Strider lunges at Hatch intending to catch the unlucky bile bonded creature. He makes sure to stay near Maya though as Maya tries to back Mae and Deidre. She knew that she was leaving Justin alone against Conquerers but she didnt know or trust him. Besides he looked like he was handling himself quiet nicely.


Kaden tries to help Rue by blocking the attack using a sword he had picked up. Kaden smirks at the Conqueror trying to throw the Conqueror off balance. Not being all that experienced with a saber Kaden does his best to fight and asks for his spirit animal*s help. Orical looks in Kaden*s direction before going back to preening herself on a bamboo branch. She does give him just a bit of speed though. Kaden stabs and slashed at his opponent trying force the opponent on guard.


Justin parries the blow and strikes at Mehesh again. He understood Mahesh*s loyalty but wished it wouldnt have to end this way. *May I ask a few questions Mehesh,* Justin asks going for a faint again, *Why do you fight for the Conquerors?* Justin keeps up the faints, parries, and superficial thrusts and slashes. Noticing Ahmir Justin strikes at Ahmir to keep Ahmir away. Eyes like chips of ice Justin fights on as Orin swoops down and attacks Hatch trying to pick the raccoon up.

Hatch screech at Strider when the red wolf gets too close for comfort. The raccoon claws and threatens to bite at Strider's face and neck and any other part of Strider that gets to close to him. Hatch screeches again when Orin swoops and grabs at him. Ahmir is just glad that the wolf and bird is occupied with something that isn't him.

The Conqueror facing Kaden does not seem as smug as Kaden appears and is quite annoyed that he blocked her from her earlier and easier opponent. She brushes off most of his attacks though Kaden succeeds in dealing some damage.
Rue thanks Kaden and circles around the two, looking for an opening that he can use to injure the Conqueror and return the aid Kaden had given him.

"You may ask your questions, but I can't promise a reply let alone one you will enjoy hearing." Mahesh says as he steps out of the way of the next few strikes. His sword is soon back up in a position that he can easily defend and attack from. "They are my family now, though at the beginning I was just planning on keeping a promise I had given someone." He shifts his weight as he makes his next attack. "And, the Bile cures the Bonding Sickness."
Ahmir blocks with his scimitar and presses his own attack. His first concern was getting Justin away from Mahesh and making sure Mahesh would not die.

*It may seem like the bile cures bonding sickness but it doesnt and the Keepers can prove this. The bile only makes you a puppet to Gerathon. I*ve seen it with my own eyes and I know how badly the bonding sickness needs a cure and to be prevented. Thats why Im helping the Greencloaks to negotiate for the distribution of Nectar of Nanani with them,* Justin parries Ahmir*s attack, *I wont insult you by asking you to trade sides but know you can walk away before more innocent blood is spilled.* Justin strikes at Mahesh again before striking at Ahmir. He hoped they would take his advice and walk away but doubted they would. Before too long Orin swoops over their heads and tries to drop Hatch onto Ahmir*s head.


Maya turns her attention to Justin*s opponents and begins to fight alongside Justin. She tries to knock Ahmir*s sword out of his hand with her staff. She wondered if Justin was telling the truth about the bile and what the Keepers had discovered.

Mahesh smiles some when Justin explains and steps back to give himself some room to breath and think. "Do you expect me to trust you? After the infiltrator's deceiving and your own actions against me? Fool." He reproaches quietly, almost as though he had a feeling that Justin had not had his hopes up about him believing. Mahesh turns Justin's strike aside but no longer pursues to attack Justin. "I shouldn't believe a word you say. It goes against what I know and I can't just walk away even if I wished to. You said why yourself: a puppet to Gerathon. Why tell me this? Why try to convince me?"
Ahmir yelps when Maya's staff connects with his hand. He drops the sword and takes a half-step back. The angry raccoon drops on Ahmir's head and Ahmir gets a few scratches before Hatch calms down. Ahmir stares at Mahesh, not understanding why Mahesh was listening to the Keeper and backing off from a fight.

Mae had heard a lot from these Keepers and didn't trust a single word that came out of Justin's mouth. Ashia had used deception, why couldn't Justin? She reminds herself to tell her friends about the Keeper's lies once the battle is over. For right now, she's gaining her breath back after the Conqueror fell.

*Because you remind of someone I knew, someone who had the bonding sickness too, someone who is no longer alive. And you are a worthy opponent. I dont care if you believe me even though Im telling the truth. Im sorry about the deception but you ambushed us,* Justin holds his ground not backing off nor attacking. He fully expected the fight to continue and was grateful for the breather. He was not lying and tried to avoid deception. The whole thing left a bad taste in his mouth. He disliked Ashia*s methods but he also knew that deception was Ashia*s best tool to change the tide of war.


Maya overhears what Justin says and wonders if he is telling the truth. She didnt know much about the Keepers but from what she did know they were skilled not just with weapons apparently. And that the most dangerous Keeper was rumored to have a fox spirit animal. Maya sees Orin out of the corner of her eye as he swoops in to attack Ahmir. Maya didnt know much about different birds but she did know that Orin was Justin*s spirit animal and not a fox. Maya*s eyes widen slightly realizing that most likely the leader of the Keepers was in the maze and close to the talisman.

Mahesh dips his head to acknowledge the praise of being a worthy opponent but he doesn't let that get to his head and he doesn't overthink it. Praise usually made him more uncomfortable than anything. "I'm sorry for your loss." Mahesh says on the topic of Justin knowing someone who had died and doesn't say anything else. To defend his ambushing, he reasoned that he had just been doing his job and that it hadn't been anything personal; then he had let the Keeper and her group go, which he is starting to seriously regret. He adjusts his grip on his sword as he debates whether or not he should continue fighting Justin. Then again, Justin was young and killing him would not sit well with Mahesh's morals.
Ahmir dodges Orin's attack and decreases the time Mahesh has to decide what he'll do when Ahmir picks up his sword and attempts to strike Justin once more. Mahesh steps up and stops Ahmir from hitting Justin. As Ahmir complains, Mahesh calls for the remainder of his group to stand down. Akemi returns to passive state. Mahesh watches the Greencloaks and Justin carefully, "Go rejoin the other Keeper. At least then you will surrender or die with them."

Ryan stops running with Jay and begins to turn around. Something felt terribly wrong. He had to go back and help his friends. He had to go back and stop the Greencloaks. When Jay calls for him, Ryan shakes his head, dismisses the Conqueror group he had been with as a lost cause, and catches back up with the Keeper's group. He now knows that the Keeper is in this group and defeating her and the rest of the group would be what the Conquerors would want him to do.

*Thank you,* Justin responds calling Orin back into passive state. Stepping back he turns towards the Greencloaks, *Are you coming?* Justin puts his sword away and begins to walk away from the group and begins to track Ashia.

Maya notices the look in Mahesh*s eyes and quickly follows Justin. Kaden looks at Rue before following Maya. Calmly he asks his spirit animal to go back into passive state. Strider goes back into passive state for Maya. Kaden didnt trust Justin but knew better than to question why they had been let go. He was beginning to understand why some people joined the Conquerors and why Justin had joined the Keepers.


Ashia notices Ryan*s behavior and begins to slow, *We should wait for a bit in case the others are trying to catch up. Besides it would be a nice break.* Calmly she fingers her bow and looks around pretending to look for something. She knew that the Zhongize forces inside the maze would shoot down anything they saw especially something that was flying. She hopes that Ryan believes she is searching for a bird or another flying animal as well.

Mahesh and the other Conquerors in his squad let the Greencloaks and Keeper leave without further grievances. The Conquerors that are able to do so begin to tend to their wounded.

Rue stops aiming his crossbow at the Conqueror's back, but his finger is still on the trigger. After a moment, he simply curses and decides not to unload the crossbow just yet since he doesn't want to injure the crossbow or lose a bolt. He smiles and shrugs towards Kaden when he looks at him and keeps by Kaden's side. He trails his hand along the scratch that the ax had given him absentmindedly. "Nice job using the saber. I didn't think you knew how to use one." Rue says to Kaden as Sting returns to passive state.
Mae decides that the best thing to do would be to follow her friends and Justin and not stay with the Conquerors. She warns her group of deception around the other Keeper just in case they hadn't caught that information when Justin and Mahesh were talking.

Jay instantly accepts Ashia's call for a break without any hesitation. He sits down as soon as he can. "My goodness, it seems that we have been running for forever." He notes and drinks some water. Jay eyes Ashia, knowing that the break wouldnt be as extended as he wished it would be. "How long until we start up again?"
Hazel keeps walking with Brandon for a little while, simply exploring the surrounding area for a few moments before they have cooled down some and trusted themselves to come to a full stop.
Ryan observes the groups response before resting near Jay and attempting to start up a conversation with which he could learn more about the Keeper and her group. Jay is willing to talk with Ryan and doesn't see much harm in it as long as he doesn't give away too much.

Justin walks quickly trying to both keep going and allow the Greencloaks to keep up with him without getting to tired. He knew after they would get to the other group then the real battle would begin. Until then he figured Ashia would wait a bit for him to catch up and for other reinforcements. He knew that Ryan was still with them which would not be good for appearances. He hopes Ashia has found some way to get rid of Ryan by now.


Maya nods once to Mae, *What else do you know about the Keepers?* Maya had a feeling that there were more stories and more in general that the Keepers knew that they had hidden from the world. *Do you believe what he said? Speaking of which do you know his name? Calling him Keeper is going to get old.*

*First time for everything Rue,* Kaden explains, *I just trusted my instincts,* Kaden responds, *You did good out there too Rue. Im glad no one was killed or seriously injured either.* He keeps up with Justin fairly easily and quickly picks up on the trail.


Ashia shakes her head, *An hour. That way the others can catch up and so we are rested before we go for the talisman.* She tries not to betray how nervous she is as she waits. This was always the hardest time for her the waiting. The calm before the storm made it even harder on her nerves.

"I think the other Keeper called him Jacob, but he told me that his name was Justin earlier. I trust Justin more than our thief." Mae reports to Maya. She says what she knows, including the description and first impressions of the others in Ashia's group and the Conqueror, Ryan, who Mahesh sent with them. She still sounds annoyed at the fact that Brandon can't call his animal into passive state as easily as others.

Rue is also grateful that no one he knew personally was killed or seriously injured. He nods, "If your instincts ever tell you to buy me a cookie, you should follow that instinct, too. I foresee that if you do so, you will convince a powerful ally to become indebted to you." He pretends to be mystical and all-knowing. His playful grin gives away that he is joking and doesn't expect Kaden to buy him anything and he doesn't believe himself to be very powerful, but since Kaden was complimenting him on his abilities he might as well use that card. Rue matches Kaden's pace without a second thought.

"Smart." Ryan comments on Ashia's plan. He seems calm and relaxed and, after a while, Jay follows suit.
Hazel and Brandon are more wary of Ryan than Jay is and prefer to keep quiet and keep their distance from him when possible.