Spinster: Well met, fellow Upriser's! I hope you ready for another chapter in our tale

Zeo: This one only took him a week to do, though the next one will take significantly longer, as he doesn't wan't to drag out the story for too long

Mariah: Seems like a good idea to me

Rei: Though this probably means he may not update for a while, or he could do it in lightning speed

Tyson: As always, reviews are very much welcomed, you guys are the reason it's gone on as long as it has.

Kai: And remember to enjoy it, and we sure hope you will

Spinster: Will you do the honours Tala?

Tala: Sure, and so our tale continues...


Tala awoke to sound of a bird, tweeting in the tree. Tala sighed, there was nothing more annoying about getting up in the morning. He stood himself up and looked over at his sleeping companions, he decided to do a head count.

"Wait a second" said Tala, realising something. "Someones missing! Did Rei not come back from his walk? Maybe he decided to walk ahead, cut a path out for us. Oh who am I kidding, he would have been back by now to tell us. I must tell the others, we need to go looking for him" just at that moment, Salima woke up.

"Something the matter Tala?" asked Salima, yawning as she stood up straight. She began to look around the area, before she too noticed. "Rei's not back? Oh no, we need to look for him now!"

"Get a hold of yourself, Salima!" shouted Tala, making Salima stop dead in her tracks. "Your no use to anyone in this current state, pull yourself together. Julia knows what path he took, we should try waking her up" he turned around to find she was already standing up, pointing in the direction. "Well, that solves that. We need to hurry, we can't go looking for Rei and head to Wilsmore in enough time. We'll need to split into a team of two, those who will look for Rei and those that will head to Wilsmore"

"Well, it's a given that I'm going to look for Rei. So, prehaps Tyson could join me" said Salima, observing the path. "Prehaps someone else could join us?"

"I will" said Mariam from out of nowhere. "I have a terrible feeling in my heart that I caused him to leave, I wan't to fix it" she pleaded, hoping someone would agree. Salima looked wide eyed at Tala, hoping he wasn't gonna let her go through with this.

"Well, I won't stop you Mariam. You can help Salima and Tyson look for Rei. Myself and the others will go to Wilsmore" said Tala, going to awake the others. "And before you start moaning Salima, you'll need all the help you get. So stop with your paranoia and find Rei"


Raul awoke from his sleep, noticing already that he nowhere near the fortress, but on a soft comfortable mattress. He was facing the wall and he decided to roll over, when he did, he saw a pinkette sat in front of the bed, looking at him.

"Are you alright?" she asked. "You sustained some pretty bad wounds during your battle with Boris, you would have surely died had you not seen a healer"

"Yeah, I'm okay now. Who are you, and what happened to Boris?" Raul questioned, forcing himself to sit up right. "Did King stop him?"

"To answer your first question, I am Mathilda. An angel healer from Eternia. And to answer your second question, Boris escaped to Cosivo and has crossed the Mighty Sea. But do not dispair, Raul, Zeo Zagart rescued you and his men are patrolling the Cosivo docks. If he should return, he will surely die"

"I just hope Ozuma is understanding of this" sighed Raul in defeat. He then checked his body, he had a load of bandages across his torso and his arms, including one over his eye. "Heh, I guess Boris got me pretty good then huh?" joked Raul.

"One more strike and he would have killed you, so your lucky to be alive, Raul" answered Mathilda, before motioning towards the door. "Your friends are outside, Raul. If you wanna see them"

"Thanks, Mathilda, for all your help in healing me. I really appreciate it" smiled Raul, forcing himself to his feet. "Good thing he didn't do my legs though" he added as he walked outside. The sun was bright and shining like a beacon for all things good, not a fortunate thing for Raul however, as it nearly blinded him on his way out. He then spotted Ozuma nearby with Zeo.

"I see your still alive then, Raul?" smirked Ozuma, standing up. "You did your best, and now thanks to you, King and Zeo, we have driven Boris from Ceril over the Mighty Sea. In a few short days, the battle for Ceril will begin. Joseph has reported to me that he has seen the mage army from Dunamis heading towards Dinsmir, and the Kjori Blades arrived just this morning, rather early in the morning might I add. I got a message from Mariam via the crystal ball, the Exidoian's should be here by tomorrow and they will be back within the next two days"

"I guess we have the numbers on our side if Tala can win over Wilsmore" said Zeo, adding himself to the conversation. "You remember the war King Kai started with Wilsmore, I heard from a soldier who returned that the Wilsmore soldiers drove them all the back to the Cerilian border. They are very good at counter attacks and brute strength it seems, and I think they will definately aid us"

"Right, I think we need to head back to Dinsmir, discuss the coming battle" said Raul, who then turned around to see Mathilda standing before him. "I think you should come with us, Mathilda. You'll help provide us that healing edge we'll so desperately need"

"I guess I could join you in your mission, glad to be of service" said Mathilda, bowing respectfully to Raul.

"Let's not waste any time" Zeo added. "Let's go back to Dinsmir to discuss the battle plans"


Mariam, Salima and Tyson watched the others depart to Wilsmore. Kane deliberatly stomped his way through the forest, making sure that Salima and the others knew the way out when they had rescued Rei. They then began to follow the path Julia pointed out the night before.

"I wonder where he could be?" Mariam spoke up after a while of awkward silence. "It's not like he'd drop off the face of the earth" They eventually came across at large blade stuck in the ground. "The Driger blade!" Mariam gasped, running towards it. "He's left his blade behind. Or someone must have got him!" Mariam then pulled it out of the ground and fastened it to her belt.

"Well, it's your fault Mariam. If you didn't throw yourself at my Rei like that, we'd all be headed to Wilsmore" said Salima through gritted teeth, with such venom that a snake would be terrified.

"Your Rei? Uh, Salima, I think you find Rei belongs to himself. He's not your pet, he's not your slave. And while were spilling out the truths, your extremely self-centered and chicken shit of a fight. Yet your helping us save the world? If you wanna save the world, grow a pair will you?" Mariam shouted back at Salima, with equal venom too. Poor Tyson stood there, not knowing what to say or do.

"Shut up Mariam, just shut up. If I had my wish, you wouldn't be coming with me to look for Rei. Face it, he doesn't love you, he loves me. That's a fact you better get used to, like or not, he's mine!"

"There you go again, he's not a trophy Salima. He's not some prized treasure from a far off land, or even the key to all knowledge in the universe. He's a human being, just like you and me. So get off your high horse and live in reality, you have a lack of confidence in yourself, then why the bloody hell are you here! You have no belief in yourself, which is proof enough that you should be nowhere near a battlefield"

"How dare you question my confidence Mariam. Just because I don't have an over-inflated ego like you, doesn't mean I'm gonna change for you at all!"

"Now look who's talking a load off-"

"Shut the fuck up the pair of you!" Tyson screamed, silencing the the two. "We have the true king of Ceril lost in the woods defenceless, you two can argue later!" Tyson's outburst stunned the girls, who just stared at him, then looked at each before looking away in disgust.

"Let's just get a move on" sighed Mariam, walking ahead. "Oh, I do hope he's alright"

They continued to walk onwards, Tyson broke branches off of the trees and placed them in an "x" shape on the ground so they knew the way back. They eventually came to the mouth of a large cave, this cave looked deadly and scary, with numerous skeletons lying all around the entrance.

"A-are you sure about this?" questioned Salima, a worried look plastered on her face.

"Oh stop being such a coward Salima, if you wan't, you can stay out here while me and Tyson rescue Rei" Mariam fired back, seeing Salima's facial expression change from fear to anger. "That's what I thought" she added, smirking. She then grabbed a long branch, lit a match and set the branch on fire and proceeded inside, with Tyson and Salima following.

The cave itself was dark and dingy, with remnants of body parts lying about the floor and the walls. Mariam pulled out her sword, prepared for any attack that could come from the cave. Salima walked through in the middle of the group, shaking rapidly at what could be inside this cave. Tyson however, was at the back, continuously looking over his shoulder just incase they were attacked from behind. They continued to walk through the cave, not coming face to face with anything at all. Eventually, they heard something up ahead, so they ran towards the sounds direction. They came to the end of the cave to find Rei, almost out cold, clutching against a rock to keep himself on his feet. He looked like he'd been in a fight, and lost, with blood around him. But it was not the blood of his enemies, it was his own.

"Rei!" shouted Mariam, running forward to catch Rei as he fell. "Are you alright?" she asked, helping him stand up straight. "We were so worried about you, ain't that right guys?" Tyson nodded firmly, while Salima refused to looking in Mariam's general direction. Which, in Rei's mind, made it look like Salima didn't care.

"Well, I'm glad at least two out of three care that I'm still alive" spat Rei, glaring daggers at Salima when she turned to face him. "I take it that Tala and the others have gone on ahead then?" he added, sighing with frustration when Salima gave no response.

"They have, Rei" said Mariam, breaking the silence. "But don't worry, Kane has left a trail for us to follow so we can catch up to them" she added smiling. "I'm just so glad your still alive" she then gave him a large hug as tears trickled down her face. When she pulled away, Rei noticed the tears. "I'm so sorry, it's all my fault"

"Don't be" said Rei softly, wiping the tears out of her eyes. "It's my fault were in this cave, I heard something coming and I thought I could fight it off and keep you all safe. But it beat me down, that's the last time I ever take on a stone giant on my own"

"A stone giant!" Mariam gasped with horror. "It's still in here isn't it?" Rei only nodded, which made her worry more. "We need to get out of here now!"

"Haha" laughed Salima, pointing at Mariam as well. "Now who's the coward, Eh Mariam? This is just rich!"

"Shut up you!" suprisingly, that didn't come from Mariam. It came from Rei! "You caused enough damage already, lets just get the hell out of here" Rei and Mariam turned to run, but found the stone giant already awaiting them.

"Rest up Rei" said Mariam softly, helping him sit down. "Your in no shape at all to fight, don't worry, we'll be free and clear before you know it" she added, giving him a warm smile before turning around to fight the stone giant with Salima and Tyson.

The stone giant charged itself at the three of them from the start, with them only just moving out of the way. Salima recklessly attacked the stone giant, causing no damage whatsoever. This however, angered the stone giant. Who, in return, struck Salima with a vicious punch, making her fly backwards and crash against a wall.

Mariam summoned a great wave to attack the stone giant, it also caused no damage. Mariam began to panic, noticing that every attack made on this monster caused no damage. She then thought quickly through her mind, whilst moving away from the stone giants attacks. She then thought of an idea that may grant them victory.

"Tyson!" she shouted, running towards him. "Use your wind magic, target his hands. That way, he can no longer attack us and you can finish him off with your magic"

Tyson looked at her, wondering if this plan would work. It might not, but it was their only hope of victory. Tyson then nodded and ran towards the stone giant, he began to spin his katana at a blinding pace before slashing the air in front of him with force. The wind generated from his katana flew diagonally towards the stone giant, the force went through it's shoulder, slicing it's right arm clean off, dropping to the ground. Noticing the breakthrough, Tyson repeated the process once again, this time destroying the left arm. The stone giant continued to attack, attempting to trample Tyson to death. Tyson, however, was too quick and moved before it had the chance. Using another wind slash, he took out one of the legs. As the stone giant fell down onto it's one remaining knee, Tyson took advantage, running up the knee and jumping high into the air and struck the giant's head as hard as his arms and sword would let him. Tyson landed on the floor and rolled towards the exit, where Mariam and Rei where already standing as they watched the stone giants head roll off it's shoulders and crash hard into the floor.

"Tyson, you did it!" smiled Rei happily. "I think this is the first time in history a non-angel has defeated a stone giant single handedly, you should be proud of yourself" he then turned to Mariam, who was looking at the ground. "You should be proud of yourself too, Mariam. Your quick thinking saved us back there, we'd all be dead without you" he then looked around and noticed Salima wasn't there. He turned towards where the cave entrance was to see Salima, with a maniacal grin on her face.

"Die Mariam, you bitch!" she screamed, slamming her staff into the ground. This caused the ground to shake, and the cave itself began to collapse. Tyson and Mariam helped Rei out of the cave, narrowly avoiding falling rocks until, at last, they exited the cave.

"She's gone!" gasped Tyson. "She's vanished into thin air, how is this possible? She wields black magic? Or is she just a very fast runner? No, scratch that last part, no one could run that fast"

"That's not important right now" said Rei, walking forwards with Mariam holding his arm so he didn't fall. "But we need to find her, I'd like to have a word with her"


Meanwhile, Tala and the others had finally reached the end of the forest. Upon the exit they came upon the sight of green fields, with many farms and a large tavern in the midst of them.

"Ah, here are" said Kane, smiling while slowly twirling his staff behind him. "This is the farmland on the edge of the border, this place is called Heura. We can find out some information on goings on in the tavern, I reccomend we give it a go"

It was a short walk to the tavern, once they opened the front door, they only found a few people inside. One person that caught the groups interest was a small man, about 5ft 8, with a cloak on with the hood up over his head and past his face, giving him a mysterious look. A long, yellow staff with a curved blade on the end stood up right next to him. Tala left the group and stood next to him.

"Your not from around these parts, are you?" he said, sounding much like a teenager than a man. Tala only nodded at the comment. "I could tell, you have that sort of look about you, familiar to Cerilian people"

"I am the former captain of Ceril, Tala Valkov. I'm leading an uprising against the king of Ceril, Kai Hiwatari. I was wondering if you could help me, I'm looking for a fast way to get to Tinevelo, and information from the capital"

"You wan't information?" asked the hooded person, tala nodded once again. "Heh, them I'm your man" he then whipped his hood back to reveal he was infact a teenager, with green hair with a small ponytail at the back. "Kevin's the name, invite your friends over here. Don't worry, I ain't gonna kill someone who hates Kai's guts" The others then came over to listen to what Kevin had to say. "Well basically, Wilsmore is gathering a huge army to counter attack the Ceril assault on the Flat Plains. They have already heard of your plans to take him down, and were planning to take a company east towards Ceril to meet you. Don't worry, I can get you guys to Tinevelo before this afternoon even hits"

As soon as Kevin finished his sentence, Salima walked through the door.

"Bloody hell, Salima" said Mystel, leaning over Mariah's shoulder to see. "How on earth did you get here so fast?"

"Oh... uh... uh, I ran. The others are just outside, we found Rei rather quickly... he was delusional, so Tyson is keeping him company" answered Salima, in a freaked out, paranoid tone as she sat down on the nearest stool she could find.

"I smell bullshit" said Kevin, turning to face Salima's direction. "There's no way you and the others could of made it through that forest so quickly"

"Oh yes it is possible" Salima spat back at Kevin, the two went back and forth for about half an hour until a battered Rei, arms covered in bandages, was carried into the tavern by Mariam and Tyson.

"Rei, are you alright?" asked Salima with fake worry, which earned her a shove from Mariam.

"What the hell is wrong with you? You mocked me out there, insulted me, offended Rei, and to top it all off, you tried to kill us!" Mariam spat, grabbing Salima by the neck of the robes.

"Well, how did you guys get here so fast?" Salima fired back, hissing at Mariam like a snake.

"A few soldiers escorted us here whilst they were out scouting for any undead activity" said Tyson, walking forwards while still supporting Rei. "You left us to fight that stone giant ourselves, then tried to collapse the cave itself so that we would die. No one does that to a friend!"

"I don't know what's gotten into you Salima, but your turning into a demon in your own right" said Rei, forcing himself to look up at Salima. "Sure, what Mariam did the night before was out of order and totally unexpected, but at least she's been more of a friend to me in these last couple of hours than you are. Your turning into a vile and twisted woman, the woman you swore you would never become"

"Oh, so that makes it alright to defend her, huh?" Salima spat in Rei's direction, pointing the finger at him. "You are so stubborn, stupid and blind to all else that you don't wanna know about"

"Really?" Rei shouted back in fake suprise. "Well I don't know why I bother with you sometimes, your as bad as Kai half the time"

"Well now I wish Kai killed you instead of your family" growled Salima. Everyone gasped in shock, they all looked at Rei, who had tears forming in his eyes.

"Is that what you really think of me? Am I that worthless to you? Fine! it's settled, you and me are done. Your dumped, it's over finished, bye bye see you later" he finished before Salima could answer and left the tavern.

"This is something your parents should have done to you a long time ago" hissed Mariam as she delivered hard slap to the side of Salima's face before going outside to check on Rei.

"I wonder what that was all about?" Kevin thought out loud. "Oh well, it's not my business. Well, in twenty minutes we'll leave. So as we can give those two out there a moment to calm down and take a breather"

"Sounds like a good idea to me" said Julia, sitting down next to Mariah and Mystel, whose eyeballs were focused in an area somewhat lower than Mariah's face. "Pervert" she muttered under her breath.

"Oh, and Tala" Kevin contiuned. "There's something in the city that will interest you, it's called the Wolborg stone. Only ice mages can wield it, allowing the sacred spirit ice wolf, Wolborg, battle alongside you"

"Well, I guess that means you and I can take a little detour to find the stone while Rei deals with striking a deal" smiled Tala, eyes fixed towards the door. "Were coming to the end of Kai's reign thick and fast. Let's make sure it's a downfall to remember


Raul: Well that was a dramatic ending between Rei and Salima

Rei: Yes, very dramatic. Rather harsh words to say too

Tala: So, what can we expect in chapter 13 then?

Zeo: In chapter 13, Rei and the others meet the steward of Wilsmore, Ozuma and the others begin battle plans and Tala obtains the Wolborg Stone

Mariam: Sounds so action packed, I cannot wait!

Rei: Me neither, I hope it's epic

Kai: Remember, rates and reviews are always appreciated

Mariam: That's all we got time for this week, see you soon!

Zeo & Spinster: And keep on fighting on, until the next chapter in our tale begins