They’re moving. Khai thought, standing perfectly balanced at the treetop of a giant tree. He’d decided that he would be much more efficient by himself. He always worked his best by himself; and being around the other warriors irritated him anyways. They could never quite keep up, not even the elite warriors of the Master’s council.

Not surprising, considering they were all just glorified puppets.

Far, far away, below the dense forest floor, Asime and Adeyemi ran through the Forest, desperately trying to get to Alci. It seemed that they’d split up with the King, who’d gone on ahead to find the Locket Bearer. Likely an attempt to get to Alci before the Epe Tribe could, now that he was in a stable state of mind.

So much wasted effort on such a worthless person.

Still, their misguided focus would prove to be their downfall. With all of their attention focused on reaching Alci, they’d be unable to sense his attack until it was right upon them. They’d both be dead before they even knew it.

What a shame. Asime had potential. He pointed his palm at the clearing just before them; they’d end up running through it at the exact moment he fired his magic skill. Magic energy swirling around his fingers, it gathered together in the shape of a spinning ball of black energy, swelling as he concentrated.

Just before he released the ball of energy, a tremendous force rammed into the side of the tree, causing the tree to lean over and crash towards the forest floor. Leaping off the tree just before it crashed into the ground, flattening numerous smaller trees as it fell, the trajectory of his blast was slightly altered. As the ball of energy shot towards Asime and Adeyemi, it exploded in the air just above them, only a little bit off target.

What was that? Khai flipped while in the air, landing on the ground beside the enormous fallen tree, and looked around suspiciously. He couldn’t sense whoever had made the tree fall, but he could easily smell them. They had an overpowering, foul scent; like they were some sort of fox-skunk hybrid. “Come out. There’s no sense in hiding now.”

“Who said I was hiding?” A voice called back in a mocking tone. The sounds of trees flattening and the earth shaking rang out from behind Khai and he spun around, finding himself face to face with an elephant. It was an absolute behemoth; it stood upright, like a human, and wore a rather eye-catching necklace with a single fang hanging from it. The elephant, noticing Khai’s bewildered gaze, clutched the fang and laughed.

“Do you like it?” It said in the same mocking tone. “Sorry for interrupting you, but we really had no choice. I think it’s about time you woke up to what’s really important.”

“We?” Khai echoed, and as if in sync, a short girl wearing a fluffy black coat stepped out from behind the elephant, donning the same strange necklace. Who are these people? They can’t be Adeyemi’s allies, or else I would have run into them a long time ago; could they be allies of the Locket Bearer? This could be a problem.

“Sorry about this idiot.” The girl apologized, reaching out and pinching the elephant playfully. “He’s a very condescending guy, but he means no harm. We’ve come here from outside the forest to give you some advice.”

Asime narrowed his eyes at the two, and then glanced to his left. The trees to his left had all been flattened by the falling of the tree, allowing him to get a clear view of the sky; far, far away, thick clouds of smoke drifted into the sky. His magic skill had been diverted, but not negated; Asime was certainly dead. He could no longer sense the boy’s energy signature. The real problem was Adeyemi. He could still feel her energy, but it was weak and flickering, like a small flame. She wouldn’t be able to get too far; the real problem was the two before him.

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“Out with it.” Khai said at last, deciding to humor them.

“Khai.” The girl said. “You’re a proud warrior of the Epe Tribe, and you possess enough strength to eclipse even the Master of Epe’s elite warrior guard. You’re a skilled man, that’s for sure. But to her, you’re still just a pawn.”

“Don’t toy with me.” Khai warned, keeping his expression perfectly calm, as if his face had been crafted from stone. “What are you getting at?”

“You’re saying that to the wrong person, Khai. The only person toying with you is the one you so blindly serve. Why is that? Or are you just blindly loyal?” She pressed further, and Khai shook his head. He’d had enough of this pointless questioning, and frankly, didn’t feel like bothering with them now. He’d go kill Adeyemi, and then deal with them later.

“So why don’t you replace Alci? If I were the Master, I’d do it in a heartbeat. After all, you’ve shown yourself to be far more competent than that indecisive, weak-willed boy.” The elephant said, its voice surprisingly soft and light, as if it were coming from a little girl, and not an enormous elephant. Khai stopped in his tracks, and turned towards the elephant, a glimmer of interest in his eyes.

“What are you talking about? Alci is the only one who can serve as a vessel for the Rage of Epe.” Khai said, though he couldn’t help but wonder…was it possible? It’d been so long since he last tried it; all he could remember from the experience was the Master’s disappointing gaze as she realized that he wasn’t the one fit to carry the rage of the Epe. But now, in his current state, with his current strength; could he, do it?

“We know. Did you think the man who sent us here was that ill-informed? We know everything about you, Khai. After all, you were just like Alci, were you not? A candidate to house the Rage of the Epe…” She held a hand to her mouth and closed her eyes, as if trying not to burst into laughter.

“But you failed. You couldn’t hold its power, and you ended up nearly being destroyed by it, didn’t you? But you still had potential as a vessel; I bet you could use that power far better than Alci ever could. And you know that. You agree with me.” The elephant lifted its trunk, revealing an unnatural, disturbing smile forming across its mouth.

“You talk too much.” Khai retorted bluntly; but he couldn’t help but consider what they were saying. Alci was a fool; undeserving of the honor that had been given to him. He was too weak to wield the power. If Khai were the one with the Rage of Epe, he would have killed the Locket Bearer long ago, and destroyed the locket with him. And yet, despite being practically fed all the skills he needed to kill the Locket Bearer, Alci still failed to do it at every opportunity.

“Something must be getting through. After all, you’re considering it. And luckily for you, all you need to do is kill the Master of Epe and assimilate her energy into your body.” The lady suggested with a smile, proud of herself for finally breaking Khai’s stone cold facade. She could see that their words had reached him; they’d stirred a deep part of Khai that he’d buried for a long time.

“...Kill…the Master of Epe.” Khai stared down at his trembling palms as he realized that it was perfectly doable. She was weak, incredibly weak after being crippled by Banjoko, yet as a high-ranking magical beast, absorbing her would grant him immense power. And then he’d be able to do what he was born for; destroy the Orian Locket. Alci had already proven he wasn’t worthy of doing so; it had to be him.

“Think it over.” The elephant said, turning away from Khai. “But you know what the right thing to do is. And so do we. So don’t miss your opportunity to set things right, alright?”

“That rhymed!” The girl chimed in, and then waved at Khai playfully before hopping onto the elephant’s shoulder. The elephant waved at Khai with its trunk, before crouching, its heavy feet causing the ground below its feet to crack, and then leaping into the air with all its might, becoming just a speck of black in the vast blue sky.