Matthew squinted as the bright rays of the sun penetrated the verdant leaves of the Calonian Forest. Currently, he and the rest of his year level were walking atop the branches of the Grand Oak. Looking down, Matthew's eyes widened at the sheer volume of fauna beneath him. Somewhere far below him, a scaly red lizard dashed through the thickets, fleeing from a party of hunters trying to subdue it. Further in the distance, giant mammalian goliaths basked in the sun, numerous other life forms living atop them. So many creatures of all kinds lived in this place. It was like a scene straight of a fantasy novel.
"What are those.." Petri was wide eyed, staring in bewilderment at the giant behemoths.
Julius chuckled, "I thought you read the bestiary front to cover, Petri. They're Amalons, gentle herbivores that love to sun bathe. They're big enough for other creatures to live on their stony backs. Their primary source of food is the sun."
"Just like plants!" Petri was amazed. "How did they get that big?"
"Well Petri..." The conversation between Petri and Julius slowly faded into the back as Matthew's gaze shifted back to the scaly red lizard. Something odd was happening. Matthew had been racking his head, trying to remember what creature it was. 'Too small to be a zesh, no wings, not a baby red dragon...' it kind of looked like a...geckit. 'It's too big though, and too red. Geckits are small and green.'
The hunting party pursuing the creature finally cornered it, closing in with their weapons drawn. As they drew closer, the red lizard began to snarl, baring its fangs and claws wildly. The striker of the team lunged forward with his halberd, swinging in a wide arc to cleanly dismember the mysterious creature. Before the blade could meet its neck, the creature let out a harrowing screech loud enough to reach Matthew.
Matthew stumbled back, head ringing from the noise. He and the rest of his classmates had been disoriented from the auditory attack, and they were hundreds of meters above in the tree tops. Looking back over the edge, Matthew saw that the hunters had been rendered completely comatose. 'No! They're going to-" not a second later, the air cracked and a blur rocketted down the giant branches of the grand oak. The ground quaked, a heavy dust cloud rose from the point of impact. As the dust settled, Matthew saw that the creature had died, impaled by a crimson spear.
"Is everybody okay?" Julius got up from the ground, fixing his glasses. "What was that terrible noise?"
Elias looked grim, clenching his jaw as he outstretched his hand. A moment later, the crimson spear was back in his hands, the creature still impaled on its red iron.
Elias spat to the side. "Another one...that marks the fifth this week."
"I take it that this is one of those?" Julius had a serious look all of a sudden. "This is the first time I've seen a creature affected by it..."
'One of those? Ah... "Blood", that must be it.' Matthew connected the dots.
Julius continued, inspecting the corpse. "A geckit. Looks to be a female juvenile. The noise must have been its signature screech attack. The poor creature must have been confused and terrified..."
Elias wrenched the mutated creature off of his weapon, letting its corpse land with a disgusting squelch. With a look of pure contempt, he kicked it towards Julius, turning around to continue with the tour. "Everybody, move on."
The kids, still a bit rattled, did so. The only people who stayed behind were Demitri, Zayne, Lauren and Matthew.
Julius contemplated what should be done with the corpse for a moment, then pulled out his phone and dialed a number. A moment later, a team of individuals came and retrieved the body, bringing it elsewhere.
"That was a bit exciting, wasn't it?" Julius smiled at Matthew, Demitri, Zayne and Lauren. "Apologies for the slight hiccup on your first excursion. Please, continue with your jungle walk."
The four kids looked at each other with mixed expressions. Demitri was the first to speak up. "Sir, there has to be something we can do. Let us help!"
"Yeah, we're semi competent," Zayne floated above them lazily on his back.
Lauren nodded in affirmation.
"You can trust us, sir." Matthew firmly reinforced them.
Julius chuckled, delighted by the sight of the stalwart children too young to know the world. "I am grateful for your worries, children, but I'm afraid I'll have to decline. Hurry now, you're falling behind the rest of your peers."
Demitri opened his mouth to speak, but then refrained from doing so. Instead, he sighed and turned around, reluctantly walking back to the main group. As he was still holding on to Zayne's string, Zayne did too. Lauren followed the two listlessly, and Matthew scowled in frustration at being underestimated. It was unfair to be treated like this when he was capable of so much more.
Matthew caught up to Demitri, Zayne and Lauren. "That's so annoying! We can do anything an adult can, so why doesn't he treat us like them?" he complained, arms crossed.
Demitri gave him a side glance. "Maybe we just have to prove ourselves."
Matthew caught the slight undertone in his voice. Demitri had something in mind. "...How?"
"We do their jobs for them, that'll show em how good we are!" Demitri grinned devilishly. "And I know just what we should do. Everybody, meet up tonight at midnight, my room. We're going to the Center."