Riven had heard stories about the Supreme Empire when he was very young from his parents. The Supreme Empire didn't encompass many human territories, but it was very powerful.
And its forces were so loyal to the king that dying was better than lying while making an oath in the name of the king.
As he was lost in these thoughts, Null repeated his question once again.
"So are you now willing to help us or NOT?"
Riven stared directly into the eyes of Null but he didn't immediately respond. He fell into deep thought — He wondered if he could make the terms more favorable to him.
Just then, the leaves of the trees began to rustle. He looked around him and saw vines and roots of every tree around him moved and pointed towards him.
He glared at the forest Princess with killing intent. This was her work. But she just smiled playfully and said,
"What? Don't look at me like that. I'll just break the bones and reopen the wounds I healed. I won't make it any worse than before — I promise."
Riven didn't reply to her instead he stared at Null and said.
"Fine, I will help you. Tell me what I have to do?"
Then the leaves stopped rustling, and he looked around him, the vines and roots that were pointed towards him had returned to their natural positions.
Then Null spoke, his voice cutting through the silence of the night.
"A good choice kid…"
Null paused, then turned and stared straight ahead — raising his hand and waving it forward.
"Follow me, I will talk about mission details in our camp."
Riven's eyes narrowed, he looked at them in surprise, and said.
"You have a camp so deep into enemy territories?"
Forest crossed her arms and said.
"What? You are doubting our capabilities?"
Riven glared at her but he didn't even bother to reply to her. He had no mood to speak to someone who constantly gave him death threats.
A heartbeat later, Null replied.
"That base is the result of us operating in the forest for months."
Then Null began to walk towards a large tree, he grabbed onto the uneven surface of the trunk and said.
"Follow me, everyone."
Riven looked at Null climbing trees and said.
"My Wolf can't climb trees…"
Riven could obviously store the Wolf in the domain and go with them. But he had no intention of revealing his powers that weren't necessary.
Null stopped climbing, he glared at the Wolf, then he turned towards Gravitor and said.
"Ride his wolf and lead him to our base."
Then Null resumed climbing and turned around while Gravitor looked at Null with displeasure and said.
"Why me?"
Null turned back to him after he was standing on the branch of a tree.
"It's because I say so."
Riven interrupted and said.
"What if we disturb some beast and then they attack us?"
Null stared down at him and said.
"Gravitor knows how to avoid them. If some spots you then just kill them."
Null paused and added with authority.
"Just kill them — it's not a big deal."
Then Null started to jump from one tree to another while the Forest Princess giggled and said.
"It's okay Gravitor, have fun with him as you have with the girls."
Then she climbed one tree and began to jump from one tree to another at incredible speeds, following Null. After, Forest Princess was out of their sight, Gravitor turned towards him and said.
"Why are you looking at me like that?"
Riven didn't speak a word instead he walked towards his wolf while Gravitor followed him, then he got on the Wolf's back.
But when Gravitor tried to mount, the wolf swayed side to side until he fell — then slammed the ground repeatedly with its feet, glaring at him with raw rage.
Gravitor fell silent, glared at Riven, and said.
"Get this savage under control kid."
Riven didn't speak a word instead grabbed onto the chains around his neck and commanded.
"Let him get on."
Then the wolf calmed down and Gravitor immediately mounted without even asking for permission.
Nonetheless after Gravitor mounted, Riven turned to him and asked.
"Which direction should we head in?"
Gravitor stood on the Wolf's back, looked around them, and pointed his finger to the south.
"In that direction."
Riven nodded and commanded the wolf to head south. Then the Wolf galloped towards the south in the dark.
***
Riven looked around him as the Wolf stopped moving by his command. Ahead of them were walls of a small hill covered with leaves and vines of towering tall trees completely hiding the hill.
On the surface of the walls of the hill, near the bottom was a small opening just big enough for Humans to enter.
But that wasn't what caught his attention. To his right, tall mountains rose into the fog — and at the peak of the tallest, half-obscured by fog, was the outline of a structure that didn't belong to nature.
He didn't need a clear view. He recognized it instantly. His eyes narrowed.
That's the Vrekhar base I escaped from.
Which made him wonder — just what kind of mission were they on?
As he looked around him, Gravitor dismounted and said.
"Follow me and your savage beast can't enter our base for obvious reasons."
Riven didn't say a word, he glared at the wolf and whispered to it.
"Stay near here and guard this place."
The Wolf didn't say anything but Riven knew it had understood its command so he dismounted it and walked towards the entrance of the cave.
He stepped inside the narrow tunnel with Gravitor and walked through the darkness for a few minutes until they saw faint light not too far away from them.
Riven saw dozens of weapons of all kinds — swords, spears, bows, and even axes neatly arranged and resting on the ground. He also saw sacks full of supplies such as medicine and food scattered throughout the room.
And armor of all kinds — light armor, heavy armor and masks similar to the one Gravitor and Null wore hung on the walls of the base.
He looked in front of him. He saw Null and Forest Princess heavily armed. The Forest Princess was wearing a similar mask too.
Both of them together looked deadly. Whatever the mission he was about to go with them wasn't going to be easy.