AN: Boy, this chapter was fun :'D Shorter than usual (because I had numerous doctor's appointments this week which are not fun), but there's a tiny cliffhanger at the end. So, yeah, hope you enjoy~!

Chapter 19:

"Drayce!"

When he heard his name being called once again, but far closer, Drayce purposely moved away from Keane to prevent the other dragoon from snatching him again. And potentially use him as a hostage once more. He moved to stand by Runihura, the harbinger on his feet but leaning heavily against the trunk of a tree for support.

He was about to call out to the others in response, but a white blur on four legs burst through the opening in the forest wall. It wasn't a monster, however. No, it was better. It was Nashoba!

The white wolf scrambled into the clearing, stopped and sniffed around. He then threw his head back and released a loud howl before he darted toward Drayce. The white wolf made several whining noises as he circled him, nudging him with his nose and simply unable to stay still.

Not long afterwards, more figures appeared. And every single one of them were familiar.

He was equally relieved to see them. But also terrified that they were going to be pulled into this potentially dire situation!

"Typical," Keane murmured as he and Keita slunk back, either to hide in the shadows, or make their escape.

"Drayce!" Faelen called out in concern as he rushed over to him and hugged him around the waist. "Are you ok?"

"I-I'm fine," Drayce replied as Blayke also reached him, and used his rapier to finally remove the bindings around his wrist. As the ropes fell away, Drayce immediately pulled his arms around from his back to wrap them around Faelen to comfort him.

Man, it felt amazing to have use of his arms and hands again!

The others soon gathered around him, they too asking him questions about his wellbeing. But Salim darted pass them all and over to Tokala. Only for the Cursed Blade to force Tokala into a standing stance, ready to strike.

"Wait! He's being controlled by the Cursed Blade!" Drayce immediately called out to the pugilist. "Salim, don't let that blade touch you!"

Salim managed to side-step a slash from the Cursed Blade, and somehow slipped around behind Tokala. Despite the heavy bandages around his shoulder and arm, and the red stain that could be seen seeping through, he managed to pull Tokala into a bearhug. Successfully preventing him from moving.

For now.

"Find a to get that blade away from Tokala!" Salim ordered as Tokala began to squirm in his hold, the Cursed Blade forcing him to do what he could to get himself free.

"L-let go! Please, I don't want to hurt you!"

"Hold on, Tokala! We'll think of something!" Drayce promised.

Though, freeing Tokala from the Cursed Blade's possession was going to be easier said than done. And they needed to think of something – fast!

"R-Runi!"

A new voice prompted both Drayce and Faelen to take a step back and turned to look behind them. Resting at the base of a tree, Runihura's head snapped up just as a young brounii with blond hair and glasses practically threw himself at him.

Even though a wince marred his face, Runihura shakily wrapped his arms around the other. "What are you doing here?" he chided in what could only truly be described as a brotherly manner. "It's dangerous."

So, he was the one that Runihura had been trying so hard to protect.

"He made it inside…" Drayce sighed with relief.

"Yeah, he explained some things," Blayke answered before he stood in front of him and grabbed a handful of his shirt. Despite the scowl on his face, the act of grabbing his shirt wasn't harsh or hostile. "And you; you have some explaining to do yourself. I am seriously pissed off with you right now!"

Um, yeah, Drayce thought he would be.

"I know, I know!" Drayce returned as he grasped at Blayke's wrist with his hands. He didn't try to push his hand away, however. "I get it. But I'll explain everything later, I promise. I only did it because-"

"You didn't want anyone else to get involved and get hurt," Blayke interrupted with a sigh, though his scowl stayed in place. "I know. I'm still pissed, however. If it weren't for Shashi taking note of the map and Virgil confirming for us that you were a hostage in the labyrinth, we wouldn't know where to look. We got lucky this time."

Y-yeah…

"B-Blayke!" Caelem stuttered, quickly drawing them both back to the reality of their situation. "I don't think Salim can last much longer!"

Blayke immediately whirled around, his frown deepening with frustration and concern when he laid eyes on said pugilist. "Not with his injury…"

Just as Caelem had said, Salim was finding it increasingly difficult to keep skinny, lithe Tokala in his arms. "How bad is it?"

"Bullet passed straight through. It's not good," Blayke answered through gritted teeth before he peered at him from the corner of his eye. "What do we do?"

Good question…

"Stop getting in the way, you worthless shit!" Keane suddenly bellowed as he stepped out from the shadows. "Let him lead the way to the Shining Lotus!"

Blayke immediately snapped his head in Keane's direction and uttered a sound that could only be described as a protective and angry snarl. The bandit, however, simply smirked in Blayke's direction before he turned to slip back into the shadows once more.

Hearing painful grunt from Salim as Tokala continued to put up a fight with him, though entirely unwillingly, caused everyone to turn their attention back to him.

"Dray?"

Drayce loathed what he had to say next. "Unfortunately, he's likely to be right. The Shining Lotus is the only weapon that can defeat the Cursed Blade. And save Tokala."

They had no means to search for it themselves. Their best bet was to wait for Cursed Blade to pull Tokala toward it, and then, by some miracle, got their hands on it first.

Blayke obviously didn't like that plan. "So, we just let him go?"

Drayce gave a reluctant nod. "…Yeah."

"But where is the Shining Lotus?"

"I don't know!" Drayce shouted in frustration before he could stop himself. He uttered a sigh as his shoulders drooped forward tiredly. "I don't know…It could be anywhere."

If only he could do more research. If only he had more information. If only he had more time!

"Watch out!"

Drayce snapped his head just in time to watch deliver a kick to Salim's stomach, and by doing so, allowed him leverage to push back away from him and to leap out of his arms. The force of the blow propelled Salim back a few feet. He, somehow, managed to stay on his feet and instinctively raised his arms in a blocking, defensive motion in front of him.

Tokala, however, didn't immediately try to attack him. Instead, he pivoted on his heel and made a beeline for where Drayce stood with his guildmates.

It was almost like he was…responding to something? Or had Tokala somehow fought against the Cursed Blade so that he would not attack Salim, someone that was extremely important to him?

Drayce reacted instinctively; with one hand, he reached out to snare Faelen by the collar of his jacket and pulled him back while he summoned a Decoy Shield less than two feet in front of them. As the Cursed Blade sliced through the etheric shield with little effort, he pushed Faelen toward Blayke, who intuitive took hold of him and jumped backwards.

"Everyone, scatter!" Drayce ordered as he summoned two more Decoy Shields behind Tokala in hopes that they would offer enough of a distraction.

Thankfully, it worked. To some degree at least. The presence of the shields caused the Cursed Blade to immediately hone in on them. With two incredible fast and précised downwards strikes, the shields were destroyed.

So, Drayce summoned three more in rapid succession. Each one luring him further away from his guildmates. And the opening in the forest wall that led to the main area of the labyrinth's floor.

"Drayce!" Blayke shouted to him.

"Get Salim out of there!"

Blayke, thankfully, simply sprung forward to where Salim was. The pugilist had sunk to the ground on one knee as his cradled his left should with his hand. He didn't protest when Blayke reached him, roughly flung Salim's arm over his shoulder, and all but dragged him to safety.

"Everyone else, stay back!" Drayce ordered as he focused on summoning more Decoy Shields. "Any attempt of physical contact with the Cursed Blade would result in immediate poisoning!"

Tomlin was physical proof to that fact.

Not to mention that the Cursed Blade appeared to have the ability to slice through anything. He didn't even want to imagine the type of…carnage it could do to a living being. Oh, wait, the Toxipede…

Drayce purposely shook his head to prevent himself imagining something like that happening to anyone. He couldn't let that happen. Especially not to one of his guildmates.

"There's got to be something we can do…" Kamali was heard uttering, his voice full of worry and concern. And helplessness.

Drayce was having an increasingly difficult time keeping Tokala distracted with his Decoy Shields. It was taking all of his mental capacity. He couldn't begin to think of anything else.

"There's…Zohar, can you use your wraiths to help prevent Tokala from attacking anyone? Kamali, I'll need your elemental skills, too. I'll use my Decoy Shields to hopefully keep the Cursed Blade at bay. We can't come into contact with the Cursed Blade."

"Of course. I will summon wraiths other than Theodore for this battle," Zohar stated without any hesitation.

Not long after those words passed his lips, Drayce felt that familiar cold sensation race down his spine. Despite what Zohar had just stated, he had expected to find Theodore materialise into existence.

Instead, he was greeted by the sight of two…flaming skulls. Literally flaming skulls. Though, they didn't look quite like human skulls with their strangely jagged teeth and sharp edges. Floating soundlessly, let the fiery red flames that seemed to originate from within the skull itself crackled energetically.

"I'll…use my ice skills to make barriers," Kamali informed as he readied himself. "I don't wish to hurt Tokala."

No. No one did.

All they could do was to use stalling tactics. Tiring Tokala out was unlikely to be successful; that Cursed Blade controlled his physical body completely. It was unlikely to care, nor be hindered by Tokala's fatigued.

It could…it could potentially force him to fight until he…died.

Wait, maybe there was something else. The area that the Cursed Blade appeared from. There might be something there to help them. Something in there that could see it. At least some kind of information. Something.

"No, wait, Kamali; head north from here and look for another opening within the forest wall," Drayce instructed as he summoned more Decoy Shields and ignored the way each summoning caused a sharp pain in his temples. "There might be something there to help us. Use your Detect Mana."

"B-but…" Kamali wanted to protest. Wanted to stay and be of help to them. And yet, his words trailed off as he quickly realised that maybe, just maybe, finding the location that once housed the Cursed Blade could be beneficial for them all.

He still didn't want to turn his back on them and leave.

"Go, now," Drayce urged.

"…Y-yes," Kamali murmured.

Drayce couldn't afford to look away from Tokala, but he did hear the sound of footsteps as they hurried away. And toward the north.

Good. If…if nothing else, Kamali should be safe from the Cursed Blade.

"Let's keep him busy, Zohar."

"Yes."

Zohar wordlessly raised a hand in Tokala's direction and fiery wraiths immediately darted forward. They encircled the now unnervingly silent Tokala, prompting him to attempt to slice the dancing skulls down with vicious slashes of the blade. However, the skulls managed to evade the attacks.

That seemed to agitate the Cursed Blade, prompting it to immediately turn in Zohar's direction.

Not allowing the blade to force Tokala to take even a step forward, Drayce promptly summoned his Decoy Shields once again. And that caused Tokala to turn his attention toward them instead, mercilessly slashing at them and the skulls that continued to hover nearby.

"What should the rest of us do?" Blayke asked, desperate to be of use in some way.

"I…don't know," Drayce winced, unable to take his eyes off of Tokala and the blade that controlled him so fiercely. He wasn't entirely sure if his blurred vision was from his intense concentration, or because of exhaustion of having to summon so many Decoy Shields in such a short amount of time. Either way, he couldn't stop. "I can't see…Where is everyone?"

"Fiorello is healing Runihura and Salim with Palash, and with Nashoba guarding them. Faelen and Caelem are with me. Kamali is to the north, out of sight as he searched for anything, while Zohar is a few steps behind you," Blayke promptly answered, though did nothing to hide his growing concern for him.

Ok, good. He could…vaguely see the floating, flaming skulls that Zohar had summoned.

Yet…something felt wrong.

Keane said that the Cursed Blade would hunt down the Shining Lotus. And yet…Tokala didn't seem to be heading in any direction. He, rather the Cursed Blade, seemed content to stayed in place and fight anyone or anything in front of him. Striking down the Decoy Shields and wraiths around him.

That could be one of two things; the Cursed Blade's conscious desire was the fight and win. Or…the Shining Lotus not in the labyrinth. Not somewhere close by.

Then that meant…

"Blayke," Drayce softly called out to Blayke, immediately gaining his friend's attention. Enough so that he moved to step beside him. Though, he was unlikely to like the order he would issue next. "You and Caelem…get Salim and Runihura out of here and to safety. Take Fiorello, Faelen, and Palash with you. And Kamali."

Having been staying at the back of the group, Faelen sprung forward suddenly with a protest before Blayke could must one of his own. "B-but my arrows…"

Drayce shook his head, of which was now starting to throb from the deep, desperate concentration and summoning of shields. Three more shields. Three more destroyed shields. The way the Cursed Blade forced Tokala to move…

"No, Faelen, I need you to help Blayke keep the others safe."

He also didn't want him to see what could possibly happen next…Faelen was too young for that. There was no need to scar him like that. He might be sad now, but…

"Drayce…" Drayce couldn't see his childhood friend's expression, but he knew that his face was twisted into an expression of disbelief, frustration, and fearful agitation. "We…can't let him make his way into town."

He knew the severity of the situation.

"I know." Drayce pushed past the pain to continue his stalling tactics. "Blayke, please. If anything happens, hide the others somewhere safe in the labyrinth and warp back to town to warn Ramus. I'll…stall for as long as I can."

He…wasn't entirely sure what he could do against a blade that fought alongside the one and only Despot during the Legendary War. But he had to try something. The Shining Lotus had to be somewhere close by. It just had to be…

Blayke hesitated. "But…"

"I will stay with him," Zohar suddenly stated, causing Blayke to look over in his direction. He continued, his voice firm and determined. "And I will ensure his safety, regardless of what happens to me."

Drayce drew in a sharp intake of air and almost misfired a Decoy Shield.

He…Zohar…

"Drayce!" Caelem suddenly called out to him, his voice filled with urgency. "I see a shining light!"

…What?

"Where?" Drayce immediately asked as he tore his gaze away from Tokala to instead look over at Caelem.

Caelem immediately raised his arm and pointed to the area before them. "The water in front of you!" he answered quickly.

"I can't see anything," Blayke muttered next to him as he, too, turned to look desperately for that shining light.

"Neither can I," Drayce replied, but felt a tired smile make its way to his lips. "But we're not supposed to."

Just like he was the only one to witness the light of the Radiant Moon of Compassion, it appeared that Caelem was the only one to find the Shining Lotus.

Filled with renewed energy, Drayce summoned three more Decoy Shields in the direction that led away from the waters Caelem had indicated to. "Caelem, go! It's the Shining Lotus! Quickly!"

Caelem looked over in his direction, unease and nervousness in his posture. "But-!"

"You're the only one who can wield it and save Tokala!" Drayce promptly interrupted. "Just like the Turquoise Lotus Father did for his own brother! We'll cover you, so go!"

"Y-yes!" there was that nervousness in Caelem's voice. And yet, there was also determination.

And it was that determination that propelled him forward, in the direction of the bright light only he could see.

Finally, the Shining Lotus had revealed itself! They were in with a chance now!