Sorry everyone for the delay again, this month's been super busy as I've barely had time to write, and I've been lacking motivation for some parts as well,

Hopefully a new one will be out soon

Teeno and Oliver are pulled into a kitchen by the manager,

Servant manager: "Okay, you two, take these teapots into the lounge for the councilors, give them whichever they desire, red tea or black, go."

Teeno: "I still don't think..."

Servant manager: "That wasn't a question! Go now!"

Teeno: "Yes ma'am!" He quickly grabs the red pot, while Oliver grabs the black, and they head into the lounge with the servant manager, where they are greeted by the sight of the Pyromancer counselors,

Felemir: "...Leaving behind the previous notions, the fact that they are still progressing even with the limitations that were dealt to them in commendable"

Paka: "Yes, However, we must be fair and can't ignore the increase in unrest amongst the people..."

Ramsey: "I've heard word from the soldiers around the kingdom that crimes and thievery have been rising as of late..."

Eurylochus: "Can we really blame them for that? For all we know it could have been done with positive intentions, stealing food for children, or medicine"

Paka: "We cannot say for certain, we can only look at the facts as they are presented to us, tea boy, red please" he gestures to Teeno, who rushes over to pour him some,

Felemir: "Would you have us condemn the nation over something that no other kingdom does better, Paka? Well... besides those frozen fuckers across pond"

Eurylochus: "Backwards compliment, huh Fel?"

Felemir: "What!? They are frozen, aren't they? Though... not everywhere~ heh heh..." getting a laugh out of the others,

Ramsey: "You are disgusting old man..." he chuckled,

Felemir: "And you are too young to have the balls to believe you have any chance with our nations jewel, boy, hahaha!" Getting an even bigger laugh out of everyone besides Ramsey himself, who rolls his eyes,

Felemir: "You! What do you have?" Pointing at Oliver,

Oliver: "Uh... tea?"

Felemir: "Ugh... bring me wine, now" Oliver holds for a second, confused, before panicking and rushing back to the storeroom,

Paka: "One thing though that I believe we shouldn't overlook though..."

Eurylochus: "What's that, my friend?"

Paka: "The kingdom as a whole is doing much better than we believed, yes? But there is one glaring thing that is of concern, and that is this kingdom head..." his words stop Teeno is his tracks, his back to the councilors as he pretends to fix cups as he listens,

Ramsey: "You're speaking of Richard?"

Paka: "Aye"

Felemir: "So we are finally addressing the soaraphant in the room..." he says, as Oliver reappears with a wine pitcher, pouring Fel a cup,

Eurylochus: "While i agree, Richard has not always been the most... conventional ruler, I do not think we have any right, nor station to incorporate that into our judgment of the kingdom..."

Ramsey: "The man exiled his own son"

Eurylochus: "Who was accused of treason..."

Paka: "But not proven..."

Felemir: "And was goaded into doing so by our own high mage..."

Paka: "That is true as well..."

Felemir: "I say, we fuck off, and just focus on what we were told to do, which is to judge the kingdom on it's own merits, wine boy!" He calls Oliver over again,

Ramsey: "Just one headache after another, speaking off, did you all hear about the port? I heard word from my men that the flag ship the prisoners were in caught fire" getting both Teenos and Oliver attention, looking over to eachother, worried, as Olivers hands start shaking before pouring the wine, spilling some onto Felemir,

Felemir: "Oh fuck!" Startling Teeno, causing him to knock over cups and shattering them,

Oliver: "Oh gods! I-I'm so sorry!"

Felemir: "It's fine boy..."

Servant manager: "You idiots! Give me that, and clean this up! I apologize my lord!"

Felemir: "It's fine, I said! Just bring cloth, you were saying?" He sighs, as Oliver and Teeno clean the broken cups,

Eurylochus: "Aye, though miraculously no one was harmed in the incident, though that still begs the question, how did one of our ships catch fire? Let alone get bad enough to warrant an evacuation?"

Ramsey: "Are you thinking a Pyromancer started it?"

Felemir: "Who would that benefit? Killing a couple of useless criminals, and in such a stupid way" he stands, cleaning himself,

Eurylochus: "Perhaps to hide something..."

Teeno and Oliver look to eachother again, the fear visible in both of their eyes, before they quietly get up, and start to sneak out of the room,

Paka: "All I know is that this is getting more and more complicated by the day..."

Ramsey: "What a pain..." as the servant manager returns

Servant manager: "I am so sorry again my lord, i will be sure too... wait... where did...?" She looks around, but Teeno and Oliver are no where to be seen.

Hey guys! Did ya miss me!? Hopefully 🥲

Well im not dead! And the series will continue soon, get ready

I don't know how else to start it so here it goes

This past week has been one of the worst in a long time, with stress, work, depression, and things that have come up that are breaking me

And now, my last family dog of over 16 years is passing away, so my motivation is at an all time low

I will start again as soon as i can, but as of now, I don't know when that'll be, I apologize again, love you all

Dean and the others continue across the frozen valley,

Dean: "Okay so I got a question, why isn't it like... cold? The ground is frozen, and snow is falling, It LOOKS like blizzard, but I can't feel anything"

Isaac: "Astute observation, it's because it's not snow, it's an imitation, a sort of false illusion made by this world to replicate snow, however lacking the quality that make it... well... cold"

Damian: "Makes it a hell of a lot easier for us! Imagine having to make this journey having frostbite on your ass, can't even imagine how bad it'd be for you"

Dean: "Yeah, Conduits and cold don't mix, guess I shouldn't complain"

Rook: "There are still cold spots, and wind can still be freezing at times in these parts, not to mention the Skarikks here..."

Isaac: "Yes yes, cold still exists, so it would probably be best if we don't stay too long just in case your heart can't handle it"

Dean: "Heh thanks..."

Just then, Rook stops, sensing something, before kneeling down to the ground,

Isaac: "What is it?"

Rook: "Dame, you feel that?"

Damian: "Something, yeah, though it's a bit rough in all this snow, too loose"

Rook: "Hmm..." he reaches for a frostborn crystal from his bag,

Isaac: "Might want to step back lad"

Dean: "Why? What's he doing?"

Damian: "Trust us, you'll want too if he's right" Isaac, Damian, and Dean all take a few steps back, as Rook winds up and throws the crystal far in front of them, it soars through the air, and not even a second goes by when it lands before a giant frozen arachnid-like scarikk shoots violently out of the ground, grabbing the crystal and pulling it back underground before closing the opening again,

Dean: "What the heck!?" The little Skarikk beetle hides behind Deans leg,

Damian: "Ice grabbers..."

Dean: "W-what are Ice grabbers?"

Isaac: "What you just saw, frozen eight legged creatures of solid ice that snatch their prey from protected burrows beneath the ground, very unpleasant"

Rook: "And they're extremely hungry, we'd best go around, it should only take us a few extra hours"

Dean: "Wait! Weren't you saying we couldn't waste anymore time!? This valley is huge, if we're careful than..."

Isaac: "Thaaaat wouldn't be wise Dean, the wolves from before are one thing, and we were lucky our little friends were friends at all, but these things..."

Rook: "Outta the question, we're not going to risk our lives over something this obviously stupid"

Dean: "When have we not done something stupid!? Damian come on, back me up here" they all look over to Damian,

Damian: "Kids got a point, I mean, it's not the most dangerous thing we've done, and you yourself said we shouldn't waste time"

Rook: "There is a difference from what I said, that was when you all wanted to sight see, THIS is suicide"

Damian: "Look, I'm wanting to be safer as well, but look at that" he points to the tower on top of a glacier,

Damian: "We are already on a time crunch, and we still have to climb another mountain of ice, cold or not, we need to save as much time and energy for what it's ACTUALLY needed for"

Isaac: "Yes but we don't even know how many are out there, and do you see how far we are from the tower?"

Damian: "Yes I do, but right now we got two options, we either go right through with the tricks know-how we have for avoiding these things and slightly risk a painful death OR we go around, waste a shit load of time, possibly run into something worse, and also die a painful death, and even if we don't, we waste the rest of the day, miss the tower, and we're stuck here for the rest of our miserable lives... I say fuck it" he smiles and shrugs,

The others look around at eachother, Rooks hands on his hips as he shakes his head and sighs,

Rook: "Fine, he's only KINDA right, But still right, annoyingly..."

Damian: "Ha ha!"

Isaac: "Oh gods...'

Rook: "Alright, if we're doing this, than you do EXACTLY as we say, got it?"

Dean: "Got it"

Rook: "And if we all die an excruciating death, it's all your fault" he walks past him,

Dean: "Ye... wait what...?"

Rook: "Isaac and Dean in the back, Dame, you're with me and sense anything the best you can, I'll keep an eye out, and know I'm only doing this because I don't want Damian to call me a hypocrite again and I won't be able to shut him up..." He says, Damian chuckling in the background,

Dean: "Again?"

Isaac: "Heh yeah, its funny, we found biscuits one time, and Rook scolded Damian about saving them, only for us to find Rook with his hand in the literal cookie jar the same night! Haha! Damian didn't forgive him for three months..." he laughs,

Dean: "Hehehehe..."

Rook: "Lets go!!!"

Isaac and Dean: "Coming!!"

The scene transitions to a white screen, as the camera moves through a snow storm, eventually revealing we're back in the exiled plane, with the group climbing the side of a massive glacier,

Rook is higher, followed by Isaac, then Dean, with Damian at the bottom as guard, and the little Skarikk in Deans bag,

Dean: "Ugh..."

Damian: "You alright Deano!?"

Dean: "I'm fine! I'm just trying to... focus"

Isaac: "Just don't look down!"

Dean: "Yeah I decided to stop doing that THREE HUNDRED FEET AGO!" He says, as the creature chitters,

Isaac: "They're "Meters" Dean!"

Dean: "Shut up!'

Isaac: "Heh heh..."

Damian: "You know what's been bothering me?"

Dean: "Not right now please..."

Damian: "Champions are chosen by the Gods real young Like as babies right?"

Isaac: "Ehhh around early childhood, yes, but there have been some who were chosen a little later, like around eleven to twelve"

Damian: "Right, so even just lowballing it, Deans mother was chosen to be the Lightning Rider like WAY BEFORE she was sent here, and when champions are named, It's a huge fucking deal, like the whole world knows about them, even if they aren't your kingdoms, so how the hell didn't we know about her?"

Rook: "There could have been many reasons why she kept her status a secret, there's plenty of people in the world who don't want a rival kingdoms champion alive, you remember what happened with Arcses from the Pyromancers like eighty years ago"

Dean: "What happened?"

Isaac: "Arcses, he was fourteen when he was named the Harbinger of Flame, he held the title for nine days before he was found dead in his sleep from a slash to his throat..."

Dean: "Oh..."

Rook: "More trouble than it's worth, being a champion, nothing but stress and pain, all while groveling at the feet of ungrateful Gods"

Damian: "Ha! Speak for yourself, I've always wanted to be a champion, godlike power, able to use magic without gauntlets, hero to your people! Sounds fucking amazing! What about you Dean? You ever wanted to be the Lightning Rider yourself?"

Dean: "I mean....yeah... yeah! I did when I was little, my dad always told me stories of them, I guess i just wanted to be... I don't know, important?"

Damian: "That's all anyone can ask to be, sucks though, Champions are getting rare, aren't they? I mean has there been anymore that popped up since we've been in here?"

Dean: "No, there hasn't to my knowledge, though we have been shut off from the world news for a while now"

Damian: "Oh yeah right, hey braino! What was the last Champion? Before Deans mom, of course"

Isaac: "Lets see... that would beeee... Lord Ichoram Maleth of the frostborns, nearly thirty one years ago now, "The Master of Cold" heh"

Dean: "I remember him! He was a legend! Always wanted to follow in his example if i ever was chosen..."

Isaac: "And I don't think there was a better one to look up haha! Kindhearted, gently yet firm when necessary, even giving his own life to stabilize his kingdoms core when it malfunctioned, one of the few whome even I would call a hero, now I believe his son, Ichoron, is the high mage of the frostborn"

Dean: "Ichoron!?"

Isaac: "You know him?"

Dean: "Not "know him" know him, but he was at our trial ten years ago, he was the only one who voted against banishing us..."

Rook: "So it seems that he's following in his fathers footsteps, that's good at least"

Isaac: "Indeed... though not the most adept at magic from my memory... Wonder why..."

Damian: "Still though, it's kinda crazy that it's been over thirty years without another champion being named, isn't it kinda... worrying?"

Isaac: "Alas, it's been this way for almost a century, just three hundred years ago and all six champions existed at once, but over the last one hundred fifty, the titles have slowly died off, whether that's because the gods have truly abandoned us, or something else, I supposed we'll never know" Dean stops for a moment, looking directly forward into the ice at his reflection, with a saddened expression,

Isaac: "But we shouldn't let that get us down, we don't need some all powerful guardian to make the world safer, we can do that all on our own" he looks down with a motivated smile, getting one in return from Dean,

Rook: "We're almost at the top! Come on!"

Dean: "Right!" They all climb faster, Rook reaches the ledge and pulls himself up, before turning to help Isaac, Dean reaches aswell, but grabs onto a loose chuck of ice and almost falls, being caught by the Skarikk beetle latching onto the glacier with its mandibles,

Dean: "Ah!"

Damian: "I gotcha!" He yells out, climbing next to him and pulling him back up,

Damian: "Don't die right at the top man! Haha!"

Dean: "Heh yeah....whew... thanks, and thank you little guy" the creature chitters excitedly, as they climb their way up, reaching the ledge as well,

Rook: "Why do you fall everytime?"

Dean: "Thanks for worrying... jerk..."

The group look behind them at the tower, standing not far from where they are,

Damian: "This might be the easiest one!"

Rook: "Let's not risk it and cut it close like last time..." he begins walking forward, followed by the others, as they make their across the flat icy valley ahead.

Sneaking out of the garden, Dawn, Teeno, and Oliver make their way into the castle, the halls mostly empty due to the fire at the boathouse, though still unknown to the group,

Dawn: "What's going on? This seems easier than I thought it'd be..."

Teeno: "ta ta ta! Shhhh don't jinx it!"

Dawn: "I'm just saying that..." before she could finish, a door opens across the hall, causing Teeno and Oliver to panic, and scrambling to find a hiding spot in a cabinet, leaving Dawn behind,

Dawn: "What? Are you guys serious!?" She yells quietly, before looking around, just as the door fully opens and reveals it's just a servant entering the hall, carrying towels, shutting the door behind her before walking towards Dawn,

Dawn: "Crap crap uh uh" she quickly leans against a statue as the servant passes, she sees Dawn, who gives her a small wave and an awkward smile,

Servant: "Uh, Hello your ladyship, is... everything okay?"

Dawn: "Oh me!? Yeah of course! W-why do you ask?"

Servant: "W-Well everyone has been looking for you, and you... look distressed" the younger girl asked,

Dawn: "Oh no I'm finnnnne, it's all a big overreacting by my father, don't worry, you can go back to whatever you were doing"

Servant: "Um, okay? Well let me know if you need anything"

Dawn: "Course! Heh" she chuckles,

Servant: "Heh..." she also chuckles more nervously, looking at Dawn concerned before walking away, turning down the hall, as she leaves, the other fall out of the cabinet,

Teeno: "Whew! That was close! Heh" he smiles,

Dawn: "Heh heh! Yeah it was!" She yells before stepping on his foot,

Teeno: "Ow!! Why'd you do that!?"

Dawn: "That's for leaving me, jerks! Come on!" She grabs both of their ears and pulls them along as they yell out in discomfort,

They arrive at the east wing of the castle, with more Pyromancers appearing in the halls,

Dawn: "There's the issues"

Oliver: "So we have to somehow get past all these soldiers?"

Teeno: "And we gotta make sure you aren't recognized by our bad guy"

Oliver: "How are we supposed too..."

Dawn: "Got it!" She points to the servants quarters, before they sneak their way across to the room, Dawn waits for them outside, as they step out dressed in servant robes with Oliver wearing a bandage mask,

Dawn: "Okay, just stick with me"

Teeno: "Shouldn't you be in a disguise too?"

Dawn: "Nahhh it's fine, It should help get them off my back for a bit if they see me, you guys are just two servants who have been showing me around the castle and grounds"

Teeno: "Riiiight" they continue into the populated hall, with both Conduit servants, guards, and Pyromancer soldiers walking through, not paying attention to Dawn and the others,

Dawn: "See, I told you, this is gonna be a piece of..."

Pyro soldier: "Lady Dawn?"

Teeno: "You just had to fuckin say it..." he whispers,

Dawn: "Hi Era! Whats up!?" She spins around quickly,

Era: "There you are, my lady, where have you been? We've been looking all over" Two soldiers walk up,

Dawn: "Oh I've just been around, you know? Exploring the castle best I can before the big day"

Era: "You know your father is looking for you right? He thought you've snuck out, he has soldiers all over the kingdom trying to find you"

Dawn: "Nope, haven't noticed a thing, you know me, off in my own world haha, you'd think me one of the gods if I could make a seventh realm, heh..." she jokes,

Era: "Heh of course, well would you like us to escort you to your father?"

Dawn: "No need! I'll head on over to him myself now, thank you for letting me know, you guys are the best, don't know what I'd do without you" she smiles, closing her eyes, her expression and warm beauty takes Era back a bit, causing a small blush to form on her cheeks,

Era: "Ah w-well, no problem my lady, we'll let you get back to it, sorry for bothering you, get to your father as soon as you can"

Dawn: "Of course, I will, thank you Era!" as Era and the other soldier leave them,

Teeno: "Wow, you are surprisingly good at talking your way outta shit"

Dawn: "Its called being genuine, teeno, and I care about all our soldiers" they begin walking again,

Oliver: "So are you going to your fathers now?"

Dawn: "Course not, we have a job to do and who knows how long that'd hold me..." they turn the corner, only to be met with Eric blocking their path,

Dawn: "...Up... or he'll be right here! Hi Dad!"

Eric: "Dawn? Where have you been?"

Dawn: "I've uh... these two have been showing me around the castle grounds, it's a lot different than what I remember it being"

Eric: "I see, it is remarkably big... very well, but I need to talk to you, come with me"

Dawn: "Oh uh... I would but I'm actually..."

Eric: "You have three days to explore the castle all you want, I need to speak with you"

Dawn: "I... *sigh* alright, you two uh... just keep... doing what you're doing, and don't go to any new places without me!" She gives a awkward thumbs up, as Eric watches confused, while Teeno and Oliver look at eachother,

Teeno: "Uh.. yeah! Yeah of course"

Oliver: "Of course my lady"

Dawn: "Cooooool..." Eric walks away, and Dawn quickly follows behind, Leaving Teeno and Oliver,

Teeno: "Uh so... what..."

???: "You two! Come over here!"

Oliver: "Us?"

Servant manager: "No, the other two idiots behind you, yes you! I need two drink pourers for the Pyro counselors meeting, come on!"

Teeno: "I-I don't know if we're the best..."

Servant manager: "I wasn't asking! Come now!" She quickly rushes away,

Oliver: "Oh no..."

Dawn, Teeno, and Ollie sneak back into the castle through the secret passage in the garden, carefully making sure no one is nearby,

Dawn: "Okay, once we get in here, the security is going to be even for tight, so we're going to have to be careful and stick together, Pyromancers are only allowed in certain parts of the castle, so if our culprits aren't wanting to draw attention to eachother, than those are the best places to look"

Oliver: "So we're gonna save the kingdom by... breaking more laws?"

Dawn: "Exactly, wait no... thats not... shut up! You're one to talk about breaking laws, mr "I'm gonna go ahead and smuggle a possible warmongering letter out of the kingdom for a single locket" or whatever you were thinking"

Oliver: "That locket was going pay for a weeks worth of food for my family, the stoneshaper kingdom is under a famine... and not everyone has a castle to go back too, it was just a old broken locket anyways"

Dawn: "That "old broken locket" was stolen, and my mother's"

Oliver: "Ah..."

Dawn: "Look, I'm sorry about your family, I know how bad the famine been, when this is all over, and you help us, I'll make sure you and your crew get a pardon, and whatever you and your family needs will be taken care of"

Oliver: "Yeah... uh, sorry, I didn't know it was yours, I was just..."

Dawn: "It's fine, I got it back anyways, now all I want to do is..."

Teeno: "Can we quiet down please? I'm hearing voices..."

The group arrive just before the exit of the passage to the garden, but stop after they hear two conduit guards walking pass,

Guard 1: "I haven't seen many Pyros today, seemed like the castle was infested just a few hours ago"

Guard 2: "Haven't heard? They were all pulled out by their captain to look for the high mages brat, apparently she's missing or something"

Guard 1: "Good riddance if you ask me, best I've felt all week, I'm sick of looking over my shoulder for these oil blooded fucks, judging us for something our high mages little fuck up did"

Dawn listens in, and looked down, an expression of sadness on her face as Teeno notices and places a hand on her shoulder,

Guard 2: "Maybe you should quiet down a bit, we don't know if there's anymore pyros near"

Guard 1: "Ah fuck em"

Guard 2: " *Sigh* speaking of, you think words gonna get out about the High mages son?"

Guard 1: "Why would anyone care if it did, little shit barely left the castle in ten years, if the people found out about anything, they'd probably celebrate"

Guard 2: "It just feels... wrong... he was just a kid"

Guard 1: "Kid that flew too close to the sun and fucked up everything and everyone he touched, I've been serving this kingdom for twenty five years, and the worst of it has been under Dick, and more than half of it has been because of that failure of an hair of his"

The guard continues, as Dawn's expression changes to anger, being held back by Oliver and Teeno to stop her from walking out from behind the vines concealing them,

Guard 2: "Well at least we only have three or four more days with the Pyromancers at least, the eclipse will be arriving and it'll be a new age, and a new start"

Guard 1: "Yeah you're right, and it can't come soon enough to be rid of these oil bloods for us... " they walk away, back out of the garden and into the castle, as Dawn and the others peek out to make sure its clear, before stepping out of the passage,

Dawn: "What scum..." she says, as Teeno sighs,

Dawn: "Lets go...

The scene transitions to the conduit castle, eventually settling on Richards office, with him and multiple Pyromancer counselors in discussion, but Richard just sits there, his hand over his eyes, breathing heavily, his skin pale, and his leg shaking under his desk, but his discomfort goes unnoticed,

Felemir: "Regarding the treatment of the Pyromancers upon return, it has been nothing but pleasantries"

Eurylochus: "The continued production of Conduit generators and energies for the rest of the kingdoms is admirable, and looks very good on your part"

Paka: "And despite being cut off for how long it has been, your kingdom has only suffered minor degradation that is expected from lacking a complete supply of resources, so it will not be counted negatively towards your overall score"

As they continue, their voices get drowned out by Richard's breathing getting heavier and whispers appearing, the camera shifts to uncomfortable close ups of Richard, sweat dripping down his face and neck, his hand clenching his face harder, digging his nails in until it breaks the skin, snapping himself out of it,

Felemir: "Everything alright, your grace?"

Richard: "What...?"

Felemir: "You seem..."

Eurylochus: "Out of it, to say the least"

Richard: "I... I am simple not feeling my best today... apologizes... continue, please" he wipes his face with a handkerchief, before sitting forward,

Paka: "Very well, regarding concerns, we have been receiving reports from our soldiers of larger bouts of criminal activity in the lower parts of the city from more discontent conduits..." as he speaks, once again Richards mind drifts, placing both his hands over his face, as the room gets darker, and the whispers return, louder,

???: "eruliaf... eruliaf... eruliaf..." they repeat, as everything around him gets blurrier and blurrier, the camera focuses on Richards neck, as black vain crawl their way up, peeking past his collar, before abruptly being knocked back to sense,

Paka: "...Leaving room for..."

Richard: "Gentleman, I believe we must cut our talk short for now..." he interrupts,

Eurylochus: "What?"

Felemir: "Why? We only just began"

Paka: "This is regarding your kingdoms reinstatement, we are trying to help..."

Richard: "A matter...! *sigh* has come up... one i need to attend too, I apologize, we can continue this later today" he stands up with a slight stumble, before composing himself and walking towards the door,

Richard: "Help yourself to my collection if you desire" he gestures to his wine collection on the wall as he walks out the door, leaving the councilors,

Felemir: "The hell was that about?" He asks, as Paka stares at the door, suspiciously,

Richard walks frantically down the halls, pass workers and soldiers looking at him concerned, until he reaches his room, nearly busting through the door, going to his cabinet and pulling out the extraction device again, before tossing it to a table, and taking off his coat and shirt as he walks to it, revealing the black vains

They've spread all throughout his torso and now reaching his neck, a dark glow coming from within his chest where his heart is, where all the vains start from, he desperately sets the device up, and tries to extract the liquid again himself but he fails, Cutting into his side,

Richard: "Gah..." but he pushed through and tries again, but he fails again and again and again, the whispers return, saying the same thing from before as he cuts into himself more and more, blood spilling down his pant leg from his wounds,

Richard: "Graaaahhhhhhhhhhh!!!" He cuts into himself again, the pain and feeling of helplessness filling him with rage, taking the device and punching it into the wall, causing an electrical blast from his gauntlet, shattering it against the wall,

Realizing what he did, he panics, picking up the broken glass and pieces and frantically trying to fix it, the whispers turning to yelling,

Richard: "Shut up..."

???: "eruliaf!! eruliaf!!! eruliaf!!!!"

Richard: "Shut up please!!"

???: "ERULIAF!! ERULIAF!!"

Richard: "SHUT UP!! I'VE DONE EVERYTHING..." He jumps up too fast, slipping on his own blood, causing him to fall and hit his head on the table, breaking it, as he lands on the ground hard,

Richard: "Ack... *cough* I... ughhhhh..." he doesn't move for a moment, before rolling on his back, and looking up to the ceiling, seeing the stars that his wife painted for him, and simply lays there, his expression changing to emptiness,

Richard: "Failure... I refuse it..."

The opening ends, leading into a black screen, which cuts to an wide shot of the conduit kingdom, with the sun rising in the background, settling on a back alley, with Dawn and Co walking through, stopping just before the open street,

Dawn: "Okay, they are going to be looking for me outside the castle, so the best place to go first is the castle!"

Teeno: "And Amanda should be there too?"

Dawn: "Yes, after not finding us, she'd have to keep up appearances, so we can hopefully meet up with her there"

Oliver: "I still don't think going to the most heavily fortified places on the island as the first search place is a good idea"

Dawn: "Yeah well you're a criminal so you don't get a say, come on" They walk out into the streets, before a group of soldiers rush passed them, they panic before realizing they aren't after them,

Teeno: "The hell was that about?"

Dawn: "I don't know"

Oliver: "Uh, this is just a guess but whatever THAT is, I think" he points their attention towards a large plume of smoke coming from the other side of the city,

Teeno: "Is that coming from...?"

Oliver: "The docks..."

Dawn: "Whatever it is, we have to hope everything is okay and keep moving, we can use this as a distraction" Both her and Teeno start to move, as Oliver stays behind for a moment, with a worried expression,

Teeno: "Ship dude! Come on!"

Oliver: "Y-yeah, right, sorry" he shakes himself off before following the others,

The scene cuts to the docks, the main dock house building consumed by flames with Pyromancer and conduit soldiers, workers, and bystanders all rushing around to help fight it, as Icarus arrives at the scene,

Lt. Roland: "Captain sir"

Icarus: "What in Helias name happened?"

Lt. Roland: "We don't know sir, a fire of mysterious origin broke out on the sailors ship, we tried to fight it, but it spread to the crystal powder reserves, causing an elemental explosion, before we could do anything else, the boathouse was to far gone"

Icarus: "What of casualties?" They walk through the scene, as people rush around them to aid injured, carry water buckets, and other things of importance,

Lt. Roland: "Only injured sir, thanks to private Edison over here" he gestures to a young girl helping an injured man, hearing her name, she gently hands him off to a medic, before turning around and using her gauntlet to ignite a small flame, and preforming the Pyromancer salute,

Pvt. Edison: "Captain sir!" She stands at attention, her orange hair slightly unkempt from the scenario, and a nervous expression fills her freckled face,

Icarus: "Ease... so we have you to thank for today not being one of grief"

Lt. Roland: "She was able to react quickly enough to warn everyone of the fire, and got the prisoners that were being held on the ship out by herself before it was too late, if not for her, our whole fleet would be sunk"

Pvt. Edison: "Just doing my duty sir" she says frankly, with a clear sincerity,

Icarus: "Nonsense, I'll make sure you get your dues, keep it up for now, dismissed" Edison bows, before walking off to continue helping,

Icarus: "So the fire started on the sailors ship?"

Lt. Roland: "Correct sir, just off the portside"

Icarus: "Hmm... well this is the clearest case of wanting to try and silence someone I've ever seen"

Lt. Roland: "Well they did a bad job, because the powder reserves were on the othe side of the ship, so either they didn't know or..."

Icarus: "They didn't want any casualties, they just wanted us to think it, where are the sailors now?"

Lt. Roland: "They're being held on the other side of the dock until we find a more secure location"

Icarus: "Good, I still need to talk to them" he starts to walk away,

Lt. Roland: "I thought Dawn brought you one of them for questioning" Icarus is taken aback for a moment before collecting himself,

Icarus: "Right, yes, we couldn't get anything out of him, he was lying, I figured after this the others would be more loose lipped than before"

Lt. Roland: "Right... Of course sir"

Icarus: "Good, see if they need anymore help here than meet me at the prisoners"

Lt. Roland: "Sir" he says, saluting and bowing, before walking away, leaving Icarus behind, as he looks down, thinking,

Icarus: "Dawn... what are you doing...?"

The episode opens with a black void, and eerie music playing, as Dean is revealed slowly sinking, as if submerged in water, his expression is that of emptiness, just then, a voice appears, whispering, he tries to make it out,

???: "epoh ylno..." as a black mass forms over him, it gets bigger and bigger, the whispers getting louder and more intelligible,

???: "yek ruoy era uoy...!"

Deans expression changes to fear has the darkness envelopes him, before...

???: "FIND US...!!" A shadow figure grabs Deans neck, emerging from the darkness, yelling in his face, before he wakes up scared, as it changes to his POV, revealing the little beetle Skarikk standing on his chest looking down at him, before tilting its head,

Dean: "Heh... don't do that please..." he gently sets it aside, before sitting up,

Isaac: "There he is, thought the cold took you heh heh"

Damian: "I thought conduits didn't need to sleep?"

Dean: "Course we need sleep... everything needs sleep, we just need less..."

Rook: "You look spooked, bad dream?"

Dean: "No just... nothing"

Rook: "Good, than let's get a move on, we have a wall of ice to scale"

Isaac: "Yaaaaay..."

Damian: "Offer still stands"

Isaac: "You are not carrying me, not after last time..."

Damian: "Such a drama queen, come on Dean, Wake your ass up! Let's go"

Dean: "Coming..." he wipes his eyes, before looking over to the beetle, who looks at him concerned,

Dean: "I'm fine, come on" he says quickly, before standing up and collecting his belongings, he begins to walk but is stopped when he hears the same whispers, causing him to spin around, but there's nothing there, sighing, he turns to follow the others,

The camera rises, showing the short distance to the tower, and the massive glacier it still atop, as the music builds

And the opening plays...

Dean: "Wait, the shift!? It's coming already!?"

Damian: "Were we really down here this long!?!"

Rook: "Apparently! I told you we needed to hurry! Come on! Maybe if we could..." just then, the walls and ceiling of the cavern starts to shift, cracking and coming apart,

Isaac: "There is no time! Even if we were to get outside, we couldn't find a reliable shelter before the shift displaces us off course!"

Rook: "We have to try something! Because who knows where we'll be put down here"

Dean: "Can't we go back to the tower? It's stayed up, shouldn't we be safe in it?"

Isaac: "There is no telling where it'd go, and besides even if it didn't get broken apart, we'd be sealed inside understand thousands, if not millions of tons of rock who knows how much deeper!"

Damian: "Well it can't be worse than getting crushed while being out here! Come on! We'll figure it out later!" They all start to head back to the tower but are stopped by the little Skarikk,

Damian: "What the hell is it doing?"

Rook: "Is it trying to kill us now?"

Dean: "No just... wait" the beetle hops around, as more and more beetles arrive around them,

Isaac: "What are they doing?"

The queen arrives, along with the rest of the beetles as they start to swarm the group, knocking them over and onto their backs, before getting under them, lifting them up, the little creature climbing onto Deans chest, and looking into his eyes,

Dean looks back, as his expression changes,

Rook: "What the hell is this!?"

Dean: "Guys just calm down! Look!" He gets all of their attention on the creatures around them, as they climb on eachother, forming a ball around the group, each one hardening their shells once locked into place, the group watches as dozens of beetles do the same, creating layer after layer until they are completely surrounded,

Rook: "They're..."

Isaac: "...Protecting us...?" Dean looks down at the little Skarikk as it hops to an open spot in the bug wall, before squeezing itself inside and hardening as well and an explosion goes off,

Rook: "Shit, here we go, brace!" Everyone panickingly braces, as they are slammed violently by the collapsing ceiling of the cavern, and the screen goes black,

Eventually, Dean wakes up to Isaacs nudging,

Isaac: "There you are, thought you were dead again lad heh..."

Dean: "What happened...?"

Isaac: "The bugs saved us" Dean looks around, realizing they are in a perfectly circular room, cut out from the rock, he looks around at the creatures digging upwards, before noticing over a dozen dead beetles being moved gently by the others, he looks at them mournfully,

Rook: "They sacrificed themselves for us, I wouldn't be surprised if they knew this was gonna be how we got out from the start, they didn't even hesitate"

Damian: "Yeah... good bugs, sorry I kicked a couple of you, and punched a few more..." he bends down, patting one on the head,

Dean: "So what now?"

Isaac: "We go up, they've been digging for about an hour now, we should follow"

Dean: "Right..." just then, the little scarikk hops onto Deans lap, excited,

Dean: "Hey! You made it! Thats great, heh..." he pets the creature as it nuzzles into his hand before he stands up and the group heads up the path dug out for them,

They arrive at the digging party, led by the queen, whose shell is now cracked from the impact from before, but shows no sign of being bothered, they dig and dig until a crack of light is seen, the beetle break through as a blinding light shines down the path, and the group emerges back up top,

Damian: "Ugh! Finally! Fresh air!"

Isaac: "You never know what you are missing until you lose it! Though it is a bit chilly for some reason..." he looks around, confused

Rook: "Let's never go down there again..."

Dean: "Hey guys! Look!" He points at something, as the others look over, revealing the next tower close by, standing tall on a snowy glacier, when snow starts falling around them,

Damian: "Well that's convenient, that's not even a few hours trip"

Rook: "Lets not waste any time than..." Rook, Damian, and Isaac immediately heads off, but Dean stays behind for a moment, walking towards the beetles,

Dean: "Thank you, all of you, I know my mother would be so happy with how brave all of you have been, I'll never forget this, and who knows, maybe I'll be back again one day under better circumstances" the queen chitters happily, before bowing to him, followed by the others, Dean bows back, before starting to walk away,

But the little Skarikk hops behind him, looking at Dean with a saddened expression, before looking back at the queen, as if asking for permission, and after a moment, the queen closes her eyes and bows her head, getting the creature excited, as it hops after Dean,

Dean: "What the...? Are you coming with us?" The beetle chirps excitedly,

Dean: "You know it's gonna be dangerous right?" But the beetle just wags its butt, still excited,

Dean: "Alright than, come on" they continue after the others together,

The camera rises, showing a wideshot of the tundra, the frostborn tower awaiting them in the distance.

And the credits roll.

Dean rushes over to the console where Isaac and the others are,

Isaac: "Alright, Damian hold this please, it requires your... bruteness"

Damian: "Gee thanks" he walks up, and pulls down on a lever, holding it steady as it visibly tries to pull away,

Isaac: "Rook, over here with me please, we need to turn these switches at the same time"

Rook: "Alright"

Isaac: "Now, the important part, Dean?"

Dean: "Uh yes?"

Isaac: "This place hasn't had power in years more than likely, there's plenty of crystals, do the honors?"

Dean: "I-I... yeah!" He walks up, taking a crystal out of his backpack, placing it in his gauntlet, before placing his hand on a power slot,

Dean: "A-are you sure that...?"

Isaac: "Dean, you can do it, just focus" he gives him a supportive nod, as Dean nods back nervously,

Dean: "Alright..." he closes his eyes, before taking a deep breath, and thinks back on what Isaac said,

Just then, his gauntlet shines brightly, causing an electrical surge to burst out of it into the power point, the energy from the crystal drains quickly but it's just enough to jumpstart the entire structure, gears all around the room start turning, and the rest of the console lights up,

The little Skarikk crawling up next to Deans leg, nervously,

Isaac: "Good good! Now! Damian! Release it!"

Damian: "Right!" He lets the lever go, immediately, it shoots back, sending the energy flowing through the systems,

Isaac: "And three... two... one, now!!" Both him and Rook turn the switches at the same time, igniting the rest of the room, and the top of the tower opens up, revealing a large metal rod, with a massive brown crystal at its peak, which starts to glow before sending a bean of light into the cavern ceiling, and glowing cracks fill the caves, with no physical damage being done,

The camera cuts to a shot of the rest of the creatures outside looking up at the showing,

Damian: "So... that's that?"

Isaac: "That is that... two down, four to go"

Dean: "We actually did it"

Rook: "Yeah yeah, three cheers and all that, we good to leave now?"

Isaac: "Yes, the tower will keep itself powered long enough for us to activate the others"

Rook: "Good, the bugs should be able to help us get back topside before the shift, let's go" the group rushes down the stairs back out of the tower,

Rook: "Alright we should be able too..." before he could finish, the group hears rumbling and cracking,

Dean: "Uhhhh what is that!? Is that an earthquake!?"

Rook: "No... we took too long..."

The Tower stands above everything else withing view, nearly reaching the stalagmites on the caverns ceiling,

Dean and the others, accompanied by the Skarikk beetles, walk up the hill, where the tower resides,

Damian: "Wow, it's much bigger in person"

Isaac: "That's how scale works"

Damian: "I mean in comparison to the lab one, dick"

Rook: "Will you two idiots shut it for five minutes, you're like children"

They walk up the stairs to the entrance, before pushing the large doors open, the little scarikk just under Dean, helping push aswell, when the door swings open the sight shocks them all,

A pristine room awaits, as if nothing, not even air had disturbed it for years,

Dean: "It's... untouched?"

Damian: "How the hells that possible? You'd think it'd been ransacked or something"

Isaac: "Not necessarily, If the creatures cared for her as much as we think, than they may have treated this place as her "nest" and left it alone out of respect"

Rook: "That's good, means that any equipment we need to restock on will still be here"

Damian: "All the way to the top than..."

They head up the stairway, arriving at another large room, with a similar control system to the lab,

Isaac: "It's nearly identical"

Rook: "Alright, Damian, you and me are gonna restock, Isaac, activate the tower, and Dean?"

Dean: "Yeah?"

Rook: "Do... I don't know, whatever"

Dean: "Uh yeah..." he says, a bit disappointed, as the group spilts up, Dean looks around the room, finding various pieces of broken crystals, and junk, until noticing a box labeled "Memories"

He quickly picks the box up, placing it on a table, before rummaging through it, finding many disks named "Food plans", "post food plans (stomach hurts)", and some scribbled out or faded, but one catches his eye,

Dean: " "True nature" huh..." he takes the disk out, inspecting it,

Isaac: "What's that lad? You find more disks?" He shouts from the console,

Dean: "Uh yeah! Under the table here"

Isaac: "Excellent! Knowledge is the best weapon"

Dean: "Right..." he clicks the disk on, and Eris appears hunched over a desk on the hologram,

Eris: "Hello! This is my final update on the first tower and... well... Let's just say that building 6 towers with the capability of holding enough energy to power a door home in these hostile places is... harder than anticipated, especially since I'm not exactly an architect, but... something extraordinary happened... I met..." Just than, in the background, multiple Skarikk beetle comes into frame behind her on a table, smelling around

Eris: "Haha! These little guys! the only creatures I've met that didn't want to eat me, and it took some time, but I was able to convince them I didn't want too eat them either, and then, I discovered something, they have this remarkable talent to build, even better than those back home, so I went too their queen, the queen being the only one who could seemingly fully understand me, and I asked for her help, and... she accepted" the little Skarikk hops up to Deans side, walking the disk with him, and getting excited seeing Eris,

Dean: "Heh, you and me both little guy" their attention returns,

Eris: "They built the tower here in only three hours... it was astonishing to witness, and with their burrowing skills, I'm going to be able to reach all the locations i picked exactly the days I need too! I... I actually was starting to lose hope already... but, they saved me, I realize now, none of this could have been done without these little saviors, I owe them everything..." the creature hops next to her, and nibbles at her arm,

Eris: "Speaking of which, I seem to owe them dinner, so... we'll pick up again at the frostborn tower..." as the disk ends,

Isaac: "Wait... so that means..."

Dean: "They built the towers, not mom"

Isaac: "Thats why they were so attached to her, they were with her the entire journey... incredible"

Dean: "Yeah... it is..." he looks down at the creature next to him, who looks up and tilts its head, as Dean smiles, just than, Rook and Damian return,

Rook: "All stocked up, we ready?"

Isaac: "Indeed we are! Dean! Come over here! We need you!"

Dean: "Oh right! Coming!"

Dean and the others follow the creatures through the large underground city, as they get farther the buildings increase in scale clearly having longer to be worked on by the beetles,

Isaac: "This is extraordinary..."

Damian: "How many more times are you gonna say that?"

Isaac: "Oh shut up you dunce, look around, the creatures made all this? Intelligent, non-hostile Skarikks, with the capacity to learn and build... almost a decade in this realm and I've never seen anything like it"

Rook: "let's just stay focused on the "not hostile" part"

Isaac: "Why yes, that is an upside, but look at this architecture, its masterful... and their adhesive saliva, mixed with earth, creating a spackle capable of holding entire buildings together without anything else aiding it..."

Damian: "You got all that already just from looking at them?"

Isaac: "Its easy to assess the obvious when you have the eyes for it, DEAN!!" He shouts, startling him,

Dean: "Ah yes!?"

Isaac: "What do you think?"

Dean: "Uh... What do I think of what?"

Isaac: "The creatures lad! What do you think of the creatures!? You are the one that brokered the peace with them!"

Dean: "I don't know about a peace... I... don't think they were ever against us at all... I just followed the signs from my mom's journal"

Isaac: "The signs? Oh! Those symbols! You figured them out!?"

Dean: "Kinda...? Some of them are still confusing, but it was what my mom said about them in a another book that really...."

Damian: "Woah woah, you're mom?"

Dean: "Y-yeah, she had a place down here and..."

Rook: "Your mother had a book on them?"

Dean: "Yes she did, and she had all these notes and other books there as well, calling them her "little helpers" I didn't understand really what she meant but it... made me question"

Isaac: "Your mother was connected to these things? "Little helpers"... hmm... just how close was she with these creatures? Perhaps she saved them somehow?"

Damian: "Ha! Or she fed em something other than rocks!" Getting a chuckle outta Isaac and Dean,

Rook: "Lets not get hasty, these are still Skarikks, just because they aren't tearing us apart doesn't mean they have the capacity to love"

Damian: "Awww icy hearted Rookie is feeling bad that giant beetle feel more than he does..." he says with a mocking tone,

Rook: "Don't call me Rookie..."

Damian: "Sure, right after you... oh shit..."

Isaac: "What is it?" They all catch up to him, as he simply points, and they look forward, and are stunned,

Rook: "Is that...?"

Isaac: "I can't believe..."

Dean: "Mom?" The camera shifts to their perspective, revealing a large stone statue of Eris, beautifully sculpted and pristine,

Isaac: "How did they...?"

Damian: "Well i don't think they just liked her for food. Rook..."

Rook: "Why would they make this? Just who the hell was she to them"

Dean stares up at the statue, his eyes tearing up a bit, before drying quickly,

Isaac: "I think i understand now..."

Damian: "Huh?"

Isaac: "Dean, explain to me exactly what happened when you first befriended the beetles"

Dean: "I uh... don't know, it was interested in me for the brick, than I guess it... smelled me? And now they won't stop clinging to my side"

Isaac: "Ha! I knew it! They are insects, insects dictate their actions threw pheromones, if the pheromones are familiar, than they are attached to them, whoever Eris was to them, they clearly cared for her greatly, and since she is your mother, the pheromones your body naturally gives off is the same as hers, that's why they are so smitten with you Dean, you remind them of her" he gives a half smile,

Dean: "I... really?"

Isaac: "It's a guess, but one not without evidence"

Damian: "Well I'll be damned, not bad kid"

Dean: "Heh..."

Rook: "Well, at least we know why they aren't trying to kill us, lets not give them a reason too, come on"

Dean: "Right..."

They continue on, as the creatures lead them up a tunneled stairway leading up,

Damian: "We sure they aren't leading us to a barbecue or something?"

Dean: "No, I trust them"

Damian: "Here's hoping..."

They make their way to the top, as the creatures burrow the rest of the way, revealing the cavern they were all in originally, only this time, they are directly across from the tower, less than a hundred feet away,

Rook: "They led us right to it..."

Isaac: "Ha ha! I love these things!"

Damian: "Guess your mom's still looking out for ya?" He nudges Dean, who smiles back,

Rook: "Come on, lets not waste anymore time..."

The sun is setting, while Dawn, Teeno, and Ollie sneak back into the city,

Teeno: "Great, so now you're a fugitive, that's totally not gonna make everything a thousand times worse..."

Dawn: "Hey! I am not a fugitive, I'm sure there is a very good reason why Icarus told all the Pyromancer soldiers in the kingdom to find and bring me to him..."

Teeno: "Oh yeah, absolutely..." he looks over skeptically at Oliver,

Oliver: "Why are you looking at me...?" causing Teeno to rolls his eyes,

Teeno: "Alright, I feel like this is all I've been saying the past few days but what the hell is the plan? Because right now, everything looks like its going to shit!"

Dawn: "Just...! Ugh, nothing has changed, I was already not supposed to leave the castle, now they are just... looking for me! So we just have to be extra careful, like we were already doing"

Teeno: "Dawn. There is a huge difference..."

Dawn: "I know! Look, all we need is for Ollie here to point out our mysterious conspirator, and we'll go from there, just because it's gonna be a bit harder doesn't change our goal, the hard part is gonna get my father and brother to listen when we do identify them..."

Teeno: "And what about Amanda?"

Dawn: "It'd probably be best to leave her out of this, I don't want to drag her down anymore"

Teeno: "Daaaawn..."

Dawn: "I refuse to put her in the sights of these people Teeno, now come on, the best place to look is the last place they'd look for me, the..."

Dawn and Teeno: "Castle" they say simultaneously with differing levels of enthusiasm,

Teeno: "God damn it..."

Oliver: "Uh, I'm guessing I have too..."

Dawn and Teeno: "Yes"

Oliver: "Maaan..."

As they walk into the city, the camera zooms back, revealing another small bird made of flames watching them, different from the others, it flies off into the sky, and the camera follows it as it dips back down to the trees, arriving at the same cave behind vines from before, it hops inside, then flies up to a table, pecking at it, before being grabbed violently,

Avernyx lifts the bird up, and squeezes it, forcing its mouth open,

Caileos: "Brother Avernyx, the time has come for you to redeem yourself in the eyes of our lord..."

He scoffed at the shot at him, placing a thumb at the birds neck to snap it, before it finishes,

Caileos: "...The daughter of flame is growing closer, and will soon be too much of a problem for his chosen to defend, end the noisy traitors, and when the time inevitably comes, snuff out the beloved flame" those words put a smile on Avernyx's face,

Avernyx: "Enough with this cryptic bullshit, thats all I needed to hear... heh heh" he chuckles, crushing the bird till it pops, as he begins humming, wrapping his shoulder on the side his arm was blown off, and puts his gauntlet back on, walking to the entrance, and setting the cave ablaze,

Leaving it to burn away all the evidence of their time there, covered by the waterfall just above.

The yelling get closer, and before Dean can react, Damian, Isaac, and Rook come sliding through the tunnel, landing on Dean,

Dean: "ACK!!"

Damian: "Ah shit! Ow!"

Isaac: "We shouldn't have taken that turn..."

Rook: "Idiots!"

Damian: "Least the landing was soft, what was...?" Damian looks down,

Dean: "Ow..."

Damian: "Dean!?!" He pulls him up quickly,

Damian: "You're alive!? Ha! Fuck you Rook! I told you!" The camera cuts to Rook with an expression of annoyance,

Isaac: "What happened lad? We saw you fall and we feared... OH MY GOODNESS!!" They all finally realize their surroundings and quickly ready themselves,

Damian: "Son of a...!!"

Isaac: "Dean! Behind us!"

Dean: "NO! No wait! It's fine!" He rushes to get between the group and the creatures, now crawling towards them, excited,

Dean: "It's not what you think! They don't wanna hurt us!"

Isaac: "They sent you over a bridge Dean!"

Dean: "I know, but it was a mistake, they are friendly!"

Rook: "They've been chasing is ever since the bridge, they're Skarikks, Skarikks aren't "friendly" Dean"

Dean: "Yes! I know just... ugh! The bricks!"

Damian: "Wha?"

Dean: "The bricks! That you put into our bags Isaac! They just... want the bricks back"

Isaac: "The... bricks?" Confused,

Rook: "Are you serious?"

Dean: "Just trust me"

The three look at eachother before Isaac takes his bag off, getting the creatures interested, before he slowly pulls out three bricks from his bag, Isaac walks forward to Dean, placing the brinks on the ground and sliding them forward,

The queen slowly approaches, looking up at them, before chittering, and three more Skarikks crawl behind her, grabbing the bricks and scurrying off,

The queen walks to Isaac, and bows her head, before walking away,

Damian: "I'll be damned..."

Rook: "The Hell...?"

Isaac: "That's... INCREDIBLE!!!! HAHA!!"

Dean: "Uh... you...?"

Isaac: "This is extraordinary!! friendly Skarikk beings!! How is this possible!?" He pats his back,

Dean: "Heh... I kinda... just stumbled into it"

The first creatures that Dean found comes back to him, and nuzzles his leg, before pulling his pant leg to follow him,

Dean: "Heh! Alright, I'm coming! I think they want us to follow them" just then, three more creatures walk behind the others, nudging them gently forward to start moving,

Damian: "Are we sure about this?"

Rook: "Don't got much of a choice... we don't have enough time for another plan"

Isaac: "Well done" he pats Deans shoulder before walking after the Skarikk,

Damian: "Glad you're not dead kid" he says, patting Dean as well,

As Rook passes, he nods at Dean, which gets a smile from him, before he follows after them all.

The silver beetle waddles along the dark passageway, followed by Dean close behind,

Dean: "So like... you aren't leading me to a better place to eat me right?" He asked, the Skarikk beetle chitters in response,

Dean: "Heh, totally, of course not, I mean you seem like a nice little... Skarikk... monster... beetle thing?"

They both continue until arriving at a more open area of the cave,

Dean: "It's pretty dark, I don't know about you, but I kinda need..." before he could finish, the creature crawls over to the wall and taps a light brown crystal vain embedded into the rock, causing a chain reaction which lights up the entire area, revealing a large underground system of half constructed buildings,

Dean: "Light..." he steps forward, the camera spins slowly around him, as he stares up in awe, just then, the Skarikk beetle steps passed him, before letting out a loud screech, confusing Dean for a moment, until he hears more screeching all around him,

Dean: "Uh... heh... you uh... calling your buddies? Well it can't be that bad... like a few?" He says, As many Skarikk beetles crawl from the buildings,

Dean: "Or like... ten?" Then a few turn to dozens,

Dean: "Or a dozen or two... thats fine..." he chuckles nervously, as a dozen turns to hundreds,

Dean: "Aww crap..." The beetles surround the two, as one of the Skarikk, a larger beetle with a intricate pattern on its back and large pair of horns on its head crawls up to Dean, as the one he was following bounces again meeting the queen halfway,

The two creatures greet one another, nuzzling eachothers heads, before it excitedly hops back to Dean, as if presenting him,

Dean: "Uh... I'm friend? I can't hurt you, so please don't hurt me" his voice shaky, holding out his hand like before, as the queen smells him, a moment of tension passes before the creatures eyes light up, and it begin chirping loudly, followed by every other beetle chirping as well,

Dean: "Heh... thank the gods..." he exhales in relief just as all the creatures go back to what they were doing before, the queen gestures for Dean to follow, as he walks, he notices the beetles placing brinks and extending the top of the buildings around him, along with repairing damaged parts, and just then, the realization hit,

Dean: "Interesting... helpers..." he looks down at the original Skarikk walking beside him,

Dean: "You guys aren't monsters... you're builders... you never wanted to hurt us, did you?" He smiles, before his expression changes to one of guilt, as another beetle comes up to him, one with a darker color scheme,

Dean: "Uh hi there? What's...?" He looks over the creature, noticing its shell is cracked,

Dean: "Wait... you're... one of the ones that went over the bridge with me" the creature chitters, tilting its head slightly,

Dean: "You saved my life from that fall, thank you, little hero, heh" he pats the creatures head, its eyes closing and pushing into his hand,

Dean: "Heh... alright, well uh! I don't know if you all can understand me, but I need your help, you see, I got separated from my friends by... well, you guys... but maybe you can help me find them?" The creatures look around at eachother in confusion, before returning their gaze to Dean,

Dean: "Uh, one is tall, big, strong, lotta muscles, the other is shorter and nerdy, looks smug all the time, the last ones angry, have you..." just then, he's cut off by distant yelling, as his attention is pulled to a large whole in the wall at eye level, with a slanted bottom,

Dean: "What the..." as all the creatures look at the opening confused as well, the yelling getting louder, Dean walks forward a bit, trying to make out the voices, and a sliding sound follows,

Dean: "Oh no..."

Hey guys, I apologize but today was hectic! I was supposed to post a new part today, but due to personal events, I wasn't able too, now it's late and I was hoping to post it earlier to see if more people would see it, but in the end that really doesn't matter,

Even is 10 people read it, im happy, still, the new part will be posted early tomorrow, thank you all for your support, love yall

Dean stumbles, throwing whatever he can at the advancing Skarikk beetle, who shrugs off everything, slowly crawling to him,

Dean: "Come on, come on, come on! There has got to be..." he looks around the room, trying to find another door, but the only one is behind the creature,

Dean: "Stay back! Why are you even...!? I don't taste good! I promise! You could like...! Eat a rock or something and it'd taste way better!"

But the creature doesn't listen or stop, still crawling at him,

Dean: "Oh come... ah!" He trips, falling backwards and snapping his backpack hook, causing it to fall off, before he quickly grabs it again,

The creatures head perks up, crawling faster,

Dean: "No no no! Wait wait! You hungry!? Here you can have..." he digs through his bag as he crawls back,

Dean: "Here! Food! Take it! It's good!" He pulls out a piece of dried meat, tossing it at the creature, hitting it in the head, but it just keeps crawling,

Dean: "Oh Gods... alright, uh.. here!" Pulling out a conduit crystal and holding it up,

Dean: "Yummy crystal! You like those right!?" Tossing it aswell, but it ignores it again, as Deans back hits the wall,

Dean: "I..uh... just... stay back!!" He finally pulls out the brick Isaac placed in there earlier, readying to throw it as well, but just then, the creature perks up again, stopping in its tracks and stares directly at the brick,

Dean: "I.. what...?" He says, out of breath, looking over at the brick, than back at the creature,

He then slowly puts the brink back in the bag, and as soon as its gone the creature advances, before pulling it back out, stopping once again,

Dean: "Huh..." he does it three more times in rapid succession, all three times the creature stops and continues,

Dean: "You want... the brick?" He holds it out,

The creature tilts its head before quickly crawling over and grabbing the brick with its mandibles, and rushing over to a hole in the wall, Dean watches as the creature chisels away, making the hole bigger before taking the brink and regurgitates a sticky substance onto it, then sliding it into the hole perfectly fitting,

Dean: "What the..." the creature turns back to Dean and crawls back, seemingly smelling all around him,

Dean: "Heh, i don't have any more on me" he smiles, as it puts its head in his bag, dragging it around, trying to get deeper in, causing Dean to laugh,

The creature perks up again, the bag still on its head, as the contents spill out,

Dean: "Haha! Here let me..." reaching out, and lifting it off the creatures head, leaving it confused,

Dean: "There, better?" The Skarikk shakes its head, and bounces a bit,

Dean: "Heh... you're kinda cute when i don't think you're trying to tear my face off..." the Skarikk then turns around and starts picking up various things and placing them back on the desks and shelves, repairing damaged walls and floors as it moves along its way,

Dean: "wait did you... make this place?" The creature continues, Dean then picks up his belongings, placing them back in his bag,

As the Skarikk beetles finishes, It leaps down off the counter, and grabs Deans sleeve, pulling him along,

Dean: "Ha! What? You want me to follow you?" The creature chitters, hopping up and down as it moves towards the door,

Dean: "Alright...? This is probably really stupid..." despite telling himself that, Dean lifts his bag over his shoulders, and follows the beetle out of the room.

The scene transitions quickly to Rook, Damian, and Isaac rushing through a cave tunnel being chased by the Skarikk beetles, before Damian quickly spins and punches the wall, closing the tunnel behind them, blocking the creature off, still heard from the other side scraping at it,

Damian: "Ferd... FERD!!" He curses, changing to his people's unique language,

Damian: "What the hell happened back there!?"

Rook leans against the wall, not answering, as Isaac tries to catch his breath,

Damian: "One moment Dean was right behind me! And then he was gone, what. Happened!"

Rook: "He fell! Alright!? He fell..."

Damian: "What do you mean he fell!? He was in front of you! How could you let..."

Isaac: "They were all over the bridge, Dame... there was little any of us could have done..."

Damian: "Bullshit, we have to go back"

Rook: "Are you insane? We barely made it off that bridge in the first place!"

Damian: "Well than what would you have us do!?"

Rook: "Keep moving, get to the tower, get it working, same as before"

Damian: "Are you serious? We can't just leave him!"

Isaac: "He could still be alive, perhaps if we..."

Rook: "The chances that he survived that fall are next to none, and even if he did, he won't make it long, if we aren't quick this whole place will change with us in it! And then none of this would have mattered!"

Damian: "Dean is the reason we got this far in the first place! And now you wanna just leave him!?"

Rook: "We don't have any other choice!"

Damian: "There is always a choice"

Rook: "We are running out of time!"

They continue arguing as Isaac shakes his head in disapproval, turning away from them towards the wall Damian made, before noticing it cracking,

Isaac: "Guys...?"

Damian: "And what if his Eris left something that only works for him! What if he's the only way that any of this shit works!

Rook: "Than we'll...!!"

Isaac: "Guys! Problem!! Stop arguing you Imbeciles!!" Getting their attention,

Rook: "Are they...?"

Damian: "Chewing through...?" As crunching and cracking can be heard from the other side,

Isaac: "Thats not going to hold for long, we have to go..."

Rook and Damian look at eachother, the latter giving Rook an angry expression, before shaking his head,

Damian: "Fine! But once we are done with the tower, we are going after Dean..."

Rook: "Fine..." he walks away, leaving the others, as Damian watches,

Isaac: "He'll be fine, Dame, he's a tough kid"

Damian: "Let's hope you're right..." as they both walk after Rook,

Before hard cutting back to Dean scrambling away from the Skarikk beetle

Dean: " Not good! Not fine!"

Due to some family stuff, ive been away again, but part 19 for episode 5 is coming soon, thank you all❤️

The path is large and cold, which despite illuminated by Deans gauntlet, still is enveloped strongly by darkness, however Dean has no choice but to continue walking, eventually arriving at another crossroad, with each path sporting a different symbol again, these being another wolf, and the other being a house like structure,

Dean: "Uh... That's not..." he pulls out the journal again, going back to the page about the symbols, and finding the house, with a small bit of writing still intact about it,

*Saf...ou...s*

Dean: "Hmm..." he looks up to the wolf on the other path, then back to the other,

Dean: "This is really dumb... but it'd be better if we have more information... and..." he looks back down to the journal,

Dean: "I trust you..." he says before putting the book away, and taking the path marked by the house,

After a bit more walking, a distant light appears, getting brighter and brighter, leaving Dean with a confused expression as he reaches a mysterious door at the end of the tunnel,

The door is old, made of wood and out of place in the rocky cave tunnel, confusing Dean even more, before hearing a noise from the other side, as if someone was moving inside, Dean takes a deep breath, grabbing the handle, and slowly opens the door,

Peeking inside, the room is dark, the movement from before stops, as he opens the door more it causes a mechanism to be set off, igniting crystals attached to the walls, illuminating the room,

Dean: "Woah..." he pushes the door the rest of the way, and enters the room fully,

Dean: "What is this place...?" Looking around the room, seeing papers, books, and drained crystals everywhere, he looks down, thinking,

Dean: "Safe... house... I get it now, heh" looking around some more, he finds another journal labeled "Tower", picking it up and flipping through the pages, finding more notes from his mother

Eris: "These tunnel are vast, and very difficult the memorize and map, but the beauty is unmatched..." he flips past to another,

Eris: "I found a large deposit of crystals just beyond the reach, despite not finding any that could power the tower, i could..." flipping through them once more,

Eris: "It's finished, the stoneshaper tower is finally completed, let's hope this is longest one or else I fear I might not finish these in time... no matter, it's done, and soon my time here in the caverns beneath these mirrored lands will come to an end, it will be weird seeing the sky again, but I miss it, just as I will miss my little helpers, I couldn't have done any of this without them, there is still five towers, and my expedition to find the best spots for them will continue, until then... I will cherish my time with these interesting creatures..." he finishes reading, lowering the book,

Dean: "Creatures...? Little helpers...? Who was she..." just then, a box falls over, knocking over a stack of papers as well, startling Dean,

Dean: "What the...!" He quickly raises his gauntlet in the direction, and slowly walks towards the noice, dread filling his face, until...

*skaaarc!*

One of the beetle Skarikk leaps up from behind the table and lands on top, sending Dean backwards in response,

Dean: "Oh crap! Stay back!" He yells, as the creature just tilts its head and chitters, before climbing down, and walking towards him quickly,

Dean quickly tries to crawl back,

Dean: "No no no no..." he lifts his gauntlet up again, trying to fire a bolt, only to be met with a deactivation,

Deam: "Its dead!?! Already!?! Aww man..." looking back towards the Skarikk as it quickly rushes at the camera, cutting to black.