The forest at the base of the Indevena Valley was a labyrinth of ancient trees and thick, silver-leafed ferns. The moonlight struggled to pierce through the heavy canopy, leaving the floor in a treacherous twilight.

  "Quiet," Kale whispered, his hand going up to halt their progress.

  Izuna, with Kevin still gripping his shoulders, stopped instantly. "What is it, Big Bro? I don't see anything but trees."

  "That's the problem," Kale muttered, kneeling to touch the soil. The five sets of footprints they had been following didn't fade away—they simply ended. "The tracks stop here. But there’s no sign of a struggle. They didn't run. They’re waiting for us."

  "Waiting?" Izuna’s eyes narrowed.

  "Get down!" Kale lunged backward, grabbing Izuna’s belt and pulling him behind a massive oak.

  Thwack! Thwack! Thwack!

  Three shimmering needles, thin as hair but glowing with a faint crimson light, hissed through the air. They slammed into the tree where Izuna’s head had been a second before.

  "Snipers?" Izuna hissed, his face shifting into battle-readiness.

  "Worse. Professional trackers," Kale said. His heart was hammering, but his mind remained ice-cold. He felt a strange thrumming in his temples—a rhythmic pulse that made the world seem to move in slow motion. "Izuna, they are in the trees. Five of them. They knew we were following."

  Suddenly, five figures dropped from the branches, landing silently in a circle around them. They were tall, lean men wearing high-collared red suits made of a strange, metallic silk. Their faces were hidden behind white porcelain masks.

  "Hand over the boy," one of the men said, his voice a hollow echo. "And the soldiers die quickly."

  "Soldiers?" Izuna stepped out from behind the tree, cracking his neck. He set Kevin down gently behind a rock. "Hey, kid, close your eyes and count to twenty. This is gonna get hot."

  "Izuna, wait!" Kale warned. "Don't rush in! They’re using wire-work!"

  But Izuna was already a blur of motion. "Fire Fist!" he roared.

  Izuna’s right hand erupted into a brilliant, swirling orange flame. He launched himself at the nearest man, his fist leaving a trail of sparks in the air. The impact sounded like a car crash, sending the man flying backward through two trees as the heat scorched the leaves.

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  However, the other four didn't flinch. They moved in perfect unison, pulling thin, nearly invisible wires of crimson energy from their sleeves.

  "Izuna, jump! Now!" Kale screamed.

  Izuna reacted on instinct, leaping high into the air. Below him, the wires snapped shut like a giant spiderweb, slicing through the thick tree trunk they had been standing near as if it were soft butter.

  "They aren't just kidnappers," Kale realized, his eyes darting between the attackers. He noticed the wires weren't attached to the men’s hands, but to the trees behind them. "Izuna! The wires are anchored! If you hit the men, the wires tighten automatically! Don't hit them—hit the trees!"

  "The trees?! Are you crazy?!" Izuna shouted, parrying a kick from a Red Suit that sent sparks flying.

  "Just trust me! If you take out the anchors, the web collapses!"

  Izuna didn't hesitate. He trusted Kale’s brain more than his own. He redirected his next punch, missing a Red Suit's head and instead smashing his flaming fist into the base of the oak holding the wires. "Burst Fire Fist!"

  The tree shattered under the heat and pressure, and the tension in the crimson wires went slack.

  "Now! The one on the left!" Kale directed, pinpointing the gap in their formation.

  Izuna lunged, his elbow connecting with a Red Suit's mask, shattering the porcelain. With the formation broken, Izuna became a whirlwind of fire, his superior strength overpowering the remaining three in a flurry of burning strikes.

  Within minutes, the clearing was silent. The five men in red suits lay unconscious among the ferns.

  "Huff... huff... see? I told you... I could handle it," Izuna panted, extinguishing the flames on his hands.

  Kale walked over to one of the fallen men, his brow furrowed. "Something is wrong. They were too easy to find. Professional kidnappers with this much power wouldn't leave a trail this obvious for two stray soldiers."

  Kale reached down and pulled the mask off the leader.

  "Kevin, come here," Kale said quietly. "Is this one of the men who took your mother?"

  Kevin walked over, trembling, and looked at the man's face. His eyes went wide with confusion. "No... the men who took my mom had... they had tattoos on their necks. Like a black snake."

  Kale’s blood ran cold. He looked at the man's neck. It was clean.

  "Izuna," Kale said, his voice trembling. "These aren't the kidnappers."

  "What? Then who the hell are they?"

  Kale reached into the leader’s pocket and pulled out a silver badge shaped like a phoenix.

  "They’re the Royal Secret Intelligence," Kale whispered. "They weren't kidnapping Kevin’s mom. They were sent by the Queen to rescue her from the people who actually took her. We just took out the good guys."

  Suddenly, a cold, mocking laugh echoed from the deep darkness of the forest.

  "Very impressive, little boy," a voice hissed. "You just took out the only people who knew where the lady was being held. You’ve done my work for me."

  From the shadows, a man stepped out. He wasn't wearing a red suit. He was dressed in dark, ragged clothes, and his eyes glowed with a sickening, sickly purple light. On his neck was the tattoo of a black snake.

  "Now," the man grinned, revealing sharpened teeth. "Hand over the boy. The master wants the set complete.".

  "The Royal Intelligence were our only lead, and now they're down," Kale gritted his teeth, his eyes locking onto the man with the snake tattoo.

  Izuna stepped forward, his fists igniting with a fresh, flickering heat despite his exhaustion. "I don't care if we made a mistake with the red suits—I’m not letting a creep like you touch the kid!"