Riley's POV

"Guys, we're here," Ivan announced, "We're at the Hundred Isles."

"So, which one of the Hundred Isles is where the talisman is?" Riley asked.

Irene looked at the compass, "Just follow the compass."

Tellun's Pride sailed to the direction where the compass was pointing. Just then, the arrow of the compass started moving.

"Um, guys the arrow is moving," Irene said.

"Why would it start moving?" Jef asked, confused.

"Unless something's wearing it," Riley said.

They stopped at an island. The arrow kept on moving but it didn't stop pointing at the island. They got off the boat and started looking for the talisman. The arrow started moving much more as they kept walking deeper into the jungle.

"I have a bad feeling about this," Riley said, uneasily.

They kept on walking and walking until the arrow suddenly stopped moving. It stopped moving as they came into a clearing. They stopped and looked around, uncertain. Just then, the arrow started moving again, slowly making a full turn. Whatever has the talisman, it was circling around them.

"Guys, what if this is a trap?" Riley asked but before anyone could moved darts started flying everywhere.

The place was filled with darts that it made it impossible to dodge. She saw Zoey collapsed and was about to run towards her when she got hit by one of the darts. She started feeling dizzy, her vision blurring and then she collapsed as well and everything went dark.

Zoron's POV

The place was completely deserted. There was not a single person in sight as they kept on walking. Everywhere he went, he could see signs of struggles. He could see some blood and scratches everywhere. He remembered the Many and he shuddered, thinking about what happened to the people here. He felt so sad that he promised to himself that they will defeat the Wyrm and find a cure to save these people. He looked at the others and saw the same expressions on their faces, Haley looked around in sadness and grief.

Haley sighed, "I guess no one's here."

"I'm really sorry," George told her, looking genuinely sad and sympathetic.

Haley managed a weak smile, "It's not your fault."

Zoron watched as they smile at each other before going on. He exchanged a glance at Hope who also noticed it as well.

"If you barely escaped," John said, "Surely some people have escaped too."

"Too much faith on the Four Fallen?" Lin asked.

"Of course I have," John answered, "They're strong and I know they escaped."

"How do you know?" Lin asked again, "Had another dream?"

"No of course not," John retorted, "I just know they're still alive. They have to be alive. Don't you believe in them?"

"I'll believe it when I see it," Lin replied.

John muttered something under his breath. A minute ago, they looked fine and now they're back to ignoring and not liking each other.

"Are they always like that?" Haley asked.

"Pretty much," George answered, "Some...things happened between them lately."

They kept on walking and started climbing up into one of the small, mushroom houses.

"It's probably night time in the surface by now," Haley said, "We can stay here and rest for a while before going on tomorrow."

"How do you know the time?" George asked, curiously.

"Because of how tired we all are," she answered.

Everyone went in the small, mushroom house, made themselves comfortable and fell asleep. It took a while for Zoron to start sleeping because he had a very bad feeling that whatever was going to happen tomorrow, it wasn't good.

Ivan's POV

Ivan groaned, his head aching from the pain. He tried to rub his hands but he realized that his hands were tied. He opened his eyes to find himself sitting inside a wooden cage with the others who were just stirring awake.

"Look who's awake?" a voice said and saw a man with a spear, looking at them with a scowl.

He realized that there were more people with spears, looking at them with scowls on their faces.

"Who are you?" Ivan demanded, "Where did you take us?"

"Calm down, kid," the same man spoke, "Our leader shall talk to you soon."

"Answer my question," Ivan hissed.

Just then, another man came in, wearing a long, black cloak. He carried a sparkling staff, Ivan had never known that exist.

"Greetings, my name is Adoni," the man spoke, "What brings you here to my territory?"

"Um, we're looking for something," Riley replied, "We're looking for a very powerful staff and this very strong talisman that has been cut in half and had a picture of a bear."

"I knew you would come," Adoni said, "I knew you would come and take my staff away."

"You mean...that's the Staff of Cycles?" Jef asked, "I mean, how do you know we would come?"

"Once I found this, Staff of Cycles, I started getting dreams," Adoni answered, "Maybe that's because Briggan's talisman is here, giving prophetic dreams. With the staff, I felt all the strength of all the talismans go through me, an incredible feeling."

"Then you must know that we need the Staff of Cycles," Irene said, "We need it to-"

"To defeat the Wyrm," Adoni finished, nodding, "but I can't let the staff go that easily."

"Then we'll do anything," Ivan told him, "We'll do anything you want us to do in exchange for the Staff of Cycles."

Adoni's eyes lit with interest, "Anything?"

"Yes, anything," Ivan said.

Adoni's gaze remained thoughtful, then he spoke, "There is this ancient medal deep in the bamboo forest of Zhong, hidden in a lost city. Find it for me and the Staff of Cycles is yours."

George's POV

George jolted awake as he felt something slam into his spine. Just then, the pain increased and he yelled in pain, cringing on the ground. He could hear the others screaming in pain as well. The bonds were shuddering, the Evertree was weakening. He waited for the pain to come again but it didn't for it has stopped.

"What happened to all of you?" Haley asked.

"The Evertree is sick," John rasped, "And because of that, our bonds our weakening."

"We need to get out of here," Haley said, suddenly, her eyes wide with fear, "They're back. The Many are back and they sense we're here."

George stood up and stayed there for a second, still feeling weak and dizzy. He called Lire out which took a while, the others doing the same.

"Quick, follow me," Haley said and they followed Haley as they got out the house.

George saw the Many coming out of holes and running towards them. They ran, following Haley as they passed more mushroom houses and climbed higher up. Just then, more of the Many burst out of a hole right in front of them. George had pulled out his sword and started fighting the Many but more and more kept coming.

"Quick, up here," Haley said, who had climbed up a higher ledge, high enough that the Many couldn't reach them, "Use this rope."

"Hope, go," Zoron instructed and she climbed up the rope, Zoron following after.

"George, get up," John said.

"What about the two of you?" George asked.

"We'll be right after you," John reassured him, "Now go."

George sliced someone one last time before climbing up the rope as fast as he could. He looked back down and saw that Eilene and John were struggling to find the opening to climb up the rope. John slashed at the Many but to George's surprise, the creature caught his sword and pushed it towards him, John getting a cut on his wrist. Just when the creature was about to launch himself at him, Eilene was there, swiping her staff as hard as she could.

"Eilene, go up," he heard John say.

"How about you?" Eilene asked, as she kicked another of the creatures away, "You have a cut on your wrist."

"I'll be fine, just go," John said.

Eilene hesitated then reluctantly climbed up the rope. When she was up, John had kicked one of the creatures into a couple more of the Many and climbed up. Just then, one of the Many had grabbed his foot, trying to bite it. John quickly kicked it off and climbed up. They sat there, hearing the frustrated screams of the Many.

Just then, John yelped and seemed to be shaking something off him. George spotted a black warm making its way to where John had cut his wrist. He tried shaking it off but it was too fast and before they knew it, the small parasite had entered his wrist.

Oh no! It had to be John! Anyways, I won't be updating as recently as before for i'm going on a two weeks vacation. But after two weeks I promise i'll start updating more again.

Please vote and leave a comment on what you guys think. Stay tuned for the next chapter!