Nyxis crouched against the corner, clutching a ragged branch courtesy of Eldan. He dared a peek and found nothing but air and more brown earth. Cyrdel was sending eye messages at the opposite corner, signaling urgency.

Nyxis frowned at the brownie. How in Rudik's britches would he even understand that? He didn't speak Keijula much less Keijula eyes-version. Cyrdel grasped the air in frustration. Airese had to clamp a hand on his shoulder just to calm him down.

The plan had been simple enough and it had worked the past few days. When Marin had found them in the tunnel underneath Rabante, they had resorted to going invisible and barely stopping. They also had to always be on guard since Eldan's trees couldn't even warn them. There's something either very wrong with the plants above ground or with their pursuant, themselves.

Nyxis chose to believe the latter.

The smug smile playing on Marin's lips was enough to make Nyxis dream of black-clad Cardovic soldiers stabbing him to death every night. Not that he knew when it's night. Ever since they entered the tunnels, there's really no night nor day for them. They ate, slept, and continued through mutual consent.

Right now, Marin had chased them into their current position. Eldan informed them that they were close to Nanvera. Good. A few distance left and they'd find themselves in Aresving in no time.

That's when the trailwhisperer on his chest emitted a loud sound.

Nyxis swung the branch he had been holding and it collided with a chin by some miracle. A huge, black lump crumpled into the ground in a resounding thump. Huh. Branches could do that? Cool. Three more black-clad figures launched from their hiding place and Nyxis staggered to join Eldan and the others on the other side. A figure loomed over him and he dodged in time before a sword could pierce his arm. He called for his magic but all he got were weak spurts of warmth. He channeled his inner Anahel and cursed. Of all the times for magic to fail him.

Fighting erupted and the tunnels were too cramped for their attackers to even swing swords. It should have been to Nyxis's advantage but all he had was a branch and years of experience of running for his life.

Of course, that wasn't always enough.

Airese materialized beside Nyxis just as a masked figure chucked a small dagger at him. His heart didn't know whether to skip a beat because of the brownie or because of the fact that his eye would have been replaced with a blade mere seconds ago.

His head slammed against the earthen wall. It must have scrambled his mind because he was damn sure he couldn't see his arms.

"Answer the call," Airese growled in his ear as she dragged Nyxis forward. Together, they wove through the action. Cyrdel was locked in battle with Marin. The half-blood still had enough magic left to counter Cyrdel's ingenious gadgets. Something metallic and shiny flew out of Cyrdel's fingers, missing Marin by inches as she dodged with a graceful sidestep. The metal embedded itself on the earthen wall before exploding into a curtain of dislodged debris. Cyrdel had bought them time.

Glass shattered and Nyxis looked back to see Anahel sparring with one of the masked men, a semblance of a sword made of glass reduced to a stump on her fist. Eldan had his back pressed against the shard fairy and was pommeling the other black-clad soldier with nothing but a spiky root. It looked like they were still trading sarcastic remarks as they both pushed against their opponents. Thankfully, the other one Nyxis had knocked out stayed sprawled unmoving on the ground.

Airese had her hands curled on Nyxis's wrist so it took a while to fumble to answer the trailwhisperer with one hand. He twisted the knob at the corner of the gadget and tapped the gadget's lid with his chin, propping it open.

Xanthy's face popped into view, albeit tinged pink and flickering. Reeca, back when she taught Nyxis how to use her invention, explained that the flickering was caused by the distance between them. "Nyxis? Are you there?" Xanthy's voice crackled.

"Yes, I am," Nyxis's voice came in hitches. Airese certainly wasn't going easy with the running. "I am in a bit of a...problem."

Another explosion of debris rocked the tunnel. It seemed Cyrdel had thrown another one of his gadgets. Xanthy's face flickered. The worry that colored her expression looked distorted in the image the trailwhisperer showed him. "I can see that," she shook her head as if she had more to say. "Listen, the gem and the torch are fakes. The gem is in Avalora. Do not pursue the stuff Elred hid in the caverns."

Airese flattened Nyxis against a wall, knocking the wind out of him. "Y-es," he coughed out. "Thanks for...telling me."

Xanthy nodded, causing her image to turn a bit hazy. "Who is chasing you?"

Nyxis made the mistake of looking back in time for Marin to launch herself at him from out of nowhere. The half-blood's leg connected with Nyxis's shoulder, sending him careening into Airese. The trailwhisperer leaped out of his hands before twanging shut against his chest as he fell against it. That cut the call. Great. He could only hope Xanthy got a glimpse of Marin to glean the answer to her question.

There was a more pressing matter at hand aside from not dying. Airese cast a rather complicated rysteme shield spell that would have taken Nyxis just a word. Sadly, his magic was still frayed after his stunt with the Warseeker.

Marin barreled into Airese's barrier in a loud thud. Nyxis felt evil to admit he felt a little bit satisfied to watch the half-blood skid down the shield spell like a stunned pheaset larva against an experimental dish.

Airese huffed. She called off her spell and pulled Nyxis back to running again. He could tell that going invisible for two people and then casting that shield had taken their toll on the brownie. Nyxis understood that. The past months, it has become harder and harder to cast magic. Xanthy told him that the island was dying as its inherent magic was being mined by something or someone. More than one someone, in fact.

In theory, the magic wasn't being used, just hoarded and undistributed equally. That resulted in parts of forests dying. Trees stopped bearing fruits. Crops died and even animals dropped dead like an iphikis in the summer heat. As much as Nyxis didn't like it, it's proved difficult now since they depended on magic to make their lives and fights easier.

If Nyxis had his magic at his full command, the masked men would be topiagas in no time. But the same thing could be said for Marin and her goons. With magic, the half-blood probably could round them up after trapping the upper halves of their bodies in shadow gates and suspending the lower halves in the trail dimension faster than Nyxis could blink.

That way, was the fading magic a good thing or not? Nyxis couldn't decide. Maybe it's not a good thing since fairies and humans treat magic as their air. Without magic, they'd all just shrivel up and die. Well, Nyxis refused to die without getting a proper bath beforehand. It's simply unacceptable.

"What did Xanthy say?" Airese's voice cut into Nyxis's thoughts. Her breaths sounded strained. Her steps were slowing down as well.

Nyxis looked back and saw Marin pushing herself up and massaging her nose. He turned back to Airese. "The thrones in this cavern are fakes," he said. "The gem is in Avalora. We do not need to get the others here."

"Because if one is fake then the others are sure to follow," Airese's short hair bobbed along with her head. "I will relay that to the others. We should split up. We can cover ground faster that way."

Nyxis was about to argue when a channel opened up in his brain as Airese's thyminka powers slipped through his mind. Split up. Airese said, the strain of it evident in her mental voice. I will go after the pendant. Anahel and Eldan, what do you say?

I will go after the torch, Eldan said. I happen to know some guards there.

And I will retrieve my own throne, Anahel said, a bit of annoyance creeping into her tone. A slew of curse words erupted in Nyxis's brain as she drove her attacker off her.

Perfect. I will go after the Soul Spells. Airese said. Nyxis and Cyrdel should go after the scepter.

Nyxis gritted his teeth. The scepter. That could work. Besides, it would be faster and more efficient. If one of them got captured, they could still continue on.

Let us reconvene on Drodham. Airese ordered. Nyxis may have found it offending for the brownie to use such a tone but they have no choice nor the time to argue about it. Airese let go of Nyxis's wrist and vanished completely. That's just great.

Nyxis ran. The tunnels blurred on his periphery. He had no idea where he was going nor where he was. Someone cursed beside him and he glanced at Cyrdel, still tinkering with a lump of metal fished from his tool belt.

Nyxis dared a glance back and saw Marin stomping her foot against the ground, stirring dust. She was demanding something. Probably to follow them from every direction Nyxis and his companions had run off to.

They didn't have much time. What Nyxis needed right now was open ground. With lots of people to blend into. Running around in the tunnels was the opposite of that. "Do you know where the scepter is?" He turned to Cyrdel. There was one masked man after them now. He wasn't tossing daggers nor casting magic. He's just...running after them.

"Last I checked, it's in Depandes," the brownie said. "In my father's vaults."

Nyxis glanced at the ceiling of pure earth. "Where are we right now?"

Cyrdel didn't have a better answer. Eldan, their master tree-talker, wasn't with them anymore. They would have to make do. Nyxis's eyes flicked to the ground. It was gently curving up. That usually meant an exit was drawing near. He glanced at the brownie again. "How do you feel like getting out of this hole?"

Cyrdel pursed his lips. He looked back and cast a nervous glance at the masked man running after them and slowly gaining. "It is blasphemy for us, but I could live with seeing a different color before I die," he said. "Let's go."

Nyxis tried for his magic again. When that failed, he reached inside his satchel, feeling his way inside until his fingers closed upon a bottle he wished he wouldn't have to squander like this. "First, we shake Shadow Man off our tail."

Cyrdel's confirmation was heard through an explosion of debris behind them and a bout of portmaster-level swearing.

Iphik is a species of Insect that poisons blood when they bite. They are characterized by their noisy wings, twelve legs that can attach themselves into skin, and pincers that pierce into flesh to draw blood. The poison is found on their pincers and usually causes blood poisoning in fairies. They are the size of a nail. They are known to emit a strong scent when killed to signal others that prey is where the scent is. The best way to avoid an iphik is to swat it away without killing it to avoid being marked.