~Chapter 10- Mediation~

Razan darted through the tunnels beneath Platt Mountain as Chief Theo pursued him tenaciously. Moonlight streamed in the cracks of the tunnel, just enough for them to see each other in the dark.

He blocked a blow from Theo's bulky arms, and a shockwave occurred from the impact, shaking the integrity of the tunnels. Razan had to admit - this opponent had him beat in terms of raw power.

Razan kicked Theo in the side before darting back. He bounded off of the tunnel walls and struck Theo before jumping away again. He needed to use his speed.

Razan came in again, but Theo caught his leg with his trunk. The Phantine Chief swung him around through the air before tossing him away. Razan torpedoed through the tunnel's walls until he broke through and found himself outside on the mountain.

Razan rose to his feet and Theo burst from the ground, ready to keep fighting.

"Just hand over the potions!" Theo demanded, "And this can all be over!"

Razan leveled his eyes at Theo, "We didn't take your potions!"

Around Razan, the others fought. Lucar was avoiding the boulders that Amethi was tossing at him, while Vos was somehow managing to stave off both Dama and Therma. Barely. Their attacks and movements caused reverberations throughout the mountain.

Theo lunged forward, attacking with his fists, trunk, and blunted tusks. Razan roared, and his body was surrounded in a radiant red light. He faced him head-on. He batted away his tusks and tried to break through Theo's guard.

As soon as Razan got close enough, Theo wrapped his arms around him and squeezed as hard as he could. It felt like he was trying to break him. He kicked and writhed to get away. He finally bit Theo in the shoulder. The Phantine shouted, and his grip loosened. Theo tossed him to the ground and stomped his foot on top of him.

Razan yelled out in pain. He put his hands underneath Theo's circular foot and tried to push up, but he was just too strong. He felt his consciousness fading under Theo's heel.

But suddenly, Theo was sent flying away at a staggering speed. He skidded across the stone of the mountain. Razan looked around for who came to his aid, his vision still blurry. It wasn't Lucar or Vos, but a red-haired woman wearing golden gauntlets that reflected the moonlight.

"Bonnie?" Razan uttered under his breath.

Razan's vision sharpened and he saw it was a teenage girl, his daughter Corri. Her bright red sparrow descended next to her. There was a container on the saddle of the bird.

"Everyone, stop fighting! Now!" Corri shouted.

Everyone froze from the girl's demand. She took the container from the back of the bird, opened it, and revealed it so all could see its contents; potion bottles filled with green liquid.

"I have the potions!" She declared, "I caught the people who stole them too! My dad and the others are innocent!"

Everyone looked at Corri. Theo struggled to stand after Corri hit him; she shouldn't be that strong! She shouldn't be powerful enough to hurt him at all.

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Razan, Lucar, Vos, and The Four all grouped around Corri, each of them bruised and battered from their prolonged battle.

Corri explained that a Mecarne woman named Coppah led a gang of raven riders who had been robbing people. Many mistook her gang for the Sky Bandits, but Corri and her friends managed to capture them in a nearby town.

Dama looked to the three men, her brow bloodied by the fight, "If you didn't do it, why did you run and fight?"

"We told you we didn't do it, but you didn't believe us. We weren't going to let you lock us up for a crime we didn't commit!" Razan asserted.

"Unless you want to keep fighting, you should reset our bounties," Lucar added.

The Four spoke to one another privately before coming to an agreement. Dama said, "Razan and Lucar's bounty will be set back to 0. They haven't committed any crimes we're aware of since it was reset before. But Vos's original bounty was never cleared. We'll have to take him."

Razan and Lucar stood in front of Vos, prepared to defend him, "No you won't!"

Vos placed a hand on both of their shoulders to calm them and then looked to Corri, "Where's Diva?"

Corri shook her head, "In the prison up north. The Four already took her. She let herself get taken."

Vos nodded slowly before stepping past Razan and Lucar and extending his hands out to Dama, "I'll let myself go as well."

Razan shouted, "What're you thinking, man? You can't let them lock you up!"

"I did a lot of wrong when I was a young man. I should pay for that," Vos looked at Dama, "Just make sure I'm close to my wife."

Dama nodded and placed the cuffs into Vos's hands, "I'll see to it."

Vos cuffed himself and said, "You know, even if these were the strongest handcuffs in the world, I could probably break out of them."

Dama nodded, "You're probably right. But you won't, will you?"

"No. I won't."

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Corri told the Four where the raven riders were being held. Dama would meet with them on the way back home. Amethi and Theo agreed to escort Vos to the prison up north, to the dismay of Razan and Lucar.

Lucar spoke with Dama personally. "Is there was any way we could reduce Vos and Diva's sentence? We'll do anything!"

Dama shrugged, "I may have some work for you."

Corri hoped that they'd find some way to reduce their sentence. But if not, she'd make sure to visit them as often as possible. Corri was preparing to head out with Rojo when her father Razan approached.

"Thanks for your help, sweetheart," Razan said while maintaining a bit of distance. He knew she was still mad at him.

"You didn't do anything wrong this time," Corri replied.

Corri jumped on top of her bird and prepared to head back to the Shattered Axe Tavern. But then a strange feeling hit her, a sort of odd resonance. She looked to the south. Far, far in the distance, she could see the desert.

She felt a resonance like this one when she was around the Link Temple before. But that felt like something was calling out to her, enticing her to draw near. This new resonance was far stronger and had a very different message.

It was telling her to run.