That was the strangest trip he had ever experienced, and see that the last few days were giving him anecdotes to write a book. The sphere descended, leading them to an underground cave that could cover a good portion of the forest.

Small flows of dark, cloudy water didn’t encourage a bath, even less drinking with a firm floor walking around. No matter what led them there, she had to control Ellery from there down. Strange plants generated green light unbecoming of places like this, making that place a little cosy, although not too much.

However, he saw something that stood out in front of all this and a throne made of rocks, polished and stylized. And sitting on top was her, the Sentinel.

Wearing a dark purple robe, almost confused with black, she has a belt of the same colour with bags hanging from it. That elthean had a human form, although its appearance was quite different from that of Finnian. Of tanned skin, with an electric blue hair, that young woman irradiates magic with just her breathing. She was grabbing a small rod and watched them with ill interest.

“You’re the one who has us trapped,” Finnian said.

“I am Lelile, the Queen of this forest.”

Her voice was heard as if she passed through a distorted speaker. Strong, but above all dehumanized. She didn’t even move her lips when she said those words, and when she saw their amazement in understanding what had just happened, a grin was drawn on her face. Could she talk to their minds?

“Tell me, Signer,” he heard again in his head. “How did you get it?”

“What? Get here?” Finnian said.

“You’ve prepared the way for us. Did you wanted it harder?” Aer said.

“How did you make it disobeyed me!”

Would anyone expect the villain to let him enter her house to ask for explanations? By not responding, an echo with that cry sounded again in their heads, although twice as strong as the previous one, getting them to wobble.

“I don’t know what you are talking about!” Finnian exclaimed.

“You’re lying!”

Without them moving, the witch of the forest appeared in a blink in front of him, looking at him with purple eyes sunk in the darkness. For a moment, it seemed like she was going to grab him, but she held back.

“My key!” Lelile shouted. “It chose me. It has always been with me until you arrived!”

“I haven’t done anything! You caught us here,” Finnian said.

“Liar. You have taken it from me!”

With increasing pressure on his head, the presence of the witch tried to penetrate his mind, find out what she thought he had done. Not opening the door and letting it pass, she attacked his mind once again. What thought was forever it lasted a few seconds after he answered her demand, but not the way she wanted to.

“Get out of my head!”

He shouted with all his strength, just when something else happened. A burst of air flooded the cave, forcing Lelile to put some distance between them.

“Did you think Signers were weak?” Aer exclaimed.

Aer took a step forward, and Rune also being joined by Leith without hesitation. Lelile looked at them with contempt from his throne, caressing an old key that seemed nothing magical, somewhat rusty, hanging from his neck.

“You trapped us here,” Rune said, ready to fight.

“We want to leave, no matter what you want,” Leith said, releasing smoke from his nose.

“Do you think you can challenge me? Against the one who has conquered this forest and all its inhabitants!” Lelile said, lifting his arms. “You are not rivals to my power.”

“That’s yet to be seen. Do you think we’ve got here without wanting to fight?” Aer added.

“I will finish you off and retrieve my precious key.”

“Yeah, like you needed it to return home,” Finnian said with irony, tired of wasting more time.

She rose up in the air, lifting without clearing himself, starting what would be the fury of the witch. The rod that was previously on the ground now shone in his hand in a threatening manner, ready to attack.

She trapped the dark water of his environment by creating two rings around her. Drawing a circle in the air, from this sprang water whips that moved like the tentacles of an octopus. Every time they hit the ground, not only did they tremble, but they burned it when they came into contact with it.

“Don’t let it touch you!” Ead shouted from his side.

“Rune, isn’t it time for you to evolve all at once?” Aer said, using a wind sphere to protect them from the witch’s attacks.

“As if it were so easy,” Rune said, throwing his boomerang feathers and cutting two water whips. “Why don’t you try it?”

“Can you get focus and stop talking?” Leith exclaimed.

“You have to help them,” Ead said, fluttering in front of his eyes. “Do something!”

What else did he expect him to do? Were there magicians who knew how to use spells on their second day? But the struggle continued, and it was not that it painted well. Lelile was at another level even when she wasn’t showing the maximum of her power.

“Didn’t she want to destroy us?” Why wasn’t she doing it? Finnian murmured.

His instinct worked at another rhythm. She didn’t even put a hand on him even when she could.

“Don’t let her take a break,” Finnian shouted, “she won’t be able to continue much more like that, not against us.

He didn’t understand everything, but there was something he could only do. He had to believe in the elthean, think that the impossible was possible. His pendant shone more strongly than on the last occasion, flooding the underground cave with its light. Lelile retreated to his throne, at which point something else happened.

Rune radiate light of his own, just as when they were at High Sword. The elthean was transformed, becoming the eagle of brown feathers and black horns that brought them there flying. However, she was not the only one to do so, as Leith did the same. The small dragon ceased to be, acquiring a larger body, similar to that of Rune but bulkier and preserving the same purple scales. She was like a mature version of herself.

“She can’t end us,” Finnian murmured.

“Why do you think that?” Ead said, flying nervously next to him.

“I thought the forest caught us because she wanted it, but also because she lost control of the key,” Finnian said.

“It’s an artefact! It reacted to your arrival, so it stopped obeying her,” Ead said, shining out of emotion.

“Keep fighting; you can defeat her!” Finnian shouted.

With their new look and powers, eagle and dragon didn’t even lift the flight. Rune launched his energy circles, Leith released a flare, striking both against Lelile. A force camp emerged, fragmenting at the very moment when it received both attacks. It was then that the chain broke, and the key was separated from the witch.

“Go back! You are mine! I need you!” Lelile shouted, trying to catch it with her hands.

The key remained in the air, increasing its distance from what was once its possessor. It emitted a light that was initially bleached and then acquired other tones. From yellow to red, followed by blue, pass through the rainbow until reaching black. The darkness around them began to concentrate on the key, absorbing it. That malignant presence also began to leave Lelile’s body, making her scream.

“What’s going on?” Finnian exclaimed.

“That artefact should never have fallen into her hands!” Ead said.

“Will you explain that better to us?” Aer said.

If they could get out of there. The place was changing, the underground cave began to collapse. Lelile continued in front of the key as it took her energy. Her appearance even changed, but they didn’t have time to help her before she vanished. The key stopped emitting that force and also absorbing it, ending up right in Finnian’s hands. It was no longer overflowing by darkness and, instead, transmitted an unusual warmth. However, time was against them. The water had changed, becoming wild after regaining its standard colour, flooding the cavern and threatening to drown them.

Aer and Finnian went up to the Rune’s back, accompanied by Ead, who hid in the hood of his clothes. Eagle and dragon kicked the ground, leaving from there being persecuted for the increasing level of water. Rune was flying hard, but they had fallen further than they imagined, although the worst was not that.

“This is going to narrow!” Rune exclaimed.

How would they not panic while fleeing from being swallowed by water or being crushed by it? Almost reaching them, something made it stop. Aer growled as his eyes glowed, concentrating on preventing them from being engulfed by the fluid element.

“Come on, keep flying!” Aer grunted.

“Grab me!” Finnian shouted.

A surge of energy flowed between them, though not just with Aer. Leith used her brute force to break through them while Rune followed her at close range. Then what they feared most happened.

For the second time, Rune’s evolution was cancelled, recovering its previous size and causing them to fall into a vacuum. Or so he thought until Leith appeared, taking him with one of his claws and Aer and Rune with the other. The water devoured them, causing them to be expelled from the same land and returning them to the sweet and wide exterior.