Aehaby cried with exasperation.

“So, trying to take away my crown, huh?”

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

“It’s mine, for starters! And how do you know about—?”

“I had gotten the info from some certain folks...”

“Aehaby, up here!” Papeht cried.

Aehaby looked up and saw Papeht trapped inside a cage with a chain line attached up to the ceiling.

“Oh no, how’d you—?

“No, don’t worry about me, but you gotta get out of here!” Papeht exclaimed.

“Silence, you!” Kira retorted and pointed.

“Kira, let him go! If it’s a fight, you want...” Aehaby started, readying her fighting stance.

“Oh, but I’m not going to fight you... he is.”

A familiar figure stepped out of the darkness; Aehaby’s eyes widened upon seeing Stels appear from the presses. “Why hello there.” He greeted her with a sneer.

“Stels? You’re also brainwashed!?” Aehaby cried out, taking a step back.

“Now then, what’s it going to be?”

“Aehaby, be careful!” Papeht shouted from above as he watched the two about to fight.

“Stels, wait, snap out of it!” Aehaby pleaded, dodging the punches. “I know you’re in there somewhere!”

“After everything you’re doing, I need to put a stop to you, as orders from Kira.”

“But why take orders from her? Why would you betray us?” Aehaby asked, her voice cracking. “She’s not even—”

“Sorry, but I have a new Master to follow now...” Stels replied coolly.

“Excellent, now hurry and finish the job! Don’t just stand there!” Kira ordered.

“Oh, you want me to attack?” Stels glanced over at the dark fog. “Alright then... take this!”

He turned around and blasted magic toward Kira, who dodged the blast. The blast then hit the ceiling, making a hole in the process as the cage Papeht was in broke and fell to the ground. Papeht got out safely, but Kira still stood there, her face fuming.

“Why you— how dare you double-cross me like that!” Kira roared, her eyebrows creased in disbelief. She then sensed something troubling. “Hmm, it’s time for me to leave... farewell for now.” And just like that, she disappeared into thin air.

“No, wait, come back!” Aehaby screamed. But she was too late.

“Drat, now what?” Papeht wondered, throwing his arms in the air.

Aehaby smacked Stels on the upside of his head, which caught the men off guard.

“I can’t believe you. Never do that again! You hear me?” Aehaby exclaimed.

“I’m sorry,” Stels sighed and glanced at the floor. “But I needed to go undercover and pretend to be in control to learn about their ultimate plan and then catch the others off guard...”

“So, what’s going to happen?” Papeht questioned.

“We need to get out of here; there’s a slim chance we can stop Kira once and for all. But first...” Stels took out the goldenrod and gave it to Aehaby. “I think I have something that belongs to you...”

“My scepter, you found it!” Aehaby cheered as she took the staff from his hands.

Before the three could do anything else, the cave collapsed onto itself, much to their dismay.

“Uh oh, how are we going to get out of here at this rate?” Papeht asked, pointing at the ceiling.

“Simple, with this!” Stels reached into his pocket and pulled out a white crystal. “Everyone, grab hold!”

The three held onto one another as they teleported out of there before the boulders crushed them from above.