The dark-green armored lady half knelt to the ground and picked up a plastic wrapper that was sticking on the soil.
What a careless sycophant. The Knight's mind quickly processed on how fresh the wrapper was and she estimated how far they were.
Her alluring figure bent downwards and her arms touched the ground, she was on a sprinting position. The air around her rapidly wrapped her entire body, forming a thin layered coat that was made up of wind, and when she started running, her speed was extraordinarily quick that images of her could be seen while running!
BOOM!
From not far away, an explosion could be heard followed by bolts of lightning that struck everywhere.
The lady took a few more steps before she finally stopped.
She had already arrived in the heart of the forest in just a matter of a few seconds!
The beasts were stomping the fire on the ground but the fire that was above on the trees were quickly spreading.
The lady drew her sword then slashed the ground, creating a huge horizontal cut on the soil. Her monotone voice started ringing:
"Death awaits those who disobey,
Evil floods the Reality,
And dark water will rise."
Water started rising from the ground, making the soil hard and dehydrated. The water merged into her blade and when she pointed the edge of her blade towards the fire, the water started stretching from her blade like a whip. After precisely swinging her sword, the whip-like water touched the raging fire and diminished it.
Her eyes landed on the two that were running towards an old tree.
"Chase them."
The shadows started laughing and hissing. Every beast turned their head towards the two and started roaring.
.....
The tree was almost in their grasp, they could feel that something was bound to happen once they reached there.
Pack!
Lev and Kaz's hands touched the rough, scale-like, skin of the tree. Glib hurriedly walked through Lev's stretching arm, and gently touched the tree.
The moment he touched the tree, loud roaring and howling noises could be heard at their back, making Lev and Kaz to turn around but they couldn't see what was happening because everything was thick black.
"It's not it," Glib was shocked when he felt no aura in it.
"What do you mean 'not it'?" Lev couldn't believe what he was hearing. He already risked his life coming here, and now, Glib was telling them that the tree on the front of them was not the tree that they were looking for!
Kaz was shocked too. Not it? If it's not it then how could you find a single special tree in the forest? It's like looking for a needle in a haystack!
Glib was already somewhat lost in his own thoughts. He had failed to accomplish the mission that Frederel gave him and now, both the Reality and the Kingdom was now certainly bound to fall.
He turned his head around to see all the noise that the beasts were making. His eyes constricted and his mouth quivered.
"Run! The beasts are staring straight at us!"
The two of them started running again, but now, they were running away from the tree.
"What should we do?!" Lev's voice was shaking with fear. He was panting so hard that he could feel his lungs burning.
"Escape!" Kaz answered in Glib's place. He started thinking again of a plan that could let them escape, but his mind was in a jumble! He couldn't think straight from all the stress and pressure they were in.
The ground shook so strong when the beasts started running, it was like an angry earthquake that wanted to vent off its anger in the world through that forest.
Glib closed his eyes and the symbol on his head started to glow. He planned on using his illusions to divert the beasts' attention away from them.
Behind, the shadows saw five cat-like creatures floating in the air. They started provoking them and the shadows that were attached in the beasts' back actually was taunted by such a low-trick. They decided to chase against the creatures which were floating in different directions.
Lev and Kaz could hear that the stomping from behind greatly reduced. The beasts that were chasing them ran in different directions and started to wreak havoc. But they didn't risked to slow down, instead, they kept their pace and started to exit the deepest parts of the forest.
The darkness didn't lessen when they escaped the heart of the forest because the sky was already darkened and the moon hid her face behind the clouds. They could not perceive what was happening in their surrounding.
Kaz couldn't help but wonder why his plan quickly thwarted. He expected it to last longer from all the lightning and explosions, but mysteriously, the beasts instantly quenched the raging fire out.
"How did they immediately extinguish the fire?" Kaz couldn't help but ask.
"There was a Knight there with elemental powers," Glib had a worried look.
Was it the lady that we saw back in Före? Glib's mind was whirling, his mood becoming worser.
If the Knight tried to chase them then the chances of them surviving is zero! They couldn't fight a Knight that has elemental powers. No, they would be easily obliterated. Glib still had a high chance of escaping if he vanished but he would only do so if the worst-case scenario came. Actually, it was already the worst-case scenario.
Glib inwardly prayed to Fate that the lives of these two boys would be spared from death and that they could enjoy their lives before their world would be destroyed.
Sweat was all over on Kaz's face. His eyes swiftly looked out for any trees and dead logs that were on the way. Suddenly, his gaze slowly fell sidewards. Surprisingly, he could see the soil in the ground right on the front of his eyes and then everything went black.
He was beheaded! He didn't know that his head had already been detached from his body, but what was more worse was he didn't even know how it happened.
Lev saw everything. He was running a little bit behind when he witnessed Kaz's death. He caught a glimpse of a blade that cleanly slid through his neck before it fell off. The body slumped forward before it rolled and tumbled, blood spurting out of its neck like a little fountain.
Lev had no time to react when he felt something hot and warm flowing down on his shoulder.
Glib was already cut in half, from his head down to his axial. It caught Lev off guard, causing him to stumble, but before he could fall from the ground, a hand grabbed his head.
Lev's feet lifted from the ground and his ash-grey eyes saw a full-bodied armor that was standing in front of him. He noticed that outside the armor was like a transparent, thin layer of grey colored wind.
"I'll give you a special treat."
The voice behind the helmet sounded flat and monotone, with a little mixture of pleasure hidden under it.
Lev could feel a sharp pain on his head, like thousands of sharp needles drilling to his brain. His scream resonated in the forest while he tried to struggle free by holding the bracer on her forearm. His mind was filled with fear, anger, regret, sadness, grief, and all kinds of negative emotions. His mind slowly whirred down until he could only think of the bad things that happened in his life.
After a few seconds, the lady loosened her grip and watched Lev fall on the ground like a lifeless puppet with no strings attached on its body.
Her figure suddenly turned dark like a shadow and flew back towards the heart of the forest to make sure if the tree, that they thought was the seed, was indeed the seed, or just another normal tree.
Lev's body hardly stood up and started to walk. He was no more in control of his actions and his ash-grey eyes were now lifeless. He was no more less than a walking corpse.
He slowly walked away from the center of the forest and travelled towards the other edge of the forest. The only thought that was left on his mind was to exit that dreadful place.
.....
Hours and hours passed. The night passed and the first light of dawn could be seen in the sky. Lev walked all night with a slow pace. The spiritless beasts that saw him ignored him because they already considered him dead. He was in fact dead, almost, but he was close to his death.
The sun finally started to rise in the sky and Lev had finally reached the exit of the forest. The last light that shone on his eyes had faded, his body fell down on the last thin tree of the forest.
He slowly closed his eyes and a tear emerged from it. His lungs stopped on accepting oxygen and his heartbeat started to decline.
Then everything went black.