“This path that we are following, how sure are you that we will not encounter any Giants on it?” Corin asked Cianna.

  They had left early in the morning in an attempt to reach the furtive army. Their path forward was nebulous.

  “A path that is free of Giants is a path to the Garden of Yeigo,” Ciana remarked casually.

  Corin was unfamiliar with this garden.

  “Are we heading to this Garden?” Nanaua asked.

  Ciana stopped.

  “The Garden of Yeigo is a children’s tale.” Ciana replied. “It does not exist.”

  “I dont-” Corin began and then stopped. “I see.”

  “All I can do is follow the paths where the nexus between trees is strongest.” Ciana continued as she moved along. “Our best hope of surviving is not being spotted by the Giants.”

  “But the furtive army, how do we know if we are heading in the right direction?” Nanaua asked.

  “The only communication through the trees is between the Giants. Their continual chatter details their movements and any sort of peculiar activity they might see.” Ciana replied.

  “What do they say about the furtive army?” Nanaua asked. “Are there details on the furtives that march with the army?”

  “I cannot say.” Ciana replied.

  “You cannot?” Nanaua asked.

  “Yes. The Giants speak freely with each other, but their communications are difficult to understand. They speak in strange terms with meanings that I cannot ascertain.” She replied.

  “Is there anything certain that you can say?” Corin asked.

  “They speak of many enemies.” Ciana said. “At first I thought this meant a large force, but some recent messages seem to indicate something different. It seems as if they are following the movements of two separate groups rather than a single large entity.”

  “Two different groups?” Corin replied. “I don’t recall hearing about two different furtive armies before.”

  “Before, when the trees had spoken, the information we had heard was of a single unified furtive force.” Ciana said. “I also don’t know what to make of this development.”

  “All I know is that the communication between the Giants seems to be focused in an area that is a ten-day walk from here.” Ciana replied.

  “Onwards then.” Corin replied.

  The group continued their march throughout the day. There was little they saw that gave hints of any signs of life anywhere. The forest they walked through was dead silent. There was no aspect of life that had been unaffected by the recent carnage from the Giants.

  In the late day the group lit a small fire. It was the most that Ciana would allow from the adventurers in their current situation.

  “What will you do when we reach the furtive army?” Nanaua asked Ciana. “Do you know where your thicket went?”

  “I have a long memory of where our thicket has sought shelter in the past.” Ciana replied. “I shall go search for them.”

  “You could stay with us,” Corin replied. “I know you must be worried about your thicket, but I am sure that the furtive army will not turn you down. Livia and Zhi will empathize with your plight. You will have a place with us.”

  “I am sure your friends are of great character. That much I can see from having spent enough time around you. I do not doubt that they share your same concern for the well-being of other furtives.” Ciana said.

  “Then it is settled. When we meet the furtive army, we shall find a place for you.” Corin quickly replied.

  “But I cannot accept.” Ciana quickly replied.

  “What?” Corin asked. “But your thicket, I’m sure they will be fine, I’m sure-”

  “It is not your friends that give me pause, Corin,” Ciana interjected. “I overheard your conversation earlier. You are not the only ones who question your so-called Goddess’s intentions. As I traveled with you and communicated through the trees with our thicket and others, one thing became evident. Of all the furtive tribes that have been contacted throughout the continent, no thicket of forest elves has had contact with any Jokastan messengers.”

  “Well, some forest elf thickets move around frequently, so perhaps it was hard to locate a thicket.” Corin rebutted.

  “We have been able to map the location of where most Jokastan messengers have interacted with furtive villages. Many of these villages they have contacted are near thickets, and their presence to these villages is no secret, yet no thicket has ever received a message from Jokasta. This is because of sheer dumb luck or it is deliberate.” Ciana replied.

  Corin was taken aback. He had many reasons to distrust Jokasta, but he couldn’t understand why she would have done this.

  “Jokasta knows that forest elves do not partake in conflict.” Corin replied. “Perhaps this is why she has not reached out?”

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  “Do you believe that is the reason she has not reached out to the forest elves?” Ciana asked Corin.

  Corin was silent.

  “She is right, Corin,” Nanaua interjected. “There is much about Jokasta we don’t know. You and I both know that Jokasta does not have any qualms about using force. Until we know why she is unwilling to communicate with the forest elves, Ciana or the other forest elves should do their best to avoid her.”

  After their conversation, the group doused the fire and settled in for the night. Since winter had passed, the nights were no longer as cold as they used to be, something Corin relished.

  Corin was in a deep slumber when a low growl alerted him. As his drowsiness faded, Corin realized the sound came from Kaha.

  “Who goes there!?” Nanaua shouted, already up with her pike in hand.

  Corin picked up his blade and looked around him. It was pitch black around him; he could barely see in front of him. He couldn’t see what had alerted Kaha, but he knew there had to be danger.

  “They are armed with arrows! Hide!” A voice shouted towards Corin and Nanaua.

  As soon as Corin heard the voice, he heard the thwack of arrows hitting the ground next to him. He looked at the arrows and saw where they had hit.

  They’re to the right!

  “Nanaua on our right side!” he shouted to her.

  He heard the rustling of her movements as she hid to find cover. Corin searched for cover and perched himself behind a tree.

  “Ciana!” he spoke, trying not to give his position away.

  “Do not worry about me,” she replied from somewhere above Corin.

  “Zaire, come out!” A commanding voice shouted. This one came from the direction of the arrows.

  A conflict between furtives? Now?

  “Ekon, it is not too late. You can still abandon Telletioh.” The voice that had warned Corin and Nanaua replied. The man, Zaire, was on the move.

  Telletioh! The Dragon that clashed with Arandu and destroyed Bothia!

  The name caused Corin’s heart to nearly jump out of his chest.

  “They’re agents of a Dragon,” Nanaua said loud enough for Corin to hear.

  “I know.” He replied.

  “There is nowhere to hide, Zaire!” The commanding Ekon gloated. “We have this area surrounded. It does not matter how much you try to resist, you will come back with us!”

  “Zifors!” Nanaua said. Corin could feel the anger rising within her.

  Corin tried to look beyond the trees behind him, but it was too dark to see anything. He heard the twang of bows and quickly snuck his head back. Arrows smacked onto the back of the tree he hid behind.

  I can’t see a thing! What are we supposed to do?

  He looked over to Nanaua.

  “Stay here!” She told Corin.

  Before he said anything, Nanaua darted off into the forest. She moved perpendicular to the archers. Their arrows flew, but Nanaua moved between the trees and avoided any hits. Corin did not know what her plan was, or if she had one.

  “Let that one go!” Ekon ordered. “We’ll cut any loose ends after we are done with Zaire!”

  Corin could hear footsteps nearing him from the direction of the archers. It sounded like several people moving toward him.

  They’ll be upon me any moment! I’ll be outnumbered!

  “I see six men coming towards you!” Ciana warned Corin. “You have little time!”

  “Nanaua, alert the rest of the army! There are six of the Titans’ forces here!” Corin shouted at no one in particular.

  The oncoming men suddenly halted.

  “The furtive army? This close!?” Ekon’s voice faltered.

  “How can they see our numbers!?” One among the group said.

  “They are congregating beyond the tree opposite yours!” Ciana told Corin.

  “Thank you for the information.” Zaire said.

  Corin heard the voice coming from a tree near his, but it was too dark for him to see the man.

  Zaire began moving towards the group of Zifors.

  This is the best opportunity I’ll have.

  “We can’t stop now!” Ekon suddenly urged his men into action.

  Corin darted in the darkness toward the sound of the men, unsure of what he hoped to accomplish without being able to see.

  “The darkness does not suit you, Ekon!” Zaire shouted.

  Corin heard a rasping sound next to him and within moments he saw a fire light up. Corin saw the man named Zaire throw several rolling balls that were aflame along the ground towards the Zifors.

  The small balls lit the ground on fire and landed next to the Zifors.

  “Zaire! Get him!” Ekon ordered.

  Corin now saw the two men who had been pelting him with arrows.

  Gesherin! Of course they can see so well in the dark.

  “Death to the Zifors!” Nanaua shouted from behind the Zifors.

  She cut down one marksman with ease. Beset on multiple sides, the Zifors were thrown into disarray.

  “Damn these interlopers!” Ekon shouted. “Do you know who we serve? Do you know who you defy!?”

  Two spear-wielding Zifors besieged Nanaua. The two slashed at the space Nanaua occupied mere fractions of a moment ago, only to miss by the thinnest margin. Nanaua closed the gap, swinging sideways, hitting one man on the side and using him as a bludgeon against the other.

  Zaire cut down the second archer, and Corin tangled swords with the leader, Ekon.

  “My lord is mighty!” Ekon shouted at Corin now. “If you help me bring this furtive back to him, he will reward you handsomely!”

  Corin was blinded with rage. In his mind’s eye there was no Zifor standing in front of him, but Telletioh himself. The Dragon that burned down his home, that killed his brother.

  “I want nothing from you!” Corin shouted at the Zifor. The rage in his voice was so overbearing that it shook Ekon to the core.

  Corin smacked Ekon’s blade to the side and stabbed him through his core.

  Ekon stared in horror at Corin. The eyes he stared into were full of hatred. As if he had personally wronged Corin, a man he had just come across for the first time in his life.

  “You, you deserve a fate worse than this!” Corin shouted in the man’s face.

  Ekon fell to the ground dead. Corin stared at him, his breathing ragged, his heart beating intensely.

  “Ah!” Corin heard one last voice gasp in horror. The next thing he heard was Nanaua’s yell as she struck him down.

  “Corin, are you hurt?” Nanaua broke the silence.

  Corin still stared at the dead Zifor.

  “He is not.” Ciana replied on his behalf.

  Kaha walked up to Nanaua and growled intensely at the only living stranger, Zaire.

  “Speak now.” Nanaua obliged Zaire. “Who were you in Telletioh’s court?”

  Corin eyed the man from the corner of his eye. The man was dark-skinned, tall, and sturdy-looking. He dressed in a unique fashion, similar to how Corin had first seen Zhi, with a long robe. His hair was short and neatly kept.

  “I was one of Telletioh’s priests.” Zaire replied. He kept his hands out of view.

  “Hmph.” Nanaua began. “I used to be a Lord’s Protectorate under the court of Tonatiuh.”

  “Tonatiuh!” Zaire replied with surprise. He took his hand out. “So you are with the furtive army!”

  His eyes were full of hope as he looked at them.

  “You are mistaken.” Nanaua quietly replied.

  “But how?” Zaire replied. “I heard that all of Tonatiuh’s former subjects were among the first to be recruited into the furtive army!”

  “What you heard was mostly correct.” Nanaua replied. “I was the sole surviving member of Tonatiuh’s court who did not join the furtive army.”

  Zaire stepped back.

  “We have no animosity towards those who make common cause with the furtive army.” Nanaua said, sensing Zaire’s apprehension. “I assume you wish to join them.”

  “Of course I do!” Zaire shot back. “What greater cause is there than the liberation of the furtives from the tyranny of the Titans? I would gladly die for it.”

  “Very inspiring.” Nanaua replied with a scoff.

  Zaire reacted as if Nanaua had slapped him across the face.

  “I do not presume to know why you do not march with the furtive army, and I appreciate your help in ridding me of the Zifors that pursued me, but I believe it is best if we go our separate ways now.” Zaire replied.

  “How much time have you spent on the continent Zaire?” Corin asked the man.

  Corin could see that Zaire was young, probably in his early twenties.

  “What does it matter?” Zaire replied with a hint of defensiveness.

  “It was only a question. Maybe my assumptions are incorrect, but you look very young.” Corin replied. “I would assume that only recently you stepped foot on the continent for the first time. Is that correct?”

  “So what if I did! My first time, or the hundredth time, it does not matter.” Zaire quickly rebutted. “I studied maps of the continent, and I am determined to reach the furtive army!”

  “Those maps might be outdated by now. Giants have gone on a rampage across the entire continent because of the actions of the furtive army. From what we have seen, furtives are to be eliminated on sight by any Giant,” Corin stated.

  “What?” Zaire replied with shock.

  “It’s true.” Nanaua replied. “We came here to warn our fellow townspeople about the Giant’s retribution, but it was too late. We barely escaped unscathed.”

  The recent revelations visibly shook Zaire. There was too much information coming his way. He kept looking from Corin to Nanaua as if expecting another crushing revelation.

  “It matters not!” Zaire finally said. “So what if the Giants changed the landscape? What if they are hunting furtives? I know how to survive! I will do whatever I have to reach the furtive army!”

  “You misunderstand us,” Corin replied. “We do not wish to dissuade you. But we want you to know that there are dangers on the continent that were not present before. Giants on rampages, the rise of Seidrs, the vanishing of furtive villages. We ourselves were making our way to the furtive army before being beset by your former colleagues.”

  “My former colleagues?!” Zaire felt offended. “I would never-”

  “We were hunted by Zifors as well.” Nanaua cut in. “You should not take everything as a slight, young one.”

  Zaire had the wind taken out of him. He still fumed.

  “If you do not wish to travel with us, we understand,” Corin replied. “We are a larger group and might attract more attention, but if you have Zifors following you, then the numbers are not in your favor.”

  “And you would accept my presence, even knowing that I am hunted by Zifors?” Zaire seemed surprised.

  “As Nanaua said, we have dealt with Zifors before.” Corin said. “And while we do not march with the furtive army, our cause is still the same.”

  Zaire was silent as he looked at the four in front of him. A human, a dragoor, a furtive tree-like creature and a wolf. He looked behind him. He was quiet as he thought.

  “I accept.” Zaire replied.