Zindi watched as the youths with him chatted with one another with almost no care in the world with a slight crease of his brows.
There were even two that were flirting with each other in one of the corners of the cave since it was big enough.
As their voices got louder, he spoke, his voice booming with an authority none were used to.
"Quiet!"
23 heads snapped in his direction almost instantaneously, making him sigh.
'I forgot that these kids, no matter how young they seem, are children of nobles and three of them are even monstrous talents with the potential to surpass me... sigh... I had to do that for our sakes.'
On the outside though, he met their inquisitive gazes with a stern one.
"Quiet, all of you! We're no more in the academy. We're in Thorn Forest! You can't just shout however you like."
"Old man, because you're scared of some fairy tale you heard somewhere doesn't mean the same thing for us," a youth with fiery red hair and similarly red eyes snarled. "You might be more powerful than us, but don't forget what our families can do to you when we leave from here.
"Better watch your mouth," he said, still snarling. Then, he turned away.
Zindi stared coldly as they continued to talk, disregarding him totally.
If it was anyone else, he would have flattened them to the ground, but these children were the children of some of the prominent families in the city of Cago, and the headmaster of the academy definitely didn't want to fall out with any children from noble families.
'Pathetic,' he thought to himself as he took out a staff from seemingly nowhere and cast a subtle silencing spell.
Unfortunately, that was a mistake.
He shook his head and went to sit down at the far end of the cave when suddenly...
Coldness descended.
Zindi shivered and shot up from his sitting position, his hands already resting on the handle of his sword.
'What was that?'
He tried to look at the youths for answers, but all he saw was a look of utter bewilderment on their faces.
Zindi had come to Thorn Forest before, yes, but that was over 20 years ago.
According to his knowledge, the bizarre things of the forest only happened to you if you were out there without staying in an abode, but the sudden coldness that permeated the bones affected even him made him more vigilant than he thought he would have to be.
"Everyone, bring out your weapons and stay vigilant. I have no idea what is going on here."
"You have no idea?" A green haired boy asked, his voice laced with skepticism and a tiny bit of fear.
Zindi didn't reply to the girl.
A blue haired youth walked up to Zindi and stared him in the eye. He was barely 16 years old, but he stared the 70-year-old man down without a hint of fear or backing down.
"Follow what the old man says," he said to his fellows, who listened to him.
'Utterly pathetic,' Zindi thought, but he didn't say anything until 23 weapons were out, with the greater half of them being short, wooden sticks– wands.
Then, they all looked at Zindi, who promptly spoke.
"The last time I visited this forest, the bizarre entities only attacked if they sensed any form of intelligent multicellular life around them, but there wasn't any phenomenon correlating with the coldness we're feeling now.
"Therefore, I think we might be facing yet another bizarre entity. I don't know what this coldness does, but the fact that I'm feeling as cold as a corpse right now is enough to tell me that it isn't anything good.
"This cave, as safe as it seems, may not be so safe anymore."
He looked at the youths to make sure they were paying attention, then he continued.
"We have two choices.
"We can wait here and raise our guard to the limit while expecting to be attacked from all sides, or we can match our of this cave and get to the nearest spot that I am sure is the safest, the ruins of a temple I saw when I scouted out earlier.
"Each options have their own advantages and disadvantages, but the final choice will be up to you, oh so mighty children from the great families," he concluded, almost spitting out the last words.
The youths shifted uncomfortably hearing his words, but they didn't immediately lash out.
Zindi was the strongest and although they were confident in taking down a green core... this was a double-caster who could silent cast.
The old man simply watched as they huddled in a corner of the cave to make their decision.
They were unaware of the slight twitch of his ears.
***
In the temple, Luan's face turned whiter than the sky at noon as he felt the giant look in his direction.
The giant had gained life the moment the coldness descended, but Luan was so immersed in making his bow that he didn't notice until he felt floor beneath his feet tremble as the giant took a step.
Like that, he found himself staring at the smooth face of the stone giant, now golden.
The giant's smooth face rippled and a carve in the shape of a raised eyebrow appeared as it bent down to come face to face to Luan, who could hear his two hearts thumping with so much force that he felt they would burst if he didn't rein in his fear.
Unfortunately, after seeing what the giant was capable of... he simply couldn't.
To his surprise, the giant simply stepped around him before stepping outside, leaving him with heart beats as erratic as ever.
***
The blue haired youth raised his head from the huddle and walked up to Zindi, who had heard every word they said.
"We'll go tonight."
The old man shook his head inwardly, but he simply waved his hand, causing the earthen wall to lower into the ground.
He was about to step out, but when he raised his head, he suddenly paled.
The first thing he saw was a black fog, but he thought they could navigate it... until he saw two entities of gigantic proportions.
The first one was a warrior clad in gold armor and wielding a gold sword with a smooth face with absolutely no features, every step it took making the ground quake, but the second...
Zindi didn't even have time to memorize the image before he flew back and crashed into the walls of the cave with twice the speed he could ever achieve as blood sprayed from all his orifices.
The only saving grace, was that he remembered to raise the wall before completely passing out.