Someone laughed a high pitched screech-like laugh. Izhmayel turned to the sound. "Master will be pleased indeed!" It was Kara that had spoken. Her little frame grew and twisted into a small goblin-like creature with almond shaped eyes and sharp teeth and claws. Telsa stood next to Kara with her bow drawn. It was pointed at the cloaked man. Her expression was blank. "Soon, Master will have three new pets! She will see...I've done good for her...she will reward me! I won't be punished anymore! I'll show them." The twisted creature laughed again. "Not so fast, Mr. Angel," she said when she noticed him reaching for his sword. She raised a razor sharp claw and gently slid it up under Telsa's throat. "You wouldn't want me to accidently cut this poor little girl's throat, now would you?"

The cloaked man halted then dropped his hand away from his sword. "Good, good...now, if you would step away from those roots that would be splendid." The man gradually backed away from where Lin was incased. "Oh, silly me! I forgot to tell you to leave your weapon on the ground." She waved her free hand at the man and waited for him to comply. The man slowly lifted his sword out of its holder on his belt and gently placed it on the ground.

"Alright, now you can kindly wait right over there." The goblin pointed off to the side where the moat circled that part of the tree. The man paced over to the edge and stood there waiting for further instructions. "Good, now..." She flicked her wrist up and suddenly two ogre-like creatures sprang up out of the water and grabbed hold of the man. The man struggled a bit, but gave up quickly when Kara threatened to harm Telsa again.

"Were you the one that did this to the Gate?" the cloaked man asked.

The goblin smiled. "Maybe...It was more of my master's plan, but I never expected you to try and ruin them." She turned to Izhmayel. "Master's not going to like this news at all. She'll be most upset...maybe even heartbroken," Kara cackled. "I can't wait to see it!"

Izhmayel stared at the goblin shocked and confused. What the heck was she talking about?

The goblin turned dragging Telsa with her and strolled back over to where Izhmayel had collapsed to his knees. He had been paralyzed with fear. "Oh come on, I'm not that scary, am I? And all this time, I thought you were the scary one," Kara said and transformed back into the little girl. She still had a grip on Telsa's neck. "But I know your secret now...we have something in common. You know...you can't hide the truth anymore." She paused and looked over at the blue cloaked man. "We both really dislike his kind." The little girl reached out with her free hand and touched Izhmayel's cheek. His eyes widened at the touch, which snapped him out of his paralysis, and he glared at the small girl. "Why don't you help me? Join me in eradicating them!"

Izhmayel gave out a small short laugh, "Yeah, only–" He wrapped one of his arms around her then abruptly thrust up with one of his hidden blades and pierced the creature's heart. "I despise your kind even more."

Completely caught off guard, the creature stumbled back letting go of her hostage then started to laugh maniacally. She loped over to the mass of roots encasing Lin with lightning speed. "I will get proof! Just wait, you'll see!"

Immediately, the blue cloaked man crouched down and dragged the two ogres holding him to the ground. They lost their grip on him and he spun around then darted towards his sword that was lying on the floor.

The goblin started to chant and drew glyphs on the ground and on the roots with the blood from her wound. She glanced around to make sure no one would interrupt her ritual and found that the two men were battling the two ogres she had summoned earlier.

"What was she talking about?!" the cloaked man demanded.

Izhmayel stabbed one of the ogres in the gut and it staggered back. "How would I know?! ...Never met the kid before."

Kara spun back to the roots and continued chanting. There was a low rumble followed by a loud scream and then a hissing sound. The goblin did not even bother to look. She knew her two soldiers had been defeated, but that did not matter. She had just finished the last glyph and chanted the right phrase that would let her and her prize escape at that moment.

The blue cloaked man rushed forward and tried to stop the goblin, but before he could reach them they vanished in a torrent of fire. His fingers just barely closed around a few licks of flame.

Rapidly, the tree began to wither. The glowing leaves faded to a brownish gray color as they hit the ground and the cave grew darker with each second that passed as the tree died.

Izhmayel drew in a sharp breath.

Huge, pure white wings suddenly jutted out from underneath the other man's blue cloak. The man stood there for a few seconds and silently worded a chant. His huge wings flapped once and he was gone; disappearing into a sparkling light mist.

Everything was pitch-black. Lin reached out and her hand brushed against something rough. "Guys?" She called out, "Hello? What just happened?" A faint yellow-green glow sparked to life inside her closed hand. She looked down and realized that it was coming from the gear she had taken from Izhmayel earlier. She lifted it up and examined it. Then turned it over and noticed another small ring of spokes just inside of the larger one that made up the whole gear. She pressed down on the smaller ring and it made a clicking sound then sprang up a few centimeters above the larger circle.

The yellow-green glow intensified as Lin pulled out each of the spokes on the two rings and flipped them upwards. "Well, at least I can somewhat see now," she said and held up the transformed gear. The light only allowed her to see about a few feet, but that didn't really matter. Lin turned around in a circle. She was completely surrounded by what appeared to be tree bark. "So, I guess this is what they meant when they said they were swallowed up," Lin said to herself. 'What now? How am I supposed to escape? Where is everyone else? Are they okay?' she thought to herself.

A thousand other questions raced through her head until she noticed a small branch sticking out towards her off to the right. She turned and brought the glowing gear closer to it. To her surprise the branch started growing and twisted around the gear. The dim glow from the gear gradually seeped its way into the branches and soon the whole tiny root chamber was softly glowing. Lin instinctively turned the gear to the left, like a sort of key, and the entire chamber suddenly flashed a brilliant green-blue color then faded into nothingness.