12 TENSION in the JUNGLE

"YIT'VIT!" shouted Karus after running to grab his Golden Short Sword of Excellence only to find out that it has been replaced by an ordinary blunt guard's arm. "YOSH! Where's my sword!?" he yelled in a reprimanding tone as he ran, together with Kayzar, to get closer to group who's forming their circular defensive perimeter. They are slowly walking near the mountainside taking a little advantage on their terrain, hoping not to get pinned down.

"Hey, I told you they're mine!" replied Yosh shouting to his angry brother, never letting go of his grip from Narra, "I just loaned them to you all, remember?"

"Shush now young princes!" scolded Narra as his serious eyes panned all around to watch every angle of the surrounding. "This is not the time, nor the place to pick up a fight!"

The group released all of their weapons: knives, swords and even a big pole stick which the merchant now wields with the chain end of it rattling a continuous rhythmic chime.

The Merchant is a Daomagar but, as they always say, not all Daomagarians are blessed with lightning speed or super strength. Though he still retains his inherited vitality and tough skin, he's one of those Daomagarians who were rejected by the different clans and was put to the general population who either partakes in business - like agriculture and trading; or services - like those of the butlers, maids and cleaners who are in the Palace and or at the houses of very rich people scattered all across the Holy Lands. In his case, he was - together with his long line of family - a merchant: A merchant without any knowledge and skill about fighting.

Narra pushed his double swords to the ground and lifted both his palms leveling his head as if focusing all of his energy and concentration on both arms. They were all dumbfounded as he immediately knelt down, punching his palm right directly through the earth, burying them.

"Watch closely Kayzar," he whispered smiling and returned his focus to the ground. Kayzar was confused at the moment thinking what he meant but he obeyed and paid close attention to his grandfather's weird technique.

"What's he doing?" mumbled Yosh who now turns to clutch Kudos's shirt.

Yosh looked upward to see the ever-tall Kudos and saw his eyes widening as if shocked at the sight of it.

"He's communing with the earth," replied Karus softly with the same shocked look in his eyes, "No one can do that except Yiv." Then he, together with Kayzar, looked at Kudos and Madj with the same bewildered eyes as they have. They thought that the two chefs are the only ones that can do the shadow step, which is one step closer to communing, and this baffling achievement literally disproves the thought of its accepted idea of impossibility. Now they know two persons that can commune with the earth: Yiv and Narra.

"Black Panthers!" shouted Narra with extreme fear as he immediately pulled his hands and throwing his weapons away. "Discard your weapons. Nobody reacts! Remember, no one is to attack even if provoked!"

"What?" asked Karus feeling a bit off being ordered to throw his only defense against those tens of humongous panthers with razor sharp claws that are now appearing everywhere snarling with their shiny yellow eyes. "How can we..."

"Just do it!" snapped Narra which Karus and the others obeyed almost instantly after seeing him with much fright in his eyes which really is new to them.

The panthers' growling are beginning to be evident while they move closer, trying their best to encircle them. Normally, Karus thought, they can beat those whiny big cats even with just a rusty sword. With the great Narra by their side, they could've taught them a valuable lesson then but instead they're doing nothing, and this disturbed him, leaving his two fingers to vigorously tap his side belt in anxiety.

"Yous- inside- our borderss-morthals!" growled the panther nearest to them with a very recognizable white gem on his forehead like a star, diamond in shape.

The thought of them speaking surprised the group. They didn't know that there are beasts besides the Immortal and Mythical Ones that can understand their language, much as to speak it verbally - though it sounded like it is muffled, and the panther's voice needed a little more tweaking.

"We are but a peaceful travelling party going up north to the camp of Grand Prince Artemus," replied Narra with his serious eye directed to the panther. "We are invoking our rights of easement therefore we request that you allow us to pass through this jungle unharmed. Peace is what we offer thus peace should be given to us in return," he exclaimed bowing after his speech in an almost-apologetic tone that the panthers just ignored as they continued on with their disturbing heavy angry snarls.

Luna, understanding that his masters were being insulted by the panthers, reacted with his high pitch cat shrieks inside Yosh's chest pocket. Yosh tried to shush her but she wouldn't stop. This made the panthers angrier than usual stirring them to growl even louder than before. Luna became insulted in the talking panther's provoking grunts and clawing feigns that she jumped out of Yosh's pocket and made her chivalrous act to redeem the group's honor. Only she could understand what it meant and that bothered her a great deal.

"No Luna!" shouted Yosh running to get her back but it was too late. Luna's nimble and agile reflexes made her squeeze through their perimeter in a flash.

Luna created her own cat insults in a form of an angry screech in her brave own way getting back at the snarling panther in front of her.

"Luna..." whispered Narra, "get back here this instant..."

Yosh pushed through their defense perimeter trying to stop Luna from making a huge mistake but Narra caught him in his way and grabbed his cloak. Worried sick, Yosh persistently rushed on dashing tearing his muffler into two ignoring the consequences, trying to reach Luna grabbing and hugging her curled down to protect her from the panther but it was just too late. The big panther, blinded with rage, charged Luna without hesitation ignoring the fact that she's inside Yosh's curled embrace.

"Yosh!" Narra called out as he dashed to make it in time. The other panthers saw this and ran to their leader thinking that Narra would make his move on attacking them.

The talking panther didn't think twice to slap Yosh with his mighty paws tossing both him and Luna away to roll on the ground upon impact. Yosh's heroics earned him a bleeding shoulder because of the razor-sharp claws of the panther, leaving him to angrily heave some sharp sighs. Luna, after regaining her balance, immediately ran towards Yosh to check the condition of her master but the panther moved between them and attacked her in a berserk leaving her to defend herself scurrying away from the big black talking beast's humongous paws.

Stella, seeing the situation her master's in, flew up howling her owl shrieks and immediately swoop down with sharp talons aiming at the eyes of the great panther. She succeeded in disabling the panther's vision by successfully clawing his left eyes, but the panther still managed to give retaliations to the two by bashing them both with his oversized paws. Stella was thrown away to the bushes while Luna was pretty much pummeled to the ground, stunning her in the processes. Karus and Kayzar ran to help, together with Madj and Kudos, but they were all blocked by six panthers almost as if smiling in their way.

"STOP YOU UGLY CAT! PICK SOMEONE YOUR OWN SIZE!" yelled Yosh with teary eyes grabbing the bow that is slinging in his right shoulders to pull a fast arrow to the panther's head - almost as if instinct.

"DON'T!" shouted Narra as he pushed Yosh's hands to a halt.

The instances became fast and intense that night that Narra failed to stop him from releasing the arrow that has unfortunately grazed the right forelimb of the panther. The arrow didn't make any serious injury, in fact just a scratch, but the Panthers succeeded on their job as they backed away almost with smug smiles on their faces.

"You just signed your death sentence, mortal child!" roared the panther as he bit Luna's left torso and hurriedly went away into the dark foggy jungle carrying her in a bite as if a prize, he won from them.

"LUNA!!!" screamed Yosh crying with wrath in his eyes. He barely stood up and dashed to follow.

"Let me take care of this Yosh!" ordered Narra after pulling him to stop. He pushed him to the ground giving him an eye as if ordering him to sit, almost disappointed for not following his orders. He grabbed his golden knuckles in his pockets and stared furiously at the dark dense woodland up ahead. "I'll make him pay for his deeds." He gave his last look at the party behind him, giving the two chefs an eye, and he dashed forward disappearing in a blink to the jungle.

Stella, after recovering her senses, flew upwards in a rush to follow Narra.

The group went to Yosh's spot to tend his aching wounds with much tears rushing hurriedly while shaking for both fear and pain. This made the twins so angry that they decided to follow. Without saying a word, they ran to grab their weapons to take their vengeance, but Kudos immediately appeared dashing in their way.

"No no no," he said, "Ya stay here an' care for 'yer broder. Narra's order's specific. Do not follow him."

"Step back Kudos! That's our new order!" commanded Karus with his amplifiers, together with Kayzar's, illuminating an intense green glow lighting the whole dark expense of the Jungle like a flash of a bright concentrated lamp. "This is something you can't stop us! Even if you are left in charge, you're still in Nagozul. Don't make me invoke my right!"

Kudos cannot simply just hold them back in this condition. And even if he can, he knows their stubborn behavior would persist and that would lead to a very troublesome ordeal which will not help anyone at all. He looked towards Madj whose eyes appear to have been with the twin's side, so he decided to yield.

"Okay, but 'ya stay behind me at all times!"

With this they vanished within seconds using the Great Dash.

"Don't worry Yosh," comforted Madj hugging him to stop her sobbing so loudly. "They will get Luna back. I believe it with all my heart."

-------ooO0Ooo-------

"Drop our friend, panther!"

The running panther group came into a halt seeing the shouting man standing at least fifty feet in front of them with his hands having a bright yellowish-white luminescence from the golden knuckles he's holding.

Confident in their number, the talking panther spit Luna to talk and laugh at the sight of the person in front of him. Luna, looking as if she's in an extreme amount of pain -bleeding as she is, just shouted a meow clearly begging for help.

"Why... I need - do that? Pathetic... man! You foll-"

A fast intense yellow light lining the horizon was the only thing to be seen after he created an impossible jump. Breaking the barriers of physics, he dashed an impossible fifty feet from his spot to zoom in and punch the jaw of the talking panther, interrupting his speech, leading him to be thrown away almost twenty feet far from Luna like a battering ram catapulting a wooden door. He now stood on the panther's earlier spot, below Luna, crackling the bones in his right hands smiling satisfied.

"Thank you!" smiled Narra. "I see that you now know how to obey from us Pathetic Men."

The talking panther can now be seen both angry and puzzled but can't stand up because of the insurmountable damage he just exacted upon him.

Narra knelt down to inspect the injuries Luna sustained from the panther's bite and immediately put a cast on it to stop the bleeding. The panthers in the surrounding area were dumbfounded at the chain of events they just witnessed. They didn't know what to do about the situation, so they created a howl screeching almost synchronically with each other. This is when Karus, Kayzar and Kudos finally appeared catching up with them.

"Are you alright?" asked Karus after seeing the screeching panthers looking like a cat singing under a full moon before turning into scattering rats, running away as if scared.

"Kudos!" snapped Narra, "I thought I gave you a stern look not to follow!"

"We wanted to help reclaim Luna, gramps," Kayzar stated running to check Luna's condition. He tore the bandages that Narra had put earlier on and grabbed a small glass ampoule in his belt pocket with a thick silvery-white liquid inside. He then began pouring the curious substance on Luna's wounds. "Besides, those whiny cats all withdrew with their weak tails behind them, what could possibly happen."

"Whoa, 'd white angel," cried Kudos as they gather to see what Kayzar is doing. "'Dat's an expensive mixture only 'd seers can do. Costs 'bout four year's wort' of mah' salary. How'd ya come up with 'dat?"

"Only the finest for Luna," Kayzar quoted only giving a smile to Kudos instead of answering his question. "That's what Yosh always say."

Kayzar grabbed Luna from her head and comforted her as she squirms in pain. He then held her body tight to the ground bracing her and gave a serious look at Karus which he understood right away.

"Be brave now girl," whispered Karus as he pulled his hands to massage the mixture into her wounds with his two fingers. Luna shriek in agony as the mixture slowly fused with her punctured skin slowly fixing it and stopping the bleeding, emitting a white smoke as the result.

"Look," shouted Kudos delighted, "I have never seen 'da white angel in action. It really does close up wounds wit' a smoke!"

"Yeah," answered Kayzar, "the white angel mixtures were the ones used by people in dire circumstances when there are no water casters around."

"You'll be annoying us in no time, eh?" smiled Karus shaking Luna's head in joy.

"No time rejoicing now," interrupted Narra standing up. "This is why I told you not to follow!"

"What's that smell?" asked Karus after rising up together with Kayzar who's carrying Luna like a baby.

"It's 'd sweet smell emanated by Shihiku," answered Kudos while dropping his weapon which the twins noticed.

"Oh, the Mysterious Apprentices of the Shadow. I see," smiled Narra as he shook his shoulders to ready himself.

"Master Narra, 'ya can't tell anybody."

"Understood. Just don't get in my way and we'll have no trouble," replied Narra with a weird warm smile.

Before Karus could ever talk to ask what's happening, they felt a gusty whirring breeze that blew on their front. This startled the two princes because they have never seen a mythical beast of the Holy Lands before and this Shihiku is said to be one of them. The 'lightning fast immortal panther' is described in books as boastful, malicious, and unforgiving. The manuscripts further revealed that one can see death gazing through its murderous eyes.

A dark shadow can be seen forming like a gas in the air into a figure of a beast, a beast that is roughly at least twelve feet tall. He has a muscular built and posture fit to be called an immortal with a lot of glimmering silvery-white tattoo lining in all the accents of his body. He has a round eye on the right and a curious closed eye on the left with a huge gray scar surrounding it as if someone ripped his eyeball out in the past.

This absolutely ferocious panther is definitely terrifying, the two thought. They now believe what the books say about Shihiku and that automatically stopped any lingering doubt that they have to the writer thinking that he's just overselling his legendary exploits to make the chronicle intense. Even with his only yellow snake-like right eye, it still exceeds its expected effect on people of as if drilling through one's soul forcing any victim looking at it to become frozen in both fear and confusion. Any mortal clinging for dear life in his mercy can't be blamed for being stunned or for shouting in fear as a result.

His rumbling breaths creates a deafening pitch ensuring his victims to be demoralized and dazed at the same time, and his motion, quiet and graceful but strong and intimidating. A truly remarkable sight to behold, they concluded, but under the circumstances that they are in right now, it is much of an inconvenience rather than a boon.

The two saw Kudos bowing to Shihiku which they thought was very inappropriate - considering that they are an inch close to death - but they just skipped the thought for the Mythical beast now heaved as if beginning his speech.

"Blood you tolled down on one of my brethren, blood it is that we will get in reimbursement," exclaimed the frightening Shihiku as he walked on closer and closer to them with the fearsome vibrating angry purr that's so loud, the two can even hear their insides humming. "It is your misdeeds, Mighty General Narra, that will be judged tonight together with your miserable mortal grandchild. What do you have to say for yourself?"

Narra gave them a look as if telling them to go find for cover then began moving closer to Shihiku directing him away from them. A true bravery on his part considering the only weapon he wields is his two golden illuminating knuckles.

"I have exacted justice in accordance to the laws of this jungle. Your apprentice has hurt my grandchild and almost killed his friend Luna! I am not going to watch while this injustice has been created only because you are unaware of what your minions are doing," replied Narra politely while spreading his arms and feet creating his defensive stance, grasping his glowing weapon. "But I do know that you know what they are doing. I felt your presence at the clearing earlier on, watching us ever so patient like you always do. If you just want some excuse to rip this old man apart then I suggest we do this now and save your whiny speech about your sense of pride and justice."

"Hmn, I see that you mortals have evolved into a disrespectful and arrogant race just as we predicted. Mortals like you in the old age treated us with respect, they especially revered me. You ought to be ashamed of yourself."

"Back in the old days, you were a religious honorable guardian but now you too have evolved into a sniveling coward trying to circumvent rules just because you want your vengeance!"

"Oh, you're going to regret to have ever insulted me pathetic mortal..."

"Let's just get this over with!"

And with this they both jumped to a clash. Narra is the fastest in the Daomagar Clan alive so he shouldn't have any problems in matching with Shihiku's speed but, because of his old age, he now tends to move a little bit slower giving Shihiku a huge scale of advantage at the fast-paced rumble. Kudos knows this for a fact but the twins naively appears to have such great faith in their Grandfather that they are confident he will win regardless of the fact that their eyes isn't that attuned and trained to even hope to match their speed. They're too fast to watch that they can only see shadows that move about looking as though a crazy black river of smoke was flowing through the air together with a firefly buzzing around with it in an interval of loud shocking explosions - possibly the result of the powerful blows that they have blocked. Trees and boulders were seen either cut into two by Shihiku's powerful claws or smashed into bits probably by Narra's impressive punches. The brothers can't see their bout clearly so they can only assume.

"We got to do something!" said Karus feeling agitated as he felt useless standing there doing nothing.

"What can we do? I can't even see where Shihiku is, and he is a very big cat!" replied Kayzar still mesmerized at the sight of their impressive array of movements trying hard to watch and straining to see their actions and reactions to each other's attacks.

"Kudos, I think you can see their movements, right?" asked Karus in an attempt to calm down his guilty feeling of doing nothing but just watching.

"Don't take 'dis 'da 'rong way but I truly cannot interfere," whispered Kudos to the two while giving his bow in respect as if apologizing. His face suddenly turned into a blank state as if some spirit possessed their good friend. "I am bound to some restric'shuns 'an I apologize to my behavior. Truly, I'll not take it against 'ya if 'ya will have some grudge towards me later on."

The two just gave their puzzled look to Kudos but they didn't let a word slip out. They somewhat respect him as one of their very good friends. Though they were somewhat irritated in his inaction to help their old grandfather, they just figured that if their grandfather is okay with the notion of him standing aside from their match, it sure is okay with them.

The heartbeat of the two princes is racing in both tension and fear for their Grandfather Narra's wellbeing, true as it may seem that they have their great confidence on him winning. Shihiku may be immortal but he can be killed, they believed. They have read the book that Illyriah lent them and found out that he, and all other immortal beasts, can be killed if one can precisely pull off an amazing powerful blow to their thick skull and this they have Narra to believe.

The powerful battle became increasingly frightening as every second passes. They have been standing there for just five minutes, but their bout feels as if they've been fighting for about an hour. The jungle area where they were fighting before can now be seen as a clearing with a full flat ground to cover it. With everything around turned into shambles, the three began to step out of there little by little into the outer rim of their battlefield still watching and still praying that Narra can pull his stunt off.

"Turning too slow now Old Mortal!" shouted Shihiku with his vibrant reverberating voice that greatly echoed in the field.

Narra jumped at the center finally revealing himself to everyone but kneeling down feeling tired with his breath racing. He was injured! This is the first time that they saw Narra coming out from his lightning speed dashes and they were troubled. The two were now very frightened at what they saw. Narra can be seen bleeding in a lacerated portion on his left thigh possibly from Shihiku's claws.

"I see that you've fully mastered your pathetic mortal dashes," roared Shihiku as he appeared gradually in front of the kneeling Narra. "Do you think that because you can commune with the earth, it would follow that you can flow in the shadows like I do!? You are pathetic! I'm just getting started playing with you and yet you clearly present no challenge whatsoever? And to think you ARE the 'Unrestricted General'."

Narra just snickered in reply. The egoistic beast saw this and was insulted with his actions.

"Stop smiling you Old Fool!"

He tried to smash his face with his claws but Narra's knuckles prevented him to make impact. The meeting of Shihiku's blow and the golden knuckles of Narra created a booming gust of wind to be released all around and that made a circular crack on the ground where he kneels.

"O ho ho! Your Deep Root is very impressive!"

"Thank you," replied Narra with his breaking voice, "I really try my best to live up with that crazy title."

With this he immediately vanished in the grounds appearing in front of Shihiku, punching him with his glowing mighty fist. The clean jab landed on Shihiku's cheek, but he retaliated trying to cut Narra in half. Narra, in his lightning state, saw this and immediately guarded with his left knuckle weapon but the force of his attack is way stronger than he anticipated. The strength of the impact is so strong that his steel-like Daomagarian bone cracked into two giving him a broken left arm as a result.

Shihiku was disoriented with the blow. He can be seen having his foot standing without form and shaking. Though this feat would normally resort to an exclaimed jubilation, the twins knew that this instance is not a cause for celebration yet. Having a keen eye in battle taught them something and that led to the realization that their grandfather needs serious help now more than ever. They saw their grandfather now vulnerable lying on the ground. With the kind of injury he sustained, he can never get a chance to stand up and defend himself any longer. The shock of the powerful exchange of blows is now taking its toll on Narra's body. He is now coughing up blood almost dizzy kneading the ground in pain.

There are two injuries one can receive from an opponent in every battle: The Physical Force and the Residual Force. The Physical Force is the force that could destroy the physical body of the opponent and this usually depends on the warrior's skill. The Residual Force is the force that could destroy the body internally and this force usually depends on the warrior's strength. Their grandfather taught them everything he knows about evasion for only in this can one avoid these two deadly forces. Even if one could defend oneself blocking the enemy's Physical Force, one could still sustain an amount of residual force that builds up inside the body. Powerful impact forces can vibrate and greatly affect the fighter's internal organs even without them noticing it. In their grandfather's state, even if he has perfected the Deep Root Technique - a Daomagarian special technique that absorbs the attacker's two great forces and channels it to the ground letting nature receive any fatal blow - with his old form taking into account Shihiku's extraordinary strength, he could never fully deflect the residual force on every impact. This vibration violently resonated to every inch of his body internally until it gave up and reached its maximum threshold leaving for him dazing off on the ground retching.

"YOU FILTHY INFIDEL!" shouted the raging Shihiku with an unsteady voice. "HOW DARE YOU TOUCH ME WITH YOUR UNHOLY HANDS?!"

Seeing this opportunity, Kayzar immediately dropped Luna gently on the ground and readied to charge to Shihiku with Karus.

"No young masters," whispered Kudos as they saw him having his arms buried on the ground like Narra did earlier on. A black metal hand immediately appeared on the ground grabbing their foot to a still.

"Stop it Kudos!" shouted Karus unsheathing his sword. "If you don't remove your hands, I will cut them in half!"

"I'm sorry young masters! 'Dis is out of 'yer league. If you interfere 'den I can no longer protect you from S'ihiku. If you do 'dis 'den you will peris' and I can't let 'dat happen!"

The two can only just watch as the angry snarling Shihiku regained his consciousness to stand up and shout in fury!

"PATHETIC MORTAL! I WILL ASSURE YOU THAT YOU WILL NEVER EXPERIENCE A QUICK AND PAINLESS DEATH!"

"You cannot kill me. Not now, not ever," replied Narra with a bit of smile as if his dire situation isn't troubling at all.

"Hah! You have the guts to say what's inexorable!!!"

"You can TRY," he shouted with mockery as he limply stood up summoning all strength Bathala can give him as he bled all over, "But I assure you, my time has not yet passed!"

The insulted Shihiku angrily smiled as he dashed in fury!

"DIE YOU CRETINOUS FOOL!"

He jumped dashing to Narra with his dark long claws to a kill.

Karus, seeing this, just closed his teary eyes. He knows the inevitable fate of his grandfather. Being a sword master, he knows that he cannot expect to defend himself from his vengeful claws. With all hope lost he just whispered to pray.

"Bathala, please, please save gramps!"

-------ooO0Ooo-------

A blinding light appeared out of nowhere that threw Shihiku far far away from Narra. A miracle has sprung out in the open and that lightened the twin's faces with their teary eyes almost instantaneously disappearing.

They saw a man standing in front of Narra. A man with his short clean-cut hair swaying at the evening breeze and a calm smile that gives Narra his guarantee. He's wearing an expensive silk garment with a royal crest embroidered at the back while an intensifying white light glowing on his forehead lighted the dark gloomy clearing as bright as day. He looked at the twins smiling as if glad to see them alright and then turned his attention to the now confused panther with much cautiousness.

"Artemus? How -!?" mumbled Shihiku.

"Glad I made it in time, father," he whispered to Narra again with his usual silent, calm but cheerful face still looking at the immortal panther.

Narra just gave a silent nodding coupled by a very weak smile trying to imply that nothing's too serious in his situation - which he's totally lying about considering the continuous gush of blood that's been accumulating on the ground. Narra continued by putting his clenched fists at his chest and nodded his head - a customary way for giving thanks to a respected individual.

"Just sit back. I'll deal with this," Artemus continued having much concerned eyes after glancing over his bleeding father-in-law.

"So, you've finally decided to end youre miserable life, Artemus, Son of Light? For disrespecting me and my kill, I'm going to include you too in my list tonight!"

With this he ran towards the two with claws wide open! Sadly, for his part, he got thrown away again by a bright ball of expanding light like a huge bubble bursting before even reaching five feet close to them. And every time he tries again and again, the same happens and this somewhat mocked and hurt his pride as a powerful immortal.

"I am truly sorry Shihiku, but the basis of your vengeance is found without substance. Narra, I believe, is the most religious, respectful and rule-abiding man alive. So, whatever it is that he did, he did it out of necessity not out of malice against you or any other holy being alive in this jungle."

"Stand aside or I will annihilate you together with him!"

"No disrespect but you of all people should know that no one alive can ever hope to destroy my ultimate defense," he looked at his left eye almost giving him a hint which annoyed Shihiku even more. "I'm not here to fight you again, I'm here to settle your misunderstanding."

"Hah!" shouted Shihiku while heaving heavily as if feeling stressed looking as though fear has eaten his majestic and intimidating presence. "You're no mediator! All mortals are two-faced backstabbing creatures that continuously defile the lands of Bathala! You all deserve to be punished and I will exact that justice with the claws that Bathala gave me!"

"Stop this, Shihiku!" shouted Artemus with much respect in his tone. "I will forgive your acts if you forfeit this absurd rampage of yours!"

"Wha-? You! YOU'LL forgive ME???!!!"

"Let's call this to a truce and then discuss it when all of our heads cool down."

Shihiku, insulted by Artemus's remarks, stood tall and just smiled while again slowly turned into his gaseous state but now appearing into a reddish-black cloud. The twins saw him now moving away from Artemus and Narra. This created a weird excitement and fear for the two. They have read that Shihiku's Lightning Blood Lust Skill turns him into a reddish-black cloud that shreds anyone he comes in contact with, with much precision and speed, leaving anything standing his way to turn all chopped-up gooey and liquefied. They're confident in their Father's powers so the thought of danger escaped them and was replaced by a weird sensation of excitement upon seeing the activation of the skill. That made their eyes sparkle with awe, revealing a weak smile as a result.

"Even in your lightning blood lust form, you will not be able to break through my Impenetrable Shroud! I implore you to listen!"

"Oh no, Artemus," smiled Shihiku devilishly, "I know how your skill works. You needed to stand still near the area that you want to protect so I need you to choose..."

Artemus just smiled with confident eyes gazing directly to Shihiku, assured that he will not succeed but this frightened Narra with his eyes wide open looking directly at the twins and was perturbed at the reaction of their father.

"The Old Mortal or your PATHETIC OFFSPRINGS!!! LET'S SEE IF YOUR PRECIOUS PROPHECY PREDICTED YOUR DECISION!!"

"SHIHIKU!!! YOU TREACHEROUS COWARD!!!" shouted Narra crawling on the ground.

Artemus just snickered as if amused feeling indifferent.

The two princes now feel the loud thumping beat of their hearts racing in both fear and anxiety. They are unsure as to why their attention is directed to them and they immediately noticed that they were the new targets with the crosshairs etched on their foreheads.

The hands that bind the twins now disappeared as Kudos grabbed his sword to a ready.

"Run now 'yer highness. I will not risk 'yer lives in 'dis affair even 'dow he's 'da master of my master. I will try to delay him if I can!"

The two was surprised with Kudos's revelation but they found that it isn't the time to reply and discuss the matter. They know Shihiku's powers from the stories that are rumored all around Nagozul and they know that they cannot hope to just run away in his territory blinded by fear. They know that he'll eventually catch up to them no matter how fast their dashes are, so the chivalrous side of them sprung out. They decided that it's best to be there fighting for their lives instead of cowardly running to save their skins. They just grasped their weapons and concentrated their energies in their Amplifyers to be ready to summon every great elemental technique that they know; hoping to counter what is inevitable.

"Bathala has already predicted your fate Shihiku," said Artemus doing nothing, still standing in his place, "and I promise you, you will fail."

"Putting your offspring in this kind of risk for your theoretical predictions is not very fatherly, Artemus. But I assure you, Bathala has got nothing to do with you or your decision and in the end, you will regret them." And with this he smiled then completely turned into his gaseous dark-red cloud state and zoomed to where the twins are!

A massive explosion wrecked the whole area at the edge of the clearing. A thick cloud of dirt was dispersed making the whole of the clearing a little bit foggy. Narra were puzzled as to why it is so. Clearly Shihiku's skills are precise so the extent of the damage that they saw was way beyond him.

They immediately saw Shihiku being thrown out of the thick cloud of dirt, and apparently injured. He smashed on the ground scraping the earth to land right next to Artemus, near the center then they all heard an angry roaring bellow of a wolf.

"The prophesized ones will not be harmed! We all agreed to that, Shihiku!"

The thick dirt cloud began to turn into a mist and then they all saw a figure of the great wolf beast. A black wolf standing at least a foot shorter than Shihiku but is as majestic as he is. His muscular build gave him a terrifying and aggressive posture. He has the same scary quality as Shihiku's but with less smugness. He has a thick shiny fur that is rumored to withstand any weapon or explosion of any kind which was proven at that exact moment to be true.

Artemus bowed as he put his clenched fists to his chest giving his thanks and respect to the majestic immortal Wolf, the said appointed ruler and commander of all the Mythical Beasts of the Lands of Bathala.

Shihiku stood up limply, growling angrily at the sight of him meddling. Heaving more heavily, infuriated by the humiliation that he suffered in front of them.

The twins can't believe the luck they just had. They are very glad to have survived their inescapable deaths and are thankful to Bathala for his quick save. They are also very excited that they are behind the most powerful beast in all of the Holy Lands. They wanted to disprove the rumors about Grog's hair being thin metal sheets that can cut anyone it grazes on, but they always fail and were literally shut down by anyone because their basis were just mere theoretical assumptions and conjectures. Now, while he was behind them in this very rare opportunity, they decided to look into each other's eyes and created an understanding of touching it to rid of those myths once and for all - Of course, for the benefit of all Nagozulian scholars. Karus won in their split-second argument, so he grabbed a group of fur in Grog's hind legs which then Grog noticed.

"Pull my fur one more time and you'll regret it, mortal child" whispered Grog with his vibrating growl that is disturbingly frightening. Karus jumped in fright but was very satisfied with his acts as he ran towards Kayzar.

"So? How'd it go?"

"Yep. Soft as a dog's hair," and they both smiled nodding their head cheerfully.

"STAND ASIDE GROG!" shouted the malevolent Shihiku.

"OR WHAT?!" replied Grog with his serious eyes, now standing confident on his ground stomping to make his point.

"YOU DARE TO CHOOSE THEIR SIDE TO OURS!?"

"I do not choose any side! I choose the side on what's right! DIRECTLY OPPOSITE TO YOUR SIDE!"

"You really believe the predictions of their KING?" shouted Shihiku as he snickered smiling as If mocking his beliefs, "Is this what's it's all about?"

Grog stomped once more and growled loudly to Shihiku. "Watch your words carefully Shihiku! Do not forget your Blood Oath! I can let you pass for mocking my authority but if you try pushing me to the edge, I will promise you that you will regret it!"

"Oh! If Cal'Bao was here..."

Grog roared as he vanished immediately teleporting to Shihiku's giving him a clean jab with his paws. Shihiku was thrown to almost forty feet away.

"DON'T YOU DARE TRY TO INVOKE HIS HOLY NAME WITH YOUR FILTHY MOUTH!!!"

The ground started to shake as a strong rattle gave the whole grounds a sharp quivering noise. The two immortals are seen as if glad and their faces immediately changed to a calm and neutral one.

"Brotherssssss..." whispered a thing from underneath the earth. All of them were shocked and surprised to hear the flowing echoing voice of Ulrihis the Poisonous Serpentine. He is said to live in solitude underground for a thousand years after the Great Elven Rebellion and is never seen or heard from ever since, but this new development caught everyone's attention, especially the immortals'. "I have long wept for the injusticcce of the mortalsss and for our diminissshing exxxissstenccce. If we try to dessstroy eaccch other, our sssurvival will sssurely fall to the everlasssting abyssss of darknessss..."

"Ulrihis, you have awoken?!" roared Grog as if smiling with a hint of gladness in his voice.

"Yesss... I have newsss coming from our immortal brother Bakunawa... I need you to call our remaining brothersss for I have to reveal the mossst terrifying revelation that he gave me..."

"Shihiku! Collect our brothers to the north, immediately."

Shihiku bowed as if their little misunderstanding never happened and immediately vanished in the air turning again into a river of dark smoke disappearing into the dark woods.

Grog's serious eyes turned to Artemus's looking as though he was saying his goodbyes. Artemus, again, gave his gesture of thanks and respect.

"Your debt is finally extinguished my great friend," Artemus smiled.

"No," Grog said shaking his head, "What you did can never be repaid."

He howled and turned into a white beaming figure that fade away like a star blinking in the skies. The twins, upon seeing this feat were shocked. It roughly looked like Reus's technique and that gave them a slight smile on their faces.

Artemus knelt down and picked a small medical kit hiding behind his red silk robe and started treating Narra's wounds with the White Angel.

"Dad!" shouted Karus and Kayzar as they finally caught up with them at the center of the grounds. Artemus, seeing them there, hugged them both tightly with the love of a true father yearning to be with his sons.

"We really miss you father!" shouted Kayzar with teary eyes.

"Yes, please don't send us back there!" added Karus who squeezed him tightly.

"Yes, yes. I won't," he pushed them out gently and smiled. "When we arrive at the North, we'll be discussing this further. Right now, it's important that we sustain the damage on your Gramp's injuries.

Luna, who's now back in shape, went to Artemus's side and purred tapping her little paws to get Artemus's attention too.

"Wow Luna," acknowledged Artemus as he pets her head gently, "Look how you've grown!"

Luna gave a glad meow and Artemus laughed as he was surprised how cute she was being so smart. "Well, I miss you too."

They all smiled as they put away their teary eyes and helped Kudos, who's now finished cleansing Narra's wounds, to seal the lacerations with their White Angel Solution.

Artemus stood up with his eyes squinting looking afar while developing a great smile on his face.

"Oh look! They finally arrived!

Ten men gathered in front of them kneeling before Artemus. They were wearing their Nagozulian Gold Battle gear giving the impression that they are Earth Molders. They were all wearing wide-brimmed bronze conical metal hats, which is so low its shading their eyes. These are called Salakot which they thought to have been widely discontinued hundreds of years ago and this surprised them. Their father Artemus not only made changes in the Nagozulian Army's discipline, he made them wear their traditional battle-gear that can be traced back to the Great Nagozul's grandfather. They synchronically gave their salute as a sign of respect to their Grand General by pulling their right arms before them leveling it to their eyes in a curl and bowing. Artemus pulled his palms towards them and he spoke giving them orders.

"Claim and secure target, turn him to the casters and report to me immediately."

"Understood, Grand Commander!" they all replied then scattering around to prepare Narra like buzzing bees snappily securing him and immediately running away again to the deep jungle.

"Wow! Great soldiers Dad," applauded Karus impressed at their speed, reaction time, and coordination.

"Well, a lot has changed since I became the Grand General."

"And the Salakot?" Kayzar smiled. "When did that happen?"

"Full metal helms are not of Nagozul, they are foreign. Our ancestors have been going out of the Holy Lands in our Rites of Passage incorporating our culture with the foreigners when they should have been only observing the foreign land's condition and gain an understanding of their current state of humanity. I think we should try and stick to our culture even in this modern time. The Salakot is a reminder of what Nagozul was and that, I think, is a small step in reclaiming what we've lost after thousands of years of borrowing cultures from other nations."

The two was inspired with what he said. While it is true that the primary purpose of the Rite of Passage is to understand and observe Mortal's propensity for evil and how to overcome this, their ancestors have been gradually shifting from this thought to just visiting and observing foreign mortal's cultures and development. Clearly, the Rite of Passage now has been reduced to the acquisition of foreign culture and an examination on how it could be incorporated with theirs. That's why they share the same sentiments with their father. That's why they were inspired, waiting eagerly on their turn to leave their homeland in order for them to fully understand the foreign mortals' beliefs and convictions.

Artemus walked away after picking up his medical kit towards where the soldiers ran earlier.

"Well, aren't you all coming?" he asked as they all stood there almost confused in him walking to the north to exit.

"Dad?" asked Kayzar, "They are all back at the camp south from here. I think we should head back to Yosh and Reus. We're certain that they're all eagerly waiting for our return."

"Well you're probably right but I think your mother, Anagea, has beaten me to them. Seeing as how competitive your mother is, they are all probably at the clearing, up north, waiting for us." He took them both on his arms and hugged them at his side while walking towards the north followed by Kudos who is smiling at the back.

"Hah, mother? Is she still that hard-headed?" smiled Karus.

"I believe so, yes. Never changed. Not one bit."