<h4>Chapter 69: Deception</h4>


    I stepped out of the ruins, into the sunlight. It had taken quite some time to check everything and free the souls trapped in the giant spider''s corpse. I nced at the sun. It waster in the afternoon; we''d spend quite some time down there without even realising it.


    "Kai!" It was Rina who called my name. She was sitting on the ground. Beside hery Alina. Her face was pale as ash and I could see the sweat on her skin. "She''s not ok. We need to do something!"


    I nodded, then nced around. "Where are the others?"


    "Erik and Vincent left to go look for Samantha, Alex and Joshua." Rina''s voice trembled. She was at the verge of tears. "I''m so worried – what if something happened to Alex? I..." Her voice faded as I approached and knelt beside her.


    "It''ll be fine. I''ll find them." I said, trying my best to not let my voice tremble. "First things first; we have to get rid of the poison. Can you get me some fresh water from the river?" She wiped her tears and nodded before darting off towards the shallow river not too far away from here. I could see her almost tumble and fall.


    I waited for a short moment before breathing out a sigh of relief. "I''m alone with Alina." As soon as my thought reached Asher, I felt something drain my mana.


    "ce your hand on her forehead. Let the spell do the work." Asher replied after a short moment. As his magic, mixed with mine, started to gather in my palm, I did as he said. A soft light shone on Alina''s pale face, slowly restoring her natural colour.


    The scratches and bite marks started to heal, though the process was painstakingly slow. I summoned my interface to check my mana. It was being drained with an enormous speed. "How long will this take?" I asked Asher after a moment''s hesitation. He remained silent for a short while.


    "I''m not sure." He replied after some time. "Are you ok? You were in a daze for a while down there."


    I shrugged. "The released souls weren''t exactly kind to me." Seeing the memories of man-eating spiderlings wasn''t a pleasant experience. "But I can say one thing for sure. Demons used to live there. I''m not sure how the spider got to consume a demon''s soul, but I''m sure I saw the memories of a demon."


    Silence followed my words. After a while, the soft glow shining from my hand dimmed as the magic gathered in my palm dissipated. With worry in my heart, I immediately turned my gaze on Alina. Colour had returned to her face and she was breathing a lot easier now.


    "She''s not fully healed." Asher said a short whileter. "I got rid of the poison, but she''ll have to regain her strength the usual way – resting and eating well."


    "Thank you, Asher." I said as my lips formed a faint smile.


    "Any time." I heard the exhaustion in his voice before I felt the connection end. With a sigh, I got up and stretched my arms and legs. Alina was out of the woods, but now I was worried about everyone else.


    Where the hell had Alex gone to? I''d understand Joshua running off somewhere since he was a bit too independent, but Alex just up and leaving like this made absolutely no sense. And on top of all that, Samantha had gone too.


    As I was pondering all this, I heard light footsteps. I nced towards them to see Rina approaching with a bucket of water in hand. I couldn''t help but feel guilty for deceiving her but if she knew about my rtionship with Asher, she''d be furious.


    "Where did you find the bucket?" I asked, somewhat confused.


    "It was in my inventory. How is she?" Rina asked, ncing at Alina. I smiled and replied. "She''ll be fine. Do you mind staying with her? I''d like to look for the others."


    "Oh, thank god!" Rina said with a breath of relief. I noticed a tear rolling off her cheek but decided to stay quiet about it. "But Kai, how will you even find them?" She asked after a short moment. I smiled and summoned my wings.


    "I can move faster like this and I can see farther. Don''t worry Rina, I''ll do everything I can to make sure Alex is safe, so just stay here and look out for Alina." I smiled.


    "Yeah." She said with a faint smile. "Just... don''t disappear on me, ok?"


    "You know I won''t." I said before stretching my wings. "I''ll be back soon." With those words, I leapt into the air and allowed my wings to carry me to the skies. It didn''t take me long to find Erik and Vincent at all, since the first thing I saw was them, walking down the river.


    I folded my wings and dove towards them, only slowing down at thest second. As Inded right before them, they both jumped back, ready to fight.


    "Kai?" Erik shrieked.


    "You scared the hell out of me, man!" Vincent shouted. I smiled and quickly exined the situation with Alina. As they listened to me, I could see the relief in their eyes.


    "But why don''t you want us toe with you?" Erik asked when I finally told them to go back to Rina and Alina.


    "You''ll just slow me down. I can fly, remember?" I said, gesturing towards my wings. Erik flinched, he clearly wanted to protest to my words. "He''s right." Vincent chimed in. "Let him do what he can. Besides, are you really ok with leaving Rina and Alina alone in such a dangerous ce?"


    Erik hesitated, then relented. "Fine. But be careful, Kai."


    "Of course I will. Do you know which way they went?" I asked. Vincent nodded. "I think they followed the river. You can maybe try your luck over at theke." He shrugged. "Good luck."


    "Thanks." I once again leapt into the air and allowed the blowing winds to carry me towards theke. I soon noticed the reason Vincent told me to follow the river – the bushes and grass on this side of the water were trampled upon. Someone, or something, had clearly passed through here. I pictured Alex in my mind. Her long tail was certainly capable of such destruction.


    But... why would she leave Rina ande this far? It made no sense; she wasn''t someone who''d leave those she cared about behind. She was kind, thoughtful and considerate. She would risk her own life to save Rina. She''d even saved me countless times.


    I continued to follow the river until the clear tracks changed course into the forest. I sighed – I couldn''t see the ground from all the leaves. I had tond to be able to continue following the tracks they''d left behind.


    Inded carefully, then hid my wings. They''d be nothing but a hindrance between the trees. With a deep breath, I stepped among the trees.