She didn't know what the Neverseen was planning. They hadn't teamed up with Dimitar to go against her, had they?

No. There were too many ogres going after them for that to be possible. As far as she knew, she had two options. The first one was to confuse both sides and let them fight each other while her and her friends slipped away. The second option was to continue fighting and finally avenge her parents.

And they deserved to be avenged.

They deserved it so much.

But Nala was starting to wonder if this was truly for her parents, or if it was for her own selfish reasons. Anita had already told her to let go. It's what their mother and father would have told her to do. But they weren't here to tell her that.

And that was Dimitar's fault.

"Nala, I don't think you should—" Fitz took a deep breath, meeting Nala's gaze again. "You know what, it's fine. Whatever you do, we'll stand beside you."

Nala sensed he wanted to say more and she raised her brow, waiting. Fitz sighed.

"Fine. I do think this is a terrible idea and we should get out as soon as possible, but I don't think that's gonna happen."

"No, that can happen. You guys could—"

Biana appeared beside Nala, scaring her and Fitz both.

"As my brother rightly said, we're not leaving you. We're doing this together, more chance of us all surviving that way."

"Or all of us dying," Tam said, making his way over to them. "You know I'm with you to the end, Nala, but we have two groups after us now."

Nala squeezed her eyes shut, begging the tears to keep at bay. She wouldn't be able to live with herself if she put her friends in danger. They'd already been through so much, and this probably wouldn't even be the worst of it.

She'd already been such a terrible friend. It was time for them to—

A hand gripped Nala's, and she looked over to see Sophie staring at her, a determined look on her face.

"We're going for Dimitar," she said.

Nala blinked. "What? No, I can't ask you guys to do that."

"You're not asking us." Dex was right behind Sophie, his satchel over hanging over his shoulder. "We're volunteering."

Keefe thumped Nala's back, causing her to glare at him. It softened into a smile, but her brows narrowed back again when she caught the fight not too far ahead of them.

If they were gonna do this, they'd do it right.

She would avenge her parents, and then she'd finally be at peace again.

Nala searched her mind for a decent plan, deciding that it'd probably be best for her friends to avoid the ogre princess, but did it really matter if everything was already messed up? If they could mess around with the Neverseen's minds and get them to take out a bunch of ogres for them, that would clear a path straight to Dimitar. That was who all the ogres were protecting after all.

"Try and avoid the Neverseen," Nala said to her friends. "Handle them if they come near you, and don't stray too far from each other. Go for the ogres in particular, and do not let them put shackles on you."

Linh raised a brow. "And what will you be doing?"

Nala inwardly sighed. She didn't think Linh would've caught the fact that she hadn't really detailed what role she had to play yet.

Tam stepped closer to Nala, and she didn't miss the way his eyes flickered towards her arm. "Nala... I will stand by you no matter what you do, you know I will. But... there's some things that you might not be able to come back from. You're still an elf, and our minds are fragile. We—"

"But the Neverseen seem to be able to kill without guilt weighing on their mind," Fitz said quietly. "They've done... they will do unspeakable things and yet somehow their minds stay in tact."

"Because they're heartless monsters! You can't stoop to their level, Nala! Think of your sanity!" Linh screamed.

Her friends looked at her with worried eyes, and Nala took a deep breath. She already knew what she was going to do. She'd decided a long time ago.

She yelled out orders at her friends, telling them to split off into two groups and stay together. Nala ran towards the burning castle, knowing that Dimitar was probably somewhere near, ordering his soldiers to enter the castle and save his belongings.

She was right. Rohmilda was there next to another burly ogre, and the two seemed to be in some sort of argument. Nala smiled. What a perfect opportunity for a distraction. All she needed was an unsuspecting soldier.

Nala vanished, slipping beside an ogre soldier and used telekinesis to manipulate his limbs. She forced the soldier over to the arguing ogres, then made him punch the burly ogre in the face. Shock was what initially registered on Rohmilda's face, then a sharp burst of laughter escaped her mouth.

"Ohmygosh!" She pulled herself together, though a smile still rested on her face. "Do you have a death wish?" she asked the soldier. "You don't hit 'the Great Bo' and live."

The burly soldier who apparently seemed to be Bo cracked his knuckles, anger flaring in his eyes. He lunged at the soldier, and Nala attempted to mesmerize multiple soldiers the time, urging them to attack Bo.

"You want a fight?" he growled. "I'll give you one!"

Nala continued to use her telekinesis to throw ogres in Bo's direction, and Rohmilda doubled over with laughter. It was the perfect opportunity for Nala to slip by the row of guards and find Dimitar. He was right there, barking orders at soldiers to enter the burning inferno that was the castle. Nala would feel bad for them if they weren't working for Dimitar, the absolute scum of Earth.

Rage fuelled her steps, and she screamed, "Dimitar! Face me now!"

The ogre king turned around, fixing an evil smile onto his face. The soldiers faced her too, axes and spiked bats in their hands. She knew they were just waiting for the order to attack her, but until then, they stayed put.

Nala steeled her gaze, concentrating on nothing but the ogre before her. "Let's fight. No soldiers. Just you and me. Unless... you're afraid you'll lose?"

To refuse her offer would be a sign of weakness. Something Dimitar wouldn't be willing to show in front of all his people.

Dimitar's nostrils flared as he stared down Nala. "No powers?"

Though Nala internally groaned, she couldn't say she hadn't expected this. She gave a smug smile.

"Deal."