"My birth mother kept her promise to my past parents and she looked after me till I was nine. Although, she gave me the name Adla Tufani, after my father, in addition to the name my past parents gave me. My full name is Adla Nabro Tufani", Adla said.
"My mom told me the entire story as well as the various legends passed down in the village the night of my seventh birthday and a week later, my abilities started to rear their head".
"It first started with the power to control small breezes but as I kept on doing it, I could soon uproot tall trees from the ground and cause a small-scale hurricane. The exciting part was when I discovered I could use the wind to fly. It was amazing!" he shouted happily.
"Then, a week after my ninth birthday, she got sick", he said as his mood suddenly dropped. "Her health continued to deteriorate until she finally passed away a month later. I survived on my own until I came into contact with the rangers charged with looking after the forest and the protected animals. This is my entire story", he said finally ending the long tale.
...….
"Interesting…very interesting. The tale he just narrated sounds too farfetched, and yet it is the truth. So, the substance is called Mana huh?" Dr. Michelson noted as he lay back on the couch in their viewing room. "We never had a name for it but I guess this was the original name. But to find out that Earth's mana was locked up in order to turn a cataclysmic battle in the favour of the ancient gods is really insane", Silendiana added as she handed him a glass of wine and curled up on the couch and cuddled with him, laying her head on his chest.
"It is really outstanding. Lisia, please be a dear and log all the information extracted from the narrative and create a timeline scatter plot workbook according to it. As we move on and find more information, we'll fill in all the pot holes and get the entire picture", Dr. Michelson instructed and the AI acknowledged his order.
"What do we do with the boy? Do we bring him in?" Dr. Michelson asked Silendiana. "I think it would be wise to let the kids make that judgement call. Even though he is clearly not hostile, the kind of power he wields could be a huge problem in the wrong hands but if we should bring him in against his will, it could end up backfiring on us", she answered and he nodded in agreement.
"Anyway, are we going to tell the kids about us", Silendiana asked as she mapped his chest with her finger. "Hmm! I believe we have to tell them but, I'll like for us to keep it as a secret for as long as possible so as to not interfere with their lives too much", Dr. Michelson replied.
"I understand. They have a battle coming soon anyway, they will have to focus and prepare", Silendiana commented as she raised her head and gave him a kiss.
"You're right. But before that, we need to prepare from their return. they are going to want to know how they did on their test", Dr. Michelson informed her. "I can't wait", she said as they continued to snuggle in each other's arms.
...
"So, what are you going to do from now on?" Samuel asked Adla. "Afterall, with the poachers now caught, you can get the rangers to return and do their actual jobs. I suspect the security will be beefed up after the information about the poachers gets out. It should allow you to be free", Sylvia added.
"You're right. It's just…I've been here all my life. The thought of leaving scares me", Adla informed. "There is nothing to fear about the outside world. In fact, you are welcome to come back with us when we return home. It would be nice having you around", Samuel invited.
"Thanks a lot for that. I'm grateful for the invitation…I really am, but I think I should get to know my home country and continent first before I take off to another", Adla replied. "It's your decision to make after all. Just know that the invitation always stands", Samuel added.
"It's getting late. We need to prepare to spend the night here. We can set off for the city tomorrow morning", Sylvia announced as she stood up. "I'll start getting dinner ready then", Catherina said following Sylvia's lead. "You're right, but why do I get the stinking suspicion that I'm forgetting something
"You mean those", Delgato said as he pointed upwards towards the dangling poachers who had blood rushing towards their heads. Their unconscious faces were extremely flushed, looking like tomatoes ripe for harvesting.
"Damn, they could have died if we left them hanging", Samuel said as leapt onto the branches of the tree. He partially entered his prime form, transforming his hands and feet into claws and talons as well as releasing his tail.
He let himself fall backwards and hooked a branch with his strong tail, hanging upside down alongside the poachers. He then used his claws to rip through the ropes allowing the poachers to freefall to the ground. Sylvester was however already hovering above the ground to catch them.
After cutting down all the poachers, Samuel released his tail and somersaulted unto the ground. "That was so awesome. You can even change you body parts like that?" Adla asked as he excitedly run up to get a better look at Samuel's transformed features. "You haven't seen anything yet", Samuel said as he brought out his wings and completed his prime emergence look.
After spending a few minutes showing off their abilities to each other, they sat together to have supper. After supper, they set up their sleeping bags around the fire. "Here!" Delgato said as he tossed a spare sleeping bag to Adla.
The sky got dark quickly as darkness covered the entire forest. Every creature in the reserve were sound asleep in their various habitats; except the nocturnal ones of course. The only light for miles came from the small camp fire made by the group. "I've set up the defenses", Delgato said as he crawled into his sleeping bag.
"As agreed, we'll escort you to the city tomorrow then head home", Samuel said to Adla who nodded in response. "I hope we can come back to this continent again so that we can explore from top to bottom", Catherina said as she gave an infectious yawn.
"Yeah! Maybe we can schedule it for after we finish high school", Sylvester suggested. "I'll still be in school though; you can't go without me", Catherina insisted.
"Maybe it can coincide with a long vacation so that we can all take our time and explore", Sylvia suggested. "Yay! I can't wait", Catherina cheered. "I'll probably be an expert on the land so I can lead you to all the interesting places I'll come across", Adla added.
The group made small talk until they were too sleepy to continue. "Good night, everyone", Samuel said and the all fell asleep one after the other, leaving the still unconscious poachers tied together against a large tree.