"Klein, how old are you?" I asked him his age while we were walking inside the forest.
"Twenty-one," he answered and looked at Dionne and also asked her for her age.
"Me? Hmm…" She started counting fingers and smiled before she gave us her answer. "I'm 214 years old," she said and me and Klein got surprised.
Why did she even count her fingers?
I didn't expect Dionne to have lived such a long time compared to her looking like an eighteen-year-old woman. Well, she is immortal.
"How about you, Cevin?" Dionne then asked for my age.
"I'm twenty," I answered and Dionne just nodded at me and smiled. I only noticed that she's a beautiful woman and that I've been traveling with the songstress who protects Hartifalia.
We just started walking through the forest 15 minutes ago when Yomi escorted us at the cracked entrance on the wall. I thanked her because she gave me Klein's old clothes in which I could borrow so I won't look very suspicious to the people of this world.
Now that it's evening, we've been seeing a little less. We could only hear our footsteps and the leaves rustling along with the breeze. We even heard some crickets making their distinctive sound. Yomi only gave us a torch to light up our path. Dionne's the one holding the torch so Klein and I could move freely if something dangerous comes up.
To be honest, I don't even know how to fight. I don't even know how to use my powers because I'm not paying much attention to it. I'm a bit scared because I might hurt some people knowing that I don't know how to control my power that much. Or maybe if I try to use it, I may not be able to control it.
"Pnes," Klein said and Dionne and I stopped from walking because we heard some leaves rustling rather loud compared to what we've heard earlier. Klein and I surrounded Dionne as best as we could to protect her in case something off comes out.
Dionne hid behind our backs. "Calm down," I told her and she nodded.
Klein walked cautiously towards the source of the sound but at the moment when Klein borrowed the torch from Dionne and was about to go near the tree, we were surprised to see something different.
It was a figure that looked very tough. It was color white, and there was not even a face on it. It had the body of a person, but we didn't know if it was looking at us or not because it had no face on it. Its feet were not planted on the ground because it seemed to be floating. When it saw us, its arms suddenly became longer than its body and it reached fast towards Dionne and we realized that this was another kind of machine that's probably programmed to capture Dionne.
"Dionne, run!" Klein suddenly ran and grabbed her by the arm the moment I shouted at her.
I was about to escape when one arm of the machine elongated and locked my ankle to grab me. I stumbled on the ground the moment it captured me and I was slowly being dragged on the ground by the machine.
"Cevin!" The both of them shouted my name and Klein suddenly drew out two of his daggers and looked at Dionne as if to cue her to do something before he acts.
"Vekop eb reoz zifak," Klein told her to focus on her power while he does something to distract the enemy.
"Fem ev Kinuy… cuiy zr sxui." Dionne called the god of lightning and a small lightning showed on Dionne's palm and she slowly raised her hand. As she was raising her hand slowly, little by little, the lightning increased its size.
The enemy suddenly carried me as if I'm very lightweight and it slammed me back on the ground, giving my stomach an unexpected pain. I was trying to flee myself by forcing my way out while I was pushing its arms away, but it was too difficult for me to do so. Klein sliced through its arms, but it kept growing.
How can a machine grow its arms? This machine's grip is really made for Dionne not to escape if she ever got caught!
Klein looked at me. "Cevin, go to Dionne as soon as you can once you're free. The machine might get you again. I know you don't know how to use your power yet, but now is the time to use it. Try it, please… it's for Dionne's safety… and ours. Just think that you want it to happen—the shield appearing... it might work somehow. You are one of the characters of this book, after all."
He ran towards the enemy and sliced its head but when he did, the head exploded and Klein flew towards the tree near us.
"Klein!" Dionne and I shouted in unison and the lightning in Dionne's hand was just about ready.
"Fem ev Kinuy… cuiy zr sxui!" Dionne released the lightning and it hit the machine in front of us.
The machine stumbled on the ground but after 30 seconds, it recovered and it flew fast towards Dionne and got her with its long arms. Dionne shouted and I was just here, standing, looking dazed and in a panic at what's happening in front of me.
What the hell should I do?