While the others fought, Lynn stayed behind. Zaru was too engaged with the others to notice her. She took advantage of the situation and slowly moved away from the battleground. Once she was sure she was out of sight, her pace quickened as she rushed to find what she was looking for as fast as possible. Her hands fumbled around the wall behind Zaru’s throne, frantically searching for the odd stone out.

Suddenly, she felt a hand grab her arm. She flinched but relaxed when she realized the hand belonged to the fallen demon guard. He strained as he guided her fingers towards a stone whose texture was slightly smoother than the rest. She held her breath, pressing the stone as hard as she could and whispering her thanks to the guard.

Zaru reacted as the sound of metal grinding against itself could be heard throughout the room. His gaze shot over to where Lynn stood, but could not do anything about it before Cupcake suddenly had a grip on his arm. Lynn raced over to the newly opened secret passage with her heart pounding. Any attempts for Zaru to give chase were immediately thwarted by attacks from all sides that required his full attention. 

Lynn panted as she ran as quickly as her legs would carry her. She knew she didn’t have much time. Dissatisfied with her pace, Lynn pointed her scepter at the ground and coated it with a layer of ice that allowed her to move even faster. Soon, the passageway opened into a small hidden room, and in the middle was the end goal of the entire quest. Princess Alayna stood with her head angled towards the ground, her expression forlorn. As Lynn rapidly approached, her eyes slowly widened as she recognized her sister. “Lynn-?!”

“WATCH OUT!” Lynn pointed her scepter forward at the iron bars that kept Alayna held in place. The princess quickly leaped aside just in time to avoid a fiery explosion that knocked the bars out of place. Unable to slow herself down, Lynn was only able to stop by crashing right into Alayna, who stumbled back from the impact.

Eyes watery, Lynn tightly wrapped her arms around her sister. She excitedly lifted her and spun her through the air. “Layna!! I’m here to save you!”

Alayna laughed as she happily returned the embrace. “My! You sure know how to make an entrance!” Once her feet were back on the ground, she pulled away. Her eyes were bright with glee. Despite her disheveled appearance from her time in prison, she looked elegant as always.

Their reunion was interrupted by the distant sounds of battle. Lynn frowned. “We should get going,” she paused, glancing at Alayna. “Before we do, though, you should know some things: Zaru’s nowhere near defeated, we’ll be escaping on the back of a griffin, and the purple demon and his buddy are on our side.”

“Well,” Alayna sighed, “can’t say I didn’t expect a little chaos if you’d be the one rescuing me. I’m just going to trust that you know what you’re doing.”

Lynn grinned. She absolutely did not know what she was doing, but she wasn’t going to let that stop her now. She took Alayna by the hand and hurried her back towards the throne room. As soon as the princess came within sight, the fighting immediately stopped. The room filled with silence as everyone stared.

Zaru’s gaze slowly burned into a piercing glare. He grabbed Zack and threw him at Allen, knocking them both to the ground. He charged forward with a furious growl. This time, he did not let himself get distracted by the flurry of Charlie’s arrows clinking against his chest plate. Lynn raised her scepter, ready to defend herself, but she wouldn’t need to. Cupcake had swooped in just ahead of Zaru, allowing Lynn and a very startled Alayna to climb onto her back. Despite Lynn’s warning, she was unprepared for such a creature to approach so suddenly.

Cupcake leaped into the air, swerving just in time to avoid Zaru’s grasp. She flew over to the rest of the party, picking up Allen and Charlie in her talons. It was difficult for her to fly while holding all four of them, but she pushed through with a determined cry. Once everyone was secured, Zack wrapped his arms around Cupcake’s neck and squeezed his eyes shut. Zaru yelled out a desperate ‘NO!’ as he held out his hand to strike them with a spell, but it was too late. They all disappeared with a sharp crack and a puff of smoke.

After teleporting, Zack faltered and nearly fell to the ground. Teleporting so many people at once took a lot out of him. But after he was able to stabilize himself, he floated alongside Cupcake and all the others. They looked down to see they were now just outside Zaru’s fortress. If they could just get out of the forest, they’d be home free…

But it wasn’t over just yet. Before they could even think about celebrating, they noticed dark storm clouds slowly swirling up above. The wind began to pick up, making the trees begin to sway back and forth with rattling leaves as they brushed against each other. The party glanced nervously at one another and urged Cupcake to move faster. But before they could do anything, a bolt of lightning suddenly erupted from the sky and struck the top of Zaru’s fortress.

The roof collapsed in on itself where the lightning hit. From it emerged an enraged Zaru, each beat of his wings generating more wind lashing around him. “You… Foolish children…” He spoke just above a whisper, though the air carried his words like an echo. Cupcake flapped frantically, but the currents were slowly dragging the party towards Zaru’s outstretched electrified hands.

With his heart racing, Zack desperately tried to aid Cupcake in flying out of the wind’s grasp. But his energy was too drained to make an impact on her efforts to get away. The other four were chattering over each other as they attempted to formulate a plan, but nothing they said would have worked. Zack glanced over at Zaru, struggling to think of what to do with all the surrounding chaos.

Suddenly, a light flicked on in Zack’s head. He reached into his pocket and pulled out the very last can of Purple Paradise Energy Drink. He gripped it tightly in his hands, then looked back to Zaru.

“HEY, Zaru!” Zack popped open the seal of the can and aimed. “How about a free sample?!” He threw the drink as hard as he could, and it nailed the demon king right in his face. The impact caused Zaru to falter. He bobbed midair for a moment. Before he could regain his bearings, the liquid dripped into his mouth. He immediately coughed and sputtered as he attempted to spit it out, beginning to lose control of his flight. 

The wind loosened its grip and allowed Cupcake to break free and speed off into the sky, giving the party a good view of Zaru as he spiraled downwards and crashed into the forest below. 

From there, it was a straight shot back to Lynn’s castle. They only stopped occasionally so Cupcake could rest. As they approached the villages of Sarinia, they heard the people cheering as they saw their beloved princess return. The party could finally breathe a sigh of relief and truly relax for the first time in days. They had done it… They had successfully rescued Alayna from the hands of the demon king.