Utilizing a piece of flint and striking against his sword, Eliot set a torch ablaze and used it to burn the cords sticking out of the glass bottles. The cords were treated to burn slowly, giving the user some time to prepare.

“All right, now comes the hard part since we’re surround by trees and this mist that makes difficult to see. I need you to toss them away in different directions, around a circle would be the best. Aim high so that they don’t hit a tree trunk to close to us and, considering it’s you, don’t use too much strength when tossing,” said Liza weakly.

Eliot did as he was told and began throwing the bottles away. Some didn’t go far and soon hit a thick branch, exploding in a conflagration of flames. Other bottles only hit small and flexible branches that slowed them down, but did not break them. Those travelled further, but their ultimate end would be all the same.

-

Ben was hidden behind a large tree trunk and breathing roughly. He’d been running and taking cover whenever he could for the past couple minutes, dodging arrows from his concealed assailers. Being hunted in this way that made him helpless to defend or counterattack was taking a burden on his mental fortitude. He took a deep breath and once again rushed from behind his cover. After taking but two steps, he felt an extreme sense of danger. Not hesitating in the slightest, he broke his run and threw himself back behind the tree in an awkward posture. Shortly after, two arrows hit the ground where he was just standing a few seconds prior.

The elves targeting him cursed inwardly. They could see Ben whenever he left cover, but they’d to keep a certain distance or they would be seen in turn. Their only option was to try and encircle him, but whenever they tried to do so, Ben would run to a different tree and block their line of sight once again. There was a moment they thought that he could sense their position, but the erratic and unsightly way that he ran from one place to the next made them sure that he was just trying to remain unpredictable.

“Damn, he’s slippery as a rabbit,” signalled one of the elves.

“The fact that we were done in by his knives doesn’t help either. I can’t draw my bow without my arms trembling. Soon I’ll have no strength left to shoot,” the other gesticulated back.

“Me too. Let’s get him before it happens!”

As their game of cat and mouse continued, a flask zipped through the air and exploded against a nearby tree trunk. Flames burst forth in a small conflagration and settled on the nearby vegetation. Both Ben and his attackers were surprised by this sudden occurrence, but the elves soon began to laugh.

“You guys want to burn Duskwood? Ha, dream on! Just watch as this fire dies on its own without spreading any further.”

“...”

“...”

“Oi, it’s not extinguishing! What’s going on?”

The fire kept burning, ever so slowly. It didn’t fizzle out like the elves were expecting, but it’s rate of expansion was also not that great. However, if left unchecked, it would surely bring about a huge forest fire eventually.

“Forget the rabbit, we need to regroup and figure this out,” signalled one of them.

The other nodded and they retreated. Ben didn’t know of the elves decision and kept running and taking cover for a while before he was sure that his enemies had departed. Once he felt safe, Ben approached the fire with furrowed brows.

[Did Fanu do this? If it becomes a forest fire, forget the elves, we’re going to be cooked alongside them! Is she crazy? Well… she is. Damn, this affected area is too big for me to put out by myself. At the very least it’s burning slowly. Hopefully, this will give us time to get the hell out of here. I need to return to the others. Liza, please be well!]

-

Fang Chu remained in the same predicament as before. Her attackers were experienced and patient, choosing to wear her down instead of rushing for the kill. At some point, she changed her maul for a sword, but the weapon switch did little to alleviate her troubles. Another set of roots restrained her and an arrow was shot towards her center of mass.

“You guys are pissing me off!”

Bluish veins marked her pale face as she broke free from her restraints and rushed forward, dodging the arrow by turning her body slightly sideways. She was halfway through her sprint when a new set of roots and vines constrained her.

[Damn, do I really need to go all out? Eliot probably freed himself as soon as we left and with Boro being able to ignore the terrain, they should’ve finished with things on their side by now. Twenty breaths! If there’s no change in twenty breaths I’ll exhort myself and trash the floor with those bastards!]

As the redhead was analysing the situation, a flask whirled through the air and crashed on the base of a tree near the place they were fighting, creating a small sea of flames. The elves gave the fire a slight glance and ignored it, concentrating their efforts on keeping Fang Chu at bay.

[What was that? Is it another one of Ben’s ideas? I know he’s eccentric, but doesn’t he know how dangerous forest fires are? Though the elves nonchalant attitude towards it is strange.]

The fight kept going as before. After a while, the elves glanced at the fire one more time and noticed it hadn’t diminished in the slightest. Furrowing their brows, they looked at each other and, in a tacit understanding, changed their tactics. The archer increased his firing speed, drowning Fang Chu in a rain of arrows, while the others turned to the fire and started to cast a spell. Due to the barrage of projectiles, Fang Chu had to adopt a defensive stance as she advanced. The shamans soon finished their spell, conjuring a large amount of water that they then dropped over the fire. Instead of dowsing the flames like they were expecting, the fire sizzled and burst, spreading the flames to an even larger area.

“How could this be!”

“It only made it worse!”

“Forget the fire for now, stop her again!”

The shamans obeyed and changed their focus once again to Fang Chu. After a couple more seconds of struggle, the archer put his bow down and glared at the redhead. His arm was now considerably swollen and had a purplish tint to it.

“Restrain her one more time, we’re retreating,” he commanded out loud.

Hearing this, the redhead made an aggrieved look, but inside she was laughing sinisterly. Roots and vines once again raised up from the ground to constrained her. This time however, she didn’t bother trying to dodge them. Instead, she focused her concentration on her ring of holding. This way she would be able to swap weapons as soon as she needed. Since the elves were now familiarized with the time needed for her to break free, they turned their backs toward her without worries and began their retreat. They had but taken two steps when the sound of roots splintering and breaking reached their ears, followed by the crack of a whip.

“What?”

“How could…”

They barely had time to be surprised when one of the shamans had his leg snared by a whip and was pulled back by a monstrous strength. By the time the others turned around, Fang Chu was holding him by the neck and had a knife to his throat. Her face was a bit paler than before and there was a small amount of blood dripping from her left eye, like bloody tears. It made for a rather ghastly appearance.

“Lazul!

“You wench!”

“Now, now… do you really want to do this? If you try anything, I’ll slit his throat, then it will be two against one. You three could barely keep me in check, I’m sure I can take you down if it’s only you two. I won’t even need to break a sweat now that your arm is in that state.”

“What do you want?” asked the leader.

“Nothing much, I’ll only ask this fellow some questions and use him to guarantee our safety. You have my word that I won’t kill him if you don’t try anything funny.”

“Like we could believe the words of a human!” exclaimed the shaman.

“Silence!” the leader interrupted. “What if he refuses to answer your questions?”

“Normally I’d rough him up a bit, but since I don’t want you guys to be jumpy, I promise I won’t torture him. That’s as far as I’m willing to compromise. If it’s no good, I’ll just kill him and capture one of you to interrogate.”

The archer looked at the fire that was spreading ever so slightly and then back at his friend that was captured. Their eyes met. The shaman tried to nod his head, but the blade dug on his skin and prevented him from completing the full gesture.

“Very well, I’ll hold you to your word for now. We’re withdrawing!”

After saying his part, the elf put his fingers in his mouth and gave a loud whistle. He glanced at his captured companion one last time and sighed. Shortly after, he and the other shaman retreated into the mist.

“I don’t care for what you want to know, my mouth is sealed!”

“Right, right. Just shut up for a bit,” said the redhead as she knocked her captive unconscious. “Now let’s tie you up and then return.”

-

“Please your grace, be reasonable! Let us take you to see the elder and I’m sure things can be resolved!” exclaimed the elf as he watched the dragon carefully.

“Oh? Even now, after I’ve killed one of your own?” said Boro as he dived in for an attack.

The elf rolled to the side to avoid the dragon’s sharp teeth and tried to placate Boro once again. “We’re aggrieved, surely, but since you’re from the divine clan and we attacked first, I’m sure a peaceful solution could still be achieved.”

“What about my friends then?”

“Normally, they would be executed. However, since they are your companions, the elder will probably be lenient. I’m positive he’ll only sentence them to life imprisonment for their crimes,” explained the elf in all seriousness.

“Hahaha, how generous!” exclaimed Boro with scathing sarcasm.

“Indeed,” the elf nodded, missing the sarcasm entirely. His complexion remained solemn, like imprisoning these intruders was the most merciful act imaginable.

“You should really die!” roared Boro with rage.

As he said that, one of the bottles randomly thrown by Eliot crashed against the elf’s back, enveloping him in flames. The elf screamed at the top of his lungs and began rolling on the ground. He did his best to put out the fire, but it was to no avail. Eventually, he stopped moving. Boro watched everything a bit slack jawed. He didn’t see the elf being hit by the bottle from where he was hovering. To him, it seemed like the elf spontaneously burst on fire.

“Wow, is that one of my new powers? Strange though, I didn’t feel like I did anything at all.”