Noah entered the forest, stopping to look around him. The injured grey mastiff was falling further behind as Noah ran. Dogfighter Darren still hadn’t moved. It was too optimistic to believe that the tarnished old lantern had killed him. Noah had lost sight of Lyn and the other hunting dogs among the trees. He heard barking coming from a different direction from where he had been considering to go. He didn’t hesitate as he began to run after them, ignoring the ache in his knee.

A short distance into the woods, he discovered the remains of the unfortunate fawn. He couldn’t just ignore it as it lay on the leaf litter in a mangled heap, pitifully. Noah activated his [Earth Manipulation+2] ability, causing the ground to open up to swallow the fawn and lay it to rest. He spared the bare dirt one last glance as he continued to pursue the sounds of barking.

Noah came to a small clearing. The first thing he saw was the two hunting dogs snapping at something backed against a tree. He hefted his axe, charging toward the dogs while activating his [Six Spirit Arms] ability. The ethereal arms appeared in a flash of light, alerting the dogs. The black mastiff barked an order at the brown dog, which turned to circle the approaching threat.

Noah could now see that it was Lyn who was backed against the tree in front of the black mastiff. He was sprawled in a seated position with his knees pulled to his chest as he awkwardly aimed his bow at the large dog. There was blood coming from his pant leg. The dogs had prevented him from climbing the tree by biting his leg and dragging him down.

“Get away from him!” Noah shouted as he ignored the circling brown mastiff.

Noah swung the axe with all his strength toward the black mastiff. It leapt agilely out of the way as the axe almost grazed it to embed itself in the thick tree Lyn leaned against in a shower of splinters. The tree trunk was large enough to require two adult men to wrap their arms around it, but Noah’s axe chopped into it with little resistance. White-light flared as a crack spread through the tree’s bark with a splintering sound. Noah reached down with his ethereal arms to pull Lyn onto his back as he dodged a lunge from the brown mastiff, backhanding it away with the butt of the axe.

A creaking sound came from the trunk as the tree began to topple. Noah wasted no time as he began to run while the pair of dogs was forced to avoid the tree crashing down. The dogs split in opposite directions as they ran around the obstacle in their path to pursue the duo. He transferred the axe to his spirit arms while gripping hold of Lyn with his real arms. A pair of the ethereal arms folded backward to become a harness across the boy’s chest. Noah held Lyn’s legs as they fled, leaving only one pair of his spirit arms free. They were running uphill.

Lyn awkwardly twisted his body as he drew his bowstring back in an attempt to shoot at the black mastiff. Its scar-covered face didn’t even flinch as the projectile flew overhead. The arrow embedded itself in a branch, momentarily distracting the dog as blue-lifeforce spread outward through a pair of surrounding trees. The white-lifeforce of the two trees was overwhelmed. Noah had lost sight of the brown mastiff, but the black one was almost upon them. Suddenly, a tree root raised itself from the ground to trip the black mastiff into a tumbling heap. Simultaneously, Noah was alerted by his [Battle Instinct] ability as he glanced behind after hearing the black mastiff’s fall. The brown mastiff was leaping towards his exposed throat. A tree branch snapped downward to slap the airborne dog onto the ground while entangling it.

“Good job!” Noah praised.

***

Noah suddenly stopped running despite the danger close behind them. In front of them was a grass field located on the edge of a cliff. The meadow was shimmering with yellow-lifeforce in the breeze. Noah recognized where they were. He had seen it from the fishing trawler’s deck. It was the grass that could turn into flames.

“Noah, why did you stop? The dogs have almost caught us!” Lyn shouted.

Noah bent down to pick up a stick from the ground, throwing it into the shimmering, otherworldly field. A wave of yellow-lifeforce spread through the grass as it became engulfed in flames. A short time later, the fire subsided as the grass returned to normal. The charred remains of the branch continued to burn as Lyn watched in stunned silence. The dogs arrived while they deliberated on what to do next.

The three mastiffs skulked out of the woods, spreading outward in a pincer formation. The injured grey mastiff had reunited with its companions after their delay from Lyn’s [Parasitic Flora Control] ability. The brown mastiff got extremely close to the meadow before approaching the pair of humans. Noah turned to face the three dogs, placing Lyn away from them. Noah suddenly realized something like a plan formulated in his mind.

“Can you control the grass to prevent it from using its ability? We’re going to have to run or fight. My knee is injured, and you can’t stand on that leg, so that decides it for us,” Noah asked the boy.

“I can try… my [Flora Manipulation] ability wasn’t able to in the garden, but it’s evolved now. So I might be able to,” Lyn replied with uncertainty.

“Good. I trust you. Do it now,” Noah said as he began slowly backing toward the shimmering meadow.

Noah didn’t look down as he maintained eye contact with the black mastiff. Any sudden movements could trigger them into attacking before Noah was ready. Grass parted around his body as he edged into the meadow. His nerves were on end, but couldn’t spare any attention to the grass as beads of sweat trailed down his face. He could only trust that Lyn had it under control.