Shane was sitting in a tall tree somewhere in northern Eura. He had been chased by a large creature that looked like a wolf, but was the size of an elephant. He remembered that it's fur was black and it had dark crimson eyes. Shane couldn't tell if his eyes were playing tricks on him, but he thought he could also see black mist emitting from the creature's body.

Images of the woman that had appeared in front of him flashed in his mind. He suspected that she was some sort of evil witch, yet witches didn't exist. She had been the one to summon the creature that chased him up a tree like he was a kitten running from a dog. He didn't even know what was happening, as he thought he had died.

Abeke.

Shane had remembered Uraza charging at Abeke during the war against the Wyrm, and him jumping between them, being ripped apart by the Great Leopard. He felt as if he might as well been eaten alive by his crush's spirit animal. Abeke's expression was what felt worse, though.

The former Redcloak leader had died, and become a ghost next to Abeke while she mourned over his body. He had tried to rest a comforting hand on her shoulder, but his fingers had gone through her body.

It was pain. He felt pain, wishing she could have felt his touch.

He lifted his shirt up, afraid that he was walking around with half of his belly missing. He breathed in a sigh of relief, as a giant scar stretched across the area where Uraza had bitten into him. The wound had healed.

But, judging by his scaly skin, he was still morphed with Grahv.

A close, chilling howl echoed in the forest around him. The monster had been camping the area, it knew where he was. The creature wanted Shane to give up, and be eaten.

If no one got rid of this oversized dog, it would kill everything. The young boy realised that Eura was in danger because of this. The monster could run fast and run for a long time. It was as if it's energy did not run out. He was surprised it didn't attempt to jump up and fish him out of the tree, but he didn't dare want it to happen either.

Black fur flashed swiftly passed the trees below where Shane was hiding. He clutched the handle of his sabre in case the creature wanted to try something on him.

A blue tunic fell from the tree in front of Shane and slowly drifted down to the ground. Confused, Shane looked up. He squinted his eyes, seeing a man in the tree just opposite him. He looked like...

Zerif.

"You," Shane hissed.

Zerif place a single finger over his lips. "Shh."

Shane stood on his tree branch, slightly wobbling. The man who had stolen spirit animals from their partners, the man who almost destroyed the world, the man who was the cause of his death...

"Before you say anything, it wasn't me," Zerif whispered.

"You small brained, puny man!" hissed Shane. "How did you even get yourself into that mess?"

Zerif's hazel eyes narrowed. "It was after the Second Devourer War, I went into hiding. I found a cave, rested in it and that's when I found the parasite. It's really hard to talk about, actually."

Shane looked closer at Zerif. The man's skin appeared to be burnt, and a scar marked his forehead where the Wyrm was.

Shane's tree shook violently, causing him to fall forward. Quickly, he grabbed onto the branch as he dangled in the air. Zerif saw this and pointed below Shane.

"The creature," said Zerif. "It's shaking your tree."

Shane looked down below his feet and saw that the monster was trying to climb up to reach him. It was too heavy, and caused the tree to shake. It's mouth was drooling, and it's bright crimson eyes burned into Shane.

"You need to jump out," Zerif advised.

Shane looked up at Zerif, who was now in a fighting crouch on his branch. He seemed too far for Shane to reach, but with Grahv's powers he thought that he might have a chance.

Shane pulled himself back onto the branch, desperately holding on. The tree would fall any minute now, so he had to move quickly.

"Hurry up!" Zerif urged.

"Shut up!" Shane snapped.

Zerif fell silent, and stepped to the side. A loud crunch from the bottom of Shane's tree was heard, and suddenly he was falling backwards.

It was too late.

Zerif tried to reach a hand out to Shane, but he was too far. "You were too slow! I'll see you at the bottom."

And at that, Zerif jumped down from the tree. Shane's stomach went into his throat when he saw that the ground was getting closer. He wanted to jump out, but other branches were in the way. The boy closed his eyes shut as he clung to the branch, falling further. He waited until he struck the ground.

~~~

"Wakey, wakey," Shane heard Zerif say, as the man patted his cheeks.

Shane's eyes opened slowly, his vision adjusting to his surroundings. Zerif crouched on one knee in front of him, and a campfire was crackling behind him with a tent placed on the side. Shane had been resting on a log.

"Where are we?" Shane asked, annoyed at where Zerif had taken them.

"We are somewhere safe," replied Zerif simply.

Shane rolled his eyes and slowly sat up. A sharp pain struck his body, and he winced. Zerif looked at him with an amused expression, the same expression he had given Abeke when he had died.

"What are you looking at?" hissed Shane.

"The Devourer in pain," Zerif said before shifting away to throw more firewood into the campfire.

"Whatever, Wyrm man," Shane snapped back. Zerif did not reply, but he knew he had somehow hit a sore spot deep down inside Zerif's cold heart, judging by the silent treatment.

It must have been terrifying, Shane thought. He couldn't imagine what it was like, doing things out of your control, hurting people you cared about and severing bonds between spirit animals and humans. The Wyrm reminded Shane of Gerathon's Bile. Whenever a person was infected, they fell victim to their hosts. They became puppets, toys, weapons. He thought of Meilin when Gerathon controlled her to hurt Abeke. It was extremely hard to watch, knowing that they were close friends.

Shane then was reminded of his sister, Drina.

"What's with that face?" Zerif was staring at him. Shane couldn't tell how long for.

"Nothing, just thinking," Shane said.

Zerif's eyes narrowed. "We need to find the others. If we're alive then so are they."

Shane nodded slowly, still thinking of Drina, before his thoughts went to Gar. He thought that when he'd see Gar again he'd punch him. He blamed his uncle for Drina's death, but if the general hadn't acted with Gerathon's orders, he would have died too.

"Let's get some sleep, I guess," Shane stood and moved towards the tent.

"You can, I'll be awake for a while," said Zerif.

Shane stopped and looked back at the man. "And what will you do? Slit my throat in my sleep?"

"I'm afraid I can't kill you, my blade... it sort of electrocutes me when I try," admitted Zerif.

"So you tried to kill me?!" Shane stomped back to Zerif and punched him in the face.

Except his punch rebounded and Shane punched himself instead.

"What on Erdas!" shouted Shane.

"Shut up, I told you we can't kill each other," the man said.

What had stopped them from harming each other? Shane shook his head in confusion, rubbing where he had punched himself and walked back to the tent.

"Could it be..." Zerif began. "That it's because I killed you in your past life?"

Shane paused for a moment, his anger rising. "It wasn't you who killed me, it was Ura- the Wyrm."

"Which was connected to my body," Zerif rose to his feet.

Shane waved a hand and entered the tent. He closed the flaps and lay down on a bed roll. This whole situation was very complex, and he seemed to have more questions without answers the more he had survived.

How was he alive?

Shane was reminded of the witch, although he didn't believe in witches. He thought that maybe she was a demon of some sort. But how could someone be so powerful?

A loud commotion could be heard outside, like someone ran into the fire. Shane shot up from his bed roll and raced outside, thinking that Zerif had somehow fallen on the flames. He looked to where Zerif was, and in his arms was a girl whose clothes were ablaze. Shane's eyes widened.

It was Tahlia the Conqueror.