Breathing heavily, a human hid behind a tree. The forest around him was deadly quiet, and he felt like his heartbeat could be heard from a kilometer away. Holding a grunt of pain, Drake pulled up his shirt to look at the giant bruise in his stomach and chest. Each intake of air sent sharp pangs of pain through his body. He could feel at least two fractured, and maybe even broken, ribs.

Frainer and Kniivar were nowhere to be seen. Drake was all by himself, and being hunted. He looked at the body laying on the ground next to him. During their scuffle, he had somehow managed to thrust his knife through the woman's neck. Groaning, he pulled the blade from the lifeless corpse, and started walking again.

"Crap..."

Unable to hold back a curse as intense pain assaulted his body, he looked behind him. There was nothing in sight, but he knew they were there, waiting. To think that this all happened because of a simple encounter four days ago...

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It had been just two days since Drake had left the road, and entered the forest, but he had already discovered a few interesting things. The first was that he was on the right path to finding the Cleaners. While it was true that the forest was immense, optimal camping spots weren't that common. Since they were already going in the same direction, it wasn't that odd for Drake to find indices - black spikes, broken and bloody - that the Lapidum scouts had passed the night near one of the rivers of clear water.

As for another thing he discovered, it was that a lot more people had chosen to travel through the forest, mostly those who would risk alerting the authorities if they showed their faces on the main road, or in the cities. When he saw the gangs and criminals, Drake dodged them by a big margin. He was righteous, but not suicidal.

There was one occasion where three outlaws discovered him first, and tried to rob him, however. Unfortunately for them, Drake had Frainer and Kniivar by his side... Needless to say, the criminals didn't meet a good ending.

And lastly, Drake discovered he was far too naive. He had thought that because he had already killed quite a few people, and fought quite a few outlaws, he would be okay hunting down the Cleaners. He was wrong. Very, very wrong.

Somehow, they discovered him. Maybe they had left an Ifere behind, to relay news to them, in case they were being followed. He wasn't too sure, but that seemed probable. It was stupid to think that an elite unit such as the Cleaners wouldn't be contracted to smaller Iferes, perfect for scouting and recon duty.

But, alas, Drake never thought of this possibility. Once more, he was saved by Kniivar's timely reactions. The Ifere made use of the handy skill Wood Realm to bend a tree in front of him, saving Drake from a volley of black spikes.

Shocked, Drake rolled off from his mount, and took cover behind a tree. His eyes scanned the surroundings, but he could see nothing unusual. He also didn't hear any noise or leaves hustling, which meant that unless the Andasites had learned to be much quieter since their last encounter, they weren't pursuing him just yet.

"Hey, kid! Why is a rookie like you following us?!"

Sure enough, a voice echoed through the forest, but Drake couldn't pinpoint from where. He recognized it as the leader of the Cleaners, though. Letting out a dry laugh, he searched for a more defendable position, but found none.

"Would you believe me if I said that I was just passing by?"

"Haha... No."

Any hint of sarcasm vanished from the man's voice. At the same time, Drake noticed some moving shadows surrounding, encircling him. Gesturing for Frainer and Kniivar to spread out, he held his pistols, one in each hand.

"You killed one of my people, and now you are coming after us. Who are you? A soldier?"

"Not quite. More like a temporary sidekick."

"Very funny. I hope all your puns can get you a cozy place in hell."

Drake felt the bullet flying towards him more than he saw it. Cranking his neck to the side, he dodged it, and returned fire. At the same time, several hidden Andasites used Bristle to launch their spikes at him. Having already experienced the pain of being pierced by them once, he wasn't very keen on being hit again. With a grunt, he threw himself on the ground, and rolled.

Seeing the spikes strike the ground just a few centimeters away from him, and bury deep in the soft soil, Drake decided that the Iferes were more dangerous than the humans.

"Frainer, now!"

Sensing that one of the Andasites had drawn closer to him than the others, Drake yelled at his partner to attack. The misty blob glued itself to the Ifere's head, and it immediately crumbled down, much like a puppet which had it's strings cut. Frainer was now older, and therefore much stronger, than when he met the Moontrit. Not only that, but Andasites weren't as powerful as the other death-type Ifere. Frainer's Dreamscape was more than enough to send it into unconsciousness.

Carefully aiming so as to not hit his companion, Drake killed the Ifere. Whether he liked it or not, they are at war now, and he was certain none of the Cleaners would be merciful if they captured him. And, while Drake might not shoot a defenseless human, even an enemy, the Andasite was different. Although he would like to think that he treated humans and Iferes the same way, he knew that wasn't the truth. Proof was that he felt a lot less guilt when killing the creature than he would for a human.

Ignoring the howl of anguish that came from one of the Cleaners, Drake ducked behind another tree. Bullets and spikes hit it, sending splinters flying, but the Lapidum group was more cautious now.

Suddenly, the ground shook. It was almost unnoticeable at first, but it got louder and stronger by the second. And closer too. Whatever it was, it was moving towards him at high speed. Drake risked a peek, and saw smaller trees and bushes getting toppled over, but curiously enough, he couldn't see by what. However, he was sure it wasn't anything good for him.

"Kniivar, see if you can trap whatever is coming our way!"

The Ifere growled in acknowledgment, and manipulated several twigs and roots, but they were all torn apart almost immediately. When Drake finally saw what was attacking them, he couldn't help but curse. It was a Rugoan.

One shouldn't mistake void-type Iferes for weaklings. While they weren't attuned to any element, that didn't make them any less fearsome than the other types of Iferes. In fact, having to survive in a world where their predators, preys, and competitors could control fire, water, lightning, and even space itself, void-type Iferes had evolved to have extremely tough bodies.

Rugoans were small, barely reaching Drake's knee, but that didn't make them any less of a killing machine. Their skills were all centered around strengthening their bodies. Running Start - which let an Ifere gain more and more momentum as they ran - and Impact - which gave the user a speed boost, and helped them concentrate all their strength in a single point - were two such skills, and the Rugoan was using both of them right now.

If he had to guess, Drake would say that the Rugoan was the one who discovered him. They were small, fast, and sneaky - when they wanted. Drake had never paid much attention to them, since his focus had always been on space and spirit-type Iferes, but today he discovered something about Rugoans. They were terrifying.

Drake barely managed to dodge the creature as it zoomed past him. Luckily, after Impact was used, it became difficult for the user to change directions midway. Still, focused as he was on the Ifere, he didn't notice a bullet coming straight for him - the Cleaners had never stopped firing. He grunted as the projectile grazed his arm, leaving a bloody - but luckily not very deep - gash.

"Kniivar!"

Deciding that the Rugoan, which was now turning around, was a more immediate threat, Drake yelled for his companion to make a move. Vines and roots extended from the ground, and tied it's legs. Unfortunately, a single bite from it's sharp beak was enough to cut through them. However, that gave Kniivar enough time to jump on top of it, and use Poison Claw.

That was the first time Drake had seen the skill in action. Kniivar's front paws glowed with a dark green light as they were coated by a viscous liquid. Slashing with both paws, Drake's companion sunk it's claws on Rugoan's back. The blood that oozed out from the wound almost instantly turned black.

The Rugoan let out a pained cry, and twisted it's head around to snap at Kniivar, who was forced to jump off it's back. The Ifere slowed down, and wobbled as the venom started taking effect. Kniivar was too young for Poison Claw to be deadly, but it was more than enough to weaken Rugoan.

Not one to leave a job unfinished, Drake aimed at the Ifere, and pressed the trigger. The small bird-like creature, however, managed to avoid the shot, and charged at Drake in a last-ditch effort. If it wasn't for the fact that the Rugoan was trying to kill him, Drake probably would have admired it's tenacity.

Unfortunately for the Ifere, if Drake managed to dodge it when it was at full-strength earlier, there was no way he would be hit now. When the Rugoan ran past him one last time, Drake put it out of it's misery.

Almost at the same time, another two bullets flew past his head, leaving his ears ringing. Spotting the one who shot them, a Cleaner clad in black vests, he returned fire. His first projectile tore a hole on the scout's neck, and the second hit her chest squarely. Without a sound, she fell down.

Feeling a dangerous sensation coming from behind him, Drake once more ducked down, and several spikes flew over him. However, at the same time Frainer used Telekinesis to lift a struggling Andasite, and Kniivar used Uproot to send it flying. The Ifere crashed through leaves and branches, and finally stopped a good twenty meters away, where it fell to the ground immobile.

Suddenly, a loud whimper of pain caught Drake's attention. He knew all too well who had let it out. Snapping his head around, he saw Kniivar's front left leg covered in blood. Wordlessly, he ran to pick up his companion, completely uncaring for the bullets flying around him.

"Hey, hey... Don't worry, let me see it."

Drake was calm. Oddly calm. When he saw Kniivar getting hurt, he didn't panic like he thought he would, neither did he lose his mind. He knew it wouldn't help Kniivar. However, at the same time, he couldn't help but feel hatred seething inside him. He managed to suppress it, but he didn't know for how long.

Carefully examining Kniivar, he saw that the wound was nothing much. Just a shallow cut that it would barely affect her mobility. He knew he was fussing over nothing, but he couldn't help it. After making sure his companion was really okay, Drake finally remembered he was being shot at.

For the first time, he got angry at the Cleaners. Up till now, even though they were trying to murder him, he had just considered them some dangerous people that needed to be stopped before they caused more damage. Now, however...

A bullet flew past him, leaving a gash on his cheek. Drake ignored it, and returned fire, killing another one of the Lapidum scouts. Soon after, a third Andasite fell, heavily wounded. The more serious and angrier Drake got, the better his aim became. He didn't care if he was injured, but nobody - nobody - touched his companions.

However, just as he was searching for another target, his attackers stopped due to a silent order from their leader. Drake, angry as he was, hadn't lost his rationality, so he took the chance to examine his wounds. As for Kniivar, Frainer was looking after her.

The cuts he had received were nothing much, and blood had already stopped flowing out of them. His pain tolerance had increased a lot in the last few weeks, so he wasn't bothered by the wounds. He was more curious as to why the enemies had halted their attack. The answer to that question came soon enough.

"You there! This is starting to become too costly to us. What do you say we have a truce?"