Time passed quickly in the small hut and time had arrived at a hurried pace for Iris and Ian to return to reality.
With a rather sullen expression on their faces, they had one last look around the hut before shutting the door one last time.
Ian took the bag from Iris strapping it across his chest, taking her hand in his, they looked one last time at the hut before turning around and leaving reluctantly.
Without wasting too much time, they made their way back with hurried footsteps, not wasting time idle talk, focusing on getting back to Tyla and the other three unconscious people whose lives hanged by a thread.
Iris looked around trying to memorise her surroundings just in case she would have to ever find herself again in these parts of the forest.
The forest seemed vast and largely unexplored by what she had gathered until now, seeing that the scenery seemed untouched and made her wonder if anyone other than the people she knew that lived in this forest have ever tried to make it their home.
The clearing slowly emerged as soon as they stepped on top of a small hill and they could see from a distance the silhouettes of the three people on the ground and Tyla sitting in the same spot where they have left her, bend over Maya.
As they approached and the view became clearer, they could finally see what was happening.
Maya's hand was wrapped around Tyla's neck, while Tyla was holding Maya's wrist gasping for air, while Maya was muttering something that they couldn't quite hear from where they were, Bastos crouched on the ground growling and bearing his teeth at Maya, ready to bite her hand off.
Iris gasped when she realised what it was happening, she let go of Ian's hand to run off to Tyla but Ian pulled her back, giving her a knowing look, to stay put.
Ian took the lead, picking up his steps he stepped next to Maya and Tyla trying his best to gauge the situation.
" Where is that little bitch?" Maya uttered in disdain while staring at Tyla who was on the brink of passing out.
Tyla closed her eyes, falling limp in Maya's hands, which let go of her and stood up in a swift move.
Reaching to Ian, to grab him by the neck just like she did with Tyla, Ian grabbed her by the wrist displeased with how things are turning out.
" Bak jun revek Kulka toquk!" he commanded unwavering while his eyes glowed, rendering Maya senseless again while he caught her falling body and layed her back on the ground.
Before he stood up he heard the sound of a sword being drawn, his instincts kicked in, pulling his own sword he extended his hand, his sword stopping a hairs distance away from Rom's neck making him stop in his place, staring at Ian who moved so fast that even Iris missed.
" Bitch there you are!" Rom barked while turning his head looking at Iris, who froze in her spot when Rom spoke, memories came flooding back from when they met in the forest.
" Bak jun revek toquk thremen." Ian commanded again while pushing his glowing sword against Rom's neck that fell limp on the ground.
Iris finally moved from the spot, somewhat relieved that everyone was sensless. Unstrapping the bag from Ian, she took out the potion and gave to each of them, before ploping herself on the floor and sighed in relief.
Ian finally returned to his old self while looking around him, taking in the scene that surrounded them.
" Are you alright?" he asked Iris in a calm voice while bending down to face her while gently carresing her cheek.
Iris stared at Ian, seeing that he was himself again " I'm alright?" she spoke in a trembling voice " What about you?" she quickly asked in a worried tone of voice, wanting to know since the kethar spoke in ancient language, she had gathered that he must've taken over Ian's body forcefully.
Ian sighed " I'm alright! I'm getting better, controlling him." he explained in a soothing voice while giving Iris a small smile.
" Good to hear!" she softly replied caressing his cheek looking at him intently trying to see if he was being truthful and not hiding the truth just to protect her.
The moment was interupted by a soft moan coming from one of the people on the ground, getting up to check who grumbled, noticing that it was Tyla slowly coming back to her senses.
" Tyla, how are feeling?" she asked while kneeling next to her, waiting for her to come to her senses.
" I'm a little dizzy!" she replied in hoarse voice, scrunching up her face while getting up from the ground in a sitting position.
" How this even happened? Witches can't take over someone's body!" Ian commented suspiciously while aproaching the two glaring at Tyla.
" This one is powerful, she must have their blood or someone that shares their blood to be able to do that!" Tyla explained in a pained voice while rubbing her neck frowning at Ian.
" You are a healer, son of Sadhya and Medrik. You will be able to break the bond that she has made. She won't stop until they are dead or we are!" she firmly stated while looking between him and Iris who seemed preoccupied with the solution.
"How do I know it's not a trick?How do I know that you you are not working with the witch? You were the one that brought us here and you were the one that held them in this forest." Ian thundered in anger, not being able to contain himself anymore at the amount of things that were coming at them one after another.
Tyla fell silent, bowing her head " My deepest apologies my King. It was foolish of me to bring you both here, knowing the risks you would be exposed to." she apologised in a pained voice regretfully while rising her head to look up.
Ian closed his eye and upon opening them, they glowed as bright as the sun ready to burn Tyla out of existence for her mistake, that for both him and his kethar was unforgivable putting Iris in harms way, when she isn't ready for a fight.
" Paq teh bajun Tyla vahs, behn uman kadt." Ian thundered again in ancient language while Tyla froze, her eyes glowed in a faint golden hue.
" Het kar numet Iris?" he asked while his eyes where glowing focused on Tyla without even blinking.
"Nam" Tyla replied curtly expressionless.
" Het kar kulka kiroisch?" he asked again
"Nam!" she replied again in the same way.
" Hirath kadt!" he commanded unwavering while Tyla eyes turned amber and slumped panting.
All the while Iris just stared at them, not knowing what to make of the whole conversation since she didn't understood a word of what they were saying.
Ian's eyes slowly lost their glow and returned to normal, while he shifted his gaze to Iris whom was frowning and looked a bit lost.