Darline's knuckles tightened up, walking towards Kent, lying on the ground looking at the night sky above her, "your fault!" pointing her finger at Kent.
Kent tilted her head slowly, looking at her friend's raging face. Kent couldn't utter a word, she knew she should be the one to save Christian, but she didn't. She's still powerless. Protecting herself from her classmate's rage could only spark another conflict. She decided to just agree and listen. That's the only thing that she could do.
"How could you? He's our friend! Our classmate! You let those creatures eat him!" Darline's tears continue to fall to her cheeks, to the dry ground, making it the only liquid that nourishes the now dry soil.
Still processing the dreadful experience, Gloyd, Ivan, and Maeje sat down on the dry land, gazing at it, different emotions taken from them, leaving only the sadness behind. Alex moved towards Darline, patting her on the back, trying to comfort her. "Don't say that. Kent did her best to protect Christian, but she, we, did not expect it to happen so suddenly. She was outnumbered. She took us to safety first, making her guards carry us back to the land. That's when she was overwhelmed by the enemies' numbers and suffered defeat."
"No, I-- Darline's right. I was the reason why Christian got devoured. I was powerless against it. If only Alex was the one who acquired this power, he would have stood a chance against those creatures." She explained.
Alex's brows met. He looked at Kent with disbelief, "How could you say that? there's no one more deserving of acquiring that power than you!"
"If I could have summoned enough soldiers to intercept the enemy's attacks, then we wouldn't – I wouldn't have lost Christian." Bowing her head, pitying herself.
"Those enemies, they do not exist in our past world," Alex said.
"There's no such thing as fishes which can devour anything inside their own pond," Alex added.
"We should've stopped immediately when we noticed that Noel's marks did not appear in this area." Kent slowly stood up, escorted by her own guards.
"Don't blame yourself, Kent. Christian ran on his own. We warned him, but he still ran. I don't blame him, but I don't blame you, too. We were careless, and we lost a life because of it." Alex told everyone. Trying to comfort somebody about someone's death was never easy.
On the other hand, their friend, a close one, has his life taken away from them in their own sight. Should they move forward? Or should they go back? Did Noel betray them by guiding them toward those monsters? Alex gathered all the thoughts he could have, making a logical conclusion about their situation.
The alien creatures were the evidence, a shred of evidence that species of animals in this place do not limit what appeared or existed in their past world. They have to be cautious in their surroundings and even study animals they do not know about. Weaknesses and strengths that's what they have to gather to properly survive in this new world.
Alex decided to just stay for the night in that place. They immediately gathered the woods necessary to make a fire. "Let's fight, but we should not forget to grieve about our friend's loss. Let's make his sacrifice our own strength in surviving this land. In that way, we honor his death by continuing to live." Speaking calmly towards his friends, he gave them a little hope of light in a night of loss.
Darline calmed down and asked for Kent's forgiveness, and Kent immediately forgave her. They both hugged each other, crying over someone's loss.
"What are we gonna do now?" asked Maeje while sitting on a stone near the campfire. Kent sent the guard bees to fetch them some food they could find near the place. Successfully, the guard bees returned with fresh fish and fruits in hand. Famished, the students gladly accepted it, eating the food with their hearts still heavy over Christian's death. "We still have four hours before dawn. Let's take a rest and continue to travel after." Kent announced. The students agreed and slept after they finished eating. Kent ordered the guard bees to do what they were supposed to do – guard them while they sleep.
The winds of the marshlands – were cold, calm, and solemn. A melody to those who just passed there in the middle of the night. His back on the dry soil, he wondered about the creatures once more. Magical creatures who can devour life inside their pond are as dangerous as the other monsters. Making a human paralyzed instantly if you step into its strange liquid. Alex tilted his head. He can still see Kent's guards continue to watch around, preparing for possible threats. Kent did her best, Alex thought. She shouldn't blame herself for Christian's death. Although their hearts may be broken by their friend's loss. They still have reason to fight, and that's living. Alex moved slowly, making himself comfortable while lying on the ground. He prayed for a good night's sleep, a sleep that could take his heartaches away. Even for a moment, he prayed for a bit of rest. A rest that can remediate his exhaustion. Exhaustion does not hit his body and mind but the heart that grieves for his friend's death. Emptying his mind, he slowly closed his heavy eyes, which soon gave up successfully to sleep – a rest. Eyes, now closed, tears fell down from them. Even the eyes couldn't restrain themselves from a friend's grieving heart.
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Kent's orders were absolute. Guard them with their life. Summoning is one of the queen bee's extraordinary powers. Making herself protected from different predators.
Whooshing sounds were noisy in the silent night as the guard bees continued to fly, guarding the sleeping queen and her friends on their way to the enemy's territory. Unlike them, rest is necessary for humans, for they lack the stamina to endure continuous actions for consecutive days. Making them weak towards predators who did not know rest. But it's different if the queen orders them to do so. They were bound to their queen and could only follow her order.
Like the queen's, their eyes have good vision during the night, making them spot any threats from a distance.
However, sneaky attacks like mysterious vines crawling slowly towards the sleeping students were effective against the guard bees.
Slithering along the dry ground, the vines let out a green fume making the bees fall into the ground, where they slept unconsciously. The vines continue to slither towards the sleeping students making a rushing sound as the green strips with their thorns and leaves touch the dry soil. Kent felt and noticed the sudden immobilization of her summons, making her wake up, expecting a dangerous threat. She pushed her body upwards, trying to stand, when the vine entangled her wings and feet, disabling any movement from her. But her mouth was free. She screamed for the others to hear, also twisted slowly by the vines. "wake up!" she shouted. Both of her feet and hands were tied.
The others woke up immediately only to notice their bodies covered with green strips, crawling, slithering, encircling them. Making their bodies disabled for a moment.
"What is this?" Alex asked.
The vines carried them upwards, making them stand while being tied up. The others could not speak, for the vines had already covered their mouth. Leaving their eyes, the only part of their body, uncovered.
Struggling to get out from the vines, they stopped as they noticed a strange figure who later materialized into a human as it walked nearly towards the snared students.
"mmmmmmmmmmmmm" speaking indistinctively as their mouths were still covered with vines.
The human figure stepped and moved towards them, where they noticed a beautiful lady in a red dress. A red flower bloomed on top of her head, making it look like a floral headdress, usually worn at costume parties. Her hands were covered with leaves, making them look like the scales of a fish. Barefoot, she walked towards them. "Hu---humans… H--How d---did you g--get here?" stuttering, she immediately moved backward as if she's trying to keep distance from them, hiding."
The students let out a struggling voice, their mouths still covered with vines. "S—Sorry." The lady stuttered, waving her hand, and the vines suddenly slowly let go from entangling the students. The students let out a big sigh as they gasp for air. Doing the same for a few seconds, they looked at the lady hiding under the trees' shadows.
Dumbfounded, Alex still tried to talk to the lady, "What are you doing?" looking at the lady hiding behind the trees.
"D---Don't Cooooome N—near!" she shouted, still stuttering.
"We won't hurt you," Alex assured. How come a single lady who singlehandedly captured us came hiding from us from a distance? Alex thought.
"H—Humans, I h---have never s---seen one since, a l---long t---time ago." She replied.
"So, you've seen humans before?" Alex asked.
"Y---Yes." The lady replied.
Kent moved towards Alex, nearing herself towards the lady, "Are you teleported here, too? Like us?"
The lady disagreed, "N---no, I was b---born here, together with m---my siblings."
"So, you're from this world?" Alex asked.
The lady nodded. "Strange appearances of humans have been reported to us."
"Where are your siblings? Why are you alone?" Feeding Kent's own curiosity.
"I'm the only one here. I am Rabi, one of the eight from the Roceiae tribe. The one who guards the marshlands."
Awestruck by the sudden introduction of the plant lady, the students began to wonder what her clan could be. Is this girl a royal in this place? But how did she not make an appearance as they were being teleported here? And noticed their presence only after being attacked by the hideous creatures who swallowed their classmate, Christian, alive?
"Guardian?" asked Ivan.
"Yes. My siblings and I were born to protect these lands from invaders." She answered.
"If guardians exist, then did you know about the strange appearances of humans, like us, in this world?" Alex asked, trying to answer questions from his mind that may solve the reason behind their mysterious appearance in this world.
The lady shook her head from side to side, "we were shocked by your appearances. We do not have such species like you called 'humans' in this world."
Alex tried asking again, "Do you know about our abduction by the queen bee and how we slaughtered it?"
"Yes." Rabi nodded.
"But why didn't you help us then?" Alex argued.
"Guardians cannot meddle with the laws of nature. It's against our vows." Rabi replied.
"I see." Alex accepted her answer.
"But, why did you appear now?" Gloyd asked.
"Eartheaters…" she bowed her head. Her brows met, looking anxious about what happened to their classmate. "They aren't allowed here, and they shouldn't be here. It's strange." Speaking in a severe tone.
Alex noticed the disappearance of Rabi's stuttering. Was she already comfortable speaking with us? Observing the plant lady, her ears were pointy, made of red, rosy petals.
"Was it the first time it happened?" Darline managed to ask, too.
The plant lady nodded. "I don't see the point of taking a human as a hostage."
"What do you mean hostage?" Kent asked immediately, thinking that he's still alive, Christian.
"I'll explain later. Follow me." The plant lady turned back, asking the students to follow her. Kent asked Rabi to make her summon wake up again, where she immediately undid the sleeping spell.
Together, they followed the beautiful plant lady, who promised to explain everything after they arrived.
Alex thought of his classmate, Christian, who might still be alive, waiting for them to be rescued, full of hope and glee.
This world they lived in continued to be extraordinary as they moved forward from place to place. Will they be able to save their friend? Or this stranger can become another demise? Alex thought of every possibility. But in the end, the stranger's word that may be considered hope for their friend's safety weighs more than anything in mind, embarking on another journey to the unknown world.