Kal remained quiet upon returning home. Daedrik had returned to the capital in the morning since his classes had started again, and Yandi left the moment she brought Kal home and went to join the search party.

  Well, at least I won’t need to sneak out.

  He took one of the spheres as a back-up mana source. Drawing mana from the spheres required meditative-like concentration, so it wasn’t particularly useful in combat, but he had no idea what he might find in there.

  Grabbing a machete, a map, and a compass, he gathered the items into a leather, over-shoulder bag and headed toward the woods behind his home.

  The thick, green vegetation and flowers blossoming across the undergrowth gave the forest a cozy feel—if not the sensation of dread he felt dripping from every inch of it.

  “Kal,” Ellie called, waving as she ran toward him along the dirt path that wrapped around the forest’s perimeter. “Hey, wait!”

  “Ellie?” He turned.

  “I knew I’d catch you here,” she said, panting as she leaned forward to rest, her hands pressed against her hips. “Didn’t think I’d let you go alone, did you?”

  “How did you even know I would be here?”

  “I’m not dumb. You’re always looking out here. But ever since Arix went missing, it’s been worse. It’s like you’re constantly looking toward these creepy woods.”

  “Oh, right,” Kal murmured, realizing he was more obvious than he had thought. “I know you want to help, Ellie. But it’s not safe for you to come.”

  “Why not?”

  “Because it’s not.”

  “That’s not an answer. Why is it safe for you and not me?”

  Kal turned and, in a split second, summoned a marble-sized ball in his palm and shot it toward a tree with a resounding thud that burst bark and sent splinters flying.

  “So what? You got some magic, big deal. He’s my friend, too,” Ellie glared definitely at Kal.

  “And what if something happens to you? You think I want to be responsible for something happening to both my friends?”

  “And what about you?” Ellie countered. “What if something happens to you?”

  Me? Am I being selfish or just rational? I might look young, but we’re worlds apart.

  “Fine, you can come. But you stay behind me, and if I say run, you run without question, okay?”

  “Okay,” Ellie gritted her teeth and nodded.

  ***

  “So, where are we going, Kal?”

  “Deeper,” he replied, a few steps ahead.

  The cleared paths didn’t go this deep into the woods, but a few overgrown old ones zigzagged through the undergrowth. Kal swung the machete back and forth to clear long grass and prickly thickets that obstructed the way.

  “Mom says never to go deep into the forest. She especially says never to pass the old gray oak.”

  “Yeah, I’ve heard.”

  “You really think he’s in here? Do you think it is related to that Flesh Trail story you told us?” Ellie said, gulping as she forced herself to say the thought that plagued her mind.

  “Maybe. But I don’t think those stories have much basis in reality. However, I do think there’s a good chance Arix’s disappearance is somehow related to whatever is going on out here.”

  “You know what some people say, don’t you?”

  “About the naga witch?” Kal said.

  “Yeah, t-the n-naga witch,” Ellie stammered, hugging herself tightly.

  “I doubt there’s any truth to that folktale. A naga witch is a fiend from the middle planes,” Kal said, reciting what he had read in one of Daedrik’s books. “There’s no chance that such a powerful demon could live out here without detection,” Kal spoke confidently, but in reality, he wasn’t sure anymore.

  The books said that demon hunters could detect demonic presences, but Kal had witnessed their failure multiple times. Then again, the ability to detect demonic energy was apparently relative to the fiend's power. He desperately hoped that at least that much was true.

  A naga witch’s power was said to be equivalent to a mage adept, meaning that her casting ability was on par with a mage who had mastered fifth-circle spell casting—the same as Daedrik.

  “Then—what do you think caused the Flesh Trail?”

  “Not sure. But seven people have gone missing in this area of Ebenshire over the last twenty years. An unusually high number for the population. Whatever it is that’s out here, we ought to be careful. If you’re scared, you can still head back, Ellie.”

  “It’s fine. I know you’ll protect me.”

  Yeah, sure. If I’m able to.

  “By the way, can you sense it?” Kal said, walking down the bank of a shallow gully. Roots from the nearby trees pierced the gully’s walls and formed a lattice beneath their feet.

  “Sense what?”

  “Nothing.”

  “Kal, don’t say things and then not answer.”

  “It’s just that it’s the same as that day we entered the forest together.”

  “The one with the bunny?”

  “Yeah, sorry about that.”

  “Don’t worry. It was a long time ago.”

  With every step, the surrounding trunks grew wider and the trees taller, and soon, the blanketing canopy thickened enough to cast a night-like shadow over the forest floor.

  “Great,” Kal groaned, pulling his boots through the muddy floor of the gully. It would have been nice to walk on dry ground, but the surrounding undergrowth was too thick.

  “Yuck,” Ellie said, flicking mud from her shoes as she walked. “No wonder people don’t come here.”

  “Why is it getting so cold?” Kal said, rubbing the sides of his arms.

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  “It is chilly, isn’t it?”

  This doesn’t seem normal. Sure, the forest canopy here is a little thicker and shadier than where we have walked, but I’m fairly certain it shouldn’t be this cold.

  Kal swung around as he heard scuffling in the bushes to his right.

  “Did you hear something?” Ellie said, her voice shaky.

  “Could just be a rabbit,” Kal said, scanning their surroundings as he turned.

  “Yeah, right,” Ellie nodded, trying to reassure herself. “Just a rabbit. Maybe we should go back.”

  “Wait.”

  “Kal, seriously,” Ellie hissed.

  Kal shook his head, “I can’t.”

  He could feel something. Watching. Its presence was unmistakable. But it wasn’t a demon, or at least he was fairly certain it wasn’t.

  “Who’s out there?” Kal shouted. “Give our friend back!”

  A gust blew through the forest, chilling the air, and Ellie gripped her arms tightly, staggering backward.

  “Kal.”

  A giggle echoed to his left, and Kal swung toward it.

  “Come out, damn it!’

  The giggle sounded to his right, and he swung back around.

  “Show yourself, coward.”

  “Leave here,” a high-pitched, coarse, but almost child-like voice called out.

  “Go on. Get lost.”

  “Yeah, go on, get.”

  The two voices interchangeably spoke from left to right.

  “Don’t make us say it again. Get lost.”

  “Do it. You don’t want to make bossman cranky.”

  “Who’s talking?” Kal demanded, but the voices turned silent. A moment later, ruffling leaves sounded.

  “Fine,” he sneered and summoned Mage Bullet, firing it toward where he heard the ruffling and then summoning another.

  “Where are you!?” Kal shouted between panting. “Show yourselves, cowards!” He fired another Mage Bullet and followed it up barely a second later.

  “Kal.”

  “Stay back,” Kal barked at Ellie and fired again. Wiping sweat from his brow, he tried to form another Mage Bullet, but his mana was drained, and the spell disintegrated before it could be completed.

  “Kal!” Ellie shouted, running toward him as he stumbled forward. “Are you okay?”

  “I’m fine, Ellie,” Kal said, raising a hand to stop her advance. He wasn’t fine. He had overdone it and drained his mana recklessly, but he didn’t care. “They’re gone.”

  “They?”

  “Didn’t you hear them? There were two of them. I could feel their presence and everything.”

  “Them? Who?”

  Kal shook his head. “I don’t know.”

  “D-d-demons?” Ellie’s teeth chattered. “Invisible demons?”

  “No. They weren’t demons, and they weren’t invisible,” Kal shook his head.

  Whatever they were, they were undoubtedly demonic, but I didn’t sense the power I expected. What was that about bossman? Were they talking about their leader? Maybe they are only servants of whatever the real Flesh Trail monster is? That would explain the weak mana signals I felt from them.

  “We should go.”

  “What about Arix?”

  “I’ll be back for him. For now, I need to figure some things out.”

  “Okay,” Ellie nodded. “If you say so. Let’s go.”

  ***

  Once they were out of the forest, Kal walked Ellie home with the promise that he would come find her before heading back into the woods. He wasn’t too worried about her walking home alone, but it was better to be safe than sorry. Even though he suspected that something had kidnapped Arix, he still believed it was somehow related to the demonic feeling that possessed his mana core.

  Since the house was still empty, he threw a sandwich together when he got home and headed into the library.

  There it is. Kal spotted the binder he was looking for. “The Definitive Encyclopedia of Fiendlings and Ferrows.”

  Kal took the book to his father’s office. When Daedrik was in town, he avoided the room and instead chose to study on the floor. However, with him gone, he figured he may as well appreciate the comfort.

  “Here it is,” he mouthed, turning the pages.

  From his understanding, his core put him at the same level of potential as a lesser fiend. He wasn’t sure of much, except that whatever he had felt in the forest wasn’t at that level. Kal had wondered if whatever it was might possibly just be a monster, but the sensation he had felt when narrowing in on its mana was unmistakable. It was demonic.

  The only thing that makes sense is those things were fiendlings. But what would a fiendling call boss if not an actual fiend?

  There were hundreds of pages listing all kinds of known fiends. He navigated to the section about subservient fiendlings.

  Fiendlings, like fiends, had many different characteristics depending on the type. The book explained that while most fiendlings and fiends gathered around stronger demons, some were known to be less picky or even preferred weaker fiends for leadership. This was where Kal started his search.

  If whatever those creatures bowed to was a real demon, he was certain it could be no more powerful than a lesser fiend. And even then, it would have to be a fiend exceptionally good at hiding itself.

  Demons that could hide their presence from powerful mages were rare but not unheard of. Besides his book on fiendlings, Kal pulled up ‘Fiendish Fiends—The Complete Collection.” Comparing the entries in both books, he worked his way down, noting down anything that possibly fit the bill.

  What do I know about them? There was that unnatural chill. They were giggling, hiding, and seeming subservient to something else. They congregated in groups of at least three, including their bossman. They excelled in presence dampening. They ‘might’ kidnap children, and they ‘might’ attack people. Kal counted fingers.

  Let’s see. Why would people around here think that it’s a Naga Witch?

  Flicking through the book on Fiends, Kal found the entry for Naga Witch. He didn’t believe that an actual fiend was hiding out there, but perhaps he could find a hint.

  -----

  The Naga Witch.

  Fiend | Plane of Scales.

  The Naga Witch is a powerful spellcaster known for leading lesser fiends and fiendlings of the Plane of Scales. Unlike most cold-blooded species from the Plane of Scales, the Naga Witch is infamous for her Corruption Magic and chilly presence.

  -----

  Chilly presence? Kal’s brows perked. The notes dragged on with little interest besides the fact that it confirmed that the Naga Witch was a powerful entity and not something that was likely to go unnoticed by skilled mages.

  Wait, it also said that they were known for leadership. Could it be possible that something is trying to imitate one of these Naga Witches by making the air cold? But why?

  Kal mused on the thought, but it didn’t make much sense. He figured that Andric had likely come to a similar conclusion as he had, believing that a Naga Witch wouldn’t be able to hide its powerful presence. But why risk drawing attention to yourself?

  While fiendlings and monsters alone rarely caught the ire of powerful mages, fiends did. It seemed unnecessarily risky for a weaker being to masquerade as something like a Naga Witch.

  Hold up a moment. It also said that these Naga Witches are known for Corruption Magic and leading lesser fiends and fiendlings.

  There didn’t seem much to be gained by pretending to possess magic you couldn’t use—leading fiends, on the other hand?

  That’s got to be it.

  Kal hastily flicked through the book on fiendlings until he found the second on fiendlings from the Plane of Scales.

  He suspected that the two voices that had called out to him in the forest were fiendlings due to the presence they exuded.

  Okay, I’m looking for something that is known for hiding, giggling, and being subservient to Naga Witches.

  -----

  Laughing Gecko.

  Fiendling | Plane of Scales.

  The laughing gecko is a small, statured fiendling known for its childish giggle and conflict-adverse nature. However, it is wise not to underestimate this small fiendling that grows between four and five feet tall. The Laughing Gecko can usually cast basic and first circle spells, along with its tendency to congregate in groups, and its hardy leather hide can make for a nasty encounter for the unprepared.

  The Laughing Gecko is also known for hiding and stalking its prey. It rarely attacks anything it deems potentially threatening, instead preferring to pick on the weakest prey.

  The laughing gecko is categorized as a subservient fiendling minion, preferring to serve under fiends from their home plane—The Plane of Scales.

  -----

  It fits the build. Kal continued to search the book for another hour, but nothing came close to fitting the description he was looking for as the Laughing Gecko.

  Either I’m looking in the completely wrong direction, or I’ve found my fiendling. But what is their so-called bossman?

  Kal sighed, leaned back in his chair, and rubbed at his weary eyes. It had been a long day, and he still didn’t know the answer to the most important question. Not only that, but Arix was still missing.

  Hang in there, buddy. I’m coming.

  Rubbing at his eyes again, Kal shook his head and pulled a sphere from his pocket as he refocused his efforts, draining some mana.

  There was no time to rest. He needed to find something. Not just a hunch. Something tangible. Something that would help him rescue Arix.