Traehnogard's patience with the two thugs had quickly run out. "I strongly suggest you tell us where the other person you saw went," he said, slightly increasing the pressure of the sword on the baddie's throat to help make his point. Then, almost as an afterthought he added, "And apologize to these girls." Now of course things were never as simple as they could be. The other baddie (whom we'll call Thug B), angered that his partner in crime (Thug A, if you hadn't already guessed) had been so easily thwarted and was being told to apologize on top of that, stupidly decided that it couldn't be too difficult to take out Traehnogard--after all, there were two of them and only one of him--all this decided despite the fact that his partner had a sword held to his throat. Luckily for the two baddies Traehnogard wasn't about to kill them for being stupid, but unluckily for them he decided that a point evidently had to be made and he didn't have the time to lecture them on the finer points of common courtesy. In other words, with a few swift movements Thug B was on the ground out cold while Thug A still had a sword at his throat.
"Wow Traehnogard," Ari exclaimed enthusiastically, "you rule! Take that you bullies!" she added pointing at the thugs, her bravery having grown considerably at seeing the ease with which Traehnogard had taken care of the problem.
Thug A scowled but thought it wise not to comment. Instead he decided to save his own skin by quickly saying, "The other guy we saw went that way."
Looking in the direction the baddie was pointing Nadi frowned. "He would have to head off into the most heavily forested area of the park. Trees, fog, impending darkness...I'm really starting to hate this, and I haven't even begun complaining about our reasons for having to face the park trees of doom."
"Park trees of doom?" Effie questioned. "Isn't that a little bit of an exaggeration?"
"Oh I don't know," Ari replied cheerfully. "I think 'park trees of doom' has a nice ring to it."
"It seems a bit foreboding to me. I don't like the idea of facing my doom in those trees."
Ari opened her mouth to retort but Traehnogard quickly interrupted. "We'd best hurry if we want to get this done with before the fog clears. In case you haven't noticed, it's already beginning to lift." This raised some quick exclamations from the girls (who hardly noticed that Thug A had joined his buddy on the ground and was now in Lala Land) but he continued speaking as he led the way towards the line of trees. "The way I see it there are two possible results Zeiben is aiming for--either he wants us to come after him and is planning on gaining some sort of advantage over us among the trees, or he's hiding, waiting for us to pass by so that he can return to the portal unnoticed and hoping that we will not return to Liagaba for fear of leaving the earth in danger. I, for one, plan on returning to Liagaba irregardless of whether we find him or not."
"So the plan is?" Nadi questioned as the small group paused, peering into the shadows of the trees.
"Zeiben isn't the kind of man who would sit idly by while we--his enemies--are so near, so we've effectively eliminated the second option he has. He's planning on a confrontation, but that leads us to more options."
"Lovely," Effie muttered as they started into the forested area of park, lead by Traehnogard.
"If we knew that Zeiben was planning on returning to Liagaba we could simply wait by the portal--in order for him to get back he would have to return there eventually. But since we don't know whether he wishes to return to Liagaba and this was all a plan to separate the larger group-- which is has successfully done--or whether he simply desires to remain here, we risk the chance that he has no plan to return and would wait to find us until it was too late, or at such a late date that such a confrontation would delay us long enough for the portal to close and for us to lose our chance to return to Liagaba. Zeiben being as he is, I can see him planning it no other way."
Ari looked slightly confused. "So we're going to blunder blindly into what is quite possibly a set-up so that he confronts us sooner rather than later when it would possibly be too late?"
"Exactly. But let me warn you now that his sense of hearing is sharp; he'll hear us coming long before we reach him. As for us, we cannot count on hearing him before he reaches us, and with this fog and the surrounding trees our chances of seeing him coming are slim to none."
"Not reassuring..." Ari paused, looking ahead at what had quickly become a single file line for easier navigation through the trees. "Hey guys, why do I have to take up the rear of the line? In movies like this the person at the back of the line always gets taken out first."
"Ari shush," Nadi reprimanded in a whisper. "You're making me nervous."
"You're nervous? What about me?" Ari replied, making no effort to be quiet. "I hate being at the end of the line. Something's gonna happen that we won't enjoy, and I especially won't enjoy it because I'm at the end of the line and it's me it's going to happen to!"
Effie sighed. "Let's join hands," she suggested. "It'll make us all feel a little safer at least." There was a murmer of agreement and hand were joined down the line. "This way," Effie added with a grin, "if Ari gets taken out silently we'll know."
"That wasn't funny," Ari snapped.
As their line plodded on a dark form dropped silently to the ground behind them from the tree branches above. Ari paused, wondering if the slight breeze she had just felt was an omen of some sort, and Zeiben lifted his clawed hand to strike at the stationary target--he would kill the girls first and make Traehnogard realize just how helpless he was to stop him. But just as Zeiben lashed out, his scaled, clawed hand able to kill with a single, well-placed strike, Nadi felt a pull on her arm which indicated that Ari had stopped and gave a sharp tug to pull the other girl along. Ari stumbled after Nadi's impatient tug, then cried out in pain as something raked across her back. It hadn't been the killing blow Zeiben had planned due to the unexpected movement--instead it had only served to warn them of his presence, but that didn't really matter to him. He stood there haughtily as the group turned to face him, Traehnogard facing him with sword at the ready while the girls scrambled for some sort of defensive position, even Ari who was bloodied but still on her feet. Not waiting for an invitation Traehnogard charged in at Zeiben who was no more than a dark shape in the shadows and diminishing fog. Easily Zeiben dodged the strike and stepped towards Traehnogard, deftly grabbing his wrist with his reptilian hand, sinking his claws deep into the flesh and twisting the arm painfully. As Traehnogard's hold on his sword faltered Nadi shouted a war cry and tossed one of the appropriated kitchen knives she had held on to at Zeiben, hoping that she didn't hit Traehnogard by mistake. Surprised that there was a missile suddenly flying his way Zeiben tried to dodge out of the way, but wasn't quite fast enough--the knife bounced harmlessly off his shoulder.
Nadi groaned in disappointment. "I suck at throwing knives," she admitted, but even as she spoke she was pulling out yet another kitchen knife to toss--it seemed that she had thought it wise to take all the knives from what had been Daul's house.
"I'd laugh if the situation wasn't so dire," Ari muttered. She was leaning heavily against a tree trunk, trying to ignore the pain in her back.
Effie frowned, looking at the dagger she had drawn and knowing that she'd never really be able to use it (and certainly not with any efficiency even if she did find the nerve) she tossed it at Zeiben along with Nadi's next knife that went hurtling through the air. Both weapons hit their target but dropped to the ground without effect. With a bit of a grin Ari stooped down and lifted a rock which she tossed Zeiben's way--this seemed to have more effect than the knives as Zeiben cursed as it bounced off his head. (AN - *snickers* Funny image... ^__^ ) "You girls are really starting to annoy me," he hissed. "And have you even realized that you're throwing away your defenses?" he added with a bit of a smirk.
"Actually," Nadi replied a bit hesitantly, "Traehnogard's our only real defense..." (Let's hope she was trying to stall here, because that doesn't seem like the smartest thing to say to the enemy.)
"Traehnogard?" Zeiben questioned, a hint of amusement in his voice. Briefly he glanced down at Traehnogard who was nearly bent over double to try to compensate for the painfully awkward position Zeiben had twisted his arm into; Zeiben's normal hand was on the back of his neck, holding him down in case he decided to try to right himself regardless of the position his arm was in. "He doesn't have the guts to kill me. He couldn't even kill you three, even knowing that one of you killed his father--something I'm beginning to find hard to believe."
"That's because it's not true," Nadi snapped back. "We never even got anywhere near Yar during that last confrontation!"
"If you're trying to buy yourselves the time for a miracle to happen, it's not going to work."
"She's not just stalling," Ari spoke up. "Kel only said Effie did it because he thought she was dead. He was just trying to save his own ass..." Effie quickly looked her way and she trailed off, realizing that maybe she shouldn't have said that last phrase, that now wasn't the time for such revelations...but it was too late to it take back now.
Zeiben paused, but only briefly. "Truth or not it doesn't change the fact that I'm going to kill you all right here and now."
"That's because you're a jerk," Ari retorted as she tossed another rock at him.
This time Zeiben easily dodged Ari's projectile, only to get hit by the handle of another of Nadi's vast store of knives. Zeiben scowled as the knife bounced off his chest, and with a quick movement he knocked Traehnogard to the ground, letting go of his wrist as he did. The girls watched nervously as Zeiben stepped over the now unmoving Traehnogard-- their best defense was down and seemingly out. "I think I'll kill you three first," Zeiben said as he neared them in a few easy strides. "Though unfortunately I'll have to make it quick." Only as he gestured to the ground did the girls realize that during the confrontation the fog had diminished to the point where it consisted mainly of a few wisps hovering around their feet--they hadn't expected it to disappear so quickly. "Any last requests?" He smirked, his sharp fangs visible even in the deep shadows.
"Yeah, how about letting us live?" Effie replied, knowing that it was a pointless request.
"I don't think so. But maybe you have some last words you'd like passed on to the others who were left behind to face my army...I'll pass them on to them, if they're still alive when I return. I wouldn't count on it though." As he stepped towards the girls who looked ready to try to scatter he paused suddenly, hearing a sound from behind where Traehnogard lay--he was surprised the boy was getting up so soon. Stepping aside so that the girls were still within his sight he turned to face Traehnogard, who was uncertainly climbing to his feet, his sword in hand. "I must say your resilience surprises me," Zeiben offered as Traehnogard looked his way- -still he seemed completely unworried. "Do you plan on trying again?"
Not taking the time to answer Traehnogard started forward with surprising speed, but once again Zeiben dodged. Haughtily he reached for Traehnogard's wrist to repeat their previous encounter, but this time he never got that far. Instead he stopped, his eyes wide with surprise--even his super quick reflexes weren't able to react to something he never saw coming. Only as Traehnogard pushed Zeiben away from him did the girls realize what had happened. While Zeiben's attention had been on them Traehnogard had evidently armed himself not only with his sword, but also the dagger that had been tossed at Zeiben earlier--it was a weapon easily enough concealed, especially since Zeiben's attention had been on the far more obvious sword. Now that dagger was embedded deeply in Zeiben's chest. Sometimes, Traehnogard had realized, diversion and trickery were necessary to win a fight....He watched as Zeiben sunk to the ground; he hadn't wanted to kill Zeiben--no more than anyone had wanted to kill his father he realized, but sometimes it was necessary to fight to protect the things you cared about, even if the results weren't always pretty. This revelation surprised him, but the sudden realization that the fog was nearly completely gone suddenly overcame all else. "The portal!" he exclaimed suddenly, jolting the girls out of their own thoughts and spurring them all into action.
They made a mad dash for the portal--Ari was the first to reach it, tripping into the fountain face first and quickly disappearing from sight. The others followed quickly in manners not much more dignified than Ari's method, but they weren't worried about how they got through as long as they made it. As the last of them disappeared from sight the fog that had announced the portal being open faded from view.

On Liagaba the battle hadn't been going on for long, but still the side of good was quickly tiring while the undead army could fight on tirelessly for as long as needed. The guys, along with Alimara, Sirazil, and Naibara were fighting as the air force and making what would have been good process had the army not seemed to stretch on endlessly--and the three creatures could only fight on for so long before they would have to land. Not only that, but the guys had found a dangerous distraction in watching the progress of the quickly diminishing fog--they hadn't realized that it would fade so quickly. So far--along with the help of the city guard that had been rallied by Kel as the army had neared--they had successfully kept the army from breaching the walls of the city, but as time dragged on that was getting harder and harder to do. Even Kel, who was perched atop the wall tossing down volley after volley of helpful spells seemed to be wearing down.
Then it had happened. The army suddenly and inexplicably stopped. After only a moment's pause they fell, nearly simultaneously, beginning at the rows nearest the city walls and working outwards--from where Kel stood looking down at it all it resembled an elaborate set-up of dominoes. Relieved he realized that Traehnogard and the girls must have succeeded on earth (admittedly he was vaguely surprised that they had). Turning to face the innards of the city he realized that they were cutting it close as the fog was nearly gone from the streets. Quickly he descended into the city, more curious as to whether the others would return in time than worried that they wouldn't.
By the time Kel reached the dead end alley the portal was in the fog had cleared completely and he wasn't disappointed to see four figures gathered together in the shadows of the alley. "My friends," he greeted cheerfully. "I'm so glad to see that you're not dead. I trust all went well?"
"As well as could be expected I suppose," Traehnogard replied as he nonchalantly dusted himself off, looking completely unphased by what had just happened.
Kel looked to the three girls--Ari had her arm around Nadi's shoulder, using the other girl as a brace to keep her on her feet; or that was her excuse anyway--judging from broad grin on her face her injuries were nothing to worry about and the desire for something to lean against was more an excuse to bug Nadi--who was frowning--than anything else. Despite this all three girls were looking from Traehnogard to him and back again as if they were waiting for something...something that, judging from Traehnogard's expression, they had no reason to worry about occurring. Kel shrugged away the thought. Luckily the silence was quickly interrupted by cheerful exclamations from the end of the alley, along with the sound of feet pounding the ground as the guys quickly approached. The girls responded with smiles and there were hugs all around.
Before long the group was crowded into one of the rooms of Daul's old house; having recounted their tales of what had happened while separated they were beginning to ponder on what came next. "If I may make a suggestion," Traehnogard said, surprising the others by speaking up--he had been fairly silent since they had arrived at the house. "Now that Zeiben's gone--as will be all other inhabitants as soon as feasible--that huge place I've been living in is going to be awfully empty, and this place is awfully tiny for such a large group if you're planning on staying this far south for any length of time...Now that we've come to a point where the matter of revenge is no longer an issue, I don't suppose it would be completely impractical for me to allow you all to stay with me in my home temporarily..."
Kel smiled broadly. "Traehnogard's forgiving everyone for what happened with Yar and inviting us to stay with him," he said happily, seeing through Traehnogard's verbose way of saying it.
"Temporarily," Traehnogard reiterated though there was no conviction in his voice.
"Of course," Kel replied, still grinning--he could see that the girls were eager to accept the offer, and where the girls went the guys would follow. "Temporarily."