Almost instantly, Qete had realized what had happened, and spoke up immediately.
"Alloy's drift isn't hostile!!"
"What??" Naja asked.
"It's not hostile!! It just couldn't be handled within the siphoning trees of the forest so it was spit out, like a child's first time eating spicy meals!!"
"Regardless, we need to find a safe space," Zed said, standing as he held Alloy in his arms once again. "I can't get all of us out…" he looked up at the clear night sky. "There are no clouds for me to use my drift on. And I can't use my speed, I'll have to go through it, and we don't know what it can do to us if we're exposed, hostile or not."
Meanwhile, Lore was close to Eliza, she had laid Trogan down to rest in front of the other knights that he led who had also lost their lives and rushed to listen in on what was going on. Eliza had thought of something.
"The trees… you need a place in the forest that has no active trees!!" She urged.
"Where can we find such a place in this place??" Zed asked.
"The trees here are as voluminous as Qete's hair." Naja added. Just then, Lore gained the other half of the idea.
"THE PLACE YOU FOUND US!!" She shouted.
"Lore??!!" Zed noticed her voice.
"King Zed-san, the place you and Alloy arrived to save us!! Ivy had used her drift on that area. HER DRIFT IS POLLEN!!" She urged.
"That's right!!" He remembered.
"Her drift being pollen, she must've killed the flowers, plants and trees in that area alongside the debris of the trees that fell!!" Eliza added. "Zed…"
"Qete, Naja, place your hands on my shoulders." He said, finishing his sister's thought. The two did as they were told and with Alloy in his arms, he used his extreme speed to get them out and straight into the space that still reeked of dried blood and violence, none of the shadows were closing in on that area.
"Look!!" Qete noticed, shocked. "The shadows are going around the area, they aren't entering at all!!" Immediately, Naja noticed she had left something behind.
"Zed!! My horse is still there!!" She urged him. He obviously wasn't gonna let him stay exposed to the shadows so he gave Alloy to her and sped off, returning five seconds later with a neighing horse that was definitely irritated.
"That was slower than usual." She commented.
"Your horse doesn't weigh the same as a human."
"You carried three of us!!"
"And now I know how light you three are compared to your horse." He finished his statement as she called to Qete to make a place Alloy can lay due to the excess debris around them. She did as she was asked. Clearing some of the debris below them and creating a simple stroke with her index finger on her left hand with a pink spark accompanying it. She drew a rectangle on the ground she had cleared and a simple pink floating and solid rectangle was formed. Naja placed Alloy carefully on it as they began thinking of their next move.
"Qete, could you help me with what I asked??" He checked with her. She nodded and walked toward them. Naja then placed herself in-between them.
"Naja?? What's wrong??" Zed asked.
"Are you sure about this, Zedlis??"
"Yes. I've neglected her long enough, albeit the timing is the pinnacle of odd, but from here, she'll manage on her own."
She moved out of his way after seeing the look on his face, the look that most people would get after realizing they hurt someone they didn't mean to more than they thought, regret. That was what was plastered on the King's face.
Qete arrived, Naja held Alloy's body to its side so they could move her long hair from the back of her neck. Qete stroke her hand with her finger once more, making a small line on the pink platform Alloy lay on. The line rose to the height Zed needed for him to begin.
"Be as gentle as you can, sir…" she added.
"Thank you." He said. Afterward, he began, his finger sparked very light voltages of electricity, each one sparking again, adding, subtracting… it was delicate, but it needed to be done. His drift was ready, he then let out a short and sharp stream of lightning out of it, and aimed at his daughter's neck. He began… so many of his memories with his child flooded with every line he drew, every curve he took, every sear of flesh he heard as he inscribed something on his child that the kingdom, nay, the world would be shocked to know about.In no time, he was done, the symbol was now fresh on Alloy's skin before Qete's tiny shield that prevented the king's power from possibly doing more damage due to Zed's emotional situation and his sudden decisions toward his daughter, it just glowed a bit, Alloy's new symbol was now healed, she would come to wake up to quite a lot of information, but how she would take it, would definitely surprise most. She was still unconscious, and Zed began tearing up before he spoke.
"Naja, Qete, I'd like us to leave her here before she wakes up…" He said. Instantly, Naja hit him and asked.
"NOW YOU WANT TO LEAVE HER TO FIGURE IT OUT ALONE??!! WHAT KIND OF FATHER ARE YOU??!!" She shouted, pissed at her friend.
"I'm a father who's failed his child, and she needs a second chance. I doubt she wants to see the face of someone who let the enemy get away with her friend. That's why… oh…" he interrupted himself, checking around his royal attire for his crystal before he took it out of his pocket.
"Soran… are you still there??" He asked.
"I'm here, brother Zed, and I agree with Naja on this matter."
"I'd like for you to be the last one of us that she sees. Even if seeing you will remind her of the blunder of letting your Star Cross sword get into enemy hands, she will listen to what you have to say… will you do it?? Please…"
"Tell me what to do." He replied, no doubt of his niece's future in his voice. The instructions Soran was given were simple, straightforward and filled with the king's regret. Because of the drift that disrupted the forest, in no time, the clouds had began accumulating in the air. Their dark hue signified the rains, but Zed was to use them for something else. He could easily move from one cloud to another through lightning, and so could the people he carried. He took Naja, her horse and Qete to Eliza to finish up with the knights there. Separately of course, due to the horse's weight that Naja still ridiculed him about once he landed next to Eliza's party.
The last person to be carried was Soran. Zed had moved so fast around the forest with his power and the final place he landed was next to Soran on the edge of the Night Forest, took him, ignoring the questions and pleas the citizens of Navi due to urgency and brought him to Alloy. The last words he said in proximity to Alloy were…
"Tell her… that she saved the kingdom of Zephro, that we love her, that we're waiting for Ivy's return, and that we're waiting for hers as well… should she ever need us out there, the faintest of signals will be enough for us to appear wherever…" With those words, he left in the same flash he arrived there with. Soran sat down atop a broken log right next to her. He was surrounded by darkness, the forest's trees and air covered in Alloy's drift, he was surrounded entirely by the events of the previous three to four hours, and his niece was about to wake up… to which, he had no idea how to start what he was going to say to her. So he thought as he waited.