Orchid, Travis, and Keinath marched forward through the grassy field with the base of the mountain range just below the horizon. Gilligan and Orobus were paired up and marching way out on their right flank while Seravis and Carder were covering the left.
"I hope that we are spread out enough to catch the Demon, but not too spread so we can regroup when one of us finds them." Said Keinath as he stretched.
"What do you think we should expect of this Demon?" Orchid asked.
"We should be ready for anything, honestly." The elf boy answered. "And since we know their Attribute is Dark and they've been witnessed utilizing Fire-based Monsters, we should be prepared for a good fight."
"What if it turns out they really are a Master Duelist? What do we do then?" Orchid pressed. Keinath could see her fists clenching tighter.
"We should prioritize regrouping with the others first. If we can't take them down then, then we'll need to make sure they don't go any further into the country."
"Hey guys, I just thought of something. Do we know when that man from the Light Country came to the King and Queen to warn us about the Demon?" Travis asked as he hovered above the two elves, flapping his wings with great power.
"They have a special outpost built so they can teleport to them from another similar outpost in their own country. They came to us this morning from what I understand so I'm sure that's when the Demon appeared. Why do you ask?" Keinath questioned.
"Well, if they do plan to go through the mountains, wouldn't that mean they have something that could help them get through them?" Travis said, then shuddered as he spoke again. "Like a dragon?"
"The people and creatures of the Dark attribute are clever, cunning, and conniving, so I'm certain they'll have found some method of traversing the mountains, however, I doubt they would have such a powerful beast, even for a demon." Keinath reassured Travis. He knew the harpie was afraid of dragons because he and his kind were often hunted down by them.
Just then, a high-pitched whistling sound could be heard across the fields. The trio looked to their left to see a red-colored flame rising into the sky.
"That's Seravis and Carder! They found the Demon!" Keinath said and began running towards the light. "We need to hurry!"
Orchid and Travis quickly caught up as they ran and flew as fast as they could.
"I'll scout ahead!" Travis said as he flapped his wings even harder and tore through the sky to catch up to his comrades.
Orchid suddenly felt something strong within her chest causing her to stop dead in her tracks.
"Orchid! Are you alright?" Keinath shouted as he stopped.
"I-I'm fine… I'll catch up with you in a minute. Just go." She demanded.
Hesitant, Keinath turned back to the direction Seravis and Carder were. "Please hurry!" He said, then took off.
"Young! I know you can hear me! What's going on?!" Orchid thought-shouted. She then heard him sigh.
"I am sorry once more. It would seem that you could feel my emotions again. It is difficult to suppress them so that you are not affected by them." Young apologized.
"I don't care about that. I wanna know what this feeling is and why you're feeling it so much. That's what I wanna know and now!" Orchid demanded.
"It is complicated, but some of it is pain and lose."
"Pain and lose? From what?"
"I cannot tell you. Not now at least. Not until I know for certain."
Not too long after, Orobus and Gilligan quickly showed up and stopped to check on the elf.
"Orchid? What's wrong?" Asked Gilligan with great worry.
"It's nothing. I just tripped. Travis is scouting ahead with Keinath close behind." Orchid quickly explained behind a lie."
"Well what are we waiting for? Let's go!" Orobus pressed and the others nodded.
Once they reached their destination, Gilligan could see Carder and Seravis laying flat on the ground with Travis and Keinath hovering over them. As he closed his distance, he was relieved to see that they were still alive, however, their life forces were alarmingly low.
"Boys. What happened?" He asked with concern.
Seravis sat himself up. "That dirty cheat! I swear when I find him again, I'll make sure he regrets making a mockery of me!" He shouted as he clenched his fists tightly.
"There was nothing we could do. He had us perfectly pinned. We didn't stand a chance." Carder sighed with great disappointment in himself.
"What did they do?" Orobus asked.
"He toyed with us is what he did! He kept summoning these weak Monsters that could attack directly. Not only that but he used this combo that forced us to only be able to attack him directly, but he would take no damage." Seravis was seething with rage.
"Well where's the Demon now?" Gilligan asked.
"They've already left." Carder answered. "They claimed that they were going to the capital to find one of the elves's family members. Said they were indebted to one of them apparently."
"We can't have them just storming the capital like that. Come men! We must move quickly!" Gilligan said quickly, but suddenly there was a low, ominous roar. The group looked to the mountains to see a horde of dragons charging towards them.
"Seriously? The Earth dragons haven't been this active for cycles." Carder gritted his teeth and drew his weapon.
Gilligan and the others were forced to face these creatures instead, and it didn't look like it would be a quick battle.