Syzygy Aces

Chapter 8

"This is totally insane! How could we know that we will bring back the right gem? Glenieze told us that the cave was full of those things!" Maximus continued to whine as we strolled deeper into forest. His voice was so vexing that our heads ached.

"Will you stop complaining? This is a part of the game, nitwit!" Jaxmi started to wrath. He was been restraining himself for long now. He was hot-tempered. No doubt his element was fire.

"What do call me?!!!" Maximus was in rage.

"Nitwit means scattered-brain!" Jaxmi repeated his words, intimidating Maximus.
Before Jaxmi could dodged, he was been hit by Maximus with his fist in the jaw. Jaxmi eyes blazed with his sudden assault. He made a ball of fire out of his hand and threw it to Maximus.

Maximus ducked to avoid the fire and it hit a branch of a tree nearby. We were startled by their fury and stand aback.

"Enough!" Shay stood between them. She gave them a look that made their skin rise. "We don't want to start a wild fire, do we?"

They calmed down with a blank face.
What happened to them? It seems that they have been scolded by their parent. So grounded....

"Okay, be cool guys. We're a team and we are not supposed to fight against each other, right? Let's all be friends and work together as one." I said reluctantly.

"Let them fight." Voltai said. "They will just stop if they are exhausted."

"Not a good suggestion Voltai," Reyn smirked at him. "They will just use up all their energies for nothing and eventually will eat all our supplies."

I could not help but chortled at the thought of them being so greedy in terms of food.
"Speaking of food, I'm famished." I said holding my tummy.

We were walking for two hours already. The forest was covered with gigantic trees. We barely saw the sky, the leaves were so dense. We stopped for a while and rested. Nothing was peculiar for now. The nature was in tone. We gathered around to have our meal.

I noticed that Jaxmi and Maximus were quiet, it wasn't normal to see them like this.
With curiosity, I snooped around Maximus and asked, "What's with you Maxi? Have you eaten your tongue?" I teased. I used to call him Maxi when we were young.
He leaned closer and whispered something. My eyebrows met after hearing the words he said. I was uncertain if I heard it right.

"Really?" I stared at him suspiciously.

He just nodded and continued munching soundly. I glanced at Shay who was demurely eating rice cake. The food we brought was been prepared by the tournament facilitators. I opened my meal pack and found rice cakes! Well, they should let us eat rice cakes for the rest of the day.

While devouring a piece of the cake, I was pondering about what Maximus told me. He said that Shay had a strange power that can manipulate his mind and could give him visions of his own fears, other than that her aura was clouded with something darkness.

Shay is a manipulator and it's a very rare ability. Maybe she's hiding something from us. Her looks give me creeps; she has this barrier to get rid of someone. She does really don't want to mingle with us.

I never saw Xerxi since Maxi and Jax fought. He was not around and we didn't notice that one of us was missing.
Drowning in my own thoughts, Reyn tapped me at my shoulders.

"Hey, what's bothering you?" she asked.

"A lot.." I murmured.

She sat next to me and didn't ask for more. She neatly rolled the pieces of cloth around her arm. I was amused by the way she wrapped it tenderly.

"Guys! Miss me?" Xerxi exclaimed as he appeared in front of us abruptly.

"We never really miss you, we don't even know that you're been gone," Voltai said sarcastically.

Xerxi smirked at him and diverted his attention to me. "Krish, I went ahead of you to scout and I found the river a mile away from here. I already saw other teams crossing it."

"That's good Xerxi! But please do inform us if you'll go elsewhere. We don't know what's bewitching this forest. We should stick together for our safety" I told him and looked at the others.

They gave me an approving smile. I was pleased that they agreed in a favourable way.

While they were having a nap, I summoned Glenieze. I had unfinished business with her regarding my mother.

"Aloha!" She appeared as flamboyant as ever with her nymph wood outfit. I was now confused if my spirit has multiple personality.

"Where's the fight?" Glenieze queried, looking ferociously.

"You want to fight with that outfit?!" I asked vexing at her. I was not envious but the fact that we were at war and she was so appealing to fight.

"You're so naïve, my lady" she tried to be calm. "Charm is a weapon as well as a distraction." She posed alluringly.

"Okay, I get your point. Well, I summon you because of my mother. I would like to know more about her." My face softened.

As I mentioned the name of my mother, Glenieze was saddened. I knew in my heart that she was close to her.

"I don't want to be your confidant nor your friend to be clear. I don't want to get involved from now own to any mage that summons me. Your mom was my mage and friend. She was really strong and powerful. Yet, she has a soft heart that leads her destruction." She sighed. "She was so in love with your father and it's prohibited for a mage to bear a child. I tried to warn her about it. Despite of my warnings, she followed her heart and got pregnant with you. To save you, she bargained herself to our spirit queen. All her strength was conveyed for you to live. She's now at the abyss of our world in deep sleep. You're the only child that was conceived by a mage!"

I was shivering with tears as she finished talking. The fact that my mother was alive made me longed for her. But the thought that she was in the spirit world, tore up my heart. Glenieze hesitated to comfort me but I saw pain in her eyes. By the sound of her voice, I could tell that she was devastated of what happened to my mother.