Forgotten-ENG

3.The chase

There was a certain tension in the alley. Ozan watched the three men eye each other, motionless. The scene lasted a good minute before the tattooed man struck the ground violently with his foot. His blow made the entire street tremble, lifting a pile of stones in front of him that he hit with a circular motion of his hand. The rocks in front of him shattered into dozens of small projectiles, heading straight towards the cyborg and the fighter, ignoring Ozan. Did this strange man not consider the sorcerer a threat to him? Even though Ozan had caught up with him in a gust of wind!

"You won't escape so easily!" Ozan muttered to himself as the tattooed man left. He concentrated again to gather the winds around him, but his previous effort had depleted his mana. And then, despite his head having stopped spinning, he still felt like a beehive had taken up residence there. He struggled to concentrate because of the noise produced by his two companions facing the rocky projectiles. He heard them start running to catch up with their assailant, and a hoarse voice (probably the cyborg's) rang out.

"You're not very clever, huh... You made him run away when I had him," said the cyborg.

"Mind your own business, old bolt! You better put some oil on; you're starting to creak. Meanwhile, I'll take care of him," replied the fighter.

The cyborg expelled a puff of steam from his arm, but Ozan supposed it was more a sigh of exasperation than a cooling system... After a few seconds of intense concentration, Ozan managed to take off more delicately than before and set off in pursuit of the tattooed man.

Ori's group was returning peacefully to the Light Orphanage when the explosion rang out in the distance.

"What was that?" Ori wondered."I don't know, but it doesn't bode well," replied Hana. "Take Zoé; let's pick up the pace." She told Ori in a low voice. "Come on, kids, let's hurry home for dinner!""Hey, I won't be able to do this much longer. You're stronger than me; you could carry her," Ori retorted."No arguing! Let's go quickly before it gets out of hand..."

She seemed genuinely worried. After all, gathering the representatives of different nations in one place... the atmosphere could be tense. Ori complied and took Zoé in his arms before picking up the pace.

After a few minutes of frantic walking towards the orphanage, the group of children began to hear the sounds of an unhappy crowd. And around a corner, a man fell from the sky just in front of Ori, pushing him upon landing. He managed to protect little Zoé from the fall but landed on his back, hearing an unsettling crack.

"Hey, you're not okay! There are stairs to go down from the walkways," he said laboriously.

Indeed, the man who had landed here must have jumped from the walkway just above them, as people on it were leaning over to see what had happened. Since the city was mostly made up of very tall buildings, numerous bridges and walkways had been built between their balconies. The downside was that young people were often seen climbing and jumping from balcony to balcony, risking a fall. And in this case, such a fall should have broken the legs of this man. But he got up without a problem in front of Ori, dusting off his pants.

"Sorry, little one, I'm in a hurry," he said in a deep voice.

He was the strangest man Ori had ever seen. He was covered in tattoos representing runes similar to those of the portals. Well, Ori wasn't sure if they were similar, but this man intrigued him a lot. Suddenly, the man raised his head towards the walkway and started running.

"Sir, wait!" Ori quickly got up and began to chase him."Where are you going? Ori, come back," exclaimed Hana, who was picking up Zoé in her arms."Go home without me; I'll join you!" he replied."Here we go," she sighed, "Grandma will kill me..."

Ori had clearly overestimated his condition. He quickly realized, while chasing this man, that what had cracked during his fall was not a branch but probably his back. He was in agony and had difficulty catching up with the tattooed man, even though the latter was slowed down by the crowd in the streets. But Ori was too intrigued by this man to give up. He had sensed something unusual in him and wanted to know more. After climbing a few steps and crossing a bridge, the man stopped in front of a gate on the side, placed his hand on it, and entered.

Once at the level of the gate, Ori stopped, hesitating... He knew well that the gate only went one way. He had always dreamed of going on a journey, discovering the world, and maybe learning more about his family, understanding why they had abandoned him, left him alone... But he hesitated, thinking about the orphanage, Grandma, little Zoé, and Hana with whom he got along so well. No, it wasn't worth pursuing a perfect stranger just because he intrigued him. Moreover, if he left now, Hana would have to endure Grandma's wrath in his place. And although the idea made Ori laugh, he wasn't wicked enough to wish that on anyone. Lost in his thoughts, Ori returned to reality when he felt a sudden heat. The gate in front of him had started to glow much more than usual, giving off intense heat. Then he heard a small group running in his direction. It consisted of a massive Rai fighter, a boy floating in the wind, an old man with a body replaced by metal, and a Valkyrie running a few meters behind them. They were racing up the stairs four at a time (except for the young sorcerer, of course), pointing at the gate. Ori turned again to the gate to see that it was glowing even more, and the heat it emitted became almost unbearable. Passersby had all stepped aside except for Ori. He quickly understood what was about to happen, and it wouldn't be a pretty sight. So, he stepped forward towards the pursuing group and stood in the middle of the path, spreading his arms.

"Watch out, don't come any closer; the gate is going to explode!"

Everyone seemed bewildered but continued to advance in his direction. The temperature increased more and more, then a glow behind Ori, the cyborg raising the "arm" in his direction, a loud noise coming from the gate, a luminous projectile passing just beside Ori, and finally, complete darkness.