ForestLands Institution

Chapter | 18√

Part One

Nadia's group had come to a stop and were listening intently to what their self-appointed leader had to say.

“Alright, listen up,” Lloyd ordered. “There are three flags and to get to one of them faster, we can't move as a group,” he paused, letting what he said sink in. “So we will have to split into twos.”

But the kidnappings Nadia wanted to object but she kept her mouth shut, she didn't want them to think she was weak. She fought the urge to look around and check for cameras.

“So,” he pointed at the fairy and Nephilim. “Sarah and Michael, you two, head east,” he pointed at Nadia and Ahryan's friend. “Nadia and Elijah, you two, head west. I will head south.”

“You're going alone?” Sarah asked, concerned.

“Yes,” Lloyd replied.

The girl looked around, fearfully then whispered, “But the kidnappings.”

“Thanks for your concern but I can very much, handle myself.”

“You shouldn't go alone,” Sarah persisted.

Lloyd was starting to get irritated. “I won't be alone.”

Nadia got confused, along with the orders.

“I have myself,” he added.

The girl opened her mouth to say something but Lloyd quickly shut her up. “Look we don't have much time. Everyone split up!”

They all went their separate ways.

“This is pointless.”

Nadia was fed up, they have been walking through the woods for some minutes now, and still nothing. The trees they have come across didn't have any flags on them.

Elijah walked towards a tree and looked it over before he started to climb.

“What are you doing?” she asked.

“Isn't it clear, I'm climbing this tree,” he made it seem like the question she asked was stupid.

“I can see that, I mean why?”

Grabbing onto another branch, he answered, “The flags are hung on the trees. so to get a clear view of them, I need to be up here.”

He continued to climb until he was high enough. He squinted his eyes, trying to detect any flag in the trees.

“Did you find anything?” Nadia shouted.

He shook his head. “No...Wait! I see something. It's white and has an F on it. It looks like a flag. Do you think it's a flag?”

Nadia mentally rolled her eyes. “I don't know, I can't see it. I'm not the one on the tree,” she said. “Is it far away?”

“It's not that far, I'm coming down.”

“No, stay there,” she ordered. “I'm coming.”

Elijah was confused but obliged, anyways. Nadia used her ability to detach the potion of the earth she was standing on and with her still on it, she levitated it towards Elijah.

“Step on, it will be faster this way,” she said.

She breathed deeply and tried not to look down. “Where to?”

“Ehn?”

She sighed. “The direction to the flag.”

He mouthed an oh before he pointed forward.

“This was much easier than I thought,” Nadia said, examining the flag in her hand. It was a white cloth with a beautifully designed capital F printed on it.

They were now off the rock and on the surface, much to Nadia's relief.

“let's go,” Elijah muttered, amidst a yawn. “I'm tired.”

Nadia gave him a look. “It's not even up to an hour and you're already tir-”

She was interrupted by a growling sound coming from her left. Nadia and Elijah both tensed and slowly turned to see the intruder.

Nadia's eyes widened and she took a step back when she saw a huge brown wolf, its hackles raised and it looked like it was about to lunge at them. It did.

Nadia was swift in moving out of the way but Elijah wasn't. The wolf knocked Elijah off his feet and stood above, snarling. A glow of red light surrounded Elijah's hand and he use it to blast the wolf off him.

Nadia watched as the wolf collided with a nearby tree and slumped down. It slowly stood up and then shook its fur trying shake to shake off the dizziness.

“Nadia!” Elijah called. “Behind you!”

She quickly spun around, only for a foot to connect with her chest, knocking the air out of her lungs. She fell back and she unconsciously let go of the flag.

She blacked out for a few seconds and woke up to see a girl, running away with the flag. She abruptly stood up but she immediately regretted it when a sudden wave of dizziness hit her.

When her vision finally cleared, she looked back to see Elijah struggling with the wolf. She couldn't tell if the wolf and the girl had planned for the wolf to distract them, which gave the girl the chance to attack her and escape with the flag.

She took a step in the girl's direction then hesitated to turn back to her partner. Elijah swiftly moved to the side allowing the wolf to collide with a tree. He looked towards Nadia and shouted.

“Mumu, go after the girl!”

The wolf pounced back on Elijah, spilling drool over his face. “Do you even use to brush, your mouth is smelling,” he uttered, disgusted.

With that, Nadia took off in the direction the girl went to after she barely heard Elijah say; Jesus! his spit entered my mouth!

After running for a while, Nadia came to a stop. She lost her. Breathing heavily, she ran a hand through her hair. She heard fast footsteps behind her making her turn around fast.

A body collided with hers and they went rolling down the floor. They finally came to a stop and she looked up to see the girl from before. Nadia pushed the girl off her and stood up.

The girl got up too and spat harshly, “Stop coming after me!”

Filled with rage, she ran blindly toward Nadia. Nadia angled her body in such a way that the girl ran past her. The girl wasn't with the flag, Nadia noticed.

Nadia quickly looked around and saw that the girl had kept it under a tree to her left. She ran towards it but something wrapped itself around her wrists, stopping her from moving further.

She looked at her wrist and saw vines around them. She looked back to see the girl smirking at her, vines protruding from where she stood.

More vines wrapped themselves around her torso and started to pull her back. Nadia fell back but the vines didn't stop pulling her toward the girl.

Nadia gritted her teeth, she struggled to get her wrist free but they only tightened. She finally used her power to snap the vines and then afterwards made them retreat into the ground.

Nadia stood up and then stomped her right foot on the ground. A rock detached itself from the earth, Nadia spun around and then turned back to kick the rock toward the girl.

She watched as the rock, stopped inches before the girl. The girl raised her hand and then lazily waved the rock to the side.

“Nice,” the girl commented. “The same element against each other. Only the best wins.”

Then she charged toward Nadia.