The peaceful sleep of our heroes was interrupted by a noise. It was like a song of birds. It was designed to explain to them that it was already morning. It was time to get up. The burnt wood lay in the stone circle. An unearthly light had lit up this enclosed room. The song woke everyone up.
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Laura opened her golden eyes excruciatingly. She sat in the makeshift bed and looked around her. Her long black hair was very shaggy. The girl tried to fix it with her hand. Close to her was Mary, who was already awake and on her feet. When their eyes met, the girls smiled a little.
Although Mary was very silent and confined to herself, she still had a pure soul and a good heart. All you had to do was get to know her. She was wearing a white legging with a tank top. She had her jacket tied around her waist. In two cases tied at her ankles, she was preparing to put her two guns in.
Last night, Lucas had helped her create them resilient and real, not out of the Air element. Now she was only required to create the bullets, but if the conditions were the same as on the battlefield, even something as small as a bullet would cost her a lot of energy.
"Good morning." the girl greeted Laura.
"Morning," she replied.
She got back on her feet. The girl was dressed in a crisp black tank top and leggings. At night, she had wrapped into her black coat and now put it on. When her stylists first saw her, they thought she looked like a Black Swordsman.
She was born into a wealthy and very famous family in Cristalia. Everyone was shocked when baby Laura opened her eyes and they were golden. It turned out that her mother did not love her husband and that she fell in love with a fiery one.
Despite his wife's infidelity, the head of the family did not give up the child. He loved her and Laura too much to abandon them. But her mother was frightened by the alleged consequences and left their home forever, leaving little Laura on her own.
The head of the family accepted her as his own daughter. The little girl had many happy childhood memories. Sadly, everyone in the town sued her: her "father" had neither golden eyes nor black hair. Ironically, her appearance went perfectly to the family's last name: Ravengrove. That's why they likened it to the fate of the family.
But for Laura and her father, it didn't matter. They let everyone talk without caring. Until one day her father brought his new wife. Little Laura thought she was going to take away her father. And the new mistress was treating her bad too, so she had her reasons to hate her.
Her stepmother wanted to constantly dress her in delicate and beautiful clothes to look like "the true future mistress of the great family."
Laura, who was at heart a more combative type, didn't like the idea of her new stepmother at all. She became alienated and more closed in herself. Everyone kept hating her, and this time she didn't have her father's protection. Out of shame and pain, she never showed her face or eyes to anyone ever again.
She had only one purpose: to fully master the art of fencing. After years of training, she was able to unlock her earthly powers. Her passion proved great and meaningful.
She smiled at the memory of her childhood. 'I hope I'll glorify your name, Dad,' and she, like the others, was worried about what was happening to her family.
"Good morning, girls! How did you sleep?" Mateo came to her and greeted them with a big smile.
'How could there be such a positive person, even in these difficult times?' asked Laura herself.
"Good morning. Good enough for us to move on," she replied quietly. She put her black military beret cap on and pull the visor over her eyes.
"Okay, you don't have to be so curvy. And why you're covering your eyes?" the boy leaned towards her and looked her straight in the eye. "You have beautiful eyes. You don't have to hide them. They shine like real stars. Ah! There's a rosy blush on your white face!" from the proximity, Laura's face had blushed and could not look him in the eye.
„Please... please step aside and shut up." she could barely speak. She wasn't used to that kind of attention. 'What...what's wrong with him and why I'm blushing... I don't understand anything....'
"Oh, are you embarrassed? What did you say? Come on, smile! It's going to be okay! Take a more positive look at things."
"Do I need to remind you that I have a big sword that can cut everything dead or alive in its way? I'm sure your life is precious." Laura threatened him. Her gaze screamed.
"Yup, yup. I'm backing away! Whatever you want, boss!" the boy backed away with his hands up in the air. He noticed that there was sadness on Laura's face when she heard "boss." Matteo hastened to apologize. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to sound rude. It was just a joke. "
Laura laughed a little. Mateo was amazed by the beauty of her smile. He bit his mouth to stop himself from ruing the moment with his stupid words.
"Shall we go? The rest of us are waiting for breakfast, and we're on our way to the next arena." Mary ruined their moment. She didn't understand exactly what was going on right now.
"Yes, of course! Let's go!" Laura recovered and went to the campfire. She was herself again, but she had lifted her hat a little. Her eyes were now more visible as Mateo wanted.
They went to the campfire. The rest had also been there, and many of them had even eaten and were ready. Everyone finished breakfast together and got up. This time they took more water and supplies so they could handle any conditions.
They hadn't prepared well last time and that put them in a lot of danger. Before, they didn't know how great the importance of staying alive in this world was. It threatened their entire future and lives. So, this time they were going to be as prepared as they can be. So, they won't risk anything,
They were finally ready and went to the exit. Everyone was nervous about the next challenges and looked at each other. There were hope and fear in their eyes.
At the end of the tunnel, as in the past, there was a large door. It was of black as tar iron with small ornaments in sparkling gold. 'The colour of the door should always have some connection to future trials. Then these colours…what they could mean...' Laura wondered.
Lucas was right in front of the door. Just like last time, the new Chosen would introduce them to the new challenge. He had a blank look. That surprised Laura. He almost always looked dreamy at Isabelle or smiled....but she didn't have time to wonder what had happened.
The boy pushed the high door. As soon as it opened, there was a lot of smoke and the smell of fire. Laura's first thought was how warm it was. Moments before she saw the monstrous place of their new tribulations.