Underground Jungle

Abagai rubbed her eyes and took a deep breath before entering General Akrumei's war room. She hadn't slept in two days, and the weight of exhaustion pressed down on her. Yet, she pushed forward as the guards opened the door. She expected to find her general—maybe poring over battle plans, or, at the very least, asleep. But instead, her gaze landed on someone she had no desire to face, especially not after a grueling two-day patrol across the Khan's lands, and certainly not at this late hour.

It was a towering goblin—not as much as an ogre's body nor as built as Ronai, but strong for a goblin. He wore the same rank as her and he was filling his belly with a nice cup of the general's wine, the excess dripping from his ashen goatee. He lacked hair except for a messy ponytail that hung from the back of his head, a stylish choice that did not improve his overall, image. But that was not the worst of his brutish appearance. For Abagai, his ever-frowned gaze and notable left fang protruding from his lips had the aggression of an orc, a clear distinction of those who courted with the northern clans beyond the territories of the Koltans, but even more so, it was his brass skin that stood out the most. 

Orcs and goblins had far more differences than similarities, the most striking being their skin tones: goblins ranged in shades of green, while orcs typically displayed hues from reddish to brass. For centuries, the Koltanai goblins maintained a fragile balance between trade and outright incursions from the orc clans. The orcs brought goods from the frozen shield of the pole, a region accessible only through the relentless will of the red-skinned tribes. But the same harsh tundra often drove the orcs to desperation, leading their caravans to raid goblin lands for scarce resources—and, more often than one might expect, for wives.

Captain Tulin was the product of such a union, and despite his mixed heritage, he had risen through the ranks of Akrumei's Tumen, the elite force known as the "Khan's Chosen."

He didn’t bother to stand or acknowledge her arrival, calmly finishing his drink without concern—a breach of goblin decorum, but a behavior all too typical of an orc.

"Captain Tilun," she said, her discomfort notable, "What a surprise."

"If it isn't the meddler," Tilun replied, smashing the table with the mug, "What are you doing here... this late? Were you not sent to your quarters and ordered to rejoin your Zuun by morning?"

"Well I wasn't expecting to see you here either," she said, making her way to the table, "What business do you have with the General?"

"Why would I, the captain of the Khan's Chosen, have to tell you anything?" he grunted, his aggression apparent, "In any case, what business do you have with him?"

"You may be the General's closest," she said, "But we have the same rank, and so I'm afraid I'm in no obligation to answer that either."

"You're out of line, Abagai the Koltanait..." Tilun said, standing up and walking to the room's window, displaying the city's night lights, "Must I remind you that while the General is not present, it is I who holds command of the city's security?"

"Is the General absent?" Abagai said, raising an eyebrow, "But I spoke to him in the morning."

"You could say he's absent, as he is dealing with the Tulagai caravan that arrived here yesterday," he rubbed his goatee to clean excess wine as he grabbed a grape from the table nearby, "Wasn't that the caravan you escorted? Since when does a Koltan worry so much for a Tulag princess that you leave your Zuun and your current mission instead of sending them on their way?"

"The princess is special, and her retinue is... well," she said, trying to find words that do not reveal much to her rival.

"Unusual," he finished the sentence, "General Arkumei expressed his interest in the two that follow her, in a way only he does."

"Yes, I guess you above everyone else can say that," she retorted.

"There it is, that Koltan anger," he said defensively.

"My Koltan heritage has nothing to do with this," she said, standing up to meet him, "I think I was clear about that the last time we met, but I respect anyone worthy of Akrumei's attention, regardless of their origin... no, it is not your background I find repulsive. It is your brutish approach to everything... like, how dare you arrest a caravan bringing tribute to the great Khan? It seems you did it only to spite me."

"It had nothing to do with you, although I must say the moment I learned of your involvement, nothing could've pleased me more, I dare say," He said with a grin as he turned to face her head-on, "No, no, I did not arrest them because you were involved, I did it because the General is all too busy with that accursed Old City, leaving security matters to me." 

He clasped his hands behind his back and turned to the city's quiet state.

"The Palace guard has to step into city watch duty because meeting with the General has become a thing as rare as the eclipse," he said, his tone frustrated and worried, "I have to make decisions pertaining to a higher rank, but the general's fixation with the Old City is draining our resources. Moreover, he sent most of our forces to scour the steppe to hunt down our own people... I have my hands tied, shackled, even... so don't you dare talk to me about personal grudges when there are things at stake here, more important than you."

Abagai sighed and stood by the tall goblin's side, her arms crossed as both watched the distant lights of the wall's torches and the occasional torch walking at night on the streets.

"I understand the situation," she said, "...and I admit the way things developed around here since my arrival has been... not the best, considering everything that is going on."

"Not the best?" Tilun chuckled, "That's one way to put it—"

"I wanted to inform the general that the princess went ahead and deep through the hole that the genie Samina did in the Archive."

"Went... deep?" Tilun repeated, confused.

"Yes, they discovered a passage that seems to lead to the Old City."

"Interesting, considering the Princess was out of line in making that decision and that you are, by extension, going against the general's wishes."

"I do it because the Princess shows potential to be a Seer," she said, "That's the whole and only reason behind my actions!"

"A seer?" Tilun turned to her, "There has been no seer outside the Khanate's family since the beginning of the Khan's conquest, you forget that's the whole reason why the Kenets banded all the steppe clans together. Why would the Twin sisters bestow their favor upon another clan at this time? And at this time, of all things, Abagai, think!"

Abagai remained silent.

"Your judgment seems skewed, I'm afraid. What you see is nothing short of what has been happening to everyone in the realm..."

"What is that?"

"Madness..." 

Abagai frowned.

"I am not crazy, she has shown the Winds' blessing against the monsters we fight against, and I stand by it, I brought her here to be tested by the Khan himself, more so than whatever gifts she might bear. If the Sisters as blessing more of our kind to fight these evils—"

"You're out of line, Abagai..." Tilun stopped her, "As much as I would like to see you fall from grace, I would like it to happen for something less crazed as this."

The female goblin rolled her eyes and turned to the door, "I'm wasting my time here, I came seeking the general, but all I got was the Khan's Chosen's half -drunk captain"

Tilun chuckled as he poured more wine into his mug, "You won't find the general anywhere in the palace, he went for the entrance to the Old City after sending the ogres after your beloved princess."

Abagai turned, confused, "What ogres? I did not see any ogres entering the Archive."

"He sent them the other way, through the old city's known entrance," Tilun said, vacuuming the mug's wine in a few seconds.

"Why?"

"Pincer move? You know how he is, with all his starts and acumen. He's been sending warriors and prisoners to the old city for weeks now!"

"Weeks? But didn't this all mess start a few days back?" Abagai said, her eyebrow lifting.

You mean the crazy fever that overwhelms goblins everywhere, that started a few days ago, yes, but the old city issue the general insists on existing has been going around for literal weeks now, captain."

"Why would Arkumei be so interested there?"

"Who knows? We would both be out of line... you should go to sleep, captain, or rather since it will be dawn in a few hours, you better just ready your warriors and get out of here, the sooner you leave, my dependence on this wine will wane faster for sure."

Abagai turned around, confused, not of Tilun's comments about the wine, but rather, about General Akrumei's strange orders.

"Don't worry about me," she said, crossing the door, "I'm already gone..."

"That's more like it—"

BAM.

Akrumei stood there for a second, thinking through what she just heard. A goblin warrior beside the guards was waiting for her.

"Captain," he said, bowing, as the guards stepped in front of the door behind Abagai. The goblin captain remained silent for a moment before looking at his subordinate.

"Alert the men, we set for the steppe immediately," the captain said, her eyes darkening.

"My lady?" he said, hesitant, "Our men are guarding the archive according to your orders."

"Leave that to Tilun's warriors," she said, "We need to depart and meet with our company as soon as possible."

"Why? What happened to the Princess?"

"She'll have to wait, let's hope things do not get more difficult for her before we return."

"B-but where are we going? Are we hunting crazed people again?"

"Not anymore... We ride for the Khan's camp."

*******

"Woah..."

"So that's where the humid smell came from," Ronai said, "the underground water seems to be feeding this whole place."

Samina ordered her crystal to stand behind her, glowing dimly, "This is... an entire forest—jungle, even, for something like this to exist right beneath the city..."

"Mesui..." Arsec said, "Have you ever seen something like this?"

"No," she said, her eyes widened. The steppe offers little caves or underground areas. One would think they are more common in rodentmen territory where the terrain is outright mountainous. I'm as surprised as you. It's beautiful, though. Even if it's dark, I can tell it stretches for miles. How in all the winds will we find an exit other than the tunnel we just came from?"

"Good point," Ronai said as he moved a bit forward, "I'm starting to feel sick from having a ceiling above me at all times—oof!"

The badger cub tackled the ogre and tumbled down the slope ahead and stopped at the base of a tall mushroom tree. There, they watched how the cub scattered a group of dog-sized crabs that dangerously crawled toward a motionless, even larger badger—completely still, breathing heavily as it.

The crabs lunged forward at the cub, seeing a smaller prey to be added to their menu. 

"No!" Narwa shouted, as her fists morphed into the glowing stoat paws.

She jumped at a nearby mushroom head and used to ricochet herself and crash in the middle of the swarm of crabs. The oversized crustaceans panicked and spread out. The rest of the party came down the slope warily as they eyed the crabs that fled with their eyes sucked deep within their shells.

One of the crabs tried to snatch the little cubs Mesui held on her shoulders, while passing around them "Hey, hey, keep your stinky claws away from them you pest!"

The rodent pup hissed at the crab before it was instantly crushed by the slamming force of Ronai's blunt blade, oozing its purple blood and frightening the rest of its kin even more, as they clasped their claws nervously and bubbled drool hungrily and desperately. Another one carefully walked by the side of the big badger as its claw tried to tear a piece of it before being slashed by Narwa, sending it flying. However, this triggered another crab to take advantage of the masked girl's distraction to rush for Arsec, as it determined the feeble-looking human to be an easier catch. 

"Wha... you coming for me?" he said, shocked, as he swang his spear and sent the crab flying towards the ceiling, somewhere in that vast region. 

"These guys won't let us be," Ronai said as he scared one that sought to grab a piece from his slain crab.

"I don't think they are leaving entirely, at this point they'll just toy with us until they get a peace of the bigger badger, as all opportunistic beasts do."

Samina snapped her fingers and gestured a circulatory motion. Her crystal lifted high while turning its usual blue hue into a yellow one. Arsec and the others saw how whenever the crabs crossed a certain imaginary line, they would be shot a painful sting of electric energy from the crystal. 

"Amazing thing, that crystal..." Mesui said, as she nodded in sincere amazement.

"Not as amazing as the one casting the spell," Samina said boastfully.

Ronai was about to make a great remark about genie spellswords and their magical items, before reconsidering after hearing Samina.

They all hushed as the badger cub sniffed the larger one, nudging it gently and pressing its snout and paw against the now tired and unresponsive face as if desperately trying to keep it awake.

Narwa knelt next to their new friend and touched the larger badger, "This one is barely clinging to life."

The cub poked at Narwa, wanting her to do something—rather, hoping that its new acquaintance would be capable of doing something.

"Perjog, kikit," she answered abruptly the cub's language, a tongue of grunts and squeals that made Samina react in disgust, "I don't have any healing powers."

The cub wept a little, begging her to find something in her, but Narwa remained motionless.

"I am but a vengeful spirit, nothing more," she apologized, clenching her fists, "Karakan, kit kit, perjog."

The cub grew desperate as it spoke, making the three cubs on Mesui's back push her and pull her hair and ears.

"What's it saying?" Mesui asked as she recognized the mannerisms from her own pups' motions.

"This wilderkin is its mother," Narwa said, irritated, "I'm trying to tell him there is nothing I can do for her."

Arsec looked at the mother, whose eyes barely opened. She briefly panicked upon seeing her cub by her side, her body trembled and she growled, trying her best to stand, but as she showed her legs, it was clear that she would be unable to as a big wound tore through her belly.

"Ankis, kanka..." Narwa appeased her, "We're here to help, your cub is safe, it brought us here."

The mother scanned her cub's new friends, was pleased to sense Narwa's familiar aura and hummed at the three cubs on Mesui's shoulders, but as soon as she saw Arsec, she panicked and trembled, trying to get up as she showed her teeth.

"What's the matter? Narwa, why is she growling at me like that?"

"Ankis, kanka... un seg olag, un seg olag, ogima, ogima" Narwa urge her. 

The Mother did not relent, forcing the girl to reach for Arsec's wrist, where the rodentmen chieftain's token hanged. The hulking beast stopped, confused, recoiling in pain as she rubbed her head against the cub in an affectionate display that made Mesui embrace her three own rodentmen tightly, a tear escaping her eyes.

"What was that?" Arsec asked.

Narwa shrugged, "She finds you disgusting and dangerous, it seems to be a recurring thing."

"This is not the time for jokes, Narwa," Arsec said, annoyed.

"Who said it was a joke, you saw how it reacted, didn't you?"

"Well tell her I'm a friend, I'm your friend—we're friends, right?"

Narwa pushed him before joining the mother's side and petting her head. 

"That's a yes, right princess?" he said.

"Maybe, but I would not get near the mother if I were you."

 As Mesui joined Narwa and both began to inspect the horrid wound on her belly, Arsec turned to the vigilant crabs with his spear ready, but seeing that the crystal zapped them whenever they came close made him complain with a small grunt.

"Don't be conflicted about this, So-sha—Arsec," said Samina, joining his side, "It's in their nature to hate those touched by the Exalted Ones."

"Exalted Ones?" he said, furrowing his eyes, "Wait, you mentioned something like that when we found the cub."

Ronai stepped in too, "It's common knowledge, the ancient legends bind us in this way with the wilderkin."

"It is connected to the Great Flood," Samina continued, "Long ago, the Exalted Ones influenced our peoples directly, speaking not in riddles nor dreams, but in direct speech and as clearly as we are talking now. The Verdant Fang was one of the Exalted, a powerful one, the legend says, but he craved more than what he had been granted, and so he raised hosts of beasts he changed and tailored for war, giving them bodies like those of yours and mine, letting them stand erect and forge tools, weapons."

"The war was brutal, and it is said that if the Living Water and the Twin Sisters had not flooded the land, nature itself would be imbalanced, as the Verdant Fang's insatiable thirst for power would spend the numbers of every beast. So came the winds and the waters, and the waves cleansed the lands on this side of the world."

"The Verdant Fang and his ascended peoples remained, however, and although no one truly knows the whereabouts of the dark Exalted One, he sometimes visits the earth, taking young ones, Wilderkin or not, to make them his agents, his blades and his weapons of vengeance. I had never met one before, but I believe she—" she said while pointing at Narwa, "is one... I mean she meets the requirements, she does not look like a genie, or ogre, or even a goblin, she seems to be taken from another land... regardless, the fact that she tolerates us is unprecedented, given the Verdant Fang's influence on her."

"I told you, I don't serve the Verdant Fang anymore," Narwa said, angrily. 

"And I told you, it's impossible, for not even Wilderkin escape his urge to dominate his chosen ones."

"Well I do, but you know, free or not, I don't actually tolerate you," Narwa remarked snarlingly at Samina as she turned to them, "and the ogre sulks so much it is intolerably irritating, and you..." she stopped as Arsec looked at her with sad eyes, "What? Don't make that disgusting face..."

Narwa turned again to tend to the mother and talk to her. Samina saw how Arsec's eyes stayed on the masked girl and she inadvertently tensed her eyes.

"Lord Arsec, don't take her lack of violence against you as a sign of goodwill, make no mistake, she's dangerous."

"I don't know about that..." Arsec sighed. 

Samina's furrowed, "Excuse me, I think I'll scout ahead, we don't know if we're entirely safe with all these crabs around us."

Arsec and Ronai were left to watch the goblin and the stoat girl address the badger family. Both of them inhaled and exhaled.

"And what's wrong with you?" Arsec asked, surprised.

"Mud demons, even the stoat girl thinks I sulk too much," Ronai sighed.

Samina scanned the vicinity as she dealt with aching thoughts. Somehow, seeing Arsec so familiar with their sworn enemy irritated her.

"Be patient," she whispered to herself, "He'll come around and value you... we'll see... the dreams were too potent... too real... he must've felt it too, right?"

Her thoughts were interrupted by a sudden gush of air that made her cover her face. There was a stench in that air, one of death and decay not normal in warm bodies. Her eyes furrowed as the sight of large shadows in the depths of the mushrooms' trunks interrupted her thoughts and, as she focused more, the eyes opened in shock.

"So-sha—I mean—Arsec!" She shouted as she sent her crystal flying toward the silhouettes. 

The young man turned to her as she pointed deep behind the mushroom treeline. The crystal illuminated the first beastly frame. It was similar to the mother. This one, however, was not a dying wilderkin, but a corpse long gone. As the light expanded and showed more of them, signs of bite wounds appeared on their bellies, necks, and limbs as they lay scattered across the ground, feeding insects and tainting the air around them with rot.

"What..." Arsec said, his voice breaking, "What happened here?"

"No..." Mesui uttered, her rodent cubs hiding behind her. Her eyes watered she covered her nose due to the stench as the group approached the bodies. The badger cub remained at her mother's side.

Narwa roared mournfully as she emerged next to them. 

"Damn you!" she shouted, kneeling and hitting the ground over and over. Arsec clenched his fists as he dropped his black spear, unable to hide his disgust for the smell, nor his impotence at the situation. He barely understood what had happened but rage and frustration poured in as if Narwa's cries infected him. This was different than the goblin massacre they had witnessed in the steppes. These were not kills performed by crafted weapons or precise arrows but violent rips and tears. 

Ronai examined one of the bites from the closest corpse while using his cowl to cover his nostrils, "It has a strange form... as if two claws pierced the flesh while something else devoured the meat inside little by little... the badger seemed to be still alive."

"How do you know?" Arsec asked.

"Look at the face, it is one of pain and horror," Ronai answered, "it was still alive."

"Blasted winds," Mesui uttered.

"Whatever attacked this group of wilderkin, it did so with utter violence and bloodlust, not out of hunger," the ogre continued as he cleared the dead badger.

"What makes you say that?" Samina asked as she joined Arsec's side.

"It didn't eat them, it only hurt them enough for them to bleed to death or under intense pain... look, the organs are half eaten..."

"I think I'm okay from this distance, paladin," Samina said, backing down.

"Truly sadistic..." Ronai said, "Blessed currents, guard my soul..."

Arsec clenched his grip around his spear as his eyes stared blankly at one of the corpses. He desperately sought answers to his boiling anger, knowing all too well that seeing such a massacre was the source. However, he did not know what to do—the wilderkins were already dead and the mother behind them was on the verge.

From her standing point, Samina spotted a small black stain on the ground, then another, and another, forming an erratic path leading deeper into the fungal jungle. As her eyes followed the trail, her head suddenly snapped into a strong compression. She backed in pain, her hands reaching for her eyes as if keeping them from bursting out. It was so sudden, she could not help to breathe intensely, catching everyone's attention. 

"Samina?" Arsec called her, "What's wrong?"

Then mental images flooded in: A big black eye with a white gleaming iris stared at her—at her soul—as if its sight ripped her will and mental fortitude. Her notion of up and down drifted away whenever she tried to open her eyes as if that disturbing eye forced them shut and look at it instead. Little by little, this assailing vision expanded, and Samina perceived the eye as being part of a larger body—a spider-like frame hanging from an intricate web between two ancient columns. Black-skinned with sickening greens on its back, and a fanged mouth that oozed black liquid.  

"Samina! Samina!"

The crystal began emitting lighting across the area, each time more violently, tearing some tall mushrooms as the genie girl panted more and more.

Arsec had felt Samina's footing hesitating, and he rushed to stabilize her, but now he stared at a situation he didn't know how to react. Her eyes were closed as if in terrible pain while she held her head with her two hands. 

"What's wrong? What's wrong?" Mesui said.

"I don't know, she was fine a moment ago!" Arsec watched as Samina's mouth babbled and seemed to utter something. 

The genie let out a scream of pain as the eye intensified its white glow and her purple irises were consumed by it, unable to look away. The lightning reached the badgers, hitting the ground near them. Mesui reflexively thought of her woodchuck pup and threw an arrow at the ground near it, the rodent materializing as the big, ethereal warrior with a huge fan, blocking all lighting from the crystal.

The crabs surrounding them, however, were not so lucky, the bolts pierced them and slew many before the survivors fled the scene, never to return.

"I'll take that thing down before it hurts the wilderkin!" Narwa roared, prearing to jump at it.

"Blessed Fire! Samina wake up!" Arsec begged in the middle of the chaos.

At the sound of those words, the monstrous spider in her mind, its webs—the entire vision—evaporated before beautiful red flames like a burned parchment. Her head suddenly felt light and her hands relaxed alongside the rest of her body, which fell unto Arsec's supporting arms. The lighting ceased, and the crystal returned to its neutral stance above them.

Utterly confused, Samina scanned her surroundings while leaning on the young man, her eyes finally locking on Arsec's concerned gaze. Her cheeks lifted as she smiled behind the veil concealing her face.

"Master..." she uttered, "you're..."

"I'm here, yes..."

"I mean... you're amazing..." she said, blinking her eyes playfully.

Arsec blushed and smiled before looking up and seeing Mesui and Narwa. He placed Samina's body on the ground and helped her stand. 

"What was that all about?" Arsec asked.

Samina pointed at the black stains, "As soon as I looked at that... I felt... something staring at me."

"Something?"

"An eye... white iris and black sclera, oozing the same black liquid from the ground..."

Mesui and Narwa looked at each other worryingly as Arsec furrowed his eyes, 

"Cycloth..." he said, "curse that thing..."

"That word," Samina's eyes opened wide, "I heard that word as the eye stared at me, it invited me to look at something..."

"At what?" Ronai asked.

"That!" Samina said, "Whatever Cycloth is! It wanted me to look at something special to it... to that monster..."

"Monster," Arsec said as he turned to Narwa, both flooding with images of Voidmaw and his works.

"Good thing you did not look..." Mesui said, hurting, "You would've been bedridden for Winds know how long..."

"You guys seem very... aggravated by whatever she claims to witness," Ronai said.

"It has to do with our true mission here on Makeb," Mesui said, examining the black liquid, "We are looking for a cure for my tribe's afflicted warriors."

"I thought we were supposed to slay said monster?" said Ronai, "How did this become a quest to heal the sick?"

"It always was a quest to heal the sick," Arsec clarified, "This was supposed to be... I don't know, a quest apart from the main quest?"

"Side quest?" Ronai said.

"Yes, that... that sounds good."

Samina looked at Arsec worryingly.

"A-Arsec, you mean—what does the princess mean by staring at it?"

"All those who stared at this being have gone mad, they rant and spit the word 'Cycloth' with a creepy devotion," Arsec said, "Her father turned on her, influenced by that monster."

"And have you seen the thing... this Cycloth?" Ronai inquired.

"It's massive, it's unlike anything I've seen before," Arsec said, "Not that I've seen many things..."

"That thing is not from this world," Narwa added, "A god that descended from the sky and corrupted every Wilderkin it found..."

"But you didn't have visions, like Samina?" Ronai said.

The three shook their heads.

"Arsec, Narwa," Mesui said, turning to the fungal jungle and the darkness beyond, "I don't think this is a mere quest to clear the old city anymore."

"Whatever happened on the surface in the past few days is happening here too..." Narwa said somberly.

"But... didn't Cycloth come from the sky? Where did he find a hole to get in here and... make everyone crazy?" Arsec commented.

"Don't know," Mesui said, "But it's clear we're facing something similar to what harmed the rodentmen territory and... my people..."

"We need to hunt this new monster!" Narwa said, "Avenge the wilderkin!"

Samina looked at the masked girl, "I never thought I would hear that... and kind of agree..."

Everyone looked back at the genie, who exhaled with her hand to her chest, "Something terrible has befallen this world. We need to find that—" she paused at the idea of saying the word, blinking confusedly, "Cycloth... and destroy it... yes, destroy it..."

The other four stared at her worried.

Mesui tapped Samina's shoulder, "Samina, if you feel unwell from the experience, I think you need to go back to the palace and—"

"Please, let me do this, I want to help," she said, looking at Arsec, then everyone, "You let me come, and I want to be useful to you... to you all."

"Do as you please," Narwa said, "I have the new monster's scent, I can track it in these caverns easily."

"What about the badgers?" Arsec said.

"There's nothing I can do for them, and the cub can return to the lair if he feels endangered."

Arsec's eyes darkened for a moment at the frustration, before the image of Malimali came in like a flash. He hurried to the mother's side without a second thought.

"Stinky! Stinky, she doesn't like you!" Narwa said, hurrying to defend Arsec.

Indeed, the badger growled as soon as she sensed Arsec approaching her, but this time he paid her no mind as he just kept getting closer. Desperate, the mother lashed out with the last of her strength, her body trembling and stumbling in pain as her paw fell on the young man. Arsec dodged the blow and his arms locked on the mother's head. She was unable to move due to the pain, and she panted heavily as life flickered away. The cub cried out and tried to intervene, going for a bite on Arsec, but Narwa seized his massive frame by grabbing his leg and pulling back.

"Arsec, curse you! Leave them alone!" The masked girl said.

"Wait!" Mesui said, "I think... I think he's doing something!"

"What?" Samina said.

"The Blessing..." the goblin princess replied.

Ronai crossed his arms as he saw Arsec breathe in and out, "The Blessing?"

"It worked with Malimali, maybe I can give you a second chance..." Arsec said, concentrating, his mind fixed on the flames of the Red Blaze. "O Blessed Flame,  do it once more, as you have strengthened Malimali, please give this Wilderkin life to protect her cub!"

They all waited, some curious and others expectant to the bold shout Arsec had just done, so unlike him.

As the silence went on, and the panting of the mother increased, Arsec started feeling shame as the badger pushed him away.

"What was supposed to happen?" Samina asked.

"Is this a last rite sort of thing?" Ronai added.

"Blasted winds, why?" Mesui with her palm on her face.

"That's it? Really?" Narwa complained, "Damn you, you're disgusting to the core, and to think I was helping you—"

BOOOM.

The badger was suddenly engulfed by red flames, creating a column that reached the ceiling. It made everyone back away, even Arsec, as he dumbfoundedly stared at the massive surge of power surrounding the Wilderkin.

"Precious Gemstone! Such power! Such Power! HAHA!" Samina laughed, elated.

"I knew it!" Mesui shouted, "I never doubted it for a second! Master Ronai! Are you seeing this?"

"Y-yeah..." Ronai said, unable to process what his eyes were observing, "What in the mud is this...?"

"Aaaaaah! It burns, put it off! PUT IT OFF!" Narwa begged as she covered her eyes.

The flames dissipated, and the caverns were suddenly, dimly illuminated by the still-lit rock on the ceiling, creating a red atmosphere. 

"PUT IT OFF! PUT IT OFF DAMN IT!"

"Narwa, it's off!" Mesui said.

The masked girl looked around, and promptly collected herself. 

"Well... ehem, what in the blasted winds was that, Stinky? You could've warned us... Stinky? Arsec!"

Arsec fell to his knees, completely exhausted, unable to move as he felt a surmountable amount of power leave him. He could feel it, the flame that made him strong, that made him resistant to pain and wounds, it was fading out. He felt how a lot of his strength had waned after being stabbed by Samina, but now his power was almost depleted by this.

He fell face down before the badger's body, which began to move and get up with renewed strength. For a moment, the towering Wilderkin in front of everyone made them forget their friend had collapsed.