Heda turned toward me as soon as I got closer to the champions. "What did you find?" she asked. 

"Nothing," I replied, downcast. "Something's wrong. The forest must be swarming with beasts right now." 

"They are all around us," Heda replied. She looked around scanning the burning woods with her green eyes. "They're far from here, but I can sense their hostile intent locked in on us." 

"How many?" I asked. 

Heda shrugged. "Too many to count, fire is keeping them at bay at the moment." 

I scratched my head. "There's no boat around. We can't reach the lab by crossing the lake." 

Heda's eyes narrowed. "What do you mean?" 

"You say there are too many monsters, blocked by the fire. Is that right?" I asked. 

Heda nodded. 

"But we haven't met these so called monsters before," Sylens said. 

"Exactly!" I cut in. "Rimbaldi got agitated when I told him about Omega. He must have sent more of his creations after us, but they got blocked off by the fire. What does that tell you?" 

Heda's eyes widened. "He has a secret entrance," she whispered. 

"How could that be?" Friede asked. "His laboratory is in an island within the lake."

"Have you seen the monsters he created?" I asked with a mocking smile. "For all we know, that lake could be a fake. We don't know what that mad man can or cannot do." 

"What about that Omega type?" Sylens asked. 

"What about him?" I retorted. 

"The scientist is scared of him. Who is he?" Sylens was still glaring at me. He didn��t like me, and the feeling was mutual. 

I sighed. "Let's make some things clear. I am helping you because we have a common goal. I do not answer to you, nor do I have to explain myself to you. The same goes for all of you. I will not ask about your lives, and frankly, I just don't care. So stop pestering me with questions you have no business asking. Do I make myself clear?" 

"He's right," Friede said before Sylens could say a word. "He never asked about our lives or our motives. We've also hid things from him. Yet, he never begrudged us for doing so. Stop pestering the man Sylens." 

Heda nodded. "As long as we're working for a common goal, I don't mind having you around." 

"Then it's settled," I said, beaming. "We need to find a way though the burning forest now. Any suggestions?" 

Sylens glared at me, but he didn't utter a word. He crossed his arms and listened to us in silence. 

"I can sense all the monsters that are waiting beyond the fire. I can guide us around the forest and away from the line of fire, but it would take a long time," Heda said. 

"We could sneak past them in that case," I said, scratching my chin. "What's the other option? The fire may fade, and the monsters could feel our presence and chase after us." 

"Friede can cast a protective spell around us to cross the fire, but we'll be facing a large horde of monsters by then," Heda said. 

I turned to Friede. "Can we still cast magic when surrounded by your protective s.h.i.+eld?" 

Friede nodded. 

"Can you cast one on me alone?" I asked. 

"What are you planning?" Heda asked. 

"Even if we break through the fire, we don't know where the secret entrance is," I said, thoughtful. "I could go alone, run past the monsters and look for Rimbaldi's hidden cave." 

"Or I could trace the monsters' threads and find where they originated from," Heda retorted. 

My jaw dropped. "You can do that too?" I asked, bewildered. 

"I could do it if I really concentrate. I won't be able to provide you with any support then. Walking becomes a challenge when I try to trace the threads of fate," Heda replied.

"We'll keep you safe," Sylens said in a solemn voice. "Just find us where Rimbaldi's hiding. I want to give him a piece of my mind." 

"We could always try the sneaky approach," Friede said. 

"We'll waste too much time. Besides we don't know how this fire will spread," I retorted. "I'd rather risk a full encounter with the beasts." 

"There will be hundreds of them," Friede protested. 

"The more, the merrier," I said with a wide smile. "You keep us protected. I'll use Rimbaldi's weapons against him. We'll carve our way through the beasts while Heda finds the entrance for us." 

"I could try –" Heda stopped as soon as she began speaking. We heard a loud roar coming from inside the forest. Fire surged toward the sky, illuminating the lake behind us. We were staring at a gigantic bonfire. It began consuming the forest faster, spreading in all directions. 

We heard another throaty roar. Then large columns of fire rose above the burning forest. Each column was large enough to cover a small village. They flew toward each other and began merging. Soon, a shape began forming. 

It was humanoid, albeit made completely of fire. Blue and orange flames licked each other, cackling and exploding every time they met. The fire creature slowly landed in front of us. It didn't have a face or any feature to distinguish its front from its back. It had limbs, but they were mere imitations of our shapes. 

Heda gasped. "This is an elemental," she whispered. 

"A what now?" Sylens asked. 

"It's the embodiment of the element of fire. The Holi Wars are approaching, so all kinds of beasts and strange phenomena will happen around us," Heda replied. 

"What do we do against such a thing?" Friede asked. 

"They're usually neutral, unless we cause it offense," Heda whispered. "Don't speak so loud either. We don't know what could irritate it." 

The fire elemental began walking toward us. Every step it made caused its surroundings to take fire. Then they'd immediately spread as a straight line, barring our way if we ever tried to escape that way. 

"I don't think this is a friendly or neutral approach," Sylens said. 

The fire elemental roared, blasting hot wind our way. Soon enough, everything around us took fire. I looked at all the champions, then at the fire elemental. It clearly wasn't neutral, or perhaps this was its nature all along. We had but one way left for us.

"There's the lake behind us," I told the champions. "How long can you hold your breath?"

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