As she watched the two fairies moving, Nixa was grudgingly impressed by Luita's grace and cunning as he drew closer to the tower. Even she did not think she could do better than he was.
Luita and Etal continued to draw ever closer to the tower, all the while keeping a watchful eye for any kind of movement. So far, things had been going smoothly, a little too smoothly.
Despite Luita's doubts, he still pressed forward, hoping to find an empty ruin or just a rundown place, as the exterior would suggest. Deep down, he knew this was wishful thinking.
Finally, after all the creeping, and flying low, they finally made it to the tower. They were now just a few meters away from the tower. The plan was to move as close as possible without putting themselves in any harm and then take a peek inside. If it was safe, then they could draw nearer.
Leaving Etal in a hidden position, Luita advanced forward until he was next to the wall of the tower. He then proceeded to fly upwards, looking for a crevice he could peek from. Any crack in the wall was welcome. He did not want to go in without knowing what was inside.
He saw a window built way up in on the shire of the tower. He quickly made his way there and craned his neck, hoping to see the inside.
His eyes took a moment to adjust to the darkness, but when he did, he saw several figures staring at him. There was a throne of some kind, in an elevated place.
At first, Luita was given a flight. Seeing that many beings looking at him, he wanted to run away. However, on second glance, he noticed these figures were unmoving. They did not seem to even be breathing. He let out a deep breath, realizing how scared he'd been. He reassured himself that they were just statues.
"Senior-" Just as he was settling down, a voice sounded beside him, causing him to let out a yelp as he dashed from the side. Looking back, he saw that it was Etal who'd spoken.
"What are you doing here?" He demanded. He was ashamed that he had been so easily frightened, so he tried to cover it up with rage.
"Sorry senior," Etal began. He wanted to snigger but now was not the time. "I wanted to ask, is that something we should be worried about?" he said, as he pointed at something.
Looking in the direction the junior had indicated, Luita was shocked to see a swirling black cloud in the sky. It looked as though it was headed towards them.
"What is that?" He demanded, but Etal could only stare blankly at him.
"When did it get there?" This time, Etal had an answer. "It appeared as soon as you began climbing the spire of the tower."
Whatever it was, it was not good, Luita thought. "Quickly, let's get out of here," he said as he took to the skies. However, just as he was turning around, he noticed another cloud in the opposite direction. He could also spot another moving much farther back, but in a different direction.
"Follow me!" He shouted as he shot to the skies, furiously beating his wings. Looking behind, he was happy to see Etal, Foli's junior, keeping up with him. As he continued to fly, he noticed that the clouds seemed to be merging, forming an encirclement that resembled a black ring in the sky.
As they drew closer to this ring of black cloud, Luita noticed that this ring seemed to respond to his movements. When they dipped, so would the ring, when they soared, the cloud would follow them.
Once they were close enough, Luita understood what the black cloud was made of. Thousands, no, millions of tiny bugs were swirling in that dense black cloud. These bugs were like nothing he had ever seen.
They seemed to have a hard outer body like a beetle, but they also had some powerful wings. They had a protruding substance on their faces, but it had spikes on it, making it look quite comical and lethal at the same time. However, Luita was not laughing.
As a rainforest fairy, he understood that insects could be extremely destructive, especially when they moved as a group. Therefore, he did not intend to get entangled in that mess. The problem was, they seemed to be everywhere. Slowly, they were tightening the noose.
Luita made a desperate gamble. Shooting down, he wanted to go as close to the ground as possible, so as to evade the bugs. Etal followed suite, keeping close to his senior. Neither had talked, but they both understood how precarious their situation was.
Just as they were drawing close to the ground, multiple vines shot up from the bog, trying to capture them. Luita immediately evaded the attack, looking back to check on his junior's condition. Fortunately, even Etal had managed to evade the attack. However, multiple vines were sprouting off the bog and launching attacks at the two.
Luita desperately evaded the attacks, while trying to make up as much ground as possible. He was focused on the ground and the sky, keeping watch lest any attack came his way. His wings were very fast and his body extremely responsive, so he still had hope that he could make it out alive.
Turning around, he noticed with dour expression that Etal was no longer on his tail. The frantic movements to dodge the various attacks must have separated them. Luita found himself all alone, wondering if he should go back or continue moving forward.
There was no going back. Already, the cloud of bugs had formed what looked like a wall behind him, pursuing him. More bugs were falling from the skies, launching attacks. With his rod, he would strike at anything that got too close, tossing it out of his path. However, he had to get out because he couldn't keep this up for much longer.
Somehow, Luita managed to spot the clearing, and started flying towards it. Sadly, his little fairy comrade had been lost. He did not even want to imagine the fate that had befallen him, nor the expressions of his comrades when he delivered the news. How would Kigen, their senior, react, he wondered.
Just as he was flying to it, a massive explosion sounded. Right before his path, a brilliant ball of fire spread out. Those bugs that were not already disbursed by the concussive effect of the explosion were severely burned, some even turning to ash instantly.
The force of the explosion almost sent Luita careening, but he had also been moving at such high speeds, so his momentum managed to hold him. All around him, the bugs were destroyed.
For a moment, the area around him was devoid of bugs. In the corner of his eyes, he saw him, Etal. Still flying but looking worse for wear. He had taken quite the punishment from the bugs, but he did not fall. Like him, he was still holding on.
As though the two had come to an agreement, the moment their eyes locked, they both shot forward, heading towards the little bit of clearing. Their hind wings were still very much operational, giving them that little boost they needed to clear the bugs and finally see the sun once more.
Once out of the cloud, their next objective was to put as much distance between them and the bugs. Luita managed to grab hold of Etal's hand. The tendrils in his hands firmly locked the younger fairy to the elder's grasp, ensuring that they would not be separated.
As he did this, Luita did not stop flapping his wings. He flew in a straight line, headed for the forest and out of the creepy and stinky bog. As he flew, he noticed it, an arrow coming from the direction of the forest.
Since they had noticed it from a far, the two easily evaded it, but not before noticing that they were not the intended target. The next moment, a big boom sounded behind them, reminding Luita of the explosions that had rescued them from bug cloud.
Luita did not even turn back. He knew the bugs were disrupted once more. He did not want to waste the kind intentions of whoever was firing that arrow, so he simply kept flying, pushing his wings to the maximum.
After all the struggle, and all the effort, he finally got close to the edge of the bog. Right at the tree line, he saw them, his fellow fairies signaling him. He quickly made his way to them, flying over the bog and into the forest.
"Come quickly," Nixa said, once the two finally met up with the larger group, "Come meet your saviors." After that, she flew into the forest, where several humanoids were located.