We're approaching the end! I think this is probably gonna be the penultimate chapter, but don't hold me to that.

Flora clung to Anagan's encouragement as the group trekked cautiously through the jungle. Gantlos had tried to insist on Duman not coming, as the shapeshifter was still weak and in pain, but Duman had asserted that there was no way he was leaving them all to fight on their own, and since he'd managed to stand and walk, Gantlos had had to respect his decision. Which didn't mean that Flora couldn't see him constantly shooting Duman worried looks, asking him how he was feeling every five minutes, the incessant checking-in starting to elicit fond eye-rolls from Duman. It honestly made Flora wish Helia hadn't stayed in Gardenia; she couldn't express how grateful she'd be right now for a reassuring hug from her boyfriend. She hoped the guys were okay. That jungle was wild and dangerous, and set to grow further.

Glancing around the rest of the group, she noted that Bloom and Ogron both seemed equally out of it and detached from their surroundings, the two redheads' gazes focused somewhere between near and far, a look Flora knew meant they were far more engaged in whatever - likely not so fun - occurrences were going on inside their own minds than where they were going. She knew Bloom's: her friend was still feeling on-edge after causing that forest fire, no matter how much anyone tried to reassure her it wasn't her fault. The way Bloom's gaze kept flicking around her, looking guilty at the trees and plant life, told Flora she was scared of a repeat.

Ogron was a little trickier. Flora had seen he was evidently in distress in the cave, but Tecna had been the one to get up and follow him out, the two returning a few minutes later, Ogron seeming marginally improved, at least enough to be able to offer input on the plan. A plan they were about to put into action.

As Flora contemplated her upcoming role, she grimaced, experiencing a sharp twinge in her head. She stopped, rubbing her temples, attempting to alleviate the pain, but it didn't ease.

'Ow…'

Stella turned to her with concern. 'You okay, Flora?'

Flora nodded, but didn't take her fingers away from her temples. 'Fine…' She took another few steps, finding her legs weakening beneath her. The jungle seemed to warp and twist before her eyes, and she whimpered, clutching her head.

'Flora!' She felt Stella's hand on her shoulder. 'Flora, what's wrong?'

'Hurts…' she moaned, her entire body feeling weak and shaky. It was like the forest fire all over again, but this time her lungs were free of ash and smoke. Why was this happening? What was wrong with her?

'Flora!' Bloom exclaimed, rushing over. 'Flora, what's wrong?'

'I don't…I don't know,' Flora whimpered, almost doubling over as another wave of pain hit.

'Oh…hold on,' Bloom murmured. 'This should help.' Flora felt a hand on her arm, before a beautiful warmth coursed through her veins.

'Oh, wow…' she breathed. 'Is this what your healing powers feel like?'

Bloom nodded. 'Mhm. I just used the barest flicker of an ember, but it looks like that's solved your headache.'

Flora exhaled with relief, shooting Bloom a grateful smile. '…Thanks.'

'No problem.' Bloom frowned with concern. 'But what brought that on?'

'Maybe I'm tired? Or residual pain from the deforestation earlier?'

Bloom frowned, but didn't say anything.

'Let's keep moving,' Flora said decisively. 'I'm fine now, really.' However, as they kept walking, though the pain was dulled by Bloom's healing and the dizziness had subsided, she still felt a faint throbbing in her skull, growing louder and more insistent the further they walked, and she felt like she was on a boat, constantly rocking back and forth, her legs unsure which way the floor beneath her would go next and thus tripping and stumbling under her to try and acclimate. What's wrong with me?

However, she had to push her dizziness aside as another feeling started teasing its way into her mind. A sensation rather akin to Bloom's Dragon Flame: fierce and strong, full of life. In a heartbeat, she knew they were close to the Sacred Bud.

A moment later, Ogron confirmed it. 'We're almost there,' he said quietly. 'We should be careful; Diana could already be there. And she won't be happy to see us.'

'What, really?' Musa deadpanned. 'And I thought we were all besties.'

'Sure,' Stella chirped. 'Besties where one bestie wants to murder the others. Like a toxic friendship.'

'Guys, quiet,' Duman hissed. 'We don't want Diana to hear us.' Everyone stared at him for a moment, and he tapped his ear. 'Animal senses. She's there; I can hear her.' Gantlos frowned, and Duman sighed exasperatedly. 'I'm not using my powers, I promise. I can just hear better than everyone else. You know that.'

'Okay, everyone,' Bloom said quietly. 'Let's go over this one last time. Gantlos and Musa use seismic waves to destabilise the ground, Aisha churns up the water, and Stella creates illusory versions of all of us to keep them distracted while Tecna and Roxy use Speedix to get in with Anagan and disarm everyone you can. I'll get Flora to the Bud.'

'And Duman and I just stand back and hope,' Ogron muttered irritably, evidently sore about being unable to aid in the battle due to his weakened magic.

'Ogron, you were a big help with this plan,' Bloom reassured him. 'But now is really not the time for bemoaning personal circumstances, okay?'

Duman stifled a laugh at Bloom's quick shut down of Ogron's frustration, earning a tempered glare from his leader.

'Okay…' Bloom whispered. 'Let's get in there.' They all followed the Fairy of the Dragon Flame to the top of the cliffs, Flora guiding nature to create some cover and shield them from the eyes of any warrior fairies. Which turned out to be a ridiculously smart decision, as when they glanced down at the falls, they saw dozens of warrior fairies standing in the water, all armed with deadly spears as they guarded their lady. Diana was standing over a blue flower that glowed with an ethereal light so bright Flora had to blink to regain focus. She could feel the Bud calling out to her, drawing her near, stoking her connection to nature and beseeching her to connect to the beautiful web of life that covered all of Earth.

She felt her feet start to step forwards, and she shook her head, snapping herself out of it. Focus, Flora! Don't screw everything up before you even start! she chastised herself.

'Get into place…' Bloom muttered. 'On my mark, Musa.' The others dispersed, and Flora got into position next to Bloom, swallowing back the nausea that suddenly threatened to overtake her. You'll be fine, Flora…you can do this. You can do this. You can do this. If you just keep saying it, maybe it'll start being true.

She took a deep breath to calm herself, and as she exhaled, Bloom hissed 'Now!' and Gantlos and Musa unleashed simultaneous devastating seismic waves, shaking the ground and tearing hunks of rock from the cliff walls, while Aisha whipped up the water into a maelstrom.

'What?' Diana shrieked. 'What is this?!'

'Hey, Diana!' Stella gave a shrill whistle from above the falls, and all eyes swivelled to her and the apparent full Winx roster flying alongside her, courtesy of the Solarian princess's illusion magic. 'Come get us!'

'Attack!' Diana boomed, and the warrior fairies took to the sky, helpfully clearing the path for Flora and Bloom.

'C'mon, Flora!' Bloom grabbed her hand, and Flora jumped up, taking off after Bloom and hurtling through the crystalline spray, ducking past warrior fairies who were quickly being relieved of their spears by three blurs.

The two fairies flew up behind Diana, Bloom unleashing the strongest spell she could muster, while Flora ignored Diana's shrieks of fury, flying straight for the Bud.

Up close, it was even more beautiful than she'd initially thought. She stroked the petals, the sweet scent of its nectar almost intoxicating. She breathed in the scent of every flower on Earth, of dew in the morning, of towering trees and sweet sap, and started to feel heady. This single flower held the life force of every plant and animal on Earth.

'Oh Great Sage…' she murmured. Who was she to try and command this? 'I'm the girl whose friends are gonna get hurt if she doesn't get the hell out of her own head,' she bit out, raising her hands and summoning her magic, focused fully on connecting with the Bud. She could feel her energy beginning to mesh with nature itself, but the beautiful wash of life she'd imagined was torn from her, replaced with a desperate, visceral screaming.

Just as her voice rose to a pitch to match the cacophony in her skull, she felt tendrils ensnare her ankles, dragging her downwards and away from the Bud, severing her connection. She gasped, regretting it instantly as the vines around her ankles dragged her beneath the surface of the water, her lungs flooding as she choked, thrashing against her bonds in a desperate attempt to reach the surface.

'Flora!' The water suddenly retreated from her, leaving her in a little oasis of lakebed. 'You okay?' Aisha called from where she was attempting to restrain Diana with the help of her Morphix.

'All good!' Flora choked out, hacking and coughing as she tried to clear her lungs.

'Somebody cover Flora!' Bloom ordered. 'Get her back to the Bud!'

'It will do you no good, children!' Diana screamed, bursting free of Aisha's bindings. 'Nature has its orders: Earth will be a jungle by nightfall!'

'Wanna bet?' Stella asked, forcing Diana to cover her eyes with a blinding light attack.

As the others held Diana at bay, Flora struggled with the vines around her ankles, trying to coax them to let her go. But they stood firmly with their mistress Diana, and she had to resort to just yanking at them.

'Let me go!'

'Need a little help there?' She glanced up to see Duman wading his way through the falls, entering her dry circle and kneeling next to her.

'You're not supposed to be in the fight!' she exclaimed. 'You're not fully-'

'One thing you'll learn about me, Wallflower,' Duman cut her off. 'Is that telling me what to do is almost always a pointless endeavour.' He flexed his fingers, furrowing his brow in concentration and pain as his nails elongated into sharp talons that made quick work of Flora's bindings.

'Gantlos is going to have a heart attack you used your powers,' Flora chastised lightly, earning an eye-roll.

'Yeah, because that's what we need to talk about. Go connect to that goddamn Bud!'

Flora nodded, scrambling to her feet and rushing back to the Bud, grimacing as she saw Diana barely being held back by the combined force of Bloom, Aisha, Gantlos, Roxy and Stella. She had to move fast if they wanted this to work.

She reached out for the Bud, but just as her fingertips were about to brush its delicate petals, she screamed with agony, clutching her head as she felt wave after wave of pain wash over her.

'Flora!' Aisha landed next to her in a heartbeat. 'Flora, what's wrong?'

'Screaming…the screaming! It's so loud!' She let out another ear-piercing scream, dropping to her knees, Aisha barely sweeping the water aside in time to avoid another near-drowning experience.

As Flora clutched her head and tried her best to take deep breaths, she could hear screaming that mirrored her own. Only a few metres away, Diana had ceased her struggling, now leaning on one of her warriors as the Winx watched on, shocked.

'What's happening to them?' Stella cried, and nobody could give an answer.

Capitalising on the Winx's distracted state, the warrior fairies swarmed in and surrounded Diana, protecting her from the other fairies' attacks, but unable to ease whatever was causing her evident agony.

'Hey, guys…' Duman started. 'Do you…do you smell smoke?'

'What the hell are you doing in the fight?!' Gantlos demanded incredulously.

Duman held up a hand, silencing him. 'Not the time for perfectly reasonable questions, Gantlos.'

'Duman's right…' Bloom muttered. 'I sense fire. Lots of fire.'

'They're burning…' Flora moaned. 'They're back…they're back and they're burning them…' She could hear the same screams as earlier, the same desperate begging for salvation from the trees of the forest. She knew. She knew who was causing this. They should have gone after those goddamn deforesters earlier!

'Back?' Stella repeated, watching Diana and her fairies warily. 'Y'mean those jerks cutting down all the trees?'

Flora nodded, whimpering. 'They're back…girls, you have to do something… The trees…the trees are screaming! They're screaming!' She let out another piercing scream, and Aisha pulled her close, stroking her back with slow, gentle circles.

'It's okay, Flora… It's gonna be okay…'

Bloom took charge in a heartbeat. 'We need to stop whatever the hell is happening elsewhere in this jungle, or Flora doesn't have a shot at drawing back the plants.' As she spoke, she knelt next to Flora, pouring more healing energy into her, but it was sadly to minimal avail. Though the physical pain of nature's agony lessened, the emotional torment of hearing the tortured screams of those poor trees was unbearable.

'Aisha, Musa, Anagan, you guys come with me to stop whatever's causing this. Everyone else, protect Flora and make sure that jungle gets recalled asap.' She got to her feet, her wings fluttering as she was lifted into the air. 'C'mon! I sense fire this way!' She and the three she'd called sped off into the jungle, while Flora was helped to her feet by Roxy and Stella.

'C'mon, sweetie…' Stella soothed. 'Up we go…'

'It hurts…' Flora whimpered.

'I know…I know, honey. It's gonna be okay, though. I promise.'

Across the lake, Diana struggled to stand unaided, gritting her teeth with burning fury.

'Those mortal leeches shall pay for this!' she screamed at all present and just the universe in general. 'I swear it!' She stalked forwards, her legs trembling but not buckling as her wings fluttered, taking her up and towards making things a hell of a lot trickier for the group going to investigate the source of nature's pain.

'You!' She pointed to a group of warrior fairies. 'With me! We will make this scum wish it had never encroached upon our home. The rest of you, capture the foolish children who believe themselves capable of defeating me, and I care not what befalls the wizards, but be sure to make it painful!'

'She seems mad,' Duman remarked, and Gantlos glared at him.

'I swear, once we are not about to die, we are going to have a long, long conversation about what you're doing.'

'Mhm, mhm, sounds like a plan,' Stella interjected. 'But let's focus on the not dying first, m'kay?'

There were a number of things Anagan found annoying about Believix. The fact that the form seemed to exist for the sole purpose of brainwashing people and weakening him and his friends was evidently high on the list, but close behind were the Speedix wings. It was hardly pleasant, your enemies having a power-up that rendered your one unique contribution to your team redundant. They didn't have destroy-ix wings, or shapeshift-ix wings. No, it was only him that got rendered pointless.

Though, on this occasion, I have to admit that they're pretty useful… he confessed to himself as Aisha, Musa and Bloom kept easy pace with his own speed powers as the group sped through the forest, Anagan having to duck and vault over some new obstacle every three seconds. God…I forgot how hard it was to get up to speed here…

'Okay, I definitely sense fire!' Bloom called.

'Did we definitely put out that forest fire?' Musa asked, and Anagan raised an eyebrow. Forest fire? What the heck had the Winx been up to today? Oh, I think you have enough to pretend to cope with without pulling on that thread, Anagan.

'Yes!' Bloom confirmed. 'I made certain not to leave a single ember burning!'

'Then who'd be crazy enough to set a fire in the jungle?' Aisha demanded. A second later, they reached a clearing that probably hadn't been there that morning and got their answer.

'Ugh,' Musa groused. 'This guy again? Really?'

'Who?' Anagan asked. 'I was in a cell when…whatever this is pertinent to was going on.'

Musa pointed to a man standing well back from the flames licking at the land. 'That guy. Rick or something. We ran into him and his goons earlier.'

Anagan frowned, taking in the severity of the situation. He could see why Flora and Diana had been reduced to screaming in agony; the forest was being decimated by the second, menacing flames creeping over every living shoot and bud, turning the lush environment into an ashen wasteland.

'Why would they do this?' Aisha demanded. 'They're not even harvesting lumber!'

'They're clearing land,' Bloom snarled. 'They took what they wanted, and now they're getting rid of the rest.'

Musa grimaced at the sight of the destruction. 'Bloom, I mean this in the nicest possible way, but your planet is messed up.'

'Well, let's un-mess it, then,' Bloom muttered, stalking through the blaze, the fire lovingly caressing her legs as she walked through the inferno, her pale skin unmarred by scorch marks or burns. Guess that's one of the perks of being a fire fairy…

The other three, meanwhile, had to settle for skirting around the edge of the blaze, since Anagan felt no desire to become a charcoal briquette.

'Healing Rain!' Aisha cried, summoning huge, rolling clouds that spread from the horizon, overtaking the little sunlight making it through the thick cloud of ash and smoke. One drop fell, then another, then their hundreds of thousands of brethren, assaulting the flames with crystal droplets.

'Fire Catcher!' Bloom backed up Aisha's spell by drawing the flames into herself, the menacing red and orange tongues turning sunset orange as they flooded into Bloom's body in a spiral of light and warmth.

'Oh, you gotta be kidding me!' Anagan and Musa both spun to see that guy, Rick or something, staring at Bloom in dumbfounded fury. 'You?! Again?! What's a guy gotta do to do his job without some kids in dress up messing around in his business?!'

'Maybe stop burning down the rainforest?' Musa quipped sarcastically. 'Seriously, why the hell didn't you just run with your tail between your legs after getting owned? We've beaten witches, demons, the source of all dark magic, and dark wizards. We can beat you five times before breakfast.' She winced, looking to Anagan. 'Uh, no offence.'

'None taken. You did beat us. Like five times.'

Rick was practically puce with rage. Wow. Not even Ogron gets puce-level-mad. 'Okay, this time, somebody actually manage to kill them!'

'Sonic Screen!' Musa immediately summoned a shield around Aisha as a number of the deforesters pulled guns. 'Oh, seriously?! I don't know that much about Earth, but aren't these tiny death canons supposed to be controlled or something?!'

'You really don't know much about Earth, do you?' Anagan asked, and Musa rolled her eyes.

'Yeah, whatever. I'd like to see you find your way around Melody.'

Anagan was about to ask if they shouldn't summon a shield around Bloom, but the question rapidly died on his lips as the first shot was fired straight at the fire fairy, the bullet melting on approach and plummeting to the soot-covered floor as a heap of molten slag.

'You two keep them off our backs!' Bloom ordered. 'We'll put the fire out!'

'You heard the woman!' Musa took to the sky. 'Let's go show these guys why you don't mess with the Winx! And, um, you, too, Anagan.'

As Aisha and Bloom continued to extinguish the flames, Anagan and Musa took care of the deforesters, Anagan feeling a thrill of delight at using his super speed again. He had worked so incredibly hard in the dungeon not to think about the prospect of never using his magic again, of never feeling that freedom, but now he could quietly admit to himself how terrified he'd been of not moving like this again. He'd never thought he'd become so attached to something he hadn't been born with…

'Oh no…' Anagan paused as he heard Musa mutter.

'What?' he asked nervously, punching a guy that had apparently decided it was a good idea to try and club him with a shovel.

Musa turned to him, her eyes filling with panic. 'I hear wings. Lots of wings. We're about to have even more unfriendly company…' Oh, dammit. Why can't anything ever just be easy?

As Anagan glanced to the skies, his stomach dropped to see Musa was right: a swarm of warrior fairies descended on the blazing forest, ensnaring the deforesters in vines and bringing spears down towards their throats.

'Harmonic Attack!' Musa blasted them back, saving the lives of a dozen men that had just been trying to kill her. 'Anagan! Keep the deforesters off Bloom and Aisha, and the fairies off the deforesters!' Anagan would ask why they were defending the men that were actively trying to kill them, but if the Winx had asked that question when they'd found him and his friends in the dungeon, he'd have died, so he didn't argue, wrestling spears away from fairies and tearing vines off men, feeling a rush of indignation as the people he was saving promptly began attempting to kill him again.

'You're welcome,' he snapped as he ducked a gunshot. He would really like to knock this guy out, but then there was a good chance he'd get burned to death by his own fire, so he just had to settle for ducking his blows while saving him from people trying to kill both of them. I officially hate today…

As though trying to prove his assessment of the day correct, a warrior fairy blasted him in the back, knocking the air from his lungs and sending him tumbling into the ashy dirt, coughing and choking.

'Wizard scum! Aiding the monsters destroying nature? Just as I thought you could sink no lower.'

Anagan swallowed hard, trying to scramble to his feet as vines tried to hold him down, his eyes not leaving the spear aimed at his throat. He raised his hands to summon a shield, but before he had need of one, the fairy screamed as a tree fell, dropping like a fly and clutching her head in agony.

'No! Nature…nature is being tortured!' Anagan watched her with wary concern, her vines falling from his ankles in a cloud of ash.

'You need to get out of here,' he warned, though his attempt to speak to her was met with a brandish of her spear, almost slicing into his chest. 'Okay, I'm trying to help here.'

'Seeing you dead in the dirt will help!' snarled the fairy, and he winced.

'Infinite Echo!' Musa flew down, summoning a shield around the fairy to protect her from the fire. 'Yeah, I'm not sure Anagan dying is equivalent to a fire extinguisher. If it is, then that's a weirdly specific power.' She appraised the situation, facepalming at the fairies dropping from the sky in pain. 'Okay, new plan. Protect Bloom and Aisha from the deforesters, protect the deforesters from the fairies, and protect the fairies from the fire.' She had to blast a deforester away from decapitating a fairy. 'And also the deforesters.'

Anagan raised an eyebrow at her calm, mildly sarcastic demeanour. 'You do this kind of thing a lot?'

Musa shrugged, blasting fairies and deforesters alike. 'This exact thing? Nah, first time. Fighting armies of grubs or shadows or zombie witches? Yeah, loads. It's weird.' She took off into the sky, keeping bullets away from Aisha as the Fairy of Waves' rain pelted down on the forest, each droplet a bullet of its own, striking wound after wound against the blaze, but the inferno refused to be quelled so easily, leaping back up after each strike from the rain, Aisha's clouds having to keep up an unyielding barrage just to keep the fire under control.

As the tongues of flame leapt up, they were drawn into the burning aura surrounding Bloom, the blinding light surrounding the fairy of the Dragon Flame growing more and more intense with every spark absorbed, to the extent Anagan could no longer see the leader of the Winx, only able to make out the white-hot outline of a girl within the blaze.

Coughing and choking on smoke and wondering just how he'd managed to get himself into this, Anagan ran through the blazing forest, simultaneously blasting and defending the same people in a weird juxtaposition that made his head spin.

'I will see you back in chains by sunset,' growled a voice behind him, and he whipped around to see Diana holding a spear to his throat. He froze, and a smirk tugged at her lips. 'Hello.'

'Hey.' The metal was so close to his skin that the movement of speaking made his throat scratch against the weapon. 'I don't suppose you'll listen to me if I tell you that it's really not safe for you here?' He gasped as blood trickled down his neck, wincing as he felt the new, shallow gash. 'Okay, so that's a no. Got it.' He started backing up, but fell to the earth as vines ensnared his ankles, tripping him and leaving him even more at Diana's mercy.

'You will suffer as you deserve,' Diana spat, her eyes blazing. 'But first I will cleanse this scum from my forest. Nature will be protected.'

'At the cost of people's lives?' Anagan demanded, digging his fingers into the ash underneath him and forcing himself into a sitting position, feeling Diana's spear against his throat again, the metal warm from the heat blazing around them. 'You fight so fiercely to defend nature, to defend life. But you blindly ignore that the people you harm are a part of life, a part of nature.'

Diana faltered at his words, the truth of them registering in her eyes. She paused, but shook her head. 'Nature is ancient and beautiful. I shall not allow it to be cut down.'

'Did it ever occur to you that most of the people that cut down nature are just trying to survive?!' Anagan snarled, yanking his hands away from the vines that threatened to trap his wrists along with his ankles. 'Yes, this is wrong, this fire, this mass destruction, but most of the people that cut down a tree are trying to eat and stay warm and stay safe - stay alive. It's not an act of hatred, or sacrilege! How many of the people you've attacked since your release have been cutting down nature for profit and greed, and how many have been trying to provide for their families?'

Diana's spear eased its pressure on his throat, her eyes flickering with confusion, and, after a moment, very quiet guilt. 'I…I didn't…'

'Didn't what? See them as equal to you? Or to nature? View their lives as meaningful?'

Diana's expression hardened, and her spear pressed against his throat once again, the bronze turning red as the blood from the cut it had already inflicted trickled down it. 'You do not have the right to speak!'

Anagan refused to back down, refused to be cowed by her steely gaze, or the blade pressing into his skin. 'Don't act like you're better than anyone because you oppress people with your power.'

'Shut up.'

'Why? So you can keep lying to yourself and calling yourself a protector of Earth?'

'I am a protector of Earth!'

'What, because you attack people for cutting down a tree?'

'I defend nature!'

'Humans are a part of nature! You can't pick and choose what gets to be a part of life, Diana!'

Diana's eyes narrowed. 'I don't have to listen to this.' Anagan gasped, choking on the ash flooding his lungs as Diana yanked his head back with more vines, his body slamming back down into the carpet of ash, and he winced at the sudden heat.

Diana leant over him, her mahogany-wood hair brushing his cheek as she glowered down at him. 'Maybe if you're lucky, the fire will burn you to death before I can have you dragged to Morgana.'

'Maybe if you're lucky, you'll get through this fight without passing out.'

Diana's expression twisted with fury. 'Are you utterly incapable of shutting your impudent mouth?'

'No. I can shut my mouth. But not when I have something to say.'

'I do not care to listen to what you believe is worth the breath drawn to speak your idiocies.' Diana spun on her heel, not without leaving another scratch across Anagan's neck, her wings fluttering as her steps faltered from the pain of nature.

Anagan struggled against the vines, trying to summon his magic to free himself, but the smoke burning his lungs made it hard to focus. He needed help, but he couldn't see Musa, couldn't draw the breath to cry out for help, reduced to pointless struggling as he warily watched the flames tremble with the anticipation of creeping closer and reducing him to just more ashes in the carpet he lay on. He was going to burn to death unless he got up. Gritting his teeth and trying to breathe through the smoke, he grabbed the vines around his wrists and pulled as hard as he could, channeling all the magic he could muster into the roots, shrivelling them with his dark magic and finally yanking his arms free.

He sighed with relief as he sat up, ripping the vines from around his ankles and stumbling upright. That was too close…

He glanced around, seeking Musa, but his gaze caught on the trail of footprints drifting away from his bindings. He could see the dizziness in the imprints, knew that Diana was going to give out sooner or later.

'I cannot believe I'm doing this,' he muttered, facepalming as he ran after the Major Fairy. He soon found her, rolling his eyes as he saw that he likely needn't have been concerned; she was fighting a dozen men, spinning and parrying her spear. Her stance was weak and wobbly, but a slightly dizzy Major Fairy against a dozen goons with shovels? That was still an easy win.

He started to turn to go back to where he might actually be useful, but he froze as he heard a deafening boom, whipping around just in time to see the bullet slash across Diana's thigh, a stream of blood pouring down her tan skin as she screamed, stumbling in pained disorientation, tripping and dropping to her knees.

A man raised his shovel, whipping it down towards her neck, smiling wickedly as he anticipated the blood. However, the blood never came, and instead he was met with the sight of two fierce brown eyes staring up into his own, the shovel held in place away from Diana by a man who had moved faster than any of them could see.

'Don't,' Anagan said firmly. He whipped the implement away from the man, snapping it in two and tossing the pieces into the blaze that raged around them.

Diana looked up from her bleeding leg, her eyes widening as she gawped at the man she'd been planning to kill standing in front of her, his stance firm and protective.

'What…what are you doing?' she choked out.

'I'm opening an ice rink. What's it look like? I'm saving your life.'

Diana fell silent, evidently trying to process what the heck he was doing as she pressed on her leg, trying to stem the bleeding. Anagan was equally trying to figure out what he was doing, why the hell he was defending a woman who wanted him dead, wanted his friends dead. Unfortunately, the situation didn't wait around for him to sift through his thought-process, sending fists and weapons straight for him. He ducked a fist just to have another slam into his side, knocking the smoky air from his lungs.

'I hate today so much…' he groaned as he hit the ground. He shoved himself back to his feet, drawing on all the magic he could to blast three of his opponents away from him and Diana, whipping up the ash around another two to block their sight before he punched them in the jaw.

His chest heaved, his body loudly reminding him that he'd been stuck in a dungeon for the past few days, and, other than an energy bar Flora had given him in the cave (thank God for that girl), he hadn't eaten in just as long. Magic could keep people going for longer, but his body was still starting to trembled with the exertion of the fight, his lungs burning with smoke.

'Okay, seriously, who the hell are you?' demanded the guy whose punch he was ducking. 'You're not one of those weird bug-women; they're tryna kill you. Whose side are you even on?!'

Anagan sighed tiredly as he knocked the man out. 'I honestly have no idea anymore.'

He glanced at his remaining opponents, his body groaning as he took in that he still had six to take down. Or seven. Or eight. There was a strong possibility he was seeing double, his vision swimming with exhaustion and smoke inhalation. Fantastic…

With a deep breath he quickly regretted as the smoke burned his lungs, he lifted two of the men into the air with magic, slamming them into each other before dropping them on two of their cohorts, punching another man in the stomach while he stared at the four men Anagan had felled without touching them.

'Okay, I am really getting sick of you,' spat one of the remaining deforesters.

'Well I'm not exactly your biggest fan either,' Anagan muttered. Unfortunately, this guy was one of the ones who helpfully had a gun, and Anagan's speed was tested as he had to move faster than the bullets. He felt one whip past his arm, coming so close that it tore the fabric of his jacket. The desperation to stay out of the way made him sloppy, and he felt his feet stumble in the ash, and a second later, his vision was obscured by grey powder as he hit the ground, glancing up just in time to see what was probably about to be the instrument of his death being cocked.

He tensed, prepared to try and move, but he didn't have to. The man didn't get the chance to pull the trigger as he was enveloped by a strangling vine, delicate pink flowers blooming across it, seeming out of place in the deadly blaze.

'Wha-?!' He didn't finish his sentence as the vines covered his mouth, and Anagan slowly turned to stare in bewildered confusion at Diana, the Major Fairy stumbling to her feet, her lips pressed together in a thin line of concentration and pain as she held the vines firm.

'You don't get to kill him,' she gritted out. 'That's my job.' She glanced to Anagan, her lips twitching. 'You're welcome.'

Anagan took a minute to sort through every word he knew, finding each one to be unsuitable for the situation, so he just settled for standing and staring in bewilderment.

However, his mind was quickly dragged back to functionality as he registered the shine of a gun barrel behind Diana, one of the seemingly-infinite deforesters having drawn one of their seemingly-infinite guns and firing.

'Move!' Diana's eyes widened as Anagan's hand closed around her wrist in a heartbeat, pulling her down and out of the way, both of them colliding with the ground.

Diana immediately slammed her palm into the ash, vines bursting from the earth and binding their assailant.

'I despise whomever created these accursed weapons,' she muttered. She fell silent as she realised she and Anagan were still lying next to each other, and that he'd just pulled her out of the way of a bullet. Anagan was still trying to figure that one out himself actually.

'Why…' Diana stared at him in confusion. 'Why did you…' Her eyes widened, and she trailed off, her gaze fixed on his shoulder.

'What…' She touched his shoulder, her fingers coming away red. Very red. 'Oh…' he murmured. 'That…that's probably not good.' He knew how adrenaline worked. It could distract you in the moment, seemingly numbing your injuries, before fading away and leaving you with full awareness of the bullet wound in your shoulder. Fortunately, or unfortunately, whichever way you chose to look at it, Anagan passed out cold before he could feel much more than a twinge.

Ooh, I'm with Anagan: that's probably not good. What's Diana gonna do now that one of the wizards she's been trying to kill has just passed out next to her? Seems like the perfect chance to get some revenge, but he did sort of take a bullet for her...