Syzygy Aces

Chapter 11

We stride along a narrow path; only a single person can walk on it. I walked faster to catch up with Shay. The path seemed endless. We were walking for almost three hours now and the sky started to dim. The rays of sunset began to form up in the sky. The stiffness of the path added to the pain I felt in my legs as my muscles harden in every stroke I took. Shay was striding the path so fast, like a ninja, tip toeing on the rocks. I accidentally slipped when I stepped in an irregular-shape stone and fell. Maximus instantly caught me in the waist and pushed me forward to regain my balance.

"What a clumsy witch..." He mumbled but I did hear him clear enough to make my blood boiled but I held my temper.

"Thanks!" I said and gave him a timid smile. I couldn't make any arguments with him right now since I was occupied keeping my pace behind Shay.

He looked confused and thought. Maybe an angel passed by. First time she didn't talk back to me.

I ignored him and focus on my own steps. I had to be cautious, if Maximus couldn't catch me the next time I slipped; the others would simply stumble and fell behind me. After a while, we reached a plateau where the path was wider and clear. I was relieved even I got few bruises from the twigs and sharps stones from the trail. I checked the stone Glenieze gave me; it still blinks regularly indicating that we were at the right path.

"There's a cliff ahead!" Xerxi yelled in front of us. "The problem is how we could cross to the next plateau. The second river is a hundred feet below. If we will take a detour, it takes us half a day."

Team Seven were tagging behind us. As they came nearer, Prince Marve approached me.

"What's the fuss about?" His voice was soft. He looked so intimidating with his fancy clothes. I was not at ease with him at all but he was really nice. I told him the situation that we were about to face.

"Let's go ahead and see the condition of the location and plan. We can't take the detour; the cave is quite far ahead. We can't make it on time." He grabbed my hand and dragged me to hasten up. I could see in my rearview the piercing glare of Maximus.

He was really pest up. She's really pathetic, trusting the leader of the other team.

If only looks could kill, I thought I was dead by now. I just nod at him for assurance, telling him in a way that things would be okay. We reached at the edge of the plateau. The other side was about 100 feet away from us. Our place was higher than the plateau on the other side. The water at the river below was flowing violently and I could tell that if one of us fell, it would definitely be his end.

"I could ask Melaine to use her element. She can summon the tree-roots and serve as ropes to connect us towards the other side but I don't think it can hold us all. Maybe we would cross one after another to be safe." Prince Marve suggested.

"Ok I'll deliver your suggestion to my team." I was quite impressed on how he thought about it in just a short period of time. The group approached us headed by Maximus who was about to kill me any minute now. The other team also gathered around to know what to do. Prince Marve discussed the plan with them but first my team couldn't fully agree with it. After some discussions within us, we decided that it was the best choice we had.

"I'm not in the position to say that you can trust me because we are rivals but if we could do this together then we can make it to the cave in time and alive. You already saw one team in the ground after you guys fought the nymphs." Prince Marve confidently spoke.

It was all true. After the encounter with the nymphs, in few feet away, we saw one team scattering on the ground. They had been enchanted by the nymphs. They seemed to be in deep sleep rather than dead. We were just vigilant to act before they totally got us.

Melaine positioned at the edge of the cliff and raised her arms. The land cracked and huge roots came out. It travelled on air reaching the other side, and clung to the big pieces of sturdy rocks.

"I can make more of this, I'm not exhausted yet." She said boastfully. She threw her hand again in the air and more roots arose from the ground. Now, five people could cross at once. Three persons from my team namely Shay, Voltai and Maximus crossed first. I instructed them to hold the roots if something wrong would happen. Cyde and a young woman who always stared at me cross with them. Though the woman always gave me chills on the inside, there was a connection I felt for her.

"Jozzei, hurry up!" Cyde smiled at her. "Eriz will follow us afterwards. Why do you have to worry? Did you saw something is coming?"

"I'm not quite certain of what I felt. Maybe I'm just afraid of heights." She replied awkwardly.

Prince Marve, Eriz, Xerxi and I were the last ones to cross the hanging roots. The roots which I was in begun to break lose as I reached the mid-air.

"Krish!" I heard my team shouting at the other end.

Prince Marve was just a few feet away from me. He reached out his hand so that I could transfer to his spot. Without any hesitation, I swayed myself towards him and tightly gripped his outstretched arms. The roots became unstable and it violently rocked. He held me up until I could grip the tangled roots. We cautiously moved ahead but the roots began to unravel.

"Prince Marve! The roots cant carry both of us, sooner it will break. Just hold on tightly. Ill cut the roots behind me and we will swing towards the other side. Just embrace yourself for an impact!" I instructed him.

"Voltai! Hold on to the roots and pull us up after I cut the roots!" I shouted at him. He was the strongest of us all considering his built.

The other members of both team tried to help Voltai in pulling us both. Things went well according to what I did. We survived the impact of the fall though we got some bruises and cuts. Reyn healed us and we continued our journey. As we travelled I learned that Jozzei and Eriz were lovers and inseparable. Jozzei was a gypsy and had a sight. She could see the future that was why she had a feeling that something would went wrong when we crossed over the plateau. Even she smiles a lot; I could still felt the strange stares she gave me. Eriz, on the other hand, was an assassin just like Maximus. Other members of Team Seven were Race, an elemental of water, and Gregor, a tank like Voltai though he was not as big as the latter.

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