Riley's POV

Riley had waited for so long and it was finally happening. She was finally going back to her home, to Zhong. She worried how her father was and where he was now. If only she knew but now, all she wanted to do was see his father again and run into his open arms, telling him how much she misses him. Olvan had sent them a message to meet up with Sam, Irene's father. She was probably thinking about seeing her father too.

"Thinking about your home?" Riley turned and saw John walking towards him.

"Yeah," Riley answered, "Mostly about my dad."

"I'm sure you're dad's fine," John reassured her, "From what you told me, he's a strong soldier."

Riley looked around for Eilene, wondering where she was but she was nowhere in sight.

"Look," Zoron spoke, suddenly, "It's one of those messenger pigeons."

Everyone gathered around Eric as he unrolled it and read.

I believe I have some bad news,

Meilin, summoner of Jhi the Panda, has been tricked to drinking the Bile. Not only did it force the bond, Gerathon the Serpent who made the Bile, can control those who have drunk. She and Abeke, summoner of Uraza are currently held hostage with the Conquerors.

Please be careful on this mission for Conquerors are all over Zhong.

-Olvan

No one spoke for a while until Irene broke the silence.

"That meant that Gerathon knew where the Four Fallen were because she can see through Meilin," Irene said.

"Does that mean that...one of us drank the Bile?" Hope asked, uncertainly, "Because I'm pretty sure that one of us had been the one to climb the side of the inn that night."

"Let's just hope it's none of us," Zoron said, "Because I trust all of you with all my life. We've all worked as a team so why betray us now?"

But no one was reassured. We all looked at each other, guessing who would betray us and when. Riley looked at each one of them. It's obviously none of the boys because Hope saw a girl. It's not Hope and Irene because Irene was in the same room and Hope saw the figure. It was obviously not her. Zoey cares too much about others and she had seen Eilene risk her life many times for them. So who could it be?

Irene's POV

Eric told them that they should split up because if they go there all at once, it will attract suspicion. She was with John, Eilene, Hope, Zoron, and Ella and were dressed as puppeteers.

"I hate this," John muttered.

They were walking through the streets in one of the cities in Zhong. They were supposed to meet Sam by going through the city and out to the bamboo maze. She looked around and saw that not much has changed but there were Conquerors on the streets. They kept their head down as they kept on walking.

"I've always wanted to visit Zhong," Hope said quietly, "but I wish it wasn't under these terms."

"I wanted to see this bamboo maze you kept talking about," John said.

"I hope the others are doing fine," Zoron mumbled.

"If we're doing fine then they're doing fine," Irene replied.

Eilene hadn't said a single word when they left the ship. She looked a bit nervous which surprised Irene. She never gets nervous. John noticed it too and looked at her with concern. Just then, they stopped for right in front of them, a Conqueror was bullying a small child.

"Great," Irene mumbled, "What are we going to do now?"

Zoron looked up and gave a low whistle. Lazu swooped down, talon's stretched and had scratched the Conquerors back. The Conqueror yelped and tried to get the bird out while the small child ran away. The Lazu shot back up into the air and the group continued.

"Nice," Hope commented.

"Thank you," Zoron replied with a smile.

After a pause, John spoke, "I've been thinking, the Four Fallen have been summoned back in the world, right? Then why have four of us summoned a wolf, a leopard, a falcon, and a panda when the Four Fallen have already been summoned?"

"You've been thinking about that just now?" Eilene asked, dryly.

"Of course not," John snapped, "I just keep on forgetting to ask."

"Maybe it's because the Four Fallen have already been summoned," Ella suggested.

"Or maybe because you're one of the Ten Keepers," Eilene added, "So you guys were an exception."

"But does that mean we're more special since we've summoned animals that aren't supposed to be summoned?" John asked.

"In your dreams," Eilene snorted.

"You're just jealous I summoned a wolf," John said.

"I'd pick a bear over a wolf anytime," Eilene replied.

Irene smiled as they continued arguing. It has been a while since they last argued and she started to miss it. She can sense that they enjoyed it. As they neared the gate going out the city, they stopped. Conquerors were stopping every citizen who enters and exits the city.

"Great, now what?" John muttered.

Irene glanced at Zoron who had his eyes closed. He quickly opened his eyes looking a bit dizzy.

"There's a crack we can squeeze through to get out," Zoron told them.

"How did you know?" Hope asked, curiously.

"Lazu showed me," Zoron answered.

"You're Spirit Animal bonds are getting stronger," Ella said, "Lead the way."

They followed John as they entered and alley, then turned left or right until Irene saw a crack, big enough to squeeze your way through.

"Nice," Irene said.

Once they were on the other side, they quickly walked some more until they found the river. Standing near a rock beside the river made Irene smile very widely. The Greencloak spotted them and smiled as well.

"Father!" Irene exclaimed, sprinting into his father's outstretched arms.

"Irene," Sam said, sounding very happy and relieved.

They stood their hugging for a while before reluctantly pulling away. She looked around to see if the other's have arrived but there was no sign of them.

"Hm, the other's haven't arrived yet," Ella said, "We'll just wait here for a while."

As they exchanged stories with Sam, they waited for the others to arrived. The sun was already gone when there was still no sign of the others. They started to worry, wondering what had happened. There was some rustling and Ivan, Jef, Riley, and Eric appeared, looking very alarmed.

"What happened?" Ella asked.

"We've been caught when Ivan's green cloak fell off from his pack," Eric explained, "We managed to lose them but..."

"Where's George?" John asked, worriedly.

Eric looked at him sadly, "We got separated."

George is gone!!! Well, technically he got separated. Please vote and leave a comment on what you think. Stay tuned for the next chapters!