Soral couldn’t help but be a little frantic as he found the others. “We need to go,” he told them. He needed to explain, but he also couldn’t say anything. He felt like there was a magic binding his tongue and he did not need to bring down more of Densooth’s fury by breaking it. Technically only he needed to leave, but he couldn’t risk abandoning everyone here.

“What is going on?” Ruena demanded.

“We need to leave, now,” Soral repeated, throwing everything in sight into his pocket frantically, “We can talk at the cottage.”

Ruena felt his panic and quickly agreed, gathering the others as quickly as she could. Soral took the time to pick the faerutil tree in the courtyard bare even though he had plenty others elsewhere. He didn’t want to leave it for Densooth. A part of him was still shocked by what he had seen in the tower. He had never really accepted the rumors about the Black Wolf even if he had never liked him.

Everyone had just arrived when Soral approached the cottage. It was a bit small for them to gather inside but they couldn’t risk their conversation being overheard in town. They all waited in the garden to hear why Soral was in such a panic.

“Densooth has banished me from the old castle,” Soral explained, “He was really angry. We need to find a new base as soon as possible.”

“Do we have somewhere we can stay in the meantime?” Rosalie asked.

“We have enough money to purchase rooms for the time being,” Ruena told them, glancing at Soral for confirmation.

Soral nodded. He had set up an account with the official Bank of Altea so he could access his funds from any human settlement in Althaedor. “I already grabbed everyone’s things,” he assured.

“I will just go home for now,” Storm announced, “I can find you when everything is settled.”

He would probably just find Mr. Mischief. Soral just nodded to acknowledge his words and in the next moment Storm was gone, leaving a gust of wind in his wake.

“Any idea where we should go?” Liza asked, “I could go home for a bit if I need to as well.”

“If we go home now, we might not be allowed to leave again,” Dillon refuted, “Besides, this is the perfect opportunity to set up our official base.”

“I may have an idea-” Ruena suddenly cut off as she stared behind them at the path that led towards the castle.

Soral had a terrible feeling and turned to look. Densooth was coming. Soral hadn’t been able to hear his thoughts over all of the growing murmurs. The once useful ability had turned into more of a curse.

Densooth walked straight up to Soral, still visibly upset. “Soral, are you ready to kill me now?” he asked.

There were various sounds of shock from the others, but Soral noticed Ruena was not surprised. Well, she was his puppet in this, so that was no surprise. “I will never give you what you want,” Soral told him, his own stubborn fury overpowering his fear.

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“I see,” Densooth replied, his tone icy cold. He then turned to Ruena. “You have failed your purpose. I have no more use for you. You must learn to survive on your own from now on.”

“What do you mean?” Ruena asked in shock.

“I am permanently withdrawing all of my support,” he told her. As if to prove his point, Densooth erected a barrier ensuring none of them could enter the cottage.

“Why are you dragging her into this?!” Soral demanded.

“Me? I am not the one who dragged her into anything, Wild One,” Densooth spat, “As your fated partner, her sole purpose was to guide you. I see she is not even capable of that.”

Soral winced. This was all his fault. He should have continued to play along for Ruena. It was far too late now. Densooth had already abandoned them. Abandoned her. After speaking his piece, Densooth returned to the Gray Tower, letting no one stand in his way.

“I’m sorry,” Soral whispered.

“It’s fine,” Ruena replied in a shaky voice, “This was bound to happen sooner or later. I actually do have one place I was saving for a rainy day. It is a place my father left for me. The base of the original Alodan Warriors.”

The more she described this place, the better it sounded. The location was near the city state Altea, human capital of Althaedor. It was also hidden deep within a forbidden forest of trees rumored to be carnivorous. The fact that a fully functional base already existed there was definitely a bonus even if it was long abandoned. Or maybe it was better it was abandoned.

Soral and Ruena decided they would travel ahead so Soral could bring them directly there. In the meantime, everyone should stay in Orzo so they could collect their permits as soon as they were ready. He did stop to inform his two shops that he was moving closer to Altea as well. Kiera was pleased to hear the news since she had plans to open a shop there from the beginning.

“Is this it?” Soral asked, standing before a huge fortress overgrown with vines and wedged between young trees. It was clear no one had been there for quite some time. Still, it was in far better shape than the abandoned castle he had remodeled.

“It is,” Ruena confirmed, “I remember it looking a bit more grand.”

“We can make it that way again,” Soral promised, “Let’s go get the others.”

“You’re not concerned about the carnivorous trees?” Ruena asked.

“They haven’t bothered us so far,” Soral replied with a shrug, “We’ll figure that out when it comes to it. Maybe they like meatloaf.”

Ruena laughed at the idea of a tree eating meatloaf and they both looked around at the surrounding trees. Some of the leaves had red tips, but were otherwise normal. Soral did notice something else odd, though.

‘Meatloaf sounds amazing.’

“I want some.’

‘Would a human really feed us?’

The trees were talking, or rather thinking, at him. He decided to brush it off for now to get the others and definitely make meatloaf later. He hoped the base had a functional kitchen.

While going to get the others, they dropped by to pick up their mercenary permits as well. Each person got an individual permit, but Ruena got a special one for their whole team. The rebirth of the Alodan Warriors was now official and they would be moving right into their original base.

Jazz demanded to return to Evergreen on the way back. The reason was a bit surprising. He ran into the forest for a few minutes and returned with a small army of cats looking extremely proud of himself. ‘I got us some new members! All of them are trainee spies.’

“What is this?” Ruena asked Soral.

“Trainee spies,” Soral repeated. He had managed to gain some small level of control on whose thoughts he wanted to listen to but it was still difficult most times.

“Alright,” Ruena agreed, “I suppose we could always use more members, but they will have to pass a test.”

One of the responsibilities of a mercenary team leader was to test any mercenaries without a permit before allowing them to join. That meant there was another thing they had to set up for. The days ahead seemed as busy as ever, but it was sure to be fun as well.

Storm mysteriously arrived as soon as Soral finished making meatloaf. Chances were he had been following them all along, so Soral made him help feed the trees. Branches creaked and bent down, carrying the meatloaf back into the unseen heart of the tree. Soral was a little curious, but he also didn’t want to find out what happened when someone went up there.

“There is plenty of meatloaf left,” Storm hummed, “I will take these.”

“Share with the others,” Soral warned, swiping one, trying his best to ignore the many voices of the trees who were only half satisfied with their meal, “We are all working on the test right now so you only get more if you help.”

“Fine,” Storm sighed, “How about a game of tag? Maybe with some sort of prize at the end. Even better if that prize is some of your delicious food.”

Soral thought about his suggestion. That actually wasn’t a bad idea. Ruena had been wondering what way would be best to introduce their uniforms. Having one of them play tag all the time might become a problem later on, so maybe he could cook up something fun with magic. He smiled and started plotting on his way back inside.