The group continued their journey through the desert, leaving the abandoned village behind. Artemis was getting pretty tired of the heat, but luckily Stephen offered her an ice pack to keep her cool. It was one advantage of being able to cast ice-related spells. 

In the distance, Artemis could spy something white in the sand. Her mind had played tricks on her already, but she had a good feeling that this was an actual object. She ran ahead, ignoring Emerson and Stephen's cries. It could've been something important!

Instead, she found a measly pile of bones. She turned to Emerson and frowned. "Father, what sort of bones are these?"

Emerson bent down and examined the bones more carefully. "I... believe these bones used to be a dragon. I've never seen a living one for myself - I've only seen such things in textbooks. To think one used to live here..."

"You would be correct!"

Artemis glanced up and saw Vyllax, eye now miraculously healed, standing before the group. She instinctively grabbed her sword.

"I wouldn't be so eager to attack. Not when I have vital information for you," Vyllax began, "I am told that one of you.. is a traitor."

Stephen rolled his eyes. "Why should we believe anything that comes out of your mouth?"

Vyllax shrugged his shoulders. "A fair point. Now, onto the main event - this dragon!" He snapped his fingers, a bright light emanating from the dragon's bones.

Tohru stepped back cautiously. "Be careful! We don't know what he's going to do!"

Before Artemis' eyes, the dragon bones reassembled themselves. Sand poured down onto the ground as it came to life - just without any skin or vital organs. It roared in their faces, despite not having a throat.

"I've had enough of being shot in the eye!" Vyllax declared, "Let's see you fight this little beast, shall we?"

MJ grabbed two arrows and immediately fired towards the dragon. One of the arrows missed, but the other hit the dragon's bones. She couldn't actually tell if it did any damage.

Elyan raised an arm and glared at the dragon. "Baelo," he muttered, his eyes flashing black as a sea of necrotic energy rushed towards the dragon.

Emerson slammed his weapon into the ground - electricity wouldn't do much to a pair of bones, after all - and summoned a whirlwind. He targeted both Vyllax and the dragon, throwing the dragon off course.

Ursula pointed her hands into the sky. "Flame strike!" She exclaimed, a pillar of flame briefly stunning the dragon and Vyllax.

Meanwhile, Tohru hung back, not wanting to lose his lance again. "M-Magic Missile," he whispered, two balls of energy latching onto the dragon.

Lilith had a similar idea. "Chromatic orb!" She cried, creating a ball of ice and launching it towards the dragon. The ice soon melted after hitting it.

Vyllax brushed his hair out of his face and glared at Emerson. "You'd do best to stay out of my way!" He roared, summoning four energy darts.

Artemis' eyes widened. She watched as the darts chased down Emerson, all four of them hitting him. They drained his energy. He collapsed to the ground in a miserable heap.

"Father!" Artemis screamed, clutching her shield in fear. "Dr Cosmos! Is he...?!"

Stephen ran over to check Emerson's pulse. "He's alive. Unconscious, but alive for now. We need to end this battle quickly so I can get him the necessary medical attention. With that said... Ice Storm!" He sent a wave of icicles hurtling towards the dragon, vengeance in his eyes.

The dragon set their sights on Tohru. They swooped down, clawing the small boy. Tohru screamed and fell to his knees, gravely injured. If he wasn't healed soon, he'd fall unconscious like Emerson did.

Artemis glanced up at the sky. "M... Moonbeam!" She snarled, a wave of moonlight surrounding Vyllax and the dragon. She wanted this battle to be over, so she could make sure her father would be safe.

MJ ran over to Tohru and healed his wounds. "We can't have you going down, too," she whispered.

Elyan's eyes flashed black again. "Eced amel," he muttered, hurling a ball of acid towards the dragon. The splash damage managed to hit, but the main attack sizzled away in the sand.

Vyllax summoned his greatsword and launched an attack at Artemis. Twice his sword clanged against her shield, but even her tough armour was unable to stop her from being hit. "That's for my eye," he snarled.

Stephen immediately ran over to Artemis and healed her. "You'll have to do better than that," he glared at Vyllax, pulling Artemis away from him.

The dragon clawed at Lilith this time, but she still remained standing. She rubbed her arm in annoyance and gripped her dagger tightly. "I can tell it's weak... just a bit more!" She said.

Artemis charged at Vyllax and hit him with her shield. He gripped his head in pain, dazed, whilst Artemis dealt the final blow. She slashed at him with her sword, causing him to double over with pain.

At the same time, Ursula and MJ fired arrows towards the dragon, their arrows piercing the bones. The dragon screeched and seemed to be defeated, but it still had one last trick.

It inhaled (despite not having a pair of lungs) and lightning spewed from their mouth. Artemis saw the lightning rush towards her. Everything went black.

When Artemis woke back up, she saw Tohru, Lilith and MJ also waking up. Stephen was healing them all, one by one. He seemed exhausted.

Artemis shot up and searched for Emerson. Surely Stephen would've healed him first? Where was he? "Father...?"

Emerson tapped her shoulder and smiled weakly. "Stephen said you were knocked unconscious. Are you-"

He was interrupted by a hug. Artemis squeezed him as tight as she could. "D-Don't do that again... please..."

"I promise I won't," he whispered to her, "Hey, cheer up. It's not all bad news. Stephen should manage to heal everyone up. We have a prisoner, too."

"I'm not a prisoner!"

Artemis turned to see Vyllax, bound by ropes created by Elyan. He seemed as annoyed as ever, much to her delight. She happily walked over to him and prodded his stupid demon face.

"I think you owe us an explanation," MJ spat, now recovered from her brief period of unconsciousness. "What the hell do you want?"

"It's not about what I want. It's about who I serve, dummy," Vyllax retorted, "They want the girl. I've been trying to get her this entire time."

"You mean Artemis," Ursula deduced, "I see... and who do you serve?"

"As if I'd tell you!" Vyllax grumbled, "It doesn't matter. You'll be seeing them soon. I'm simply a cog in their grand machine."

"Okay, then what about this whole traitor business?" Tohru asked him.

"That was the truth!" Vyllax insisted, "There is a traitor. We only recently found out, but it's-"

Stephen stormed up to Vyllax and punched him in the face. "That," he said, "Is for Artemis. You're lucky I'm not punching the lights out of you right now."

Emerson placed a hand on his shoulder. "Stephen, you should rest. You've exhausted yourself. We'll handle this, okay?"

Lilith cleared her throat. "B-Besides, I'm sure Vyllax is just teasing us! He's silly like that."

"I'm not silly," Vyllax muttered, turning away from the group. "If you don't want my advice, then fine. Head off to Maru."

"We'll be taking you with us," Ursula declared, "No doubt you'll be useful. Do you mind taking care of that, Elyan?"

Elyan was about to reply when he suddenly gripped his head. His eyes screwed shut as he writhed around, as if he was in pain. "Agh! H... Help! This demon is... he's hurting me!"

"What?!" Artemis ran up to him. "Elyan, are you alright?! Speak to me!"

Vyllax smirked as his ropes became undone. "Well, it's been nice, but I'm getting out of here. Good luck. Try to keep Artemis and that demon alive, will you?"

Lilith and Emerson dived for Vyllax, but he disappeared into a puff of smoke before they could reach him. They crashed into each other as they hit the ground. Artemis winced just seeing it.

"I-I'm sorry," Elyan mumbled, "That spell... requires my concentration. When he broke it, the ropes became useless..."

"I knew we should've gone with regular ropes," Stephen grumbled, "Emerson, are you alright? You crashed into Lilith..."

"I-I'm fine. So is Lilith," Emerson replied, "I'm sorry we couldn't stop him... but we should keep moving. I don't want to get caught out in the dark."

The group agreed and set off again. Now that they were closer to Maru, they could begin to see the ruined towers in the distance. Maru was mostly made of stone, and most of that stone had crumbled. Old huts lined the vast wasteland.

Despite all of that, Artemis broke out into a smile. Soon, she would be with her father and back to normal. She'd made so many new friends. Maybe they could all hang out together!

"So, what are your plans for after this, Artemis?" Tohru asked her, "I-I imagine you'll want to live with your father..."

"Oh, yes!" Artemis chirped, "Dr Cosmos, you'll have to come with me. We're family, after all. Father, you'll let him stay, won't you?"

"Of course I will!" Emerson chuckled. "Stephen has earned his place for taking care of my daughter so well. She's certainly grown to be a fine warrior."

Ursula stopped dead in her tracks. "You mean... you're not coming back to Belltou, Artemis?"

"Huh?" Artemis turned to her. "O-Oh... Ursula, don't be like that. I'll still visit you! I'll just be living with my father..."

Ursula's hands began to shake. "Then I... I suppose... I have no choice..."

Stephen rolled his eyes. "Ursula, what are you on about? What's-"

A wall of flame separated Artemis from the others. It was Ursula's magic - Artemis knew it off by heart by now. She turned to the woman with a look of horror. "U... Ursula? What... what are you...?"

Ursula strode towards Artemis, flames coming out of her hands. "I've waited too long... too long for this! I can't hold back any longer! Adrastos demands another sacrifice!"

"Adrastos?!" Lilith cried.

"Sacrifice?!" MJ exclaimed, more concerned.

"I decided a long time ago that my next sacrifice should be Turlon, that stupid Belltou guard, or you, Artemis," Ursula explained, a mad grin on her face. "When you left, I had to tag along... I had to make sure no harm came to my sacrifice... how else am I supposed to earn this power?!"

"I-I don't understand!" Artemis whimpered, tears in her eyes. "All this time... y-you were only nice to me... s-so you could...?"

"It was so annoying, having to deal with your pathetic whining, day in, day out," Ursula spat, "I had almost gained your trust - I intended to take you out into the forest and never return. Instead, I had to adapt. If you're not coming back to Belltou, then... well, I'll just have to sacrifice you now!"

"Let me get this straight," Elyan began, "You made a deal with... Adrastos? The Prince of Trickery?"

"I did what I had to - they offered me power. All I had to do was give them sacrifices... I ended up enjoying it a lot more than I expected," she confessed, "But this sacrifice will be the greatest of all... for some reason, Adrastos is after you. They want you - and I'll be the one to deliver you to them!"

"Like hell you will!" Stephen roared, "We won't let you take her!"

"That's right!" Emerson agreed, "You'll have to get past us, first!"

"Even if you attack us with all your might, we'll still keep Artemis safe!" Lilith insisted, "Don't worry, sweetie, we'll save you!"

Artemis held up her shield and stepped back. Heat rattled against her neck. Ursula was coming closer, and a wall of fire was behind her. She had no choice. She had to fight her friend.