Riverside Conspiracies

They realized, though they hadn't noticed it before, that every time they freed a person corrupted, invisible stings were gathering around that person and pulling them back. Leonard instantly recognized what this was, this was the work of the same evil force that had gone after him. 

Leonard's spirit and the River Maiden's spirit and Leonard and Thomas all felt pulled to each other, and in a small while the three ... whatevers ... found themselves face to face, with the Maiden's head bobbing out of the water and Thomas and Leonard on the bank. 

The River Maiden was frustrated, enraged, despondent, and overall going crazy that her father was still too strong for the brotherhood of change. She had been fighting against his dark magic with her own passionate energy. But he was too strong and it was unbearable for her that nothing was still happening. She called him the Roaring King, said that was his title, and that his reach as vast and powerful in Coralivia. 

Thomas said that maybe they should all go together and confront the Roaring King, head-on, and perhaps they could weaken him. Leonard remembered how weak the River Maiden had become the last  time he'd seen her and the Roaring King face-to-face. He wondered if it wasn't a good idea but thought about how they had another person on their team now and he himself had gotten much more connected with the spirit inside of him so she thought it worth a try. Especially if it could help free other slaves. 

The RIver Maiden said she was intrinsically tied to nature and would get weaker the longer she was away from it so the faster they got the mission done the safer it would be for them and the likelier they were to succeed. 

But whatever happened, they agreed, they had to give it their best go.