Erik let out a strained grunt as he lifted a large boulder from the pile, his legs wobbling and his arms burning as he lifted the oversized rock and weakly tossed it to the side. The earth tremored as it slammed down onto the ground.

Standing up straight, Erik let out an exhausted sigh and wiped the sweat from his glistening blue brow. It didn't make much of a difference, since his skin seemed to stay perpetually moist, so a few droplets on his forehead wasn't going to do much either way. But he enjoyed the routine of it, it made him feel more normal.

His mana had been largely expended from getting them here through the water bubble, so all of his effort in moving these boulders was purely physical in nature, and he wasn't exactly the strongest when it came to physical strength.

But nonetheless, he dug away at the rock wall. Even if that weird bastard of a squire had disappeared into thin air, which he still had no idea how he managed to do, they would still probably need back into this room and like hell was he going back in the water. So clearing it was his task, while Alfie collected the others.

As he was recovering from moving the large boulder, a tiny pebble cascaded down the rock pile, an innocuous and unimportant sight, until it hit the ground with the same thunderous boom as the boulder did.

He frowned at that paradoxical sight, tilting his head as he gave the peddle a soft kick, sending it skittering across the ground. With every impact, another thunderous boom echoed out, growing stronger and louder with every new occurrence.

When the pebble finally rolled to a stop, however, the booming crashes continued. The earth trembling beneath his feet like he was in the middle of an earthquake, and which caused the halted pebble to dance and skip in place.

His eyes widened at the realisation of what this truly was and what was causing the dreadful noise. He whirled around and quickly summoning his weapon to face the approaching entity. unknowingly holding his breath as he waited for any kind of horrifying beast to come into view.

Instead, what stormed into his line of sight was a surprisingly gorgeous woman in stunning black armour, the ground shaking with every thunderous footstep she took as she stomped down the corridor. The sight both baffled and amazed him, until he saw the rest of his companions on their beasts, chasing after the strange woman.

He didn't know what exactly was wrong with this woman, but clearly his people were in hot pursuit/ Perhaps even leading her here knowing he would be here to pincer her. Genius, what else would he expect from their wonderful leader.

Quickly stepping into the woman's path, Erik held his sword up in a defensive posture, while also pointing it towards her. He kept an eye on her hands, ready for anything that she could throw at him.

"Halt right there! I said, stop right-"

"Move."

One second he was standing in her path, ready for anything, the next he was implanted in the wall, the steel warping around his body, as he made a cartoonish indentation in the wall. It had happened so fast that, only now after the fact, was he even aware of what happened. And even then he still hardly believed it.

In less than a second the woman had raised her hand, slapped him across the face and, using that slap, caused him to fly across the room like this. A slap... that was it.

As if that wasn't bad enough, his mind nearly shattered when he saw her casually flick her finger towards the pile of debris, the debris that he had been straining himself to clear, and for it to simply explode into a hail of dust, pebbles and destroyed steel.

She never even broke her stride as she stomped past him and utterly annihilated the obstacle that had halted him for so long, every foot step leaving dents in the steel ground. Who the hell was this woman?!

His eyes trailed to the side, looking towards his companions for some kind of assistance, only to have his heart skip a beat from shock again. His eyes widened, pupils trembling slightly, as he saw that not only was their wonderful leader riding tandem with someone else, especially in a way that made her wrap her arms around this other figure, but that it was that disappearing squire.

How did he get there? Did that mean that Nessie was dead? But... But how? Was he in leagues with this strange woman? Why was their leader sitting like that, holding him so casually as if it didn't mean anything?

What was going on?!!

***

As they rid past, Seth winced slightly at Erik's poor state. He was going to warn the guy, but he had leapt into action, and subsequently been batted back out of it, quicker than he was able to speak. It was a valiant effort, but he really needed to learn how to pick his targets better.

Reaching into Astra's saddle bags, he pulled out one of her stash of healing potions, most of them had some on their mounts, and tossed the small bottle towards the stunned knight. Seth himself had only just finished using one, after an 'eventful' conversation with Astra that involved some slight misunderstandings, and some painful consequences for them.

It was good that they had that conversation, however. Not only did it just feel so much better having nothing between them, with everything out in the open, but it made explaining what was going that much easier. Which was essential, when they rode into the newly opened room that held the Heaven's Gate.

But the gate itself was not the most curious sight, instead it was the draconic woman sneering in disdain at the small, lizard-like creature that was currently grovelling at her feet. It's tiny body trembled in fear as she stood with her boot on the back of its head, pushing its face into the dirt.

Literally, it's snout was buried a few inches deep into solid stone and was being pushed deeper as the dragon's irritation grew.

"You failed me you worthless wretch. You can't even serve as a proper snack, never mind an informant. You made me come down here, and did not think to mention that the gate was TORN APART! Now he will never be free! We will never find him!"

She pushed the little lizards head deeper into the stone, shouting and screaming her frustrations. As the event was ongoing, Seth felt Astra lean closer to him, her lips tickling his ear as she whispered softly.

"That little thing is Nugget, right?"

"Mhm."

"Hmm... He's kinda cute, in a weird way."

Seth considered her words before shrugging slightly. He could kind of see it, maybe in the same way some people found a deformed dog cute because it was just so innocent. But Seth also had the feeling that he would be prone to the leg humping habits of certain dogs too.

He had no proof of it, but it definitely gave the vibes. Despite that, Seth couldn't help but feel bad for the little guy and finally decided to speak up.

"You know, they probably aren't destroyed. The government probably just took them away to study them. Considering they were still in the process of doing so, I kinda have a feeling that they were being stashed in the city nearby before they were all transported somewhere nearby."

The Dragon narrowed her eyes at him, lifting her foot from the back of Nuggets head and finally letting him remove his head from the stone, where he could breathe once again. She gave him an irritated glare, staring at him as if she was trying to melt him with her mind. She very well could have been, or she might have been able to do so if she truly tried.

But he remained unmelted as she clicked her tongue in annoyance.

"What makes you so sure of that Worm?"

"Just a little hunch."

He said, giving her a cocky and knowing smile. At the same time, his ear twitched slightly as someone else spoke to him. The voice didn't come any of the people in the room, however. In fact it wasn't from anyone nearby. Instead it was a voice that he could hear clear as day from dozens of miles away.

"Are you pleased with the report, my Lord?"

Corvus raised his head and looked at the figure kneeling before him. He was currently sitting in the castle of Ravenkeep, lounging in a regal and ancient chair that came from the previous occupants of said castle while various papers were laid out before him on the desk.

On the other side of the desk, Tiff was kneeling with a wide smile on her face, her cheeks red with blush. She held a hand to her chest, a hand that was strangely covered in rag wraps as she clutched a small pendant tight in her fist.

The collar that controlled her was still tight around her throat, but it hadn't been necassary for a while.

Glancing down at the documents again, Corvus picked up a particular report. It detailed the movements of one Ophelia Quinn, giving him details of her last known whereabouts and the reported sightings of someone matching her description.

The part that drew his eye was the various pictures added with the documents, printed with the combination of communication and Knowledge gifts. Some of the pictures showed Ophelia, snaps from random pictures taken by others and stills from videos that she appeared in.

But despite all of the information on his sister, Seth's eye was inadvertently drawn to a picture from the beginning of the troubled times. A picture showing his old pal Lucifer, otherwise known as the Lightbringer, and a strange looking metallic object that was half covered by a military tarp. A metallic block with a mystical rune carved on one of its faces.

"Oh yes, Very Pleased."