Chapter 558 Tangle Grove

Keng popped one of the roe pearls Doi gave him and instantly felt a surge of energy. His face lit up as he looked at Doi. Doi smiled and nodded.

"See? Keep the rest for your journey." Doi motioned. Keng nodded and put them in the Void Storage.

"Ready?" Rya asked Keng. Keng nodded and Rya turns to the rest of her squad. "Let's head out."

"Be careful, everyone." Calis's dad nods. The group lifts up into the air as the Captain and Doi waves goodbye to them. "Bring my son and his squad home."

"You can count on us, sir!!" Aliza waves.

They fly for awhile without any trouble. The waters around them shake violently, distorting Keng as he tried his best to navigate through it. Aliza directed him in the general direction they were supposed to go and a couple hours later, they roughly landed at the entrance of Tangled Grove.

A mixture of coral and actual trees grew down here. Keng hadn't seen something like this before (even in Lee Seng's memories). His mouth was agape as Rya and the others checked their surroundings.

"The earthquakes have stopped." Aliza announced.

"The aftereffects will carry on for much longer." Vizo replied.

"We should keep together, right?" Cayi quietly piped up.

"We should stay in groups." Rya told them. She turned her attention to her team. She had a good idea on what her team was capable of, but Keng was the only one she didn't really know the full extent of what he could do. "We'll have to split. It'll make things easier. Vizo will take Aliza and Cayi that way. Keng and I will go this way." She pointed over to the left side of the Grove. Coral overlapped with the roots, creating odd blends of sharp pointy branches.

"A-are you sure?" Cayi asked. "I-I would feel better if we stayed together."

"The Leader has spoke, Cayi." Vizo comments. "She is the strategist and knows you will do better in my care than hers and the Fox Spirit." Cayi's worried look turns into a frown. Rya smiles and swims over to Cayi. She puts a hand on him, reassuring him.

"Everything will be fine, Cayi. I'm just taking into consideration what I know about our new friend." Rya smiled. "He can heal from what I've been told. We'll be fine. Vizo can protect you much more than I can." Cayi nods, still sad he can't be with Rya and turns to look at Vizo and Aliza who motions him over.

"Keep on the lookout for our friends, Aliza." Rya reminds her.

"Yes, ma'am." Aliza salutes.

"Let's go." Vizo turns and heads off towards the middle path. Rya turns to face Keng.

"Let's go, too."

Rya leads the way through the Tangled Grove. The beach sand kicked up around Rya and Keng as they moved through the Grove. The after effects of the earthquake have created new paths as well as taking paths. Large holes appeared in front of them and Rya moved above it without much thought.

Keng lifted himself up higher in the water and swam over it. The large black holes made him nervous. It reminded him of the darkness he felt inside of Lee Seng's soul. His mind wandered to Lee Seng, not paying attention to what was in front of him. A set of rhythmic drums went off. Keng's head flew up, stopping in his spot as Rya's arm went up. She was fifteen feet in front of him and her eyes scanned the Grove.

'Something's not right.' Rya's voice appeared in Keng's head. The Merfolk had their own unique way of talking to each other without talking. Keng had to share some of his energy, so it could work with Rya and her squad, but it did come in handy. 'Those drums…'

The drums continued in the same time (pace.) Keng became even more sure it was something Lily would play. He swam forward, landing on the ground next to Rya.

'It's Lily.' Keng told Rya. 'I'm sure of it.'

'Your Fox Spirit friend? Are you sure? It sounds like Ferals to me.' Rya replied.

'Ferals?' Keng thought to himself. He listened to it a bit more. The rhythmic beat continued on like Lily's. It was dead on to Keng's ears.

'Proceed with caution.' Rya ordered. Keng strapped his right hand onto the right dagger as he left his left arm dangling at his side. The farther they moved into the Grove, the louder the drums became. The water pressure had made Keng's hearing about "normal" as it could get for a Biohuman.

He could tell it was different now. The beats were similar but there was small bits that differed from Lily's.

'Are they playing her song?' Keng wondered to himself. 'It sounds like hers, but isn't anything like it…'

'Wait.' Rya telepathically spoke. Keng stopped and looked around. The corals and large underwater trees were toppled over. There were indents in the trees, uneven ground too uneven to be considered natural.

'A fight happened here?' Keng commented.

'It leads that way.' Rya pointed straight ahead. 'Towards the drumming.'

The two move forward, Rya's arm reaching up behind her to grab her trident as Keng kept the same posture. His fingers loosely wrapped around the right dagger as they came to a stop, ducking underneath a fallen tree.

Strange strings played a discordant tune. Keng raised his eyebrows as he looked at Rya. She was fixated on what was goign to appear ahead of them.

'I hear a discordant tune.' Keng told her.

'Anything else?' Rya asked. Keng stopped and listened a little more. He could hear one set of strings playing.

'Just a set of strings playing. Nothing else.'

Rya nodded and continued onwards. The drumming grew louder as shouts grew. Rya stuck up her hand and Keng stopped.

"Ahahaha! Run before you die!" A low, creepy voice shouted. The drum beats grew louder and yelps grew.

"Ah!" A female voice shouted. They swam for their life as strange looking Feral chased after her. Rya laid eyes on what seemed to be one of the twins. She seemed to be running for her life as a long limbed Feral chased after her. It's body glinted with energy as it launched a limb at the twin.

"Ah! Stay away!" Denni jumped out of the way. The arm slammed into the side of the large pit wall. A net of sorts keeping Denni and the long limbed Feral in.

'What should we do?' Keng asked. 'She's going to get tired eventually.'

'I'll distract. You save Denni, alright?' Rya glanced at him. Keng nodded. Rya pulled her trident out and blasted out of their hiding spot.

"Mermaid!" A feral shrieked. They pointed as the drumming grew more intense. Rya twirled the trident in her hands as she slammed it down on the ground. A bright light flew out of the trident, blinding everyone. Keng darted out of the hiding spot, running past staggering Ferals.

Keng jumped up, marking a spot between Denni and the long limbed Feral - who both were blinded by Rya's sudden entrance.

'Mark 2.' The ground below Keng shimmered as Keng displaced himself between Denni and the long limbed Feral. The Feral shrieked as it threw its hands forward. A bright light fired from Keng's hands, stunning the creature as its arms flew off in different directions.

"Ahhh!" Denni screamed as she swung straight for Keng.

"H-hey!" Keng stuttered as he was sent straight into the long limbed Feral.

"Stay away from me you furry Ywi!" Denni's hands lit up, a colorful energy dancing around her.

"H-hey! Ally! Ally! I'm an— Oh shit! Displacement!" Keng disappeared from his spot as blasts of energy landed on the Ywi.

[Ywi: A long limbed Feral who's been corrupted by the Void.]

The Ywi shrieked in pain as Keng landed on his spot. Rya swung the trident, cutting off a Feral's head with ease as she looked behind her.

"What're you doing?!?" Rya asked. "Save Denni!"

"She thinks I'm that long limbed thing!" Keng pointed.

"The Ywi?" Rya dodged the Feral's attack and released another burst of light out. The Feral shrieked as Rya stabbed the trident into his chest, killing it instantly. "Denni!"

"L-Leader Rya?!?" Denni looked up. "Oh! Someone's here for me!" Her eyes grew wide as she pointed at Keng. "Watch out for the furry Ywi, Rya!" Dennis began to scream as her hands lit up. She fired the colorful energy straight for Keng, who flinched as the net caught it.

"Denni! He's the other Fox Spirit! We're here to save you!" Rya shouted, pushing a Feral away. Keng sighed and marked the ground.

"Why am I always in this predicament?!?" Keng shouted. He marked a spot further away from Denni and displaced. He landed on his feet and turned to look at the net.

"H-he's wh— Ahh!" Denni fired more energy bolts at Keng, who turned, narrowly dodging the attack.

"H-hey, Denni! I-I'm Lily's friend!" Keng threw his hands up.

"AHHH!" Denni fired more at Keng, forcing him to run around as the Ywi threw itself up.

"D-Denni, I'm a friend! A friend!" Keng stood with his hands up. Denni's screams grew loud as she realized the Ywi wasn't dead.

"Ahh!"