Wow look is that another chapter I see whaat

So soon???? gaSP

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"Good riddance."

Robin flinched ever so slightly as the door behind the group slammed shut. With a small bag of provisions that Ronan graciously gave to them during their departure, he began to follow behind Kima - whom was oddly in the lead of the group.

Only silence ensued. No one dared to even utter a word until Nikolai oh-so-delicately broke it.

"Someone say something, please. It's getting a bit uncomfortable." His voice trailed off to a whisper as he realized the others were just staring at him. "Nevermind..."

"Actually, I do have a question," Ronnie piped up, a hint of animated curiosity hidden in his expression. "What are...er, what are the trials that Ronan was talking about?"

Robin nodded in agreement when the question was asked, but stopped when he heard an audible intake of breath from Kima. She mumbled a quick something to herself then began to speak.

"A few years back, Ronan was charged for something along the lines of an unstable mentality within his magical experiments," she started, shaking her head. "The political venues of Brittanyka are all over the place sometimes, so we make attempts to avoid getting into it too much, but apparently Ronan's magic was on the verge of terror."

"What does that mean?" Robin questioned quickly, becoming more and more immersed in his interest.

"Within the Magicians' Court, they had realized something was off balance with him. They would not tell anyone exactly what was happening, just that it was simply horrifying," Lamia spoke from the back of the group. The nature of her voice made it seem as if she knew all too much about the affair. "Ronan disclaimed the allegations, but it was three hundred against two - I wonder how the court ever gets anything done..

The only one who vouched for his innocence was none other than Oberon himself, but they did not even count it because they're related."

"They were planning on giving him the death sentence," Kima informed them. "They were going to hang him over a pit of dragon's lava. The method had not been used since the Warlock Trials - do not ask about those - and after that everyone's minds seemed to be changed. To this day no one can figure out what changed the majority's mind."

"That's...pretty serious," Ronnie mumbled, shifting the sack that was on his shoulder uncomfortably. "I didn't know stuff like that could happen here."

Lamia laughed, but it was cold-hearted and disbelieving. "Compared to the countries around this place, that is youngling's play."

"Wait, so there's more nations in this world? Like, this is more than just a magic forest..?" Robin questioned, cocking his head to the side.

This time Lamia's laugh was out of pure humor and Robin felt stupid for even thinking of asking.

"Of course it is more than just a futile magic forest! How much do you think-"

"LAMIA!" Kima's voice was sharp and completely unlike her and it caught the attention of even the few small creatures standing around.

"Oh, what could it be now?" Lamia strolled leisurely to the front of the group, who had all stopped to see what Kima's freak out was about. Robin watched as she looked around, and then her eyes landed on a tree that seemed to be nothing too special.

"Oh. Oh my," she mumbled. "Everyone, step back."

They all did as followed, and only when they got further did Robin really see what was happening.

On the tree 'F.Y.R' was carved in an intricate fashion. A crescent-like shape laid on top of it, and Robin realized it was exactly like the one they had all seen when they were first going to meet Caspian.

"How could he be so obvious?" Lamia growled, gritting her teeth at the letters. "Something is wrong here."

"Definitely," Kima agreed, sending a pointed look back at Ronnie and Robin that obviously said 'don't-you-dare'.

Ronnie was far from ready to make a joke, Robin observed. He was wringing his hands together nervously - how the wooden hand didn't hurt the other was beyond Robin. He was so obviously sweating and nervously shifting his weight from one foot to the other.

"How did we find it so quickly?" Sinda questioned, stepping up towards the other two Dragon Riders.

"We have walked a fairly long way," Kima murmured, running her hands around the carvings. "And it has been many days. It has not been a short time, but I did not expect him to be so...out about it."

"If he really meant harm, do you not think he would hid somewhere deeper into the forest?"

"Any further and he would have come into contact with the Royal Court."

The small bit of bushes beside them rustled slightly, and with that noise came the one thing none of them were looking forward to hearing.

"How observant you are, younglings." It was a deep rumble, an echo of terror and fear. He stepped out from behind the leaves, letting out a monstrous laugh. "It's been too long, don't you think?"

Robin nearly choked in surprise as Fyrian's eyes glanced over everyone and finally landed on him. "They even let you come? How surprising. I'd have thought a big-mouthed brat like you wouldn't be let on this journey seeing as you're so...ah, how do you humans put it? Annexing? No...oh yes, vexing! You're all too vexing to really do any good."

Said brunette's entire demeanor changed once Fyrian dared to even try to insult him, but as soon as he thought to do something, the imp had already moved on.

"And you," he chuckled, pointing to Ronnie. "I see Rawn did a number on you, am I correct?" He stepped closer and closer, taking the teenager's prosthetic arm into his hands. "How pitiful."

The strawberry blonde yanked his hand away, sending Fyrian a glare of pure contempt. "What'd you do with Eriol?" he suddenly growled out, stepping back from the creature.

"You mean the little one? Oh yes, he's...fine. Every single day it's 'Where's my big brother?' and 'I don't want to be here anymore!'" He did an awful impersonation of Eriol's voice, laughing loudly by the end. "It gives me such a rush to hear him cry all alone. Lets me know I'm doing my job right."

"Why you little-"

Fyrian pressed a hand to his face, pushing Ronnie back. With a little 'tsk tsk', he laughed even more. "Not yet, little one. If you really wanted to find him, you'd bring an army."

The malicious beast stepped back, his ever-present smirk still there. In a flash, he disappeared, leaving the exact same whisp of smoke the basilisk had. It snarled again, but this time with a booming resonance.

-

:D

it's there and it's chapter twenty one and with every chapter we near the end but also there's still more like a decent amount elelele

yay enjoy oke

dis is very unedited ufufufu
- AVEH