Pincered

The witch lifted her hand up and dispelled the curse that she placed on them. Immediately upon doing so, the two jumped off the ground and distanced themselves from them, only for them to bump into the werewolves which were behind them.

"Caught you rats," Bloodmane said as he wrapped his arms around Lisler's chest, holding him tightly so that he wouldn't be able to break free or move his arms and reach for his weapon. The other werewolves were restricting the lady.

"Unhand me you brutes!" She cried out while struggling to get free. The werewolves ignored her and continued pinning her down against the ground.

"Hm? Since when did you all get ahead of us?" Bloodmane saw that the Witch, Kies, Haro, and Issie were all standing in front of him.

"We took a rift," Haro told him.

"Oh, that makes sense. I was wondering why they suddenly stopped and why you're all in front of them as well." Strangely, Bloodmane didn't question the point in them chasing after the two of when the witch could just open up a rift ahead of them. It was that or he didn't really care.

The sound of wingbeats echoed through the trees from behind the werewolves followed by the sound of a voice protesting to let him down. Ammine and Fae arrived just seconds after the werewolves and the demon dropped the undead down onto the ground after lowering them down to a safe height.

Kies saw that neither of them looked too happy. But it made sense because one of them didn't want to be carried and was protesting the entire time and the other one was the one who was getting an earful despite trying to help.

"Oh. Your excellency, when did you get here?" Fae noticed that the witch was here along with everyone else. "Actually, when did the rest of you get here as well? I thought you were all behind us."

Before anyone had the chance to answer the undead's question, Ammine butted in and asked, "What are we going to do with these two?" They have no time to waste as they needed to locate the Bone Whistler fast before he regenerated too much of his magic power.

"Oh yes, that. Forget my silly question, what's our next course of action?" Fae turned to the witch and looked for orders.

"Isn't it obvious? We beat the information out of them," said Bloodmane. The werewolf let go of Lisler and kicked the undead hard in the back, causing him to fall down to the ground. Before he could recover, Bloodmane put his foot on the undead and pressed him onto the dirt. The werewolf then leaned down, flashed his claws, and said, "You better start speaking, and in a way that I can understand too."

The undead was unfazed by the werewolf's threat and simply laughed. "This body has long lost its breath. You cannot harm me. If you wish for this mouth to open, best me in combat," Lisler told the werewolf. The undead reached for his sword with his free hand and drew it. He slashed at Bloodmane's leg but the werewolf reacted in time and jumped back, dodging the strike. "Come, reveal to me your skills," Lisler said as he readied his sword and ran at the werewolf.

Bloodmane got ready to intercept the undead but Ammine jumped in and brought the undead back onto the ground in a flash. She disarmed him and sent his sword spinning right past Kies, almost cutting off his head, and into a tree behind him. "What are you doing, demon!?" Bloodmane demanded from her.

"We have no time for a d*amn fight! Witch, get the information out of him already!" Ammine was in a really bad mood. She wanted to get this mission over with as quickly as possible. She had been in this forest long enough. Any more and she would completely lose it and start slaughtering everyone and everything in sight.

Ammine looked at the witch directly in the eye, unaffected by her charm. The witch was taken aback a little by the fierceness in the demon's eyes. She shook her head and walked over to Lisler and was about to cast a spell on him when the undead's body suddenly crumbled into powder and sunk into the dirt. "What?"

Everyone turned and looked to the other undead which was being held down by a few of the werewolves and saw that she had crumbled away as well. "This might be an illusion," Kies told everyone, remembering that that was what magic the lady used. They might have been tricked by her, thinking that they had captured them, but in reality, they haven't.

"No, I definitely felt that scoundrel under my foot," said Bloodmane. "There's no way that was an illusion."

"Hoot, that was no illusion," Haro agreed with Bloodmane. "It was some kind of magic spell which allowed them to escape. I haven't seen the likes of it before, but I am certain of it. I can sense magic lingering on the ground where they disappeared."

"This is magic I have not seen before either," Fae also said. The undead walked up to the spot where Lisler disappeared, kneeled down, and placed his hand over the dirt. "This is bad. We completely lost them."

"Hey White Witch, can't you use your puddle spell to find them?" Kies asked her. She was able to locate them from very far away and bring them right to the two undead. She did say that she was conserving strength for the Bone Whistler, but it seems to him that it is the only way they could find them again. "Wait, actually, can't you just locate the Bone Whistler instead?"

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