The group that followed after Nire through the portal took a great tumble upon reaching solid ground once again. Let skillfully landed feet first and before he could start to scan his surroundings, Kei fell from the sky and landed right on top of him, knocking them both flat onto the ground. Seconds later, Corda also landed the two already on the ground, knocking the air out of Let who acted as the cushion to their fall.

“Get off me,” Let yelled grouchily, pushing Kei and Corda off as he tried to squeeze out at the same time. When the red haired boy finally succeeded in getting the two off of him, he took a deep breath and stood up once more. When he did so, he finally noticed that they were in the woods. Let actually recognized these woods as the Talto Woods that were on the outskirts of Sonnum and Roublaire. Knowing their location now, he began to come up with reasons as to why they had ended up there, and where the new girl they were chasing had gone.

Just then, Kei spoke up in his bright voice, “Hey, isn’t this the Talto Woods? There’re ruins here, aren’t there? I think they were around this way.” The boy with bright orange hair began to walk off, speaking all the while. Let groaned in annoyance, but he followed Kei anyway because he could not remember how to get to the ruins. Corda saw this as the two boys working together and smiled like a proud mom as she followed them as well.

The brushes rustled as the trio walked through the woods, twigs snapped occasionally along the way. The sun was still high in the sky so they did not have to worry about nightfall anytime soon. As much as Let did not really like Kei, he had to admit that his ability to recall and remember things was amazing. As if Kei knew what Let was thinking, he paused his rambling for a moment, turned around to look at Let who was following closely behind, and smiled at him. Let was caught completely off guard and stopped abruptly, and Corda who was walking closely behind him bumped into him. The red haired and green eyed boy grew slightly irritated once more. He completely respected Corda as his elder, so he wasn’t as grouchy as he could have been, but he couldn’t handle the fact that it had happened twice already. Twice in one day someone has bumped into me. Kei simply laughed at the angered boy and kept on walking. However, after having taken only three steps, the ground began to shake ever so slightly. Following soon after, there was a loud crash that echoed through the woods. Looking up towards the sky, a pillar of light bursted from the tree line followed soon after by large groups of trees that could be seen toppling over like dominos. The group of three immediately set off, leaving behind what had happened just moments before, and assuming their roles as members of Hneev Taw.

Nire had jumped through the portal on the desk hoping to find and save Doro. She had no clue where she had ended up at, only that she was in the woods once more. Listening closely, she could only hear the rustling of the trees and other plants and animals going about their daily lives. Nire could not hear nor see any people nearby. Looking around and scanning the area, she noticed a large white cave a few meters ahead of her. Could that be where Foom Lis was keeping Doro? Nire cautiously approached the cave, but as soon as she took one step, the ground began to tremble slightly, then died down almost immediately after. Feeling wary, Nire halted in her position. It was as if the whole world had frozen in that moment. The wind had ceased its blowing and the animals had gone quiet as well. Nire held her breath anticipating the worst. Just then, the ground began to crack. Originating from inside of the cave, the cracks quickly made their way and advanced directly towards Nire. Her reflexes kicked in, thankfully, and she was able to avoid it, jumping to higher ground in the nick of time.

“Oho,” a voice cooed from inside the cave. “I really wasn’t expecting much from you after hearing Vam Meej’s report.” Stepping out of the shadows of the cave, a man stepped out. He was wearing an outfit similar to that of Foom Lis and the man with the purple slime, Vam Meej, Nire assumed. As usual with their outfit, a pitch black cloth covered their face. Unlike Vam Meej, the man whom Nire faced off with earlier, this one was quick to discard his face covering. When he did so, Nire could see scales along the side of his face. His dark, asymmetrical bob covered the right side of his face, so Nire could only imagine that there may be more scales on the other side of the man’s face.

The scaly man approached Nire casually and started talking to the black haired girl. “I am so honored to be able to meet you, Nire.” The girl moved back in shock. How did everyone know who she was? The man then proceeded to introduce himself as he walked round and round the girl in a circle. “My name is Kav Nplooj, loyal follower of Foom Lis. If you were looking to meet with him, I’m afraid I can’t let you see him yet.” He finished and loomed over Nire, mouth wide open in a big smile. She could see his tongue was long and thin. He was starting to give her the creeps.

Nire stepped back once more, in an attempt to escape from the piercing glare, but found herself stuck. Suddenly, she felt restricted, as if something had wrapped itself around her. It was starting to grow tighter, slowly squeezing the little girl.

“Ah,” Kav Nplooj said full of glee, taking notice of the struggling girl. “It’s finally starting to take effect.”

Nire took a closer look at Kav Nplooj and out of thin air, a large serpent, with a head as big as the man, appeared and continued to wrap itself around the girl, tightening its grip with each passing second.

“Aren’t you going to fight back? I’m not as kind as Vam Meej, you know. I will kill you.”

The girl did not doubt the man, but she also had a feeling that even if he did want to kill her, he would not be able to. As much as it hurt to be wrapped so tightly by the giant serpent, Nire kept her movement to a minimum and tried to breathe evenly, relaxing herself. “Tub,” she whispered when she felt calm enough. Her left eye began to glow and adrenaline coursed through her veins. “I’ll end this soon,” Nire said as she looked up at the man with a look that was unlike the naive little girl Nire usually was. Kav Nplooj smirked, visibly enjoying where this was going. A pillar of light burst through the clearing in which the two were standing in and all was white for multiple seconds. When the light finally cleared away, Nire had successfully broken out of the serpent’s grasp and landed a few meters backwards from her initial position. In her left hand, she held the long sword that she had used previously against Vam Meej -- her Quip, he had said to her.

“Oho,” Kav Nplooj said again. “Vam Meej did say you could call upon a Quip now. Still, to think that a mere child like you who has no idea what they’re meant for could summon Zaj. Well, that’s how we know you’re the real deal, kid.”

“Zaj? This sword has a name?” Nire looked at the sword from tip to hilt. Though she did not know what the name meant, she felt that it was fitting.

“Of course. Every Quip has a name. You’ve seen my serpent, haven’t you? Well, I’ll give you a little treat and tell you a little something, considering you’re Nire, Carrier of the Eye of Fortune, and user of Zaj. As a loyal follower of Foom Lis, the Destroyer, I can use a Quip and a Creature of Darkness. They’re really just the same thing, but I can use them as separate entities simultaneously. Anyways, my Quip is named Suas Lis, we control the earth, and we will take the honor of taking your life.”

Kav Nplooj ended his spiel by lunging straight towards Nire preparing to land a spin kick on the back of the girl’s neck, but she dodged right in time rolling forward onto the dirt and quickly turning around again, brandishing Zaj in a defensive position.

Then, the ground began to tremble once more and Suas Lis emerged from a hole that it was burrowing underneath, taking down trees with it as well. Nire slashed frantically at the serpent’s wide mouth in an attempt to slice it, but she only succeeded in scaring it back into the ground once more.

“Where did all your confidence from before go?” Kav Nplooj cackled almost maniacally.

Nire laughed and replied in a manner that was playful, “I guess I’m just not used to fighting large snakes.” Suas Lis emerged from the ground once more and Nire was successful in cutting off a few scales from its face before it burrowed once again. Looking proud of herself, Nire looked up to see three familiar faces rushing towards her.

“New Girl!” Let yelled. Thanks to his field experience in battle, he was irritated as usual, but found that he couldn’t be too angry with Nire, as he knew to quickly analyze the situation before saying anything else. When he looked around, he saw Kav Nplooj standing off to the side at a short distance looking menacingly at the new group that arrived.

“Hey, hey, it’s the New Girl,” Kei said with no care at all to the enemy standing before them.

“Nire, sorry, we were late in arriving to back you up,” Corda apologized. “But it seems like you’ve been alright so I needn’t worry too much.”

Nire looked on with relief as the three showed up and took their places next to her.

“We’ll take the back as usual,” Corda said before materializing a deck or ornately decorated cards. As if she knew that Nire was looking on in amazement, she smiled and answered Nire’s unspoken question. “This is my Quip, Morrow.” The slender woman then jumped into the woods again, hiding amongst the trees and rocks that had been dug up by Suas Lis.

“‘We’ includes me, too,” Kei said matter of factly to Nire. The boy then materialized his own quip, a light handgun with green accents. “Kei and Tref getting ready for standby in support mode.” He gave Nire and Let a little salute then bounded into the trees after Corda.

Nire was expecting Let to show off his Quip too, but he only looked straight ahead at Kav Nplooj.

“The girl,” he started to say, glaring his eyes at the scaly man. “Where is she?”

Kav Nplooj pretended not to know who Let was referring to. “I’m sorry, who? I just have business with Little Miss Red Eye over there so I don’t have time to deal with you other ones.” He tried to brush off Let as powerless, but could not have been more wrong about his strength. As Kav Nplooj walked by Let, he unleashed his Quip, a large greataxe, and swung it straight at the man’s head with dead accuracy. The man was blessed with speed so he was able to make it out with his head still intact, but not before Let was able to land a light cut on his throat.

Enraged, flames soon began to light up from his palm that held onto his greataxe. Nire noticed that the boy’s hair was as red as his flames. Kav Nplooj looked at the red haired boy and his Quip in amusement. Then, as if connecting dots together, he threw his hands up into the air and began to cackle loudly again.

“You’re that boy.”

Let looked shocked and confused, and in that moment those words left Kav Nplooj’s mouth, he had appeared instantaneously in front of Let and punched him clean in the gut, winding him. The boy who was so full of vigor crumpled to the ground in a pathetic state. Nire could only look on in shock. Kav Nplooj did not show this power to her before. However, she did not hesitate. She may not have a Creature of Darkness along with her Quip like Kav Nplooj did, but she did have Tub and Zaj on her side. She also knew that in the trees, and even before her, she had allies.