Matthew's Point of View
"Shit!" I repeated to myself. "Ace and Jacob probably fell to their death!"
"Chill Matthew, you are over-thinking their situation," Farren assured as he put me on my back.
Unfortunately, I was too overwhelmed by dominating anger. It felt like another spirit has possessed my soul. Simply put, I was regretful to put all my trust into Ace, believing that he could make the run by himself and followed his instruction by running without him. The sun already setting downhills, leaving us wandering helplessly in the dark while Aidan led lit up the way. My anger was unexpectedly under control within a short period of time, but the regretful thoughts left a permanent marking.
"So everyone, should we go towards Malpo Forest or should we go down to the Imperial Shrine?" Stella announced. "I personally think of going to Malpo Forest"
My gut told me to avoid the Imperial Shrine as its aura of mana was abnormally powerful, thus might be inhabited by natives or other tributes who can take all our lives with one spell.
"I'd go towards Malpo Forest as it's lower in mana concentration." I supported. "It's best for our survival."
"Sounds reasonable." Aidan stated.
"Alright then, let's go." Stella concluded.
We journeyed onwards to Malpo Forest, completely relying on Farren to stabilize the waters into an ice path for everyone to travel safely on. It wasn't long before us reaching the forest edge, staring into the endless darkness. Suspiciously, I always felt a sense of being stalked in the distance, as if someone else was after us in the shadows. Ignoring the tension and repetitively telling myself it was only my sub-consciousness, I led the group through the pines, the dusk sky slowing fading behind us as thick layers of branches shielded the light.
"So, are we just going to wander into the unknown?" Valerie demanded for an answer as a face of exhaustion dominated her face. "This was such a shit idea!"
"Let's just deal with it." Calista replied as she let out a huge sigh. "It's not like an assassin dressed in red clothing will fly out of nowhere and kill ev-"
"Everyone run!" Aidan exclaimed, making us all jump. "An assassin in dark red robe is after us!"
As I accelerated my pace, I scouted the area behind us, immediately catching a glimpse of a human figure leaping from branches to branches from the overhang above. Surprisingly, even though the figure was travelling at such swift speed, it remained completely silent.
Sprinting faster than the marathons back in school, a lake submerged from the distance, giving us the only option to go around the body of water. The figure suddenly disappeared into the shadows of the pines as the celestial light revealed itself above us – of course, there were no trees on the lake to block the moonlight.
"I think the assassin lost us." Valerie whispered as we slowly gathered to the edge of the lake.
The calm water reflected the bright blue moon above us. The lake itself was quite shallow and seemed more of an artificial structure than a natural form.
"There's no way they lost us." Stella replied, seemingly hesitant. "They could be planning for a surprise attack."
"I agree." I muttered.
Looking ahead into the distance, walls of polished stone revealed themselves in the moonlight. It seemed like there was a village settlement by this lake.
"Have you all noticed the civilized buildings on the other side of the lake?" I announced as I casted a small ball of flame onto a large stick, creating a torch.
YOU ARE READING
Ephurium
Fantasy"One's lifetime flows by like the wind. It will all go after a breeze." Who would have realised what one would encounter in their normal life? Maybe their life was never normal in the first place? A group of students along with other people who pos...
