Games [The Electro Cosmos Book 2]

Chapter 8

Chapter 8

When Heidi woke, she was already mounted on Cernunnos's back as he walked deep into the woods. She looked up to the sky, calculating that they were heading back to the base, northeast. Ryu and Whet were perched on his antlers, like silent watchers of the forest. They kept a keen eye and ear on their surroundings. Heidi knew being on their own in unfamiliar territory was dangerous, but they had Cernunnos to protect them. His antlers could pierce through a large bear's hide with one quick stab. Ryu looked back at Heidi, her eyes glowing in surprise as Heidi looked back at her. Whet continued to stare at the path ahead, lost in owlish thoughts.

"What is going on," Heidi asked. Whet turned his head around quickly, observed Heidi for a moment, then twisted his head back in a normal, straight position. "Why are we no longer at the temple?"

"You wanted to leave in the night...so we did," Ryu replied with a blink. Her gaze told Heidi she was confused, thinking she would remember saying something. "We could tell you weren't one hundred percent present, but we figured we might as well. Some of Mila's guild had already left anyway. There were only a few of us left."

"Without Mila," Heidi asked, shocked at the fact. Ryu nodded her head jerkily. She blinked her huge eyes. "But why?"

"Not sure. People started leaving one by one as soon as all of the players were asleep. No one paired up, and everyone was either extremely confused when they woke up, or like you, They were barely awake, eyes glazed over. It was almost like something else controlled them."

"That's strange," Heidi sighed, unable to understand what was happening. They were trapped in the game and being controlled by something that no one could see. Heidi had the odd feeling something bad was happening, both inside and outside of the game. For all she knew, Rayon was controlling every movement of theirs. She closed her eyes and shook the thought away. She didn't want to believe it, but it was always a possibility. "Are we headed back to the base?"

"Yes, we will be at the mountains in a few minutes." Heidi looked up, seeing the tall peaks of rock and pine trees, all other trees thin and nearly bare. The mountains were still distant, but close enough to look up to see the edge of the sky where it met the tall earth. Heidi wondered what the others were thinking, and if they had even made it this far. She couldn't tell if any of the horses survived the meteor shower.

The rock face looked rugged and loose, as if the rock could fall at any moment, toppling onto them until their bones crunched into tiny pieces. Some mountain goats roamed high on the rock, small pebbles crumbling beneath their feet and plummeting down the cliff face. They picked at the few patches of weeds that grew, white with frost. Heidi felt the cold hit her quickly. These were the mountains in north Niguess. It meant that they were on their way into the northern section of Archibald, but still south of Arok.

"We should be back in Archibald in a few hours," Ryu stated. "At least that is what Cernunnos told me."

Heidi didn't reply, only watched the goats above. They continued on, Cernunnos grabbing at the branches as they passed. They began climbing up a slope and into the mountains. Cernunnos kept moving, pushing through the rocks and bushes on the high elevation. The goats completely ignored him as they passed through. Once they got to the edge of the peak and the mountain started downhill, he stopped. Heidi paused, returning back to reality.

"What's wrong?" Heidi pat him on the shoulder. He grunted in reply, shifting his feet and slamming his hooves against the rock with a clunk.

"Something seems strange to him. He says there is something blocking his way."

Heidi dismounted, irritated but worried. She walked up to Cernunnos and rubbed his chin. He bent his ears back and made a low bellowing noise. She turned away walking on ahead of him. After walking a few feet, she hit something hard, seeing a flash of blue as she was shot backward, collapsing to the ground. All air left her windpipe as her back slammed against the hard rock. She moaned and turned over, taking in deep breaths of air before regained her composure and standing. She looked up in front of her, where she hit the invisible culprit. She couldn't see anything at all. She kicked her foot out and it bounced back, the blue sparks appearing again. A buzz echoed as she hit it, a small ripple moving through an invisible field until it disappeared above them.