My return brought good news, bad news, elating news, and a hint of scar-torn terror.

The good news was that Aiden was alive, and seven of the third evolution beasts present were the lurvine foxes, who were now the size of horses and had longer fluffy tails. I could imagine all of them bursting into blue flames, turning the sand on the river bank into glass with every step. They were terrifying.

The bad news was that Halten was out cold, if not dead, and there were hyenas the size of bull elk pacing back and forth around the barrier—

—and they were far more terrifying than the lurvine.

They looked like red-streaked buffalo, and the second they saw us on the hill we had posted up on, they rammed the barrier, intending to kill Aiden and the lurvine before we could interfere.

And they were fast. I couldn't see them move without Moxle Dilation—I could only see the barrier lighting up like a glowing orb.

The elating news was that Kyro wasn’t around, so when I jumped off Kline a half mile out, I was able to use Moxle Dilation, and when I pulled back Nymbral’s invisible string, my world froze over, and my superhuman eyesight locked on the jaslo pack.

The soul fog hovering over the Diktyo River stopped moving, and the forest turned silent. Then, when I cycled and fired the overpowered water-tipped arrow, it followed my instructions with eerie precision, even curving ninety degrees to hit one of the oversized hyenas in the chest. I couldn’t see the impact well—but I could certainly hear it. The beast slammed into a tree with enough force that the forest shook—and then a tree fell onto the river bank with an explosion of sand.

As for the scar-torn terror, it came a moment later when the jaslos turned to their comrade, cackling and howling and yapping until it stumbled onto the shore.

It was clearly hurt—but the fucker was still walking, and I didn’t see a lick of blood on him. Sure, the attack had spanned half a mile downhill, but the impact was still hard enough to send it crashing through trees.

It was terrifying.

But here’s the thing: my battle strength was a new development—and we never relied upon it. Just as the jaslos turned to chase me, Kline reached their position and released a devastating attack.

2.

Aiden’s intestines tangled in knots when he saw the jaslo get up after the vicious attack—

—but that paled in comparison to Kline’s attack.

One moment, the beasts were preparing to charge in unison. Then, their snouts lifted in unison to dead air—and then it hit. A massive missile strike of an attack slammed into the river bank, and one of the jaslo’s limbs slammed into the barrier, bringing with it a dust storm that turned its crimson blood to clay.

It was the most gruesome, shocking, and disturbing thing Aiden had ever seen in his life.

3.

I watched Kline release Silvern’s Trump in awe. It was a seventh-tier spell that allowed Kline to use all the soul force he had collected in the last twenty-four hours to amplify a spell of his choice. And, between his new soul core and the soul meat I gave him, the results of a single Phantom Claws attack was remarkable.

A spray of red mist erupted from the area like the beast stepped on a claymore, and dust and debris exploded from the sandy bank as the jaslos scattered.

It was powerful—but we had been humbled so severely—so consistently—that we knew better than to pull more than a hit and run. Or, that’s what I thought.

Even following the chaos, Kline couldn’t escape. The jaslos used their third evolution speed to cut off his escape routes from all sides, four on one, with ghostly speed.

Kline! I pulled back Nymbral’s string, slowing time to capture their movements. Kline was throwing down with them, warping around and fighting back, but it wasn’t fast enough. If one weren’t injured, he would’ve been toast.

My heart thumped under the pressure as I aimed. What if I hit him…? I thought. No… I need to separate them… That was the only way. Divide and conquer.

But… could I conquer?

I was ambushing them because I was weak. I didn’t have the strength to actually fight one head-on. And, since Halten and the lurvine were locked in my barrier, I was dead if I attacked them.

Still—Kline and I protected each other with our lives no matter how dangerous things became. That was our code—our way of life. So I summoned deep courage and screamed, “Stop ganging up on him, you dickless cowards!” at the top of my lungs, ignoring the irony of my statement.

One heard me and bolted straight into the forest, kicking up dust as it moved toward me.

Kline released his Spectral Roar, stunning the jaslos for a few seconds, allowing Kline to release Phantom claws into one of their eyes before rushing after the one chasing me. Unfortunately, third-evolution beasts still far outstripped Kline’s magic, and they cut him off.

I turned my attention downhill as he howled, waiting for the beast to come.

Three…

Two…

One…

I heard a twig break up the mountain, and I cranked Moxle Dilation to the limit, waiting for the beast to emerge from the tree-locked abyss. I heard the sound of the groaning and the snapping as the jaslo trampled rotting logs and kicked up dust on the way to the hilltop—

—then I saw it. It was man and twisted, snarling and snapping and cackling with massive jaws like a carnivorous hippo wearing a Roman helmet as it charged.

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Even with my world slowed to a crawl, it looked like a dog running at a normal speed.

Devastating.

I swallowed the acid in the back of my throat and calmed my raging heart. Then I increased the power of the water and raised the limiter on the arrow, increasing the shaft of the arrow twenty times over—

—flashing the entire area with a silent flashbang.

It yelped and slowed before charging again, giving me time to aim. And right then, mere moments from it snapping its teeth into my thighs and ripping the muscles out, my arrow aligned with its eye—and I released it.

The effect was biblical.

Absolutely biblical.

The beast’s head exploded like an M-80 blew in the center of a ripe watermelon, making it impossible to escape blood and bone slamming into my face. Then, I saw its body fly downhill with the savageness of a firehose, crashing through two trees before the water created a rainbow over the forest.

After wiping my eyes, I surveyed the damage like a parent who came out to see that their new car’s windows had been broken during the night and everything inside had been stolen.

Devastating.

I looked up and saw Kline brawling with the jaslo. He was fighting tooth and nail with portals, clones, and tactics. Even with one crippled, it was three-on-one, and Kline had racked up wounds. Worse, I couldn’t shoot without risking Kline’s safety, and my mind was dizzy from mana withdrawal.

Nymbral and water magic took too much out of me.

I needed to evolve.

But that wouldn’t help me when it mattered most. “Run!” I screamed.

Kline tried, but the jaslos kept cutting off his pathways—encircling them. It was only a matter of time.

“Come get me!” I screamed at his attackers. “Or are you afraid?” They didn’t even glance my way, so I turned to charge, realizing how pointless it was to run a half mile down a mountain to get there, and that’s when it happened.

The barrier suddenly dissolved, and seven lurvines shot into the fray. They were relatively weak and slow—but there were seven, each wrapping their bodies with blue flames as they charged.

The jaslos’ response was ruthless and vicious. Within a second, one clamped its fangs into a lurvine’s neck, flames and all, and threw it into the forest as if it were a rag doll. Two more attacked, but it shrugged off their bites. Killing it wasn’t an option.

But.

Sina and two others took down the jaslo that I crippled, and the distraction allowed Kline to break free and jump into the Diktyo River to heal.

The jaslo attacking him didn’t let him escape easily. It turned and lunged for Kline—only to learn that the horrifically maimed “sleeping” dragon was actually awake.

Halten thrust his jaws at it mid-flight, snapping down on its body before it hit the water. I couldn’t hear the crunch, but even a half mile uphill, I could see blood draining from its body in spurts.

Halten whipped his head and flung the jaslo into the forest before opening his massive jaws at the remaining hyena and releasing an ear-piercing roar.

The beast snarled and yapped and cackled, backing up as it looked at the dragon and the six lurvine. It looked at Aiden, who was on Halten’s back, and snarled before looking up at me.

Kline beat it, turning and rushing toward me. With all exits blocked, it processed the situation and fled, releasing a helpless call for reinforcements before rushing into the forest.

I took deep breaths as Kline returned, expressing great relief and almost sadness.

“Oh Kline…” I said, cupping his massive tiger face and giggling thankfully. “We won… We won.” I hugged him tightly and then looked back. “You don’t need to worry so much. Look.”

He turned and looked at the bloody path of destruction down the mountaintop.

“Badass, isn’t it?” I mused.

Kline released a baritone meow and then strutted forward.

“What’s that? Kyro’s gonna be pissed you say? Serves him right. Bastard sent us to deal with twelve third evs.”

Kline meowed and lay, allowing me to get on. Then he jogged down the hill, smoothly passing through portals to close the distance between the mountain at the campsite.

We got there a few minutes later and found that the lurvines had gathered around their injured comrade. Aiden had a pail, bringing water to the scene. He hit his knees and started working on the beast’s throat, but the wheezing lurvine wasn’t healing because a section of its throat had been torn out.

Diktyo water mends—

—it doesn’t replace. That’s what we learned early on. Thankfully, I had something that could replace flesh.

I pulled off the bag of herbs Nethralis gave me off my back and rushed up to them. “Let me through.”

A few lurvine growled at me, but Sina stepped aside, allowing me past. I hit the ground next to Aiden and unzipped the bag and grabbed the ingredients, drying them with desiccation and grinding them into the pail with my hands.

“What’s that?” Aiden asked.

“Herbs.” I mixed them in the water until there was a paste. “Hurry up. Cake this on his neck.”

Aiden complied, and the effect—was immediate.

The bleeding and wheezing stopped like turning the knob on the running faucet. It must have been the combination with the Diktyo Water but still—it was incredible. The mud around the wounds quickly flaked off, revealing raw skin and muscle within.

“What is this?” Aiden whispered as I poured water over the lurvine’s surface wounds and combed its fur.

“Not to be rude, but I don’t want people hounding me for herbs this difficult to obtain, so I’d appreciate it if you didn’t mention how banged up Halten was or how we healed ‘em,” I said.

“Healed…” Aiden’s eyes glistened, and he turned to look at the massive duffle bag of herbs.

“In fact… if it’s at all possible, I’d really appreciate if you never mentioned anything about Brindle or the fact that I’m his pupil or… the things you’ve seen during battles. I’m already dealing with Thorvel. The last thing I need is bandits who are prepared to rob me.” I turned to him with a stern gaze. “Is that possible? Can you keep a few secrets?”

Aiden swallowed and chose his words carefully. “If it’s just those three things… I can keep your secrets. At least to a strong degree.”

“Aiden.” I made eye contact. “I get you’re in… whatever mess you’re in. Okay? I won’t ask, and I won’t blame you. But don’t lie to me. If you can’t… just tell me.”

Aiden shook his head. “No… I can keep your secrets. If it’s just those three things… I can keep your secrets.”

His repetition was eerie—haunting even. It told a story—telling me that there was deep nuance in his words. That it was true but he wished he could explain why but couldn’t. But for the first time, when I looked at Aiden, I saw relief—not guilt—on his expression and that made me trust him.

“Okay.”

The lurvines bowed their heads in thanks when I finished healing their packmate, and I stood, sighing at them. I got that I left them for four days without warning, trapping them in a barrier in a deadly forest—but it was getting really old having to prove myself all the time.

Still, this was a major victory. I had definitively earned their respect… the Drokai’s respect… Emael’s respect… Halten’s. This war of trust was almost over. There was just one last battle… at least until I left the Fourth Ring. So I swallowed back my bitterness and smiled and said, “Thanks for protecting Kline.”

They nodded, and I picked up the pail and turned to Halten. He was a truly wretched sight. His wings were full of holes like a tattered flag pierced by bullets and cannonballs—and there was no way it would heal naturally. There was too much missing. It would be like trying to heal missing limbs.

I gripped the pail and turned to Aiden. “Come on. Let’s heal your dragon.”