Ares landed down in front of Zika and her few guards that had come with her. He shifted back into a human and then stretched his neck. He looked to Zika with his brows raised.

“Well everything has gone to shit,” Ares said as he reached up to rub his brow. “The Bitan aren’t really interested in talking.” He sighed and then looked up at her. “So uh… that plan is pretty much done.”

“What is the issue?”

“Well the Bitan have decided to betray me, but that’s how life is.” Ares shrugged and then looked to the small group of Reptai. “I’m very sorry for having you come here and wasting your time.”

“It is no issue, Ares.” Zika glanced around and then hissed out. “We should return then.”

“Alright…” Ares sighed as he followed them back. Ares continued to worry about his own people. “I need to return to retrieve my allies.”

“Your allies?” Zika asked.

“I came with a few of my allies, and a few others. We were exploring the land from Dragon’s Spine.”

“Do you need some assistance with retrieving your allies? Are they with the Bitan?”

“I’ll be fine. I’ll just fly over and then go through to the city to get them back. I’ll be able to fly there quicker than we can ride there…” Ares thought about just how heavy his mind felt. He didn’t have much in him, but he’d need to get to them quickly. He wasn’t sure if it was a good idea, but he cracked his neck.

“I should head away now,” Ares said.

“Is there a place you wish to meet after?” Zika asked.

Ares furrowed his brows in thought. “Is there somewhere that is safe for us to meet?”

“There is the mountain pass that we could use to protect ourselves. It was once used many generations ago when we were attacked.”

“Where is it?”

Once Ares was informed of the location of the pass, he leapt up and then flew in his phoenix form. He backtracked where he had come from, first near the battlefield.

He saw Stah’O and his people, and it seemed as though Stah’O wished to speak with him. Unfortunately Ares wasn’t in the position to land down and talk since he was feeling so weak. He made a mental note to take some time off to practise with the lightning ring as well as his innate powers of water control so that he could use them effortlessly. He hadn’t yet mastered his phoenix form either, but he had quite the handle on it.

Ares flew as quickly as he possibly could in order to leave a large distance between the Bitan and himself so when he retrieved his allies he could easily go around the giant army. He wasn’t so confident in protecting each of his allies if it came to fighting the Bitan.

Ares flew for as long as he could, managing to arrive at the lake. Unfortunately he had pushed himself too much and had passed out directly above it.

When he came to he was gasping for air, feeling as though he had drowned. He looked around himself to see the Bitan. He glanced around between them before then looking out. Yet he did not see the area he had expected. There was a large lake, but that was all that was the same. The rest was quite open and it was all so… green. So much fauna, foliage, just so much greenery around him.

Ares was trying to figure out just where he was, before an older Bitan walked over to him. She had wrinkles all over the place, like someone painted her face with a wrinkle brush.

“What the fuck?” Ares asked. He sat up and looked down at the rather warm, thick duvet made of… something meaty? He tossed it aside and then rolled and got onto his feet.

“Please be careful,” the older Bitan said. “You are Ares, are you not?”

“How do you know my name?”

“We had been told by the water,” she said as she motioned to the lake. “Our Sheis has asked us to help you.”

“Your Sheis? Rivee?”

“No, Rivee is not our Sheis.”

“So uh… who are you?”

“We are the Bikan, those abandoned by our cousins.”

“That sucks to hear…” Ares ran his fingers through his hair. “Your cousins?” He asked as he cocked his head to one side in thought. “The Bitan?”

“That is so.”

“You were abandoned by them?”

“Many generations ago, we had been exiled.”

“Why?”

“We had tried to move into the world to protect the Sheis’ shrines, but we had been given to another to help them.”

“Who?”

“You have met our Light-Sheis.”

“Light?… Peros?”

“It is so.”

“Oh.”

“We have been told by Rivee of who you are, and what you are to Peros. Rivee sent you to us.”

“Why?”

“We are uncertain. You had fallen into the lake and have been sent to us.” She shrugged.

“I see…” Ares tried to figure it out. Perhaps his presence would have caused alarm? Or was there something else? Ares walked over to the lake and then placed a hand inside. “Is it alright for me to get my allies?”

The water rippled once. Ares assumed that it was fine. He turned to face the Bikan. “I thank you for your aid, but I must be leaving.”

The older woman bowed her head. “It is well.”

Ares stared at the people. There were a couple of thousand or so, and they seemed to live in huts. Yet he could see nowhere else they could have gone to.

“Are you stuck here?”

“It is so.”

“By choice?”

“In some ways.”

“Huh… I know Peros is off doing some work in the North. If you’d like you can come to Rivea and wait for him there.”

“We shall remain here. It is our task.”

“Your task?”

“To protect the kin of Peros-sheis.”

“You what?”