Before we even passed through the cloud cover at the beginning of the Dark Lands, the land became familiar. On the inside of the cover was the line of trees that began the FoxWoods!
"It is spreading!" I shouted. "This area used to be part of Draconia!"
"Oh no," Rona said. He ran off without warning.
"Rona, wait!" Vegance yelled. She began to run after him. Keia, Ryth, Ceae, and I followed. We passed through the cloud cover at some point in the Woods. We slowed down a bit now that the territory was less alien. Rona was talking to Alea.
"Alea… The cover is spreading… We need to alert your father and tell him to evacuate the other spirits, before those clouds cover your home… If not, you all will surely be corrupted…"
"Rona, as much as I'd like to… Daddy will go down with his home before he'll evacuate the others," Alea said. "There's no hope…"
"If he won't go, make the others leave on their own! I know the malicious nature of darkness… You can't fight against it."
"Alea," I said, "Rona's right. I saw from the top of Necril's Keep the production of the dark clouds… They're coming fast, so the FoxWoods need to be left behind. Go to the CentraCity and seek refuge there… Tell the citizens that I sent you, and that they should treat you kindly."
Alea stared at me for a moment. "I'll talk it over with Daddy… If he says no, I'll have the others leave immediately."
"But there's something else we require of you," Vegance said.
"What is it?" Alea asked.
"We need the Nature Key."
"The 'Nature Key?' What does it look like?"
I pulled out the other two Keys we had obtained. "It's shaped like these, and glows with an elemental power… We need it to access Necril's Keep."
Alea took the Darkness Key and examined it. "I might have an idea, but you must talk it over with Daddy… The alpha fox passes it down through generations of leaders…"
"These Keys have definitely been around for awhile," Rona said.
"Quick! We have to warn the others!" Alea said and ran off into the Woods. We quickly followed.
"Daddy! Daddy! There's an emergency!" Alea shouted as we all ran into Alea's home.
"Alea? Adventurers… What's going on?" the alpha fox asked.
"The Dark Lands' cloud cover is spreading," I stated calmly. "You need to evacuate the fox spirits…"
Alpha Fox scoffed. "Yeah, like I would do that…"
"Daddy, it's true… If you value your life, and the lives of the others… Please, you must!"
"And if I don't? It'll only be a little darker…"
"You don't have a choice… The darkness corrupts. The Dark Lands themselves are a barren wasteland, almost… You and the other fox spirits will become slaves to the night," Rona explained.
Alpha Fox switched his gaze from face to face. "I can't do it… We fox spirits have lived in these Woods for many generations… I refuse to have fox spirit land taken again…"
"Daddy… You're hopeless. If you won't evacuate them, I will," Alea said and stormed out of the hut. I gave one last glance at Alpha Fox and left, followed by the others. Alea climbed up onto her father's throne and pressed a couple of buttons. I could hear a buzzing sound as the speakers throughout the clearing activated. Alea picked up a microphone.
"I have a message for all fox spirits! Everyone, report to the Dance clearing!" In a matter of minutes a wave of fur and tails crowded into the clearing. Confused muttering filled the clearing. "My people… We have a dire emergency… We must evacuate the Woods, lest we want to die. The cloud cover from the Dark Lands is headed this way at an alarming pace…"
"But, where do we go?" one of the male fox spirits asked.
"We head to the Draconian CentraCity… Prince Cryos said that we can do so." Alpha Fox came up from behind the throne and grabbed the microphone out of Alea's hand.
"There is no problem… Go back home, get some rest… We are not leaving," Alpha Fox said.
"Wait a minute!" I shouted. "Some leader you are! This isn't bravery, standing up against the forces of darkness… This is stupidity. The fox spirits need to leave now. If you won't go with them, fine. You can die alone… But there's no need to sacrifice thousands of innocent lives for nothing." I looked at Alea. "Take them where they need to go."
Alea nodded. "If you want to live, come with me! It's a few days' travel to the CentraCity, but we'll be safe there." Alea headed off into the Woods, followed by the majority of fox spirits. Only a few stayed behind.
"We're staying here," one of the fox spirits said. "Perhaps we can make it through this."
"Well, I wish you luck," I told him. "At least most of the spirits will be safe."
Rona walked up the steps to the alpha fox. "I need one more thing from you before we leave."
Alpha Fox sighed. "Just name it."
"We need the Nature Key." Rona handed the alpha fox the Darkness Key. "It's very similar to this, but glows with the energy of Nature. Alea said to talk to you about it…"
Alpha Fox took one glance at the Darkness Key and then looked at Rona. "I know where it is… We keep it stored in a sort of 'safe.' You have to pass three trials to obtain it, though."
"It's always three trials nowadays… What are we up against?"
"The trials of strength, wisdom, and friendship. If the six of you can't figure them out together, then there's no hope for you."
"Where does this 'safe' lie?"
"Kara!" The alpha fox motioned to one of the fox spirits in the crowd that had stayed behind. She walked up the stairs calmly and gracefully.
"Yes, Alpha?" Kara asked and stood attentively.
"Rona and his group of adventurers need to be shown to the Trials Chamber. Would you kindly do the honors?"
"Sure…thing." Kara turned to Rona and put her hand on his shoulder. "If you'll kindly follow me…" She walked down the stairs and over to the others and I. "Follow me… I'll take you to the Nature Orb." Kara started walking among the trees, followed by Keia, Ceae, Vegance, Ryth, Rona, and I.
"This is the Trials Chamber," Kara said while standing in front of the entrance to a stone establishment. "Inside, you must pass three trials: the Trial of Strength, the Trial of Wisdom, and the Trial of Friendship. Only after you have passed those trials will the path to the Nature Orb open for you."
"Are there any rules?" I asked.
"Survival of the fittest. That's all I can say…" Kara began to walk off, but turned around to speak again. "I have to catch up with the other fox spirits… I changed my mind, and I want safety. If you have any further questions, you're on your own."
"No, we'll be fine," I said. "It's best you worry about yourself."
"Thank you." Kara hurried off into the Woods.
"The Trials Chamber… As long as I have lived in these Woods, I never knew this place existed… I was never on good terms with the alpha fox anyway," Rona said.
"Strength, wisdom, and friendship… I think we can cover it all," Keia said.
"Hope so… No room for error," I said.
"We should get started," Rona said and walked into the stone building. The rest of us followed.
Inside of the Trials Chamber were three large entrances with a stone carving beside each one. The middle of the room was a circle with three walkways running off from it. I moved closer to one of the carvings to look at it closer. It was clearly written in Draconian, not Spiritian.
"How come the fox spirits take custody of this place?" I asked. "The carvings are written in Draconian!"
"It's in their Woods," Keia said as she walked up next to me. "This place was probably built by ancient Draconians, before fox spirits every arrived here."
"Can you read it?" Ryth asked.
"It reads, 'Trial of Strength: Bring as many as you like to fight with, but the more you bring, the tougher the enemies you will fight. More is not always the better choice.' So, how many are we going to take in there?"
"The question is, how many will one have to fight, as compared to six? And, how easy will it be to kill them depending on how many? One may be able to take them all, but with six… There may be a better chance of survival," Rona said.
"Rona, how about you go in?" Ryth asked.
"I'm not doing it alone… I need someone to watch my back."
"Then I'll go," Ryth suggested.
"No." Rona pointed at me. "I want Cryos to show me what he can really do."
"Me?" I asked while pointing at myself.
"It's time for you to learn." Rona walked past me into the trial room. The rest of us followed, but only Rona and I stepped out into the middle of the room. The room was circular with a circular section in the center of the room separated by a line. Where we came in was a rectangular guestbox, I guess, where the others could stand and watch. A force field went up after Rona and I stepped into the middle of the room, to keep anyone from joining our battle. A force field also surrounded Rona and I. We drew our swords and waited. All around us, Darkling Spawns started to appear.
"Watch my back, and I'll watch yours," Rona told me. "We're coming out of this alive."
I counted about twenty-five Spawns. "Well, it's not too many for us." As soon as the force field lowered, the Spawns rushed at us. Rona split off from me and took out four Spawns with a single slash. I knocked one over the head with the hilt of my sword to stun it, and then spun around to slash through it and another. That was two for me. A few of the Spawns rushed past me towards Rona. I turned around and cast ice magic to freeze them in place.
"Rona, I have you covered!" I shouted. Rona turned around to see the frozen Spawns. I turned back around in time to dodge a Spawn's attack, and in the process of leaping backwards, cut its head from its shoulders.
"Cryos, ten remain," Rona said. I nodded. I cut down a couple more and then I heard the sound of ice shattering. I turned around again to see that the four Spawns I had frozen had broken loose! Without thinking, I threw my sword in a straight line. It impaled four of them and stuck into the wall. My sword had just barely missed hitting Rona. He stopped what he was doing to stare at my sword in the wall. He killed the remaining four, and then there were none. I retrieved my sword and put it away. In the center of the room, a red gemstone appeared.
"I guess this is for completing the trial," Rona said. He took the gemstone and put it away. "Nice fighting out there."
"You did great too," I said.
"You were better. You have an original fighting style…"
"We all have our strengths and weaknesses…" The force field blocking off the way back to the main chamber went down. Rona and I joined the others.
"You two make a great team," Keia said to Rona and I. "I could feel the bonds of trust between both of you… Definitely a great team."
"Let's head back to the main chamber… Two trials remain," Rona said. We went back into the opening chamber, and I went ahead to the next trial gateway. I looked up at the stone carving. Again, it was written in Draconian. I began to translate.
"'Trial of Wisdom… Where one lacks wise man's knowledge, many make up for the loss. The more you have, the better your success… But, the harder the work more participants must do.' Any ideas?"
"It means, if we have more to solve the puzzles, there's a better chance of success… But, it's harder work if we have more people working," Ryth said.
"It seems as though these trials are harder with the more we have working them," I said. "What's the plan?"
"Send in our smartest," Rona suggested.
"I vote Cryos," Keia said.
"If I should fail?" I asked.
"Ryth too," Vegance said. "That way, if Cryos is wrong, we have someone to correct him."
"I'm going too," Rona said. "If both of you are wrong, I can smash your heads together for being such idiots." Ryth and I both turned to face Rona. "It takes an intellectual being to step out of character, even for a second… We three go together."
I nodded. "No complaint."
"Hopefully you two think as a team as well as you fight," Ryth said.
"Oh, Ryth… If only you were there the first time I saw Rona," I mumbled.
"What was that?" Ryth asked.
"Nothing!" I went first into the second trial chamber. Rona and Ryth followed close behind, and the other half of us kept further behind.
In the second trial chamber, there was a layout similar to the first, but now a stone carving lie embedded into the far wall. The room was actually square instead of round, but the spectators' bench was in the same spot as the last. There was a variety of square-shaped objects protruding from the floor around the room, creating a sort of maze-like feeling. In the four corners of the room, there were four large colored holes, as well as the starting square in the middle. Rona and Ryth headed to the center starting square, but I went straight to the far wall to check the stone carving.
"The carving reads: 'In this room, notice the four colored slots. Your goal is to get large color-coded stone blocks into these holes. The raised up sections of floor add to the challenge. Depending on how many people you have, there will be more or less raised surfaces, and will also determine how difficult it will be to push a block and get it to its destination," I read.
"I hope you're stronger than you look," Ryth said to me.
"No worries! Just because I've had servants look after me for eighteen years doesn't mean I can't push a block." I moved to the center of the room to join Ryth and Rona. As soon as a force field went up around us, the raised sections of floor disappeared. The colored holes were gone as well! I saw a multitude of flashing white squares as the trial chamber set up our puzzle. At the end, four large colored stone blocks were set up around the maze. Their appropriate colored slots appeared as well. The force field went down, leaving the three of us to pace around the maze and determine which block to move first, where to put it, and which ones to put in their slots first.
"Be careful… It seems to me as though once a block is in its slot, there is no moving it again… We have to plan carefully," Rona said.
"How about we just push blocks into their slots, and then if we fail, take a different approach to it? If we screw up, just try again!" Ryth suggested.
"Sounds good to me," I said.
"Do you think two can move a block, and one can guide?" Ryth asked. Rona and I both got together against a nearby block and gave it a push. Slowly but surely, it moved across the floor with a deep grinding noise. "Okay, okay… Blue block in the blue slot." Ryth guided us to the blue slot and we pushed the blue block in. The block sunk down and became as another portion of raised floor.
"Uh… Move the red block here," Ryth said and stood on a part of the floor. Rona and I pushed the red block to Ryth's position. "Now…" Ryth ran over to the green block. "Move it this way and put it in the green slot." Rona and I pushed the green block along and into the green slot. It too sunk down and became a new obstacle.
"So far, so good," Ryth said.
"This is almost too easy… If only the blocks weren't so heavy," I said.
"Okay, move the red this way, and… Uh oh," Ryth said. "This can't be good."
"What?" Rona asked.
"It appears that, even if we put the red block in its slot… The purple one will be blocked from its slot. We've failed this time…"
"Dang," I muttered.
"How do we reset?" Ryth asked.
"Everybody back to the central square," Rona said. We all gathered back in the middle. After a few seconds of waiting in that spot, the force field again surrounded us. The flashing squares continued again after clearing the room. The trial chamber set up an entirely different puzzle!
"Oh, so we have to think on our feet now? No retries? We could be here for awhile," Ryth said.
"Well, we have to get it eventually," I said.
"Think ahead next time," Rona said.
"Sorry…" Ryth said and sighed. When the force field went down, again we were left to the mercy of our mental power.
"This time, we're going to plan ahead… Understand?" Rona said.
"I don't have a problem with it," I said.
"You guys plan… I'll guide you when you push," Ryth said. Rona and I both nodded.
"From just glancing at this… I can imagine the entire field from an overhead perspective," Rona said. "I can imagine each and every outcome to pushing any block to any position… And I can determine the single solution. Ryth, guide us, red block to red slot." Ryth obeyed and guided Rona and I as we pushed. The red block sat easily in its slot. "Purple to slot." Again, we pushed. Yet another block was set in place. We continued with the blue, and finally the green. In a few minutes, we had been successful! All of the raised sections of the floor sunk down, and in the middle of the room appeared a blue gemstone. Rona took this one as well.
"Job well done," I said. "One trial remains… Isn't it normally the last one that's the hardest?"
"We'll see, Cryos… We'll see," Rona said. "Be prepared for the worst." Rona, Ryth, and I regrouped with the others and headed back into the central chamber. I went straight to the third and final stone carving and began to read.
"'Trial of Friendship: A trial among trials, a trial of the heart… Remember your friends and their abilities to keep moving on… Your only support comes from those you keep the closest. All party members are necessary.' Looks like we're all in this," I said.
"Appears so," Rona stated.
"Until the end… Let's keep this going," Keia said.
"The girl's right. No choice in the matter… Let's do it," Vegance agreed. Ceae nodded.
"I'm not in this for nothing! I might as well," Ryth said.
"I should know my friends better than anyone else… This seems like a challenge for me," I said. We all gathered together and entered the final trial chamber together.
When we entered, we appeared to be in a cross-shaped chamber with a door at the end of the hall. Above that door was a small, round object that appeared to resemble a button. I turned around to ask if everyone was ready, but no one was there!
"Hello? Where'd everyone go?" I shouted. There was no response, but instead, a plaque appeared on the wall. "'Your friends are many, and many are lost… Each of you, with a unique ability, must work to help the others.'" The force field blocking the hallway went down. My first reaction was to run into the middle of the cross-shaped hallway. I looked to the left: an open doorway was there. I could see faintly into a circular room, but I did not pay much attention to it. On the right was another door. I looked back to the left, and then decided to head to the right. A force field sprung up in front of me.
'Damn,' I thought. I turned all the way around and headed towards the open doorway. As I got closer, I could see a cage hanging from the ceiling of the room. I was about to head through the doorway when a jet of fire created a wall in front of me. Without thinking, I let loose with a stream of icy wind. The fire dissipated, and I ran into the room. Ceae was in the cage!
"Ceae!" I shouted.
"Cryos! Get me out of here!" Ceae shouted back. A few Darkling Spawns sprang up from the ground. I made short work of them and moved to a lever near the back of the room. I pulled the lever and Ceae's cage lowered to the ground and opened. Ceae ran out and drew his weapon. "Thanks…"
"It's no problem… You guys just disappeared…"
"We walked into the trial chamber, and then we were put in these cages… I just want out of here."
"Well, maybe I can move on now." I pointed down the hallway. "There are two doors… Let's go look at them." Ceae and I headed into the cross-section and turned left towards the door with the button above it. "Ceae, you're the thief… Check the door." Ceae reached for the handle, but there was none.
"No handle!"
"Nice… Let's try the other door." We went back to the other door and looked at it closely. There was a handle on this one. I tried to turn the knob, but it would not budge. "Ceae… Can you open this?"
"Pick a lock? Not a problem…" Ceae pulled out a small, skinny metal object. He crammed it into the door's keyhole and fumbled with the lock. I heard a variety of clicking noises, and then the door opened. I pushed the door open all the way to reveal the next room. It looked the same as Ceae's chamber, with a cage hanging from the ceiling. Keia was inside the cage.
"Keia!" I shouted.
"Cryos! What took you so long?" Keia asked.
"I had to help Ceae to get to you… Don't worry; I'm going to get you down." Throughout the room, a few creatures that appeared to be Spawns rose from the ground. The only difference that I could see was that these ones were on fire.
"Keia, what are these things?" I asked.
"I don't know! I can't see down there…"
"Great… I'll just called them Blazes then." I turned to Ceae. "Ceae, you know water magic… Drown them. I'll rescue Keia." Ceae nodded and began to launch bursts of water around the room. I went around the battle area towards the lever to drop Keia's cage. When I had my hand on the lever, one of the Blazes tried to stop me. As I dodged his attack, I tried to freeze him. It would have worked, had the Blaze's fire not melted the ice. I ran back near Ceae.
"I thought you were helping Keia?" Ceae asked.
"I was, until I was attacked by a Blaze."
"Oh… Maybe it's just a better idea to stay near me until they're all dead."
"I can't argue with that… Ice doesn't work on them." I waited until Ceae had drenched the last Blaze and then put away my weapon. Ceae watched the door while I pulled the lever to set Keia free. I pulled the lever and Keia's cage lowered to the ground. She stepped out and smiled.
"Thank you," Keia whispered to me. "Where are the others?"
"We have to find them… There's only one way left to go," I said. "It's down the hall."
"Well let's go check it out!" Keia said. Ceae and I led Keia into the hallway and to the door with no handle.
"What do you make of this door?" I asked.
"There's no handle," Keia pointed out.
"We figured that out already," Ceae said.
"Keia, what do you make of that blue circle above the door?"
"Why don't you press it?"
I jumped up and tried to hit the button. I fell too short. "I can't reach."
I looked up as I heard something whizz over my head. An arrow now stuck out of the button, which was no longer glowing blue. A piece of metal fell off the door, revealing a handle and a keyhole. I turned around to glance back at Ceae and Keia before trying the door. This one was locked too!
"Ceae, pick the lock?"
"Sure…" Ceae repeated the process he had before with the other door. After a few clicking noises, the door opened. Ceae pushed the door open all the way to reveal another hallway that branched off in three directions. Keia, Ceae, and I walked into the middle of the intersection and looked around. To the left was a door with a handle and a keyhole. In front of us was a larger door that was barred twice. There was no handle, no button, and no keyhole. On the right was yet another door. This one had only a button.
"Straight ahead is not an option," Keia said. "To the right, a button I can press… And to the left, another door that you and Ceae could access."
"Instinct tells me to go left," I said. We all gathered by the door. I did not bother with the handle this time because I figured it was locked. "Ceae, unlock."
"Sure thing." Ceae barely touched the door before he threw his hand backwards. "Cryos, it's hot!"
"Allow me…" I iced the door down a bit. Ceae tried again and succeeded once more in opening a door. We all headed into the next chamber. Vegance sat uncomfortably in a cage, but there was no release lever in this room. Instead, another button sat high up in the room. Vegance lifted her head as we entered the room.
"Oh, hey, look! Knights in shining armor, come to save the damsel in distress… Hardly a fitting tale," Vegance retorted.
"You want out?" Keia asked.
"Oh, yeah, I want out… The beast is waiting to be released, if you know what I mean."
"Yeah, I think I do," Keia said. "I don't blame you… It's been a long journey thus far."
"What are they talking about?" Ceae asked me.
"Uh… Nothing! Nothing at all… Don't worry about it. Just 'girl talk,'" I replied.
"Just let me out of here," Vegance said. Keia aimed up high towards the ceiling and fired an arrow into the button above. Vegance's cage moved down a bit but then stopped. The cage opened from below and dropped Vegance onto the ground.
"Oof!" Vegance climbed to her feet. "Just my luck…"
"Well, that was pretty easy," I said. "Rescuing Ceae and Keia, there were battles involved."
"I'm just special. Where's Rona? And Ryth?"
"Still locked up, no doubt. We have to move towards rescuing them," I said.
"What're we waiting for? Get a move on!" We all travelled back into the hall and ignored the double-barred door for now. We went to the door with no handle instead.
"Keia, the button." Keia hit the button with an arrow. Ceae was expecting the door's keyhole to become available, but instead a small opening appeared near the bottom of the door.
"This is a job for me-owww…" Vegance said as she started to morph into a cat. She climbed through the opening. I was expecting her to open the door, but nothing happened.
"Vegance? You forgot the door…" There was no response. Instead, I heard a large crash on the other side and a groaning noise. I turned to Keia and Ceae. "I really think we should move." We ran down the hall and turned inwards to the double-barred door. I looked around the corner. A loud metallic thump was heard, and then the door flew off the wall. I pulled my head in as the door flew by and bounced down the hallway. Rona and Vegance walked up to us. Actually, Rona walked past us towards the barred door, and Vegance stopped to speak to us.
"Rona's pissed… Let him take this door," Vegance said as Rona drew his sword. He slashed through the iron bars and kicked down the door. The final chamber was the largest, and against the back wall was a series of raised platforms. Ryth happened to be chained up against the wall, a lock on each arm and leg and a chain around his neck.
"Oh! Hi! Would you guys mind getting me down from here?" Ryth asked as we entered. As a group, Ceae, Keia, Vegance, Rona, and I all moved closer to examine Ryth's predicament. One of the locks was covered, but there was a button above Ryth's head between his ears. There was no lock on Ryth's neck chain, so I imagined the only way to fix that would be either to cut the chain itself or somehow get behind the wall to check back there.
"Ryth, how much do you trust us?" Keia asked.
"Uh… Why do you ask?"
"Don't move." Keia pulled back an arrow and it seemed to me like she was aiming at Ryth's head. Ryth closed his eyes and sat still. Keia let loose and the arrow stuck into the button above Ryth's head. His ears perked up when he realized how close the arrow had come to hitting him. The metal covering one of the locks broke off and a hatch opened near to the ground. A ticking sound started, and then Ryth screamed in pain.
"Arrgh! The chains! They're pulling!" Ryth shouted.
"Quick! Vegance, take Rona's sword through that hatch and cut the neck chain if you must! Ceae, pick the locks!" I ordered.
"Immediately," Vegance said. She snatched Rona's katana from his hand, threw it through the hatch, transformed into a cat again, and dove into the hatch herself. A few seconds later, the chain around Ryth's neck fell to the floor.
"Well, at least I won't suffocate… Get the other chains!" I looked to Ceae.
"Ceae, what are you doing? Pick those locks!"
"I can't! They're all too hot to touch!"
"Damn," I mumbled under my breath. I moved closer and cooled off all the chains. "Pick the locks now."
"Quickly!" Ryth shouted. Ceae worked quickly, dropping lock after lock to the floor. After the fourth lock, Ryth was released and dropped to the floor. He landed, somewhat, on all fours. He stood up and came to join the rest of us.
"Thanks…" Ryth said. A small, yellow, spherical object appeared in the middle of the room. Rona quickly snatched it up.
"That's three trials completed!" I said. "Let's return to the main chamber." There were no objections, so we returned back to the main chamber.
There was a noticeable difference about the main chamber once we entered. A stone column rose from the middle platform, and three slots adorned its surface. Rona went straight to the stone column and directly in front of it; the rest of us gathered around it. Rona produced the three gemstones and placed them in the slots. A quiet noise was heard and a slot on top of the column opened. A somewhat larger sphere rose up out of the column. This orb glowed green and emitted a significant amount of energy.
"The Nature Key," Rona said and took it from its resting position. He passed it to me, and I put the Nature Key with the others. With no more to do here, we returned to the outside world.
Outside, the air seemed a bit stifling. Everything was noticeably darker too. We looked to the direction of the Dark Lands and noticed that the cloud cover had definitely been moving. We ran the way to the Fox Spirit's settlement, and the place was entirely abandoned. However, the alpha fox sat by his lonesome up in his throne.
"Elder… You have yet to leave?" Rona asked. The alpha fox turned weakly to look at Rona.
"It would appear that way… But the Woods do not take favor of my actions… All other fox spirits have left, taking their magic with them… I cannot exist alone like this… I am all that remains, and I am dying with these Woods," Alpha Fox said.
"You can leave now… The others need you."
"No… I cannot… I am weak… The fox spirits provide the magic that keeps me alive… Without them… My time has come." The alpha fox laid his head back and closed his eyes. His body began to glow white, and then it dissipated and reassembled into the air. The alpha fox now more closely resembled a spirit. "Rysta can take me now… I am ready." Without another word, Alpha Fox flew into the sky and disappeared.
I looked to Rona. It was clear he had been affected by the alpha fox's death. Rona turned his back to us. Vegance moved closer to Rona and put a hand on his shoulder. "Rona…"
"Just… Leave me alone," Rona said. "Go on without me… I'll catch up later."
"Rona, we need you… We can't just leave you behind," I said. "Please, come with us… Think about this some other time…"
"No… I've made my decision… We'll meet again later."
"Cryos, let's just go… When Rona wants alone time, we let him have it," Vegance said.
"Okay… Stay safe, okay Rona?" Rona was silent. The rest of us walked slowly down the stairs and pushed through the remainder of the Woods. From then on, the rest of the Orb Keys would just require a lot of crossing back and forth on the Plains.