Lucida stared at the fallen humans with an emotionless gaze and chanted a spell, fire surrounded them burning both the dead and those that still breathed, their cries could be heard, tearing through the darkness of the forest.

Being under the canopy of the thick and dense trees, it was darker on the forest floor. The cries and wails of the soldiers filled the area, going as one could hear it. The flames burned brighter as the seconds ticked until there was nothing. The air was filled with the foul smell of burning corpses. 𝓯𝓻𝒆𝙚𝒘𝓮𝙗𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝒍.𝙘𝓸𝙢

"That stinks," Emily said, scrunching her nose but the smell did but reduce. She rubbed it with the back of her palm but even after that, nothing changed. The air had been polluted and being creatures with a high sense of smell, it was a little unbearable for them.

"I agree,"ⁿ Rossie said. She didn’t need advances or an enhanced sense of smell to know that.

"Let’s get Luna out of here," Sophia said. If they were already disgusted by the smell, then how much more a pregnant shifter?

"I am fine, it is not that bad anymore," Kora said. She had done as they asked, she stayed behind and watched without doubt anything and they handled it well. Rossie was surprisingly good with weapons now and Sophia she most stood behind but she was a one punch kill kind of fighter.

"Come, let us go..." she said and turned to look in a particular direction where she felt many bonds snap all at once. "The Desert Pack," she muttered but they all heard her.

"No one was left there Luna, I checked," but Kora felt differently. She wouldn’t have felt it had there been no one there. Lucy looked at Emily who didn’t look so good and knew that there was indeed something wrong. "You promised Aloha that you will block the link between you and everyone else, including himself, I think he was right, you should do that."

"Many people died," Kora said. It was a war, people were expected to die but she has promised to make sure the past does not repeat itself.

"Luna, Please do as you have promised," Rossie and Sophia said.

"It is blocked, this Gaia, not me. She is hurt because of them," Kora replied. And they looked at each other. "Darren is joy fat from there, he is not fine either," She said again and they all exchanged gazes with each other knowing what she meant.

"Lucy should go there now," Emily said. Kora looked disoriented right now, she just might end up taking irrational decisions.

"We are surrounded," Kora said. "No one should stop me," She said. Gaia’s emotions were all over the place and she was greatly affected by it. She needed a way to release it and that was on the poor humans coming at them.

"We won’t," Emily said. Kora was never one to ain’t still, forcing her to stay back now would only get her agitated.

"Lucy, go," Kora said, giving her concerns to her. Darren might need help and they were not sure where Lucinda was.

"Underwood," Lucy said.

Right after Lucy left, they could see torches coming towards them from every angle at the distance. At some point, they disappeared and only footsteps could be heard.

"The fire serves as their source light and destination," Sophia said and Kora hummed in response. With a wave of her hand, the fire was put out and total darkness encompassed them.

"They must be near, spread out and find them," they heard the voice of the human who led them say.

Emily and Rossie helped Kora behind a tree with few people coming that direction because her hair and eyes were like a lighthouse in that dark.

"Leave me be," she said, shrugging off their hands on her body. "Protect yourselves." Kora touched the tree and used it as a link to the trees that surrounded them. And one by one the roots and vines started moving as if they had a mind of their own.

Using the darkness as a cover, the vines and roots pierced into the bodies of the unsuspecting humans, silently killing them one by one. Their painful grunts which served as their last cries before the life left were the only sound that served as a warning to the others, making them aware of the hidden danger.

"commander," one of the soldiers called. The fear in him was evident in his voice. Had it brighter in there, his body would have been seen visibly trembling.

"You are a soldier, act like it, " the commander’s voice boomed both in annoyance and understanding. Some of them were new recruits in the army and this one was most likely one of them. The fear of death was still in him.

"Use Your torches," the commander ordered. They need to see what they are fighting and come up with ways to counter attack it, otherwise, they will all die without knowing what killed them.

"Show yourselves, shifters are rumored to fight with honor and pride, not hissing and playing tricks," he helped but it was followed by deafening silence. "Where is your pride?"

["It is obvious that he is not from the organization Jared created,"] Sophia said. She had been in Ghora long enough to know how soldiers were, even the human soldiers. There was a stark difference between the men from the organization and the actual military forces and these men were those from the military.

["It doesn’t matter, they are here to kill us or be killed by us, that is what we will do, unless they can be reasoned with,"] Emily replied through the mind link which was open to all of them.

"Show yourselves," the commander yelled at the top of his voice again.

"Choose wisely, soldier," Kora and Gaia spoke at the same time. Hearing the two voices say the same thing, the soldiers looked around trying to trace either of them but stopped when a wall of fire appeared out of nowhere and water on its opposite side. "Which do you prefer?" she asked.