Meera was stumped at the sight of the portly man. He looked nothing like Dara. Dara was all lean muscle and intense gazes, while this man could be someone's grandpa, who told jokes as he played with his grandkids. He almost reminded Meera of her own grandfather, minus dressing in drab clothing and the leaves. If it weren't for his Tag, she would never have believed him to be a Keeper of the Wild. The two Keepers looked so different from each other.

Meera moved her hand away from her chakrams. "You're a Keeper of the Wild?"

He smiled with a toothy grin, showing off his yellow teeth. "That's right. I'm the Keeper of the Wiryar forest."

"And Dara told you that I would be coming here," Meera said. "How did he even manage to do that? I barely left there a few hours ago."

Sure, it had taken her a little longer to sneak back into the capital and arrive at the World Gateway Mirror that would take her to Drurith. Then there was also the line. They were requesting a variety of documents. She figured it was something akin to a visa, but one of the guards recognized her, so that made things relatively easy after that. But it also made all the time that she spent sneaking about go to waste. She might as well have picked up Manazhar's little spy and dropped her back into the city.

"We have our ways," Thulir grinned. "You see, the Lady has granted us with these mirrors that let us communicate with each other. It was a gift from Lady Midea to Lady Vashira. I've got one right here. I never leave home without it."

Meera had the sudden urge to swipe it out of his hand, but the man had come to help, and that was no way to treat anyone who had gone out of their way to help you.

"I see. Well, thank you, Thulir, for coming to my aid." She smiled. "I honestly just need to know which way is the closest dragon, and I'll do the rest."

"Nonsense," he cried. "After all you've done for this forest. I will take you to the very doorstep of Mount Krathor."

"You know, you don't have to," Meera reiterated. "Just point the way and I'll just fly there."

"You do that, and you will be cinders before you even come within a league of the mountain range. The dragons are quite protective of their home, you know."

Meera nodded. "I've seen how protective they can be." She sighed. "Fine. Please lead the way."

"But first, we need to head back to my home. I've left something there that you most definitely need. Sorry, I just left in such a hurry that I didn't have the time to retrieve it."

Meera was beginning to doubt this man's help. If anything, she was starting to think that he was leading her to a trap. But still, the man was a Keeper of the Wild, so he couldn't be all that dangerous. They were, after all, meant to serve and protect nature and not cause harm to other beings.

"Please, it's not far. Come."

Thulir ducked inside the trees, and Meera followed. Immediately, the world darkened, thanks to the leaves above. Meera had been inside the forest before, and she didn't know if it was this part or anywhere even close to it. The last time she was in the forest was when she was running from the dragoons, which culminated in her fight against Kaxus. That was a brutal fight. She hadn't been in a more painful fight since then, but then the battle with Aksha beat it. That Corrupting Hex was something else. She almost didn't want to use it on anyone else.

The Keeper led her through shrubs and around trees. They were going deeper and deeper into the forest. The forest was coming alive at night. Animals roamed through the trees, but generally stayed away from Meera. Though from time to time, some foxes, squirrels, and other non-threatening animals would come snuggle up on Thulir, who would give them a gentle pat or ruffle their heads and send them on their way with a gentle word.

Meera frowned as something he had said came back to her. "You said that for all I've done for this forest. What did I do?"

"Oh, you finished the feud between the dragons and the sorceresses, which had been causing many forest fires throughout the years. With the sorceress gone, the dragons have gone back to their mountains. They still come down from the mountains to hunt, but there have been no forest fires since. It's made my life a lot easier, truth be told."

"That's good. Though I didn't really do much. Most of that resolved by itself."

He turned and smiled. "You're being modest, my lass. I heard everything and saw most of it myself. So, thank you."

"You're welcome."

They traveled in silence for a little while until they arrived at a large tree with a treehouse much like Dara's. Thulir whistled a tune, and a monkey appeared and threw down a rope ladder.

"Be right back." Thulir went up the ladder with the virility of a much younger man. He was gone for a while, and she started to grow bored. As she stood there, she realized that Dara had cut himself on her chakrams, so he must've given her some skills. She checked her notifications, and there they were.

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*ding!*

[Class Ability Activated. You have stolen the skill Nature's Resurrection – Level 321. Nature's Resurrection – Type: Active. Affinity: Life Affinity. You can unleash a pulse of ancient life energy that radiates with the spirits of the wild. Fallen beasts and creatures of nature are drawn back from death, their bodies mended and spirits rekindled as the Blessing of Vashira breathes life into them once more. Would you like to acquire this skill?]

*ding!*

[Class Ability Activated. You have stolen the skill Life Affinity – Level 285. Light Affinity will provide a boost of 2% for every level henceforth for all your Light Affinity skills. Would you like to acquire this skill?]

The first one was not bad at all. She could merge it with her Greater Vitalize skill, and maybe she could revive other humans with it. However, there was no guarantee that it would happen, but the effects did merge in most cases.

She could eliminate Glacial Calamity. Even though it was a powerful skill, she could always get it again with the number of Frostweavers that were still left to clear out. She decided to take a risk and go for it.

She chose Nature's Resurrection, let go of Glacial Calamity, and prayed that she wasn't making a mistake.

*ding!*

[You have acquired the skill Nature's Resurrection (III) – Level 77]

She looked around to make sure no one was watching, but even still, she turned her back to the treehouse and took out the Impure Crystal of Darthin. Then ran some Mana through the crystal, and it glowed with faint light—the message to select two skills to merge appeared in her vision.

She chose Nature's Resurrection and Greater Vitalize.

*ding!*

[You have acquired the skill The Great Renewal (III) – Level 51. The Great Renewal – Type: Active. Affinity: Life. A transcendent surge of life erupts from you, carrying the pure essence of Vashira herself. You can heal your wounds and those of others. Even the dead beasts of nature rise once more, their spirits bound anew to the living world.]

Meera rubbed her chin. It wasn't anything new. This skill had merged the two skills and increased the level of the resulting skill. She couldn't say she wasn't disappointed. Were the healing effects of the skill any faster than the Greater Vitalize? Only time would tell. She doubted she would ever have any use to bring any animals or beasts of nature back from the dead. Now, if it worked on humans, that could be more than handy.

Truth be told, that was what she had hoped that the merging of the two skills would entail, but, in any case, this new skill's level was greater than Greater Vitalize. So, there was that.

She pocketed her prized possession, just in time as the aloof Keeper of the Wild shimmied down the ladder. He whistled, and the monkey pulled the ladder up again. He had a pack slung over his shoulder, which was packed to the brim.

Meera raised an eyebrow and motioned to the pack. "Is it going to be that long of a trip?"

He chuckled. "Not particularly, if we can fly, but I like to be prepared, all the same. Besides, my return journey is going to be especially long."

Meera understood his meaning. She created a Mirror Tower Shield. "Hop on."

"Thank you." He jumped and lay flat on his belly. "Ready."

Meera nodded and realized there was no way that she could rise to the sky with the blanket of leaves above. She needed to reach the forest road. She increased the size of the tower shield so she could jump on as well. She figured that it might use less Mana if she needed to move one mirror versus several.

It didn't take them long to reach the forest road. There weren't as many leaves overhead, so they could mostly get to the sky without wrestling too many branches.

"Now, where are we headed?" Meera asked. She saw the mountains in the distance, but she still wanted to be sure.

"Towards the east." Thulir pointed towards the mountains. "Those are the Krathor mountains."

"Hold on tight."

The sun was dipping, but there was still enough sunlight remaining that she figured that she could get to the mountains by nightfall. For her sake, she hoped she got there before nightfall. Not because she was nervous, which she was. She just figured that she would have a better chance of fighting the dragons during the day, if it came to it.

Knowing my luck, it'll most definitely come to a fight.

***

"Stop!" cried Thulir, who was mid-lecture about what kind of tree that was, that they had just passed. In fact, the entire trip had been nothing but a biology lecture. The man hadn't even paused to take a sip of water.

She quickly scanned the sky, and there were no dragons in sight. There were quite a few flying around the mountains, but nothing close by. She had spotted some hunting in the forest, so she had given them a wide berth. They had avoided detection so far.

"What's happened?" Meera asked.

"Nothing, I think we've come close enough."

"Close enough for what?"

He gave her a sly smile. "Oh, you'll see."

She frowned but said nothing. Even though she had been travelling with him for a few hours, she knew it was best not to ask, lest he go on another tirade about something else. If they weren't so different in looks, she would've figured that he was Hiral's brother.

Thulir riffled around in his pack and pulled out a small horn. It was about the size of her hand, maybe a little larger. It had a yellowish color to it. The open end of it was as if it had been hacked off without care. It was definitely from an animal, but she couldn't place which animal.

Thulir brought the horn to his lips and blew. The sound that came out of it was loud enough to wake the dead. Maybe it wasn't as loud, but to her Gem of Echoes-enhanced ears, it felt loud enough that it thrummed in her chest.

"What the hell are you doing?" Meera snapped.

He smiled. "It's okay, you'll see. She'll be here soon."

Meera didn't know what he was talking about, but it became evident soon enough. As not far from them, trees ruffled and shook. Meera instinctively drew back and pulled a chakram off her back. Then some were upended entirely as a roar shook the world. A roar that she was entirely too familiar with.

The crazed fool had just summoned a dragon.

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