“Okay, that’s almost everyone,” The Captain says, looking at Sam and the others as they walk onto the boat. “We’re just missing Miller, and then we can set sail.”

  “Isn’t it dangerous to leave at night?” Sam asks.

  “Yes. But I want to get away from this island as fast as possible, considering what you told me. I’d rather not fight Demons if I can help it.”

  Faye smirks. “I take pride in saying I’ve bested a Demon like my ancestors.”

  “Aren’t your parents just fishermen?” Tan asks.

  Faye glares. “I meant my older ancestors!”

  “I don’t like it,” Fiona says. “For Demons to be here and be in Morgan’s entourage, it just spells trouble.”

  Rufus nods. “That’s right. From what I understand, it’s impossible for Demons to take orders from Humans. But Morgan seems to be controlling these things, right?”

  “I don’t think so,” Ivar says. “I can’t say so without seeing her if the Demons are as the old records speak, she’s likely just being used by them for some reason.”

  “For what?” Tan asks.

  “They talk about something called the Great One.” Otso pauses. “What if this Great One is some massive Demon? Could they be planning to revive the Demon Lord in some way?”

  “That’s insane. The king killed that beast over a hundred years ago. How could they even do that?” The Captain asks.

  “No clue. But Morgan’s actions make sense with Demons involved. She’d want to keep this a secret so the other King Candidates don’t unite against her.”

  “So, what now? The smart thing to do would be to go back and send some word to the officials over this stuff. Those Shadow things.” Ivar says.

  Rufus nods. “But we don’t know where Glyn and the others are still. And I can’t feel where the King Piece might be.”

  “That could mean Glyn is hiding himself intentionally,” Otso says.

  Everyone pauses and turns to him. “Explain now!” Sam yells.

  “It’s just a guess. Glyn is the type to throw himself into danger first, right? Considering how bad things went before, he knows he has to hide out and wait for a chance to strike.” Otso says nervously.

  Everyone pauses. “That sounds like him,” Tan says.

  “True. But if he’s hiding, he could at least tell us,” Faye says.

  “It’s just a theory and not a concrete one,” Fiona says.

  Sam shakes their head. “Listen, we’ll wait for Miller to get back before we decide to do anything. With Demons involved, that changes everything. We can’t take the risk of them spreading over the island, but we also can’t leave our friends and allies by themselves in such dangerous times.”

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  “You're right. But I’d rather get away from this place before something else happens.” The Captain says.

  As the group stands around, a roar echoes from the depths of the jungle. A tall figure emerges from the tree line as everyone stands on edge.

  “What the hell is that!?” Ivar asks.

  “That might be one of the Demons, right?” Tan asks. “Should I go check the situation?”

  “No stay here. We can’t make any strange moves. We have no idea what we’re dealing with.” Sam says.

  The giant figure in the distance turns towards the group. Its eyes glow in the darkness as a slight smile forms on its misaligned face.

  “Found you.” A voice echoes across the island.

  “Everyone, prepare for battle!” Sam yells out.

  The giant stomps towards them as Rufus steps forward. He holds out his staff and gathers his energy at the tip of it as it forms a flaming sphere. He fires it off towards the giant, who raises its arm and knocks the attack away, causing an explosion in the sea. The giant continues forward as Otso burrows into the ground and everyone raises their weapons.

  Otso digs through the ground digging around the giant’s foot as it steps onto Otso’s tunnel, causing it to collapse. The giant staggers and falls to its knees as Sam and the others rush forward.

  “We stop this thing here and now! We can’t let it get close to the ship!” Sam yells out.

  Tan flies down from above foot, first slamming her foot into the giant’s head. She knocks it back and leaps off, flying down to the ground. The giant only laughs, reaching out its hand towards the group as it stares down at them.

  “You lot are so irritating. You bug crawling around your betters. You can’t hope to compete against the likes of us. The truest beings in this world!” The giant yells out.

  The giant raises its arm and black tendrils shoot out of its hand out towards the group. They dodge the attacks as the tendrils spread across the area. Sharp spikes shoot out of the tendrils piercing through Sam’s shield as they try to block the attack. Rufus fires off another fireball, only for the Giant to yell and extinguish the flames. Fiona and Faye leap out towards the monster as it swings its other arm in front of it and knocks the two back.

  “I’ll destroy your ship, then you won’t be able to escape. Then I’ll take my time and play with you until there’s nothing left!” It yells out its voice, shaking the air as everyone covers their ears.

  Otso emerges from the ground and slams his hand against the ground. “Not on my watch!”

  A large hole appears under the giant as it falls into the ground. Water fills the hole with Ivar leaping into the water. He fires off attacks under the water, attacking its body and blowing chunks out of the giant. But as its blood spreads through the water, it moves, seeming to snake around towards Ivar. Before it can reach him, he leaps out with Tan snatching him from the air, and the pair land on the ground.

  “How do we kill this thing!?” He asks.

  “It contaminates everything it touches. At this rate, we’ll lose ground.” Tan says.

  Otso steps forward. “I can try digging a bigger hole or something.”

  Sam steps forward, cutting through a tendril. “No. We have to find a way to stop it here and now or we’re as good as dead.”

  “Oh, I promise you you're already dead!” It yells out climbing out of the hole having absorbed the water into itself to grow larger. It towers over the group as tendrils spread out from its body. “I only have to make it so!”

  “I won’t let you!” A voice yells from above.

  Miller flies towards the Demon sword first, stabbing it in the head. After a moment, metal spikes shoot out of its head and it roars, screaming in pain. Miller leaps off with Tan, grabbing him and helping him to the ground.

  “Miller!” Sam yells happily. They rush to his side, wrapping their arms around him. “I was worried.”

  “Don’t be.” He smiles.

  “Hey, how’d you get in the air?” Otso asks.

  Xia Bai flies down from above, landing next to the group. “That was his idea for me to throw him.”

  “Xia Bai!” Sam yells.

  “Don’t worry. For now, she’s working with us to kill this thing.”

  She nods. “I have a score to settle with this thing. And I won’t let this monster get away with any more of its crap!”

  The giant turns downwards and laughs, eyeing Xia Bai. “Oh? A traitor even now, Xia Bai? Well, I’ll slaughter you like all the others!”

  As it laughs, its tendrils spread, each one tipped with a blade. “Time to stop playing with my food!” It yells, shooting off its tendrils.