Chapter 16. A Day of Reencounters.

In the principality of Paso Caol.

Prince Dorba was anxiously awaiting the arrival of the invading army, because his spies informed him that Fyrod was coming among the enemy troops and he believed that at last he would be able to avenge the death of his friend Rioya. With complete confidence, he told the Captain of his forces the current state of the situation.

-War is inevitable, there will be no more simulation. Both Moal and I have revealed our intentions. Now it is time for one of us to drop dead. Let's give a proper start to this dispute by slaughtering these invading soldiers.

Dorba predicted months ago that a clash with King Moal was going to happen sooner or later because both had been playing a dynamic of mutual suspicion and intrigue for some time. As the final act, Moal invited him to his birthday party in Valle Roble because he wanted to take him out of the principality to investigate if the legendary red relic was located in the palace of Paso Caol. But he did not expect that Dorba would anticipate and, as his luxury guest, would attempt to do the same in his lands, trying to steal the other relic -although he ended up being fooled with a pitiful gigantism potion-. Both failed in their plans, but in that attempt they became irreversibly exposed. Now all that remained for them was to fight to exterminate the one who represented a threat in obtaining the two relics. Before welcoming the invaders in Paso Caol with the intention of fighting them relentlessly, Dorba ran to the mount in order to have his treasure at hand. He made his way to the disguised fort he had ordered to be built among the humblest dwellings, knowing that King Moal would never think of searching for the coveted relic inside those crumbling homes.  There he went through several rooms -which weeks before were inhabited by families- until he reached one located in the center, there he squatted down to get closer to the floor. He made contact with a brick that immediately disappeared like a hologram, leaving a red trail in the air. The Prince extracted a flask filled with a substance. It was the relic he had planned to keep safely locked until the right time arrived for its use. He resolved to have it within reach in case the upcoming combat turned out to be complicated, since he knew that the Moal's Generals were not easy adversaries, and on this occasion he would have to face two of them at the same time. The relic would be his emergency valve in case of danger.

While Dorba was in one wing of the fort getting the flask from the floor, something very different was happening on the other side. Zaz was showing the rest how to escape from the cell. The room in which they had been locked up was part of the home that Gaena inhabited during her childhood, a place where after discovering that one of the blocks of the back was not attached to the rest of the wall, she used it to sneak out of her parents' home on countless occasions. With that information, Seip was able to move the block and reveal a small hole through which they used one by one, until they had the problem of not knowing how to pass the gigantic animals accompanying them. Zaz reminded Luespo and Mity about the lessons she taught them in the training sessions, showing them how to reduce their size. Zaz's instruction succeeded as they returned to the regular dimensions of a dog and a cat. The huge shackles that contained them fell to the floor and the animals were able to walk through the reduced space on the wall. Leiza suggested hurrying up to take advantage of the reduced size of the two, but soon it was noticeable that they had an unsteady control of Goan, as they slowly began to grow back to full size. Seip thought they could take advantage of that gradual transformation by wrapping the chains that held the other three allies around the animals' legs. When the cat and the dog regained their gigantic size, Seip, Zaz and Leiza were freed from their shackles as they had been broken. All five were out of the cell and unchained, looking to abandon the fort. 

It was unrealistic to think they could get away unnoticed with those huge animals at their side, so Zaz considered it would be best to bet on speed in their escape. They ran through the rooms in search of an exit, meeting a pair of guards who sought to stop them immediately. Seip understood that they had no time to engage in a long fight which would delay them and attract the attention of other soldiers inside the fort, so he released the incandescent arms on his back to pierce simultaneously the armor of both guards, knocking them unconscious in an instant. Leiza remained incredulous and amazed at being able to witness the abilities and combat dexterity of Seip, the legendary spider. She never imagined sharing an adventure side by side with him. Smiling, she continued her pace behind the others, as they turned at a detour to enter a long, empty room where a man was crouched in the center of the space facing backwards. As they saw the figure turning around, they realized it was Dorba holding a potion in his hand. The worst situation happened, they headed straight towards the fiercest predator. Dorba spotted them and wasted no time, he went after them. 

Seip assumed the role of the group' s protector and ran to face the charge of his former combat partner. However, before the exchange of blows began, he received a soundless communication that offered to guide him through a strategy.

-Seip, in his eyes you are the most dangerous of us, you must quickly lose to him so he will look down at the rest of us. I beg you to abstain from protecting us. You can see he has a potion in his hand, he will do everything to take care of it. As long as he doesn't feel that we want to smash or steal that flask, we can consider him to have a limb out of combat. Do not attack that arm for any reason or we will lose that remarkable advantage. Avoid making mistakes by believing that he will refrain from killing Leiza because she has the blue Goan, Dorba is capable of stealing the power from corpses. However, he will avoid inciting her to fight, fearing that she could waste much of her Goan in a desperate act. Follow my instructions and we may come out of this all right.

Seip exchanged attacks with Dorba for a short time, until he fell to the ground when he was hit by a Goan's charged right hand that rendered him face down and motionless. Then it was Mity who was in charge of going forward and being the battering ram, taking advantage of his ability to heal the wounds that could be generated to him. On the side, Luespo was tasked with using his feline hunter instincts to prowl around the Prince and attack him quickly when the time was right. Zaz was following a similar plan at the opposite end, jumping nimbly from one side to the other in an attempt to disorient the enemy. For his part, Leiza began to run backwards, as if looking for a way out, but always taking care not to leave Dorba's range of vision, as this would turn him more aggressive. They were implementing a team strategy. The Prince's attention was attempting to focus on three moving targets while a huge giant dog's body was doing everything it could to block his view. In order to improve the situation, Dorba struck hard at Mity's belly, then Luespo came to strike him from the right flank to avoid him being able to savage on his canine friend. 

Zaz considered that they had created enough of a distraction and gave the order to finalize the plan. Face down from the floor, Seip released his four arms from his back, directing two of them towards Dorba's legs and holding them tightly to throw him with all his force to the opposite end of the room. The Prince's body was ejected with a brutal acceleration until it crashed into a wall which it shattered as Dorba was doing his best to extend his right arm in order to save the relic from the impact. Seip instructed the others to run and get out of there as soon as possible, not expecting that after a couple of seconds, Dorba would emerge from the hole, propelled by six long Goan arms that sprouted from his back and helped him walk like a swift spider. His countenance was now very different, he looked furious and was seeking to finish them all off right there. He used his six new limbs to slash the chest of the giant dog, who could do nothing to defend himself. Seip stepped in and put his four incandescent arms together to wrap around Dorba's six arms, stopping them for a moment before they could do any lethal damage to the canine. Zaz capitalized on the opportunity and retrieved Mity's body, which was slowly regenerating from the deep wounds it had received. At the side, Luespo watched in fear how not even Seip was able to stand up against the Prince. If this continued, the whole team was doomed to perish. 

Seip was not very optimistic either, he urged Leiza to leave the place while he was trying to take care of slowing Dorba down. However, the girl did the opposite and tried to repay everything those four allies had done for her until that point. She considered that running away without them made no sense, they were a team and as such they had to face adversities together. She tried to focus to be able to release the blue Goan inside her, her arms got colored in a blue tone and then she jumped to attack Dorba. While the latter was still fighting Seip, he received a blow in the chest from her that made the whole place rumble. The breastplate on his armor became dented and the Prince's attention immediately shifted its focus to his female assailant. He made six more arms emerge from his back with which he was able to subdue Seip and attack him with brutality to throw him to the ground. He then charged at Leiza and struck her with nimble jabs from each of the twelve reddish-colored arms. The blue Goan wielder did everything she could to remain impassable against the barrage of slashes, generating a powerful discharge of lightning that repelled the blows threatening her, but she could not maintain that defense for long against a much more experienced opponent. Three arms penetrated the electric wall and generated deep wounds to her.

-Don't you dare waste that power, girl! I need it for more important purposes, so now you must die.

When Dorba was about to slice her into pieces, Zaz appeared sliding across the floor to push her off. As she stood up again, she felt a body approaching her fiercely and she turned her head to look at her aggressor, then her unmistakable green gaze locked on Dorba's eyes.

The Prince was stunned, a universe of thoughts passed through his head in seconds, his bloodthirsty countenance showed a hint of vulnerability. He knew it couldn't be anyone else... she was alive. The twelve arms on his back became relaxed as he was about to say a few words, but Seip attacked him from his side, throwing him towards another wall of the building. Dorba's body smashed it violently, the rumblings of combat were loud and Seip was surprised at the absence of any guards coming to get them, although he didn't want to stand there and wait for them either. The team of five needed to get away from there; however, the voice communicating into their heads was asking them to leave without it. Zaz stopped running. 

Dorba walked out of the wall with a slow cadence, without the Goan arms sprouting behind his back. The others turned to look at him in terror.

-I spent years looking for you...you should have returned sooner...What made you think that your appearance would make things different between us? ...I agree with you, the priority is still stopping Moal...If that's the way you want it, I respect it. -Dorba commented, pausing between each of his sentences.

Seip was concerned about Zaz's overconfidence and wanted to warn her for her own protection.

-That man is not the same as before! Don't be fooled!

He tried to run to stand between the two, but a heavy hand on his shoulder stopped him forcefully.

-That's right, I also have heard many stories about how that man is no longer Dorba. Although you can be sure that such a person will cease to exist today, Seip.

The one who was taking him from behind was General Fyrod. He had entered the fort by defeating all the guards to meet the Prince alone.

-You said you wanted to meet me face to face, Dorba. Today you got your wish.