Vinta wandered in the desert on his own. His footprints left a mark on the sand as he patrolled around one of the important oases of Al Mipedim. He was deep in his thought. It had been many days since their guide disappeared. Their friend, kidnapped by those metalists. Their king was worried for the human and most of his tribe were too. It was their guide and he was friends of many mipedians. With him gone, it felt like there was a hole in their desert. The boy who brought joy and optimism, didn't bring those anymore.

He reached the end of his patrol road and stopped for a bit. He waited for Ario to join him and they would go on.

He felt the hot wind of the desert for a bit. He raised his head and watched the blue sky.

He prayed the Cothica they could get a sign. Just anything that could help them find and rescue Peyton.

Chapter 55: A Spy

Vinta heard someone grunted, "There you are," he turned around and saw the chubby green reptilian lizard joined him at a rapid pace.

"Something happened?" the creature asked as he frowned a bit.

"Yes. I spot a creature that doesn't come from any of our tribe. He didn't see me and I found him. If he didn't move, we will find him at the same spot."

Vinta frowned as he showed his fangs, "Is it one of them?"

"Probably. They are camouflaging themselves, but I can tell that it's not sands. It's a bit windy and the sands didn't move at all. It tells me everything I need to know."

"Do the metalists has any means to see us if we are invisible?"

Ario grunted, "Not seen anything like that, but I expect them to have a battlegear like that. We need to use everything to our advantage. They surely have a way to escape us."

The two mipedians turned invisible as they quickly marched towards their destination. They were cautious. They left as little traces of their presence as possible on the sands. The wind made their footprints disappeared quickly. They left little traces of approaching their target.

The green mipedian looked around as they reached the location where he saw the spy. It was near a small oasis. It was one where the mipedians has no presence. There was not enough water to make a village or a fortification. It was a place to stop for a little bit to drink.

Vinta looked around. He noticed that the oasis was on a small hill. It allowed a spy to have a good reconnaissance spot. Still, it wasn't a location his tribe often traveled or patrolled. That was before Peyton ended up in the grasp of the metalists. He felt his muscles tensing a little bit as he tried to find the creature. He wondered why the spy was and if they could make him talk. He clenched his hands, not seeing anything standing out right now.

Ario eyes searched for any traces that stood out in the desert. He watched the sands flew by the hot wind of the desert. He tried to see where the sands didn't move. If the spy moved elsewhere, they couldn't find any traces of him. He felt anger raised a bit in his chest at the thought that they missed the metalist. Their best chance to find Peyton might already passed between their grasp.

The orange mipedian frowned when he saw something standing out a bit. He squinted his eyes and looked a bit closer. He tapped the shoulder of the other creature and pointed forward.

There was a spot where the sand remained still. Not only that, the way it moved by the wind looked like some sheet or something similar tried to fly with the wind.

The green mipedian nodded and the two turned invisible.

They quietly approached the strange spot that stood out in the desert.

Ario had a small smile on his face. He guessed the metalist might underestimate their tribe. The mipedians knew their desert very well. They could see anything that stood out when they took time to observe it. That little piece of tissue used as camouflage stood out a bit. He could see the color a little bit different from the desert. It was barely noticeable, but for him, it stood out. His smile disappeared as he focused. He frowned as he tried to see where the enemy might be looking.

Each step they made left a trace on the ground for a few seconds before the wind blushed it away. They walked around, trying to search for any hint that a head could stand out. They needed to know where the creature was looking. They had no idea if the metalist could see through the camouflage.

Vinta saw a hint of red eyes that came out of it. Thankfully, it wasn't looking at them. He whispered, "I see his face. Not looking at us."

"We approach him now," Ario replied.

The two mipedians slowly closed the distance with the suspect. They could see that the face was made of metal. The color was also similar to the ands of the desert, but not perfectly. They noticed some differences between the sands and the metalist color. The creature had a darker color compared to the desert. It was much easier to notice it than his camouflage. The red eyes also stood out from everything. Thankfully, it focused forward and not towards them. Still, they knew it wouldn't remain that way forever.

The tension raised in the air as they got closer and closer. Steps by steps, they got closer and closer of the target. They could see the telebracers around the wrist. If they failed to capture him, he would teleport away. The two knew they couldn't fail. For Peyton, they had to succeed.

A few more steps. They were halfway from their destinations. The wind was by their side as they continued to erase the footsteps they left behind. They began to climb the small hill towards the oasis. They ignored their heart beating loudly in their chest. A do or fail situation. The chances this turned into a battle was extremely small. They fully expected the creature to escape the first chance it had with his battlegear.

After more steps, they got close now. The spy didn't give any attention to his surrounding. Maybe he saw something and observed it.

The Mipedians cared little what the spy might see. They needed to capture the metalist. They knew to start by taking away the Telebracer, before restraining the creature. Once it was done, they transport him to a prison and inspected the battlegear. It surely contained the location of the metalist territory. It was obviously the case and they needed it. Just like how they found Chaotic two solans ago.

They emptied their mind. They made sure that their intention couldn't be felt.

They were near the metalist. Just a few more steps and they could strike. They quietly walked around.

Vinta went to the right side, while Ario remained in place. They surrounded the metalist, who was still unaware of their presence.

The wind continued to blow. Luck was on their side for now. They had no idea how long before their luck turned against them. They slowly and quietly approached the creature. They crossed the bit distance. They got closer and closer.

Once they were a few feet away from the metalist. They prepared to jump. They could see their target too focused on something ahead and gave no attention to the danger that approached them.

The two mipedians were sure the metal creature came from the tribe that too Peyton. The body was made of metal and the eyes looked like some strange things they saw before.

The two waited for a few seconds, before they jumped at the creature at the same time.

The metalist was caught off-guard and felt on the ground when the mipedians landed on his back. He struggled and tried to get his telebracers, but Vinta managed to grabbed it and pulled it away. The red eyes expanded in desperation as he couldn't escape them. He managed to raise his body with his strength. With a quick movement, he pushed them away. He turned towards Vinta who held his only way to escape the desert. He had no idea how they got him, but he sure wouldn't end up their prisoner.

Vinta held it in his arms and jumped away, to make sure the enemy couldn't steal it.

Ario went on the offensive with a flashkick, but the creature dodged the attack and countered with a dark ball. The mipedian dodged it at the last second as an explosion followed where he previously was. He quickly crossed the distance as he went in the offensive.

The metalist struggled as he avoided the many attacks from the green creature, but couldn't dodge one from Vinta who sent a wind attack and sent him on the ground.

The battle went on quickly. The two creatures overpowered the metalist and restrained him on the ground. Vinta equipped the battlegear once it was done and kneeled down, "Looks like we got one of your kind," he let out a small victorious grin. He put his hand on his chest, "You will tell us everything metalist. You will tell us where you live and we will save Peyton and his parents," he frowned, "Don't think you won't talk. We know how to make you talk," he darkly warned the prisoner.

The metal creature red eyes turned into a frown, "Do your worse Vinta."

The orange mipedian wasn't that surprise that the enemy might know his name. It did make him hesitate to speak a bit more.

Ario went on, "You might know our name, but we will know your location. You put Perim against you metalist."

"You are just creatures of Perim," their prisoner replied with little fear, "Try and make me talk. I know how you make prisoners talk," he chuckled, "We watched you tribes for more than thousands of solans. You never saw us until now," he declared.

The two mipedians were a bit nervous and uncertain. They were present for a long time and they never noticed them.

Ario guessed that they never tried to search for metalist before. Why tried to find something that never existed in their mind before.

Vinta replied, "And we will see you from now on. And we will know where you live. We still have your telebracer. If we managed to find Chaotic, we will manage to find your location. Will they expect an invisible mipedian in your territory?"

The prisoner was a bit nervous now. He had nothing back to say. Because the creature spoke the true. He had no idea if the inventors of his tribe made anything to prevent something like that to happen. If not, they were in big trouble.

"Looks like you lose your smug face now," Ario declared as he restrained the prisoner.

Vinta turned his attention to what the creature was observing prior to the hunt. He frowned his eyes and noticed that he was spying the camp of the conjurer. He didn't ask anything to the creature. He pointed at the direction the metalist spied on, "He spied on the conjurer camp. I guess he wanted to get something from them."

Ario frowned, "Another thing we will have to interrogate you about. You sure didn't even look at us when we approached you. I guess your king wanted something about them," he pushed their prisoner in direction of the castle.

"Now move. Our king will make you talk rather quickly. Then, we will save Peyton and his parents," the orange mipedian added.

The metalist grunted as he struggled to free himself. He couldn't do anything without his telebracer. He waited for the two creatures to not look at him. He got his chance quickly.

He sighed as he moved his finger and pressed on something on his wrist as a last resort. Once he felt that he pressed on a switch. He quickly moved his hands away. For now, he just had to wait and resist the torture that would soon come.

AC: This is the end of this chapter.

Next: Another Dream.

Tom had another dream where he met the creature that offered him tea before.