Lizzie
"So what's our plan of attack?" I asked, stepping up beside Tyler. The breeze whipped sand among the team and my hair in my face.

"I have a plan." Hoya narrowed her eyes coolly. "Attack."

Tyler snorted. "That's probably a bad idea, but it's the only one we have." He turned and raised his fist to the team. "Weapons at the ready!"

Glints of steel and scraping of metal sliding out of their sheathes followed his declaration, accompanied with determined expressions. Flashes of light revealed snarling animals released from passive. We thundered loudly down into the Orchards–

And stopped dead. It was empty, save for the blood stains and a few broken arrows laying around. We all exchanged confused glances. Tyler walked slowly around the the clearing, halting beside one of the arrows. Charlie, his massive black bear, sniffed it gingerly and growled. Tyler crossed his arms. "The Conquerors were here."

I heard a clang and glanced sideways, seeing that Hoya's sword had dropped from her hand. She'd gone pale– paler then before. Tyler seemed to notice as well, for he straightened and stepped toward her. I turned toward the rest of the group. They looked distraught, in need of a leader. Now'sss your chancccce! Gerathon rumbled.

Not yet. I answered firmly.

Zarlo moved forward. His hands were still bound, but as he lifted his head, I could see that his face was determined. "They came for the talisman." His voice echoed through the heavy silence. "Why are you surprised? They do it every time. Why is it different? Because, this time, they got it first. Did that put them off? No. So why should it put you off? Tell me, if you give up now, are you really any better then the Conquerors?" He pivoted slowly on his heels, eyebrows raised. Zarlo avoided my eyes.

I'd noticed, of course, how he refused to use "us" for the Conquerors. Traitor. Gerathon purred, but do not worry. He will get what issss coming...

Tyler had stepped forward. "Enough!" He barked over the tumult that had risen after Zarlo's declaration. "Get out." He growled, roughly shoving said boy aside. Zarlo stumbled, wobbling his way back to the edge of the group. "Yes, we are better than the Conquerors," he continued loudly, "because we refuse to give up. We will never give in. We never give up, even if it costs us our lives. Why? Because we are the sworn protectors of Erdas. We are the Greencloaks!" He tossed his fist into the air. The others did too, howling their agreement. Once it'd calmed down again, Tyler continued. "This boy–" he gestured to Zarlo– "is polluting the way we think. We must stay strong, for the sake of everything around us! We cannot have distractions–" I saw Navia and Sabien go pink and look in opposite directions, while Zay looked mutinous– "and if they do exist, they must be eliminated." Tyler finished, this time to deafening silence instead of cheers. He turned on his heel, looking satisfied, and strode away to where Hoya and Ryan were waiting.

"So... Tyler wants us to 'eliminate distractions'?" Tazi had appeared my side. "How in the name of the Evertree are we supposed to do that?"

I frowned. "I don't know. I'm not exactly sure how he defines 'distractions,' but it could mean something bad for the bonds in this team."

Tazi blinked, understanding dawning on his face. He looked around. "Oh. That's... gonna be a problem." He turned back toward me, eyes sad. "Well, I guess that means..."

"Means what?" To be honest, I had no clue what he was talking about.

"You know..." Tazi tilted his head imploringly.

I nodded slowly, still in the dark. Sssstupid girl, I could practically hear Gerathon rolling her eyes. Your little 'acccept me into the group' act went a little too far.

What do you mean? I asked, wondering if I should be worried.

Idiot girl. He likesss you!

I felt my mouth fall open. Oh. Okay... "That, yeah, haha, that may be a problem." I laughed nervously. What do I do?!

Calm down. Gerathon was chuckling. It'sss not a problem, becausssse you do not like him back, correct?

Of course not! I answered indignantly, hoping she wouldn't notice my hesitation.

Good. Jusssst figure sssomething out. You're a ssssmart girl. Her presence vanished.

Shoot! Gerathon? Not now! I smiled sheepishly at Tazi. "Um, maybe... I don't want to make this hard, but maybe we should just... pretend there was nothing... you know?" I felt my heart tug painfully. No! I scolded myself.

"Y-yeah... I guess..." Tazi stared at the ground. "I-I wish it could've worked out."

"What are you two chatting about?" We both jumped and turned to find an inquisitive Ryan who'd walked up.

"Oh, uh..." Tazi glanced at me.

I rubbed my arm. "Uh, what do you think Tyler meant by 'distractions'?"

Ryan frowned. "What?" She paused. "Oh. He meant Zarlo and Canal, and Niko's brother and friend. He didn't mean the, ahem, romantic bonds among you guys." She winked and moved away.

I turned to Tazi and pasted on a huge grin. "Mystery solved."

He nodded slowly, his mind seeming to already have moved topics. "So, uh..." Tazi glanced around and stepped closer, making my traitorous heart twist, "what did you think of Zarlo's little speech?"

"What do you mean?" I tried to focus on my breathing, not how close we were. It wasn't working.

"I just..." he sighed, "you know how Zay's supposedly our 'viper'? Well, after hearing him, I'm wondering if maybe..."

"It's him." I finished thoughtfully. Gerathon, is that possible?

Possible, yes, but... she paused, to ponder, maybe. For the first time, she sounded unsure. He may be right... something was always off with that girl... and him, too... I don't know.

Alright. "I think you're wrong." I answered Tazi aloud. "Zay was with us from the beginning. Zarlo has no idea who we are; we can't trade in our viper, who's grown with us for the past weeks, for some fella who's probably still with the Conquerors."

"True." He seemed reassured. "You're right, of course."

I laughed and clapped his shoulder. "Thanks." We started back toward the group. I'd settled his doubts, but what about my own?

Fear not, my little arachnid. Viper or not, the little traitor will get what's coming. Gerathon purred in the back of my head with I suppose she considered to be a soothing tone. It did nothing for my worries.

Badoom. Gotemmmmmm. Okay so I was dead cuz I was travelling 🤷‍♀️. Apologies, but I'm backkkkkk! Hope ya liked the chap, I know it's late 😅. But, uh, the next one will be up in a few hours/days, so stick around! Also, what do you think; is Zay the viper or is Zarlo?