The Forgotten Ones

The Disfigured

All of them started attacking.

Jay had exemplary skills in martial arts, only flawed by his improperness. He tried to knock them out, but they overpowered him.

Jay's on-the-spot thinking resulted in an idea. He grabbed the attackers' spears to push them away. He then tore what remained of his sleeves off and wrapped them around the ends of each spear.

"Alexa. Think you can make a fire?" He yelled.

"YEAH," She yelled back.

With a wave of her hand, she generated fire on a pile of fallen leaves. Jay immediately set the sleeve end on fire and attacked them. The fire seemed to do the trick. They all huddled together in a corner, giving room for Alexa and Jay to run. And that's what they did. They ran as fast as they could. The "disfigured" chased them through the looping forest. They knew every looping element, dodging all the rocks and fallen branches. If only Jay and Alexa could be invisible...

"Jay, Follow me," Alexa took the lead.

Jay did as told and moments later, they became invisible. Alexa created an invisible barrier around them. But she wasn't able to hold it on for long. The disfigured abandoned their search after a while.

Alexa weakened. She was semi-conscious. Magic took a toll on her life. They set up camp under a banyan tree. Alexa hadn't gained consciousness. Jay prepared a fire and wrapped Alexa with huge banana leaves to protect her from the cold. The temperature of the forest was too cold for the trees to survive, but yet they did.

Moments later...

Alexa woke up. Her body was still weak from the magic. She was wrapped in banana leaves. In front of her, there was a bonfire. She looked around but didn't see Jay.

"JAY," She called. No answer.

"JAY," She called again. No answer.

Her legs weren't ready to support her. But she moved on. Inside, she was scared to be left alone. The only place she felt safe was the river. Though some disfigured people attacked her there, something about that river made her feel safe. She headed there and found Jay on the ground. Her face darkened. What she feared became reality. She tried to run, but failed and fell beside Jay's body.

"Jay. Wake up," She spoke. Her voice began to break.

"Jay. Please. Don't leave me," Her voice broke. The tears began.

Jay woke up. His ears heard her cries as he woke up. His eyes opened to see Alexa cry. Turns out he was in deep sleep.

"What happened? Why are you crying?" Jay asked in confusion.

"Oh. You're alive!! Thank god," Alexa exclaimed, wiping the tears off her face.

"Yeah, I'm alive. Whadya think?" Jay exclaimed.

"W-what happened? Why were you sleeping here?"

"I came here to get some water, but the river... It was so calm and composing. I sat down and the next thing I knew, I was sleeping,"

Jay didn't want to admit that he slept there thinking of the memories of him and Alexa near the riverside.

He got up, stretching his limbs. He walked over to the river and splashed his face with the sweet, cold flowing water. Alexa followed suit. For a moment, Jay focused only on Alexa, looking at her as she splashed her face with the water.

"What are you looking at?" she asked, sprinkling water on his face.

"Nothing," He replied, splashing water back at her.

And that's what they did. They splashed water at each other, forgetting about the disfigured people or their loss. For a while, they felt happy. They felt like they did when they were near the riverside at the Queens' clan for a while.

Alexa decided to stand in between the water and use her mojo to deliver a powerful splash with the river water. But as she stepped onto the water, she fell. And by that, she fell "down" deep under the water.

"ALEXA!!" Jay yelled. He was taken aback. Without thinking, he jumped, falling deep. The fall lasted less than a minute or so. Jay landed with minimum impact. An underground cave, illuminated by the refraction of the river water. The water above continued to flow without breaking its pattern. You can see the tall trees surrounding the river from below. The river acted as some kind of a cloaking mechanism. Jay's mind was wrapped around these facts, before thinking of Alexa. He saw a path with the dimmed light and followed it. Walking along the path, he called out Alexa's name, but it only echoed back at him. As he walked on, he came across writings on the walls. It was very hard to read, but his eyes adjusted faster than anyone. It read, "Once you take on a path, don't look back unless you desire madness,"
"Madness?" He exclaimed.

He looked back. Nothing happened. Yet...