The group moved quickly through the forest. They’ve been running nonstop for a few hours already, judging from their ragged breaths they needed to stop to take a rest soon. The head of the group sensed something from within the upcoming brush and motioned for the group to stop. The group stopped with relief on their faces, but worry was still reflected in their eyes. They knew that every second counted. The head of the group spoke, “Let’s rest here for a couple of minutes.” 

 

Before he could relax, his eyes flashed towards a wall of brush that was ahead of them.

 

“They’re still about two hours away from us.” A voice came from within the brush, a scrawny man emerged onto the trail. "When do you think they'll give up?"

 

"I'm not too sure, the Divide is coming up. Hopefully their superstitions are strong enough to let us go," replied the leader of the group.

 

It seems that the scrawny man came back from scouting. He noticed that Magne’s muscles were all tensed-up. He knew Magne was able to run nonstop for days, so the past few hours of running shouldn’t have been that strenuous on his body. “Stop worrying about the other groups, it’ll be bad if your head is focused on other worries.”

 

“Hmm. I can’t help but worry about the other groups, they’re not as strong as our team. But you’re right, worrying will not help any of us.” Magne shook his head to clear his mind, and his muscles loosened at the same time. 

 

The two men were the originators of the rebellion. The scrawny man, Erik, had come up with the plan for escaping from the other races. Magne, the muscled man, had the strength to complete the plan. 

 

The plan was simple: wait until after the yearly celebration, the DownFall--where all the races, except humans, gather and celebrate the 100-year war they had won hundreds of years ago--and for the human slaves to gather after the other races had gotten drunk, and split into groups to escape through various routes. Magne and Erik’s group only contained the strongest men and women, their group not only focused on surviving but to act as the main bait for the other races to allow the other slave groups to escape before them. 

 

The plan was going off without a hitch until some of the semi-coherent guards had felt like the drinking and partying were not enough entertainment. They had gone to the slave quarters to beat on some slaves for their enjoyment, but upon arriving they noticed that there were no slaves in the quarters and they raised an alarm. The other races that were inebriated barely sobered-up, the stronger individuals had their minds sober-up instantly, realizing that the alarm being sound had meant that slaves were trying to escape. Some of the strong individuals were amused that the slaves were attempting to escape, it had been decades since the last rebellion. Most had thought the humans were fully domesticated already. 

 

Some of the stronger raced individuals instantly set out for the slave quarters, and when they arrived at the living quarters, they realize the severity of just how many slaves actually escaped. 

 

Erik and Magne's group had the most difficult route but they also had the strongest humans. They suspected that the other races would aim for them other than the weaker groups, but that wasn't the case. Since escaping, their group could occasionally hear cries and screams ringing out from the other escapee groups. 

 

***

 

"Those were the third cluster of screams I heard, and it was closer than before," mentioned Erik.

 

Magne didn't say anything but instead increased his speed. Erik didn't say anything further and sped up as well, the others followed closely.

 

***

 

A body dropped from the hands of a humanoid figure. The figure had silver scales scattered throughout its body, but was stained a deep red from the body that had just slid off of their fingers.

 

"Should we head towards the next group?" Another figure came walking behind the silver-scaled figure. 

 

"No, leave them be. I can already feel our energy being sapped. The Engkanto's must have realized that we've entered the Bosque. Let’s release the creatures on them instead, that should be enough. We should head back and inform the other races that they've already reached the Divide." The being with silver scales turned to face the other figure, who was also scaled as well but with crimson-black scales. 

 

"As you wish," responded the figure with crimson-black scales. He hurriedly followed the orders he was given and left to relay the orders to the beasthunters.

 

Multiple loud hisses were heard and metal cages could be seen being dragged out from the back of carriages. The beasthunters were shouting at each other once the cages were lined up in rows. Upon the nodding of the crimson-black scale’s head, the beasthunters gave the order of release. The sound of metal sliding against metal could be heard and all the cage gates were opened.

 

Dozens of long-bodied lizards darted out from the cages. The lizards measured about eight feet containing short horns on their forehead and they had patterns on their bodies; some had matching patterns while others differed, but a small group of lizards contained long horns that had scintillating lights that flashed every now and then. The beasthunters shouted an order and all of the horned lizards lined up horizontally. The beasthunters gave another shout and the lizard’s with long horns flashed with light, the other short-horned lizards lined-up behind their respective long horned-lizard, forming many uniform groups. With a final shout from the beasthunters, the long horned-lizards flashed their lights and took off running with their groups of lizards following, splitting into multiple directions.

 

***

 

Magne and Erik turned their heads suddenly. Mange shouted, "We must hurry! They sent out their hunting beasts."

 

"The Slender Horned Lizards?!" replied one of the group members. 

 

The group quickened their pace even further, and veered from the animal trails they were using, trying to slow down the hunting beasts as much as they could. Not even an hour had passed when Magne gave the order to stop.

 

“Shit! Prepare yourselves, they’re almost here.”

 

The group drew their crude weapons, only some of them were able to snag real weapons when they escaped. 

 

"Be careful. They’re gonna be here any second," said Erik.

 

Magne chose a small clearing to defend themselves, they formed a circle with their backs facing each other. A scream rang out to the right of the group. The group turned their attention to the sound, they saw the person screaming being swallowed by a horned lizard. Before the group could react, its horn flashed a yellow color and more lizards sprang out from the forest.

 

Magne appeared in an instant, rushing towards the horned-lizard. Two small-horned lizards jumped to block his path, he released a roar and swung his sword in a flash, beheading the two in succession. He made a count of 20, well 18, lizards, including the one with the flashing horn. His eyes flashed with killing intent as he strode towards the flashing horned lizard. 

 

The other humans were fighting in groups of three against the lizards with at least one of them having a real weapon. The humans were slowly gaining the advantage, and one by one, the lizards were being slain by the humans.

 

The two strongest humans, Magne and Erik, were showing the best results. Magne was taking the attention of the long-horned lizard, while Erik was jumping from group-to-group using his two daggers to lessen the burden of the other humans. The humans’ hopes were high in defeating the pack of lizards. Suddenly three humans started screaming. Everyone stole a glance towards them to see them being melted by a mysterious liquid. They realized a liquid was dropping from above the three humans heads, who were now a pile of bloody mush and bones. Above the melted humans was a smaller 5 foot lizard, its throat was rapidly expanding, that of which resembled that of a toad croaking.

 

"It's a Toxic Komodo," someone shouted. Erik glanced up to look at it and determination flashed through his eyes. 

 

He slashed at the lizard in front of him with his pair of daggers. The attack sliced apart the lizard's front limbs, making it flop to the ground where it was instantly hacked apart by the other humans.

 

Erik turned his attention to the Toxic Komodo and threw one of his daggers towards it. He took a step and vanished on the spot. 

 

The Toxic Komodo saw the dagger flying towards it and released the poison in its throat that it was storing. The neon blue poison streamed out of its mouth and instantly melted the dagger flying through the air. The komodo then jumped down to attack the dagger's owner, only to realize the owner had disappeared.

 

The komodo gazed around, unable to glean the human's whereabouts. It narrowed its eyes and suddenly felt a movement to its left, it instantly gathered more poison in its throat.

 

"Like I'll let you!" harrumphed Erik as he appeared beside the komodo. He ducked below its throat, spinning and slashing it as he passed by. 

 

The komodo realized it was too late to move and felt its throat being slashed, all the poison leaking onto its body. The Toxic Komodo’s throat had a special substance that mixed into the poison allowing the lizard to protect itself from its own poison, but because the poison had not reached the area where that substance was being held, the two weren't able to be mixed. Thus, the poison that the lizard was expelling end-up corroding and melting its own body.

 

With a disgusted grunt, Erik flung his dagger to the side. It was melted from slicing the poison filled throat. He was making his way towards one of the weapons from the fallen humans but noticed that the Toxic Komodo had a pair of top fangs that resembled the length of his previous daggers. He checked to see if there was any lingering poison on the fangs, noticing there was none, he broke the fangs off of the lizard's mouth. He then tore off some pieces of his shirt and made temporary hilts for the fangs, making them into his new weapons.

 

After making the weapon within a few short breathes, Erik turned towards the nearest lizard, pinpointing his new victim.

 

While Erik was helping the others with the rest of the lizards, Magne was still battling with the Slender Horned Lizard. Magne was easily keeping up with the lizard's attacks. It seemed like he was patiently waiting for something.

 

Not long after Erik defeated the Toxic Komodo, Magne heard a piercing whistle.

 

The whistle was a message from Erik indicating that all of the other lizards were taken care of. Magne finally got serious and started to pressure the lizard. The Slender Horned Lizard realized that the human was holding back its strength, and it hurriedly brought up its abilities. Its horn started to give off a yellow light, which instructed the rest of the surviving lizards to help with its battle. It was then that it realized there were no more lizards around it, even more surprising that it was the only lizard left and it was being surrounded by the other humans. 

 

The lizard gave a loud hiss and stood up on its hind legs. Energy was gathering towards its horn. The humans tensed up and got into defensive stances. The energy gathered within the horn shot out, and the humans flinched but realized that the light didn't harm any of them. The light actually shot through the forests' canopy and exploded into the open air, releasing multiple waves of yellow light. 

 

Erik and Magne's faces turned grim and their killing intent peaked. They sprang towards the lizard, Erik aiming for the eyes and Magne attacking at its side. 

 

Having just released the beam of light, the lizard was caught off guard from their attacks and it couldn't react to the combined assault. Erik's attacks resulted in tearing into one of its eyes with his fang dagger, while the other dagger merely made a wound above its eyebrow. Magne's attack used about 60% of his power, which he thought would be enough to handle the lizards, surprisingly it only made a large gash on its side. The lizard thrashed in anger and flung Erik into Magne. While they crashed into the ground, the surrounding humans saw that the lizard was seriously injured from the two’s attack and they attacked with ferocity. 

 

Erik and Magne regrouped and joined in on attacking. The lizard fought back hard, releasing waves of yellow energy from its horn to push off the humans. Its horn was glowing nonstop and eventually its claws and teeth were as well.

 

Magne and Erik noticed this and further released even stronger attacks. Eventually, the lizard succumbed to all of the humans' combined attacks and let out a hissing sigh, collapsing with the yellow light fading out.

 

"No time for rest, we have to set out immediately,” urged Erik, he was cleaning off the blood from his fang daggers.

 

Magne nodded, "The Slender Horned Lizard usually acts as the leader of the pack, communicating through the use of its horn; that initial beam it shot was probably to alert nearby lizards for help. We should hurry." He strode towards the Slender Horned Lizard and gripped its horn, using all his strength he pulled the horn straight-off of the lizard’s head. "Let's go."

 

The group of now six humans sped along the forest.

 

***

 

In the far distance, the silver scaled figure spoke, "The humans hid their strength really well this time."

 

A feathered humanoid figure humorously replied after seeing the waves of light appearing above the forest, "That might be true, they were able to make one of your Slender Horned Lizards release its emergency call. I've only seen those beasts do that against higher-tiered beasts."

 

The silver figure sneered, "It doesn't matter. We've sent out dozens of packs to hunt them down. They won't be escaping that easily."

 

The feathered figure agreed, "Even if they defeated that one pack, they were probably hurt badly from the encounter."

 

The silver figure continued to stare in the distance with the feather figure smiling next to him. She took the hint and quietly stared along with him.

 

***

 

Magne and Erik's group finally encountered a huge mountain range extending into the forest.

 

"We've finally made it here. I'm not sure how many other groups made it to this point, but we all agreed to meet at the opposite side of these mountains," Erik said as he was gazing at the other three members of the group.

 

Magne nodded his head. Their group encountered many packs of lizards while escaping through the forest. The group only numbered four because of it. 

 

Although their faces and bodies were haggard, one could see the glint of hope and freedom in their eyes.

 

"Once we cross this mountain range, we'll finally be free of those other races," with a determined look Magne set off towards the mountain. The others followed his footsteps.

 

This event occurred in many places throughout the mountain range and forest borders. Many groups of humans appeared at the foot of the mountain, excited at the prospect of crossing into freedom.

 

***

 

Many months have passed since the groups of humans entered the mountain range. 

 

"We still haven't run into any of the others," mentioned Erik.

 

"It's okay, I know we agreed upon a specific gathering point but I'm pretty sure all of them have seen that," replied Magne.

 

The four of them turned toward where Magne mentioned. There was a huge spire that reached all the way into the clouds. The spire contained only one window several thousand feet from the ground.

 

The group was still a fair distance away before they could reach the spire, but their hopes were high and nothing could damper their mood.

 

The humans had struggled through their journey into the mountains. From the climate to the demonic beasts they encountered, everything was set out to kill them. They endured up until this point. 

 

But their spirits were still high, for they escaped their captivity. They managed to defeat all of the lizards sent after them and all of the roaming beasts that hindered their climb. Aside from the wild creatures, the other races never appeared to chase after them nor had they sent any more beasts.

 

They were still wary of being attacked by them but they didn’t let the thought hinder them.

 

From their current location, it would take another month to reach the bottom of the mountain and cross the plains. 

 

Though the month seemed to pass extremely fast as the group was already arriving upon the entrance to the spire. Getting closer they realized that they saw other groups of figures moving about. But they soon noticed that it was humans they recognized and they ran towards them joyously. They cried and celebrated as they leaped into each other's arms. 

 

The now large group of humans waited another two months for any other groups to join them. Until then, no one entered the spire. Once the two months were up, the group of 47 humans packed their sparse belongings and entered the spire.

 

***

 

Entering the spire led to an enormously large hall. There were countless columns that littered the hall, the columns formed a natural path that led to a counter containing a pedestal within the center of it. 

 

From the entrance to the pedestal, the group still took an hour to reach it, that's how large the hall was. Erik and Magne glanced at one another upon seeing the pedestal and wondered what lied beyond the counter. Looking behind the counter they could only see what looked like a sea of mist rolling about, no one could glean anything within the mist. Ignoring the mist for now, they instead turned their attention to the pedestal. Erik seemed that he would move towards the pedestal first, but Magne strode towards it before he could take a step. Magne stepped up to the pedestal and realized that there was a large grey orb embedded into the surface, it looked like the orb was carved into that shape from a gemstone because of the faceted refractions one could see looking into the orb. 

 

Magne reached out his hand but hesitated upon placing his hand onto the orb. He didn't feel anything menacing coming from the orb or beyond the counter within the mist, so he followed through placing his hand down onto the orb. The orb started flashing with grey light and the entire hall began to shake, the mist behind the counter began to roil and eventually the mist started to give away. The mist revealed countless rows of shelves, it looked like a never ending sea of shelves beyond the counter. 

 

After the mist cleared, a pillar of light shone down from the ceiling onto Magne. Before the light could disappear, books started to instantly appear onto the shelves. The light eventually faded away from Magne and he stood there, holding onto what seemed like a black leather bound book.

 

He looked up from the book towards his group and suddenly a black light emerged from the book which had suddenly opened.