We were surrounded. My necklace was glitching and it wouldn't let me turn back into a phoenix! I had no idea why because this had never happened to me before. It turned grey, like it was dying or something. But a necklace can't die! Maybe lose its powers though... would I be stuck in my human form forever? 

It got cold. I wasn't used to these cold temperatures, especially as a human. I lost all hope, for a man announced that the king was dead a few minutes ago. Poor Lani, I hoped she was ok.

Just when a troll swung his club at me, I thought it was all over. Then someone blew a loud horn. The club stopped right above my head, luckily not crushing me. All the trolls looked in the same direction, where the noise came from. And oh, was I stunned to see exactly what they were looking at.

"Attention, everyone! This fine lady be the one who kill the king! But a man named took the king's body and will try to claim glory for all the kill! We must stop him before he gets to Nimroth. got it?" The troll leader announced, although I knew that he had been fooled, for the person standing next to him was Lani.

"He he, a girl? Kill Dameous? Uh..." The trolls laughed. In the South, they think of woman as highly stupid 'creatures', so this must have made them re-think their life choices.

"Yes, it be hard to believe. But she come from the King's room herself, and no one gone up there after he be dead that I've seen, so she must be the one that killed him. To Nimroth, before reaches him!" The leader announced, and just like that, they all started running South, completely forgetting about Yoshi and I.

"Huh, I can't believe it! Lani tricked them!" Yoshi exclaimed. 

Lani waited until the rest of the trolls were gone, then slowly walked toward us while facing the hoard. Once she knew that they were gone, she sped her slow walk into a run, running into Yoshi and hugging him. 

"So, Dameous is dead?" Yoshi asked Lani, not sure if he actually is anymore.

"No, luckily. If it wasn't for Dante, he probably would be. But thankfully, he cooked up a plan to save him." Lani said.

"First, who's Dante? Second, then where is Dameous? Is he still in the tower, or did he escape?"

"It's a long story, and I actually don't know. Dante just said that he had a plan to save him, then I left to go save you guys. I don't think that he's still inside, though, because he said that he was going to 'escape'." Lani responded. 

For a moment, Lani completely forgot about her dad. About her mom, her town, her life. She just focused on the King's safety. For a bit, it seemed as though when the world crushed down, it was as soft as wool. But then that moment faded. The slight smile faded from her face and she dropped to her knees. Tears filled her eyes, knowing that she would never get to talk to her dad again. Knowing that she would have to find a new place to live.

"Lani, are you okay?" I asked, but instantly regretted it. Of course she wasn't ok! She just lost almost everything you owned and loved.

"Oh, yeah. I'm ok! Yeah, just look around and that's just how ok I am. Today's been great, Niah!" Lani sarcastically said. 

"Look,  it might seem all hope is lost-" Lani cut me off

"It is. What, do you think that because my parents are gone and my home is destroyed and burning, that I haven't lost all hope? You must be crazy to think that." Lani responded in anger.

"Look, we lost one more fight, but there's a chance that we won't lose the war." I said.

"What do you mean, Niah?" Yoshi asked.

"I mean, we should go to the West side and warn them. Thanks to Lani, we have a bit more time to prepare! I know the way to the portal, so we could be able to get there before sundown if w leave now!" I said, trying to show Lani that there was a brighter side then losing the fight.

"Okay, but what would we do when we get there? Just fight and watch as you town gets destroyed, too? Nimroth's troops are more powerful then ever now, so we stand almost no chance against him." Lani said, still not convinced. 

"Look, once we get there, we'll start setting up defenses. Then we'll send out some troops to scout out the area and give us feedback on if they're close or not. We can slowly fight them off from far away, then the fight begins when we reach the town. They for some reason never bring bows, so we would easily stand a chance from far away. Anything I'm missing?" I asked.

"Oh, yes. What about the part where the plan fails? Where they do bring bows and destroy us from afar? What about hen they have an army twice the size as ours and win? What about when... Nimroth wins and rules all the 'Mythic Isles'?" Lani asked, in fear of the last part she had said.

"Well, if we do lose and he ends up winning the fight against the West, then we'll have to do the logical thing; bring the fight to him." I said, kind of hoping it wouldn't come down to that. But who know? Maybe the reason Nimroth always wins is because he brings the fight to them and surprises them while he's already gotten it all planned out. Maybe bringing the fight to him wasn't such a bad idea after all.

"Alright. Well, we don't have a moment to lose, right? Let's get there as fast as we can!" Yoshi yelled as he started towards the portal.

"Umm, Yoshi, remember? You don't know the way to the West side portal." I told him.

"Oh yeah, sorry. Lead the way!" He said as he motioned his arms sideways pointing towards where the portal is.

We all walked to to where the portal was, and instant shock spread across our faces. But Lani knew what was happening.

"What? Where is it? Where did it go?" Yoshi exclaimed.

"I know what happened," Lani said, "Because there was just a war here, the North can feel that there was, it closed up the portal so that no one would ty to go through the portal. Like when Dante tried to go back through the portal during the war, it was closed. Now it all makes sence!" Lani yelled.

"So, how do we open it back up?" I asked, my smile slowly coming back.

"You can't," She said, my smile now gone, "It just opens back up by itself. It will probably take about 4 days to open back up."

"4 days? But we only have one! We can't wait that long!" Yoshi exclaimed.

"I know, so I've come to a decision that might get us there by tomorrow afternoon," I said, "We have to go through the 'Mythic Isles' until we reach the West."