Army of True Salvation

Kreiss went outside of the house and he saw Veon with his other comrades. He gave them an evil smile as he started walking towards them.

"Where's Sheloah," Veon asked and Kreiss smirked.

"Locked inside a room," he lied and Veon's face looked angry. Kreiss wanted to tease him more.

"You won't let her go unless I do what you want, right," Veon said and Kreiss chuckled at his statement.

"You're smart after all, Veon," he said and he saw a familiar face among the people Veon was with.

It was Dannie.

Dannie stormed towards Kreiss. She landed a strong slap across his face and this made everyone dumbfounded.

'They knew each other?' They thought in unison.

"Bastard!" Kreiss looked at her, stunned.

"I knew it," Dannie shouted and Kreiss was surprised to have seen her as well. It had been too long. Kreiss asked specifically for her father not to come, but he didn't expect that Dannie would come in his stead.

"Dannie!" The other girls approached her and she started crying as she looked at Kreiss.

"If only you knew how worried we were—"

She did not finish her sentence. She ran quickly and their other comrades followed her.

Veon glared at the man in front of him. "Who are you and why is Dannie acting that way," he asked and Kreiss glared at him back.

"None of your business," he said sharply and he gave Veon another smirk. "Since you and Ms. Ponytail were the only ones left, let's start with the challenge, shall we," Kreiss said and Veon looked at him, angry.

"What do you want," Veon asked and Kreiss chuckled, intimidating the boy in front of him.

"Simple." He pointed at the forest beside them. "There are items in that forest. There is an item that looked like a gem. Whoever retrieves that first gets to claim Sheloah," he said and Veon looked at him seriously.

"There's a catch, isn't it," Veon said and Kreiss laughed out loud. He did not expect him to have caught on to fast.

"Whatever."

Veon looked at Shannara. " I'll be back soon, Shannara. You just stay put," he said and Shannara nodded, feeling assured.

Kreiss spoke again, getting Veon's attention. "You take the east side, I take the west. We would still meet halfway, anyway. There is a shed there where the gem is probably located."

"This would just be quick. I'll get what you want then we'll have Sheloah back," Veon said confidently and Kreiss laughed.

"Well, good luck!"

They both ran inside the forest and took their separate ways.

'Let's see who loves Sheloah more, Veon.'