Zaka was not one to stay down. Even though Ares had tossed her aside with ease across the way, she leapt up onto her feet and went feral. Then she charged Ares in her bestial form, her body now thinner and longer than it was before, though her scales seemed to lock together to form armour.

She was upon him within a moment, but Ares clashed with her using his spear. She continued to claw at him, to try and tear him apart, yet Ares managed to keep her at bay with his spear, barely. She was strong and quick, she was also far more experienced than he was.

He almost cursed himself for not having the mythril blade that he had returned to Peros, for he had been so much more skilled with it for some reason. He summoned a blade into his hand to see if he was able to fend her off better, but even then she was too much for him.

Ares pulled away after a harsh swipe from her, leaping backwards, but again she was upon him.

‘God damn it,’ he thought. ‘You need some time alone!’

He then reached over to grab her arm, though her other talons tore against his cheek, causing a bit of blood to fly out. Then he spun on a heel and tossed her over his side, throwing her many metres away, even though she struck his side with a heavy blow using her tail.

She landed many metres away, though quickly spun to try and find Ares to attack him. Unfortunately all she found were several blades whizzing through the air towards her.

She dropped down, but Ares was already upon her, this time taking the initiative. He stepped forward and then slashed at her, though it was just a glancing blow. Almost immediately Ares realised he had fucked up.

She had taken the moment to rend through his side, piercing even through his armour from the side. Ares winced as blood flowed out, though quickly concentrated on trying to regenerate. Since his mind was occupied, Zaka had taken the advantage again and then tackled him down.

She bit into Ares’ neck and he growled in pain as the hot blood began to pour down his neck. “God damn it!” He tried to kick her off but she had managed to wrap her body around him. He could feel that his body was trying to work in overdrive to try and heal him. He then summoned a spear, though shot it into her back to try to get her to get off of him, but her scales were far too tough for the spear to pierce her.

“What the fuck?” Ares growled in pain and then tried to lift her off him, but she had wrapped around him. Her powerful jaws sunk in deeper.

Now he had nothing else left in his arsenal, or at least that what came through his mind. He inhaled a pained grunt and then his body grew hotter, not just with pain. His body shifted into the phoenix, causing Zaka to stop her assault for a moment in surprise. He rolled so he was on top of her before pecking her neck with his beak, causing her to pull away from him.

The flames of his body were white and gold as they always were, shining bright like a beacon. He spread his wings wide, as if to cover his allies within his shadow.

Zaka had been so surprised she was no longer in her feral form, though did shout out for her allies.

“Eminence Flame! Eminence Flame!”

‘What does that even mean?’ Ares wondered.

It was then the Reptai began to cry out in unison, and they began to all move. All thousands of them began to march and charge their way towards him. The Bitan took the opportunity to strike at the Reptai that had moved, and the largest Reptai with the horns even rode towards him.

‘What the fuck?’

Ares watched as the Reptai charged towards him, every single one of them. ‘What the shit?!’

Ares took to the sky, heading upwards before he circled around the area. He could see the Reptai were following his general movement.

‘Well if it’s like that…’ He wondered just how far they would follow him. He spun around and then flew off, glancing down to see as they all followed him. Some of them remained behind to keep the Bitan at bay.

‘Well… I guess if I can pull them away, that’s good enough for me.’

Ares flew away from the battlefield, leading the Reptai away. He didn’t move too quickly, making it rather obvious he was pulling them away. The Reptai that kept pace with him was the horned one, so he wondered whether he could pull them away from the rest of the pack.

‘Sometimes, man, you’re a god damn genius,’ he thought to himself.

Then he started to speed away, gaining a bit of speed with every few passing moments, then watched as the riding Reptai sped up to match his pace, leaving the others aside. He even turned slightly every so often to lead them through a maze like pattern, trying to coax them to a certain side as he looked out ahead.

‘Now where can I lead you to?’ He continued to look around until he found a spot in the distance, the nearby hills and mountains.

‘Do keep up!’

He then darted forward, heading towards the nearby mountain. He found a place a little high up so they would need to somehow climb up to get to the little ledge he was on.

“I should make it obvious I’m here…”

He then sat down and pulled out a drum and began to play it, even terraforming the place a little so there were some steps, which were quite tall so one would need to hop and jump to the next step.

“Now, come to me little lizard.”