Dryads of the Stars

Chapter 10 : Kingdom Reset

The Sun stretched his rays across the horizon allowing the morning to arrive safely on Earth. It was a cold morning. The storm had calmed down but it had left everything in taters. Broken tree branches had flown away and landed in all kinds of places. Even whole trees had been torn off the ground. There was mud everywhere and the lands were flooded. The garden outside the house was completely destroyed. It was as if the village had just gone through a war. Silence ruled everything as if all the animals had either left or died, as if the wind had died along with them.

The inside of the house was also quiet. The light barely reached inside, since the weather was foggy. The lamps had been turned off and the stove had run out of firewood. It was dark, cold and humid. The creaking sound of the wooden ladder echoed across the entire house as Luna came downstairs. He was the first to wake up. He looked as if he had slept on every possible uncomfortable position a person can sleep in. He looked around the house while still half asleep. After he had scanned everything, the first thing he did was light the lamps. After that he went outside to bring firewood and then started the fire in the stove. Now the house looked more 'morning like'. 

After doing all the morning chores he seemed to be completely awake. He was sitting on the couch after starting the fire when he realized something. Lumius was nowhere to be found. He started panicking. He run around the house checking every room, but he was not there. Altera woke up from the noise and after realizing what had happened she started searching as well. On the other hand the trio of men was still dead asleep on their beds with no signs of waking up. Nobody seemed to care about them anyway. After having searched every nook and cranny of the house Luna and Alera stopped in front of the stove in the middle of the house to catch their breath. They seemed extremely worried. 

Their eyes met and as if they had telepathy they both sat on the couch and faced each other. Altera spoke first. 

"How long has he been gone?"

"I am not sure. I went to sleep at about three or four in the morning. He was still sitting on his armchair when I left. So it has been..."

They both looked at the clock hanging on the wall next to the kitchen at the same time. 

"Almost five hours."

"Where could he have gone? Outside?"

Luna started thinking. Where else could he possibly be at this hour. He had not slept at all, and it was too early for him to go anywhere outside. They could not figure it out at all.

Just as they were preparing to go outside to search, they heard footsteps. They were coming from behind the main door of the house. Altera and Luna looked at each other, nodded and opened the door. To their surprise, it was none other than Lumius. He was all dressed up, but his clothes were completely wet although they seemed to have dried up a little. He looked at them with a surprised expression and smiled. 

"Ha ha, were you waiting for me at the door? So cute."

Luna was about to lose it. Altera patted his back as if to tell him to calm down. Lumius had walked inside already. This situation was a mess.

"Where have you been all this time?"

Luna had snapped. His tone was aggressive. He could not take it anymore. 

"I am sick and tired of you keeping me in the dark. Why are you so reckless? What are you trying to do?"

He was now yelling right at his face. Lumius was surprised in the beginning, but then his expression took an odd turn. His eyelids lowered as if he was tired, his lips curved slightly upwards forming a small smirk and his eyes turned to the side. The atmosphere around them was suffocating. Altera was shivering like a frightened kitten behind Luna. She grabbed his shirt as if to ask him to stop.