John's POV

"That is one huge lion," John said.

"You think?" Eilene asked.

"And look," Riley told them, "There's the Marble Swan."

"Why did it have to be beside the waterfall?" Jef muttered.

"Okay guys, here's the plan," Heidi instructed, "We'll split into two pairs and we'll go up the waterfall in a different way. You guys need to weaken the lion and grab the talisman to free it."

"Now I want Riley to go with Irene," Eric ordered, "Ivan and Jef, Hope and Zoron, Zoey and George, and John and Eilene."

"What?" John exclaimed, "Why am I paired up with her?"

"Because you two need to start working together whether you like it or not," Ella snapped.

John and Eilene glared at each other.

"Okay, let's split up and let's go," Heidi announced, "It will be harder for the lion to focus on too many targets. We will be making the first strike so wait for our signal."

"Come on," John muttered and walked through the forest without waiting for Eilene.

She sighed and followed him. His wolf walked beside him with a serious expression. They kept on walking until the ground sloped upwards. None of them talked as they kept on climbing.

"Get ready to call out Ursa," John told her.

"I know," Eilene mumbled.

They finally reached the top of the waterfall with the lion's back on them. There was no sign of the others.

"Time to make the first strike," John said but Eilene held her back.

"No we're not," Eilene argued, "We need to wait for the signal."

There was rustling and John spotted the older Greencloaks running towards the lion. This was the first time he had seen their Spirit Animals. Eric had a pure black tiger while Ella had a pure white tiger. A hawk flew above Heidi.

"Now we go," Eilene told him, taking out her staff and called out Ursa.

John muttered something under his breath as he pulled out his sword. He spotted George and Zoey already running towards the lion. Just then, George accidentally stumbled as the lion turned around and spotted him.

"George no!" John yelled and started running towards the lion.

The lion snarled and ran towards George who was frozen with fear on the spot. John knew he wasn't going go make it on time but he kept running. Suddenly, his senses sharpened and he felt a burst of energy go through him. He felt himself running faster. He knew that Rusty was giving him his wolf senses. He reached George before the lion and pushed him out the way of the lion's path. The lion turned around and began running towards them again.

"Quick George, run!" John said, pushing him to his feet and running back to the forest.

He looked back to see the lion gaining on them but then, he spotted Eilene running towards the lions path. Her Spirit Animal was nowhere to be found. Without thinking, he spun around and ran towards the lion.

"What are you doing?" George asked but he kept on running.

All he could think about was that Eilene was going to get herself killed. Eilene was now in the path of the lion. The lion snarled but Eilene didn't seem to flinch. John stopped and watched what was going to happen next.

Suddenly, Ursa appeared in front of her and roared loudly at the lion. The lion stopped in surprise and Eilene jumped on top of Ursa and towards the lion. The lion didn't have time to react and before they knew it, Eilene had snatched the talisman from the lion.

The lion froze, then it started to shrink until it was the size of a normal mountain lion. The mountain lion snarled at Eilene then ran deeper into the forest. The Marble Swan with Eilene.

John didn't realized he was holding his breath. He didn't realized that his heart was beating loudly. He felt relieved which soon changed to anger.

"Eilene that was amazing!" George exclaimed from behind John.

"I agree," Hope added, "That was some fast thinking."

"Never seen that before," Heidi agreed.

"Everyone did their best," Eric said, "I'm glad you're all fast learners."

John walked towards Eilene, "What were you thinking? Facing a huge beast like that. You could've gotten yourself killed!"

"But I didn't, right?" Eilene said, "We got the Marble Swan, now let's get out of here."

"Not so fast, Greencloaks," they spun around to see a young girl.

Behind her were soldiers dressed with armor. Every last one of them had Spirit Animals. The Conquerors.