"Do you have sights on them?" a creature whispered in the darkness under the guise of the trees that surround the forest, its piercing eyes staring at a campfire that lingered off into the distance.

"There’s two of them, both unconscious," a voice came through into its mind, the sound of rustling soon following suit.

"Hold on, two? The report said three... Hey! You listening?!" But no voice came through. The creature clicked its tongue, stepping out into the dim light. Its emerald blade shone against the distant orange flame, humming with energy.

The crackle of the fire was incredibly loud, even from where it stood. Once it got close enough, its body was revealed—reptilian, muscular yet lean. Its pristine, white scales moved almost robotically in the distant, faint feel of the flames, the dancing flame in the distance, its bright colors standing out against the blurred darkness of the forest. Its grasp tightened.

"Are they on alert..." the voice whispered quietly, lower than even that of a mosquito’s wings. Each step was light as it cleared the path toward the campsite. It towered over the fire, its emerald green eyes scanning the sight before it, seeing both Veira and Lailla already passed out and asleep.

"I can hear you, hiding won’t help you," it spoke aloud, yet the silence was filled with nothing but the embers of their warmth, leaving it to stand alone.

"Very well then."

With that, it stepped forward, blade in hand. As its hands tightened on its weapon, it towered over Veira, raising its blade as it hummed to life. Its shimmering green brightened faintly against the grass and the face of its victim before it struck down.

"There you are," the creature snapped. The minute it heard any sign of movement, it turned with its blade mid-thrust, catching a full-powered swing from Zelr’s sharpened blade. Sparks collided, disappearing into the grass that surrounded them as the vibration carried into the opponent’s weapon, causing it to hum. 𝕗𝚛𝚎𝚎𝐰𝗲𝗯𝗻𝚘𝚟𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝕞

The blade hummed loudly, the frequency making Zelr cross-eyed. He tried to keep his focus but was met with a roundhouse kick, the sound of the collision echoing through the forest as Zelr was sent back but quickly recovered, his grip on his weapon sharpening as to keep him going.

The creature eyed its severed arm, a look of arrogance flashing across its face.

"I have a hard time believing you took out my comrade just minutes ago..." it spoke, eyes narrowing on Zelr, who wiped the blood that trickled from his nose.

"You better believe it..." he retorted, raising his blade up to meet his face.

Without even giving the creature a chance to respond, Zelr dashed forward, attempting to attack it head-on, yet his grasp was blocked effortlessly by the creature’s tail.

Its pure muscle tightened around the man’s arm, causing his blade to collide to the floor with a soft clatter.

"Do you really think you can beat me like that..." With a sharp tug of its tail, it pulled Zelr straight into its knee, knocking the wind out of his stomach. The Aelvarian stumbled, his hand instantly reaching for his stomach, only to get kicked in the side of the arm, causing it to bend for an instant.

"To think one of our warriors lost to someone like you," it spat as he struggled.

He struggled to keep his stance, the creature walking up close to him with its blade poised to strike.

"That was truly a pitiful performance." It raised its blade, about to let it down with as much force as it could muster, but stopped when it felt a sharp pain in its back—something carrying enough force to send it flying across the forest floor. Its body bounced at every collision with the ground before it regained its composure on its feet.

Lailla stood there with her fists already on, watching as the creature tried to regain its stance. With blurry vision, it tried to make out the figure standing before it, clicking its tongue in annoyance at the unwanted company.

"Nice save, Lailla," Veira praised, standing on her own two feet. She glared at the warrior behind the backs of both Zelr and Lailla, both posed to continue fighting.

"That explains it..." it muttered as it finally stood, back hunched over and pupils shrunk, its blurry vision focusing on Veira...

"You really should’ve watched your back. Someone almost got hurt..." Veira stated, making herself slightly more visible behind the backs of the other two. "We have your friend, so make this easy on all of us and surrender."

"Surrender?" the creature laughed, veins popping from its grasp the more agitated it became. "You’re a long way from home to be making such demands!"

"So you choose to fight... very well." Veira sighed, tapping both Zelr and Lailla’s shoulders.

"There’s no way we can beat this thing..." Lailla hissed under her breath as their opponent walked closer.

"It’s possible," Veira explained, her eyes not leaving it for a moment. "Small eyes, tight pupils. Locked on me, ignoring you— that’s most likely poor eyesight and peripheral meaning its hyperfocused on one target at a time. Something like that is likely paired with sharp hearing, but it’s own voice throws it off,"

The creature stopped in its steps at her words.

"With a weakness like that, you’d think you’d shut up more, you really thought you’d win huh?" Her face broke into a wide smile as she stared at the creature. "Man, how lucky am I? You and your friends will make great specimens to study. I’ve made the right choice coming here, after all!"

"I’ll skin you alive—Where is my partner!?" it shouted, causing Veira to raise her hands defensively.

"I didn’t do anything yet, believe me," she argued. "They’re unconscious and safe right now. You can see them if you surrender."

Without another word, the creature drew its blade and darted straight for Veira, only to be stopped by both Zelr and Lailla, blocking the strike of its blade.

Veira looked up at it through the gaps in their pressing blades, her pupils peering up from beneath her brow, a smile never fading.

"That’s your choice?"

Its blade hummed with the vibration of their collision just as before, knocking both Lailla and Zelr back slightly, making space between them and their foe.

"Hope you don’t regret it."