Soon, the two weeks have gone by. It was time for Aura and Cot to go to the Underworld. Khybon had recovered from his fever and had his air platform fixed. They all waited at the entrance before Chaor arrived to Kiru City along with Rarran and Ultradore. They were also equipped with headbands so Aura couldn't hear what they were internally feeling, but their facial expressions show that they weren't thrilled to have them be with her.

"Alright M'arrillian." Chaor spoke. "You better watch yourself because you'll be on my turf now. Don't try anything funny or-" He set his arm on fire. He smirked when Aura began to turn yellow. "Now that's more like it. Khybon! Keep that M'arrillian close to you so she doesn't get away."

"What?!" Khybon yelled. "Chaor you can't be serious!"

"You and H'earring seem to be the least scary to her. So you two better get along."

Khybon looked at H'earring with a smug look at his face. H'earring frowned and pouted slightly. Aura simply looked at them confused. The two Underworlders seemed not to like each other too much. Cot perched herself on Aura's shoulder as they began to board. Khybon ran the machine while H'earring eyed Aura closely.

H'earring began to see her more of a M'arrillian than the last time he'd seen her. She was taller than him by five feet. She definitely looked attractive compared to some of the fluidmorphers he's seen. His ears went up when Aura looked at him. He knew that he would be fine as long as he wore his headband, but being this close to a M'arrillian that could project her feelings into the mind of others seemed just as dangerous as any other chieftain. He stiffened when Aura reached out hesitantly. Then, he felt his ears being touched gently. His hair being ruffled slightly that he couldn't help but chuckle. He saw that Aura's fins turned slightly pink which meant she was happy.

Khybon groaned. This is going to be a long trip. His machine roared to life which startled Aura. She immediately clung to Khybon's arm and whimpered. "Gah!" Khybon said. "Let go! I can't steer with you clinging on to me like that!" Aura just held on while Cot tried to calm her down.

Meanwhile, a shadowed figure was spying from one corner of a building. It held a stone next to its face. "They're on the move."

Aura started to calm down a little and was able to let go. She was a little reluctant because Khybon was surprisingly warm despite the metal arms. Even touching H'earring's ears seemed to give her a sense of comfort that she hadn't felt in a long time. She looked at the other Underworlders that were joining them in their journey to reach the Underworld.

Takinom hovered five feet above them. Her yellow body resembles a wyvern in the distance. The green bat, which went by the name of Rarran, kept a close eye on her and had a nervous look on his face whenever Aura looked at his direction. Ultradore was running ahead under Chaor's orders. They wanted to be sure that they wouldn't be ambushed like last time. Chaor was on his mowercycle, leading the others back to where they were travelling from.

Aura kept looking at Chaor. He was large and enormous. He seemed to be the type to be easily angry such as her last master before Bonewing. He would scream and yell at her when she messed up. Then use her as target practice. Her master had been executed due to stealing gold from one of the generals: Moonbane. Bonewing lived for battle and easily gets excited on taking down enemies that are bigger than him. A few times she had seen him battle at the shadow colosseum. Is Chaor anything like that? Would she get the same treatment from him? Her thoughts were suddenly hit with a random force of panic. She suddenly smelled something vile. Something that didn't belong in the lush green or the fiery scent of the Underworlders. Aura tapped Kybon frantically.

"What's wrong?" Cot asked. "Did you sense something?"

Khybon looked back at her. He didn't know if it was a trick. Aura's fins were bright yellow, but streaks of dark grey appeared. She was shaking violently. "Chaor, do you see-" His band was suddenly ripped off. Images of Ultradore fighting a large beast that was covered in spikes from head to toe and a wolf-like creature. When he snapped back into reality, he steered left to avoid collision into a tree. "What the-"

"Use your fire attacks!" Cot screeched. "NOW!"

Chaor was confused until Takinom unleashed an ember swarm on the path further ahead of Chaor. Chaor had to hit the breaks. "What was that for?!"

"Chaor, I had just seen smoke where Ultradore had just vanished." Takinom grimaced. "It's another ambush!"

Chaor glared at Aura. Then turned his attention to his men. "All right spread out! M'arrillian if you wanna prove your usefulness, find our attackers now!" He roared. He let loose a barrage of fire attacks at some nearby Ratans and dodged an attack on his left. He maneuvered his mowercycle with ease.

"You heard what he said," Khybon said over the din. "Find them." Khybon began firing while steering away from the attacks and weapons. He kept firing while Aura and Cot were pointing in the direction the other creatures were hiding. Suddenly, Aura pulled him toward her. His back pressed against her front. "What are you-" A spear whizzed by his head, making his heart race. "Well…" He finally said after his shock. "That was close…" He turned around and found that he was extremely close to Aura's face. Her eyes met his. The smell of her breath was incredibly fruity. He felt her heart race and they had nearly forgotten where they were. He quickly lurched forward and lightly pushed her. "Sorry! L-let's focus on the mission."

Aura looked in H'earring's direction and found a Canis with a white eye lunging for him. H'earring used sludge gush but it backfired as the creature went to grab his leg. The little Underworlder screamed in fear and was ready to fall. Aura reached out instinctively and pulled H'earring toward her. His foot was freed and the creature fell to the ground. Suddenly, smoke exploded around everyone. Aura hugged H'earring tightly. Her wings shielding him from the smoke. When the smoke cleared, the enemy was gone. Aura felt her heart racing. For some reason she didn't want to put down the little scout. H'earring looked up. "Um...Thanks…"

Aura nodded. She didn't want to let go of him. She looked around to see if anyone from Bonewing's brigade was nearby, but none showed. Not even a single hint of emotion. She placed her head on H'earring, enjoying the softness of his hair.

"Everyone alright?" Khybon said after he coughed out some smoke.

"Aside from nearly being turned to ash," Cot said as he perched on him. "I'm alive." She perched on his shoulder. Her wing pointed to Ultradore who was limping with a large gash on his held a spike in his hand. "So is he. It's not everyday someone is able to take on a Briar drake. Those things are nasty to handle!" The Song Gale began preening her feathers that were covered in ash.

Chaor huffed in frustration they got away. "They got away. It's bad enough that Maxxor can't get anything from those other prisoners but we had our one chance to get some more answers to this." He looked at Ultradore. "Any reports Ultradore?"

"They didn't block the passage to the Underworld." Ultradore answered. "They probably wanted to see what we were capable of." He flinched as he put more weight on his leg. "I'm afraid I can't be of much use now."

Chaor was silent for a moment. Aura grew nervous at that silence. When a soldier was unable to be useful, they were put out of their misery. She hugged H'earring tighter. Her fins boardlining toward yellow. "Ofpph!" H'earring muffled. "Let go! Can't breathe!" Aura set him down, but her heart thundered in her chest.

Chaor finally spoke. "Khybon, hope you got room for one more."

Khybon nodded. He lowered his aircraft and allowed Ultradore on. He had to use a metallic claw to pull the Underworlder up. He began to notice that Aura had changed colors again. They were the colors of confusion. For some strange reason, he kept finding it cute. Especially when she tilts her head. He started the engine and braced himself for more hugging. It didn't happen. He was able to understand that it was because she had never met a leader like Chaor before. Chaor was fierce true, but he was very careful on how he handled his men.

Aura looked at the Underworld leader. She was very confused. Why would Chaor not kill Ultradore? There was no use for him now that his leg was broken. She had seen this happen before again and again. Maybe in the land of Perim, these leaders might be more caring of their people than she originally thought. Even though Aura was afraid, she wanted to understand more about the Underworlders. More importantly, she wanted to understand H'earring and Khybon.