Chapter 11

We were sitting silently on the leaves. It's already night, and our only light is the bonfire that Vandel made earlier. They looked for wood, and using his firepower, he lit it effortlessly.

"Do you have any food?" Relm said, pouting.

Sandra threw a leaf at him. "You look like a duck on your face!" she said gruffly.

I laughed.

"I have something." Elarasaid softly, while fiddling with her bag. She took a bag with various foods. Perhaps this is what she did earlier because she left and said that she needed something to buy.


"You are really an angel from the sky, Elara." Relm said she was about to get the food when Elara hit her hand. "Wait!" she said, and Relm just pouted.


"You are not an angel fallen from the sky!" He said. Elara just ignored him and gave us the food one by one.

We thanked her, which she replied to with a smile.

"What should we do tomorrow?" the princess asked suddenly.

"T-trave.." Relm answered.

Sandra hit him. "Eat before you talk!

He frowned. " It hurts!"

"Because you're a pig!" Sandra answered.

"Just like you!" Relm insisted.

"Silence." Vandel disobeyed them.

I silently laughed. They're afraid of him.

"We will travel out of the forest tomorrow. The Headmistress gave me this thing. " Vandel said then. He took out a map from his pocket.

"Great. So we won't have any trouble on the way," said the Princess.

I took the map and looked at it. All I can see is a picture of a tree. It has a line that says "you must pass through here".

My forehead furrowed and I looked at them, "But this map is just here inside the forest, which means---"

"That means it's on to us to find Violet Stone in Bora." Vandel interrupted me.

It is very risky. Did the Headmistress put that much trust in them-- in us, especially when the Princess was with us? If we have an enemy, we do defense rather than offense. The Princess's welfare and safety will be our priority above all else.

"If that's the case, we should sleep early. We need strength tomorrow." Elara said.

Everyone agreed with what she said. We cleaned our mess and found a place to sleep. I instantly lay on the leaves and tried to close my eyes. However, even if there is no noise around, I can't sleep.

I changed my lying position, but my eyes really didn't want to close. My mind was thinking deeply. I peeked at them. They were all fast asleep. I silently laughed when I saw Relm's sleeping position. He was like a twisted piece of paper that I couldn't understand. When I looked at Sandra, she and Relm were a perfect match. She was lying straight and her hand was on the same side of her stomach. Weird.

I chose to lie down, and I don't know how, but I fell asleep.

 

 

I woke up when someone tapped my cheek. I slowly got up.

"Hey Meliora, wake up there, we're leaving!" Sandra said loudly.

I rubbed my eyes and looked around. They are all getting ready, and I'm the only one who hasn't yet! The sky was clear up there and the sun was rising brightly, but I still couldn't hear any noise other than us. I ponied up my hair and I stretched both of my arms and legs, picked up what needed to be picked up and was ready to go.

"Let's go." Vandel said, and started to walk. I even saw him staring at me, which made me look at him confused.

 

Nevertheless, we immediately followed him. We've been walking for over an hour, but so far we haven't seen an exit. To be honest, I was so hungry but I ignored it. I know that we all feel the same.

"Are we still far?" The Princess asked for the teenth time. I can't count how many times she asked that question.

"Yes." Vandel answered shortly.

I looked around. All the trees now are the same. Nothing is different. Everything is equal. But, for the time being, you will hear nothing but our footsteps and voices, which creeps me out.

"I think we should rest." I suggested The girls looked at me, grateful.

Were all agreed and just sat on the roots of the trees.

"I'm so hungry!" Relm suddenly said.

"I hate to say this, but I agree with Relm." Sandra immediately said, with a sigh.

"We have to hurry so we can find food and water outside." I said softly.

"What if we fly?" Relm suggested, with excitement.

"No!" Vandel strongly refused. "We should reserve our energy; we don't know what will happen when we get out," he added.

"Vandel was right." Copelan agreed briefly.

Well, indeed, he's right. Even me, I have never been to Bora. We don't know what kind of people we will meet there. We should not act recklessly.

"Let's just go," Princess said.

We walk silently. Vandel led the way, and we were silently walking behind him.

I stop when I hear something. "Stop! Someone is approaching!" Was that f-footsteps? Because of what I was saying, we gathered together and hid behind a big tree.

"Conceal your presence, they are coming!" Vandel stated solemnly.

Then, suddenly, we heard laughter. We huddled closer behind the tree.

"What's our next plan, boss?" we heard.

We're all became alert. I secretly peered to see them, and I can say that these people could be dangerous. They are five people, all of them wearing black; four men and a single woman.

The woman laughed loudly. " Kill. Sell!"

So, I must say, the girl was their leader.

"You really are the best boss!" said one, while the rest just laughed.

Luckily, they just passed by us without noticing us. I sighed. I know they don't have enough strength now because we haven't had anything to eat.

When we made sure they were gone, we went out.

"What was that?" Sandra asked.

"I think something's bad is going on in Bora. We need to get in a hurry!" The Princess answered her.

"Let's go through where they came from." I said and showed them the path they took. We immediately walked towards the path they came from, and a few meters away, we could see a tunnel coming out. We quickly ran towards it.

My forehead furrowed on what I saw. Is this the Bora? This is not what I expected. It was dark; the sky was dark compared to the forest. There are people, and goods and markets, but most of them are closed. But what was more strange was that there were no women.

We'll just keep looking for accommodation. We were so tired and hungry. Until we landed at an inn, Glady's Inn, I read what was written. Vandel entered first, while we followed him.

He spoke to the woman in front. She seemed to be absent and was looking around. She's the only girl I've seen so far here in Bora. She gave Vandel a key and pointed to what I thought was a way to the rooms.

"I asked the lady, we were exactly at Bora. I asked her what was going on here, but she didn't answer. " Vandel said softly to us.

"We should take our rest. Did you find food places earlier? " I asked.

"Copelan and I will try to find food outside. It's getting late and we have to hurry," said Relm. He pulled Copelan out to find something to eat.

We took a left turn. "She said there's only one room here, but it's big," Vandel told us.

Indeed, it is. It has two king-sized beds, a table, a couch, and a bathroom. This is actually good.

"What's our next plan?" Elara asked.

We sat on the sofa.

"How do we find Violet Stone?" The Princess asked

"This is a small town. We can find Violet Stone." Vandel answered.

I looked at the princess. "Don't they know you?" I asked her. I'm confused. When we passed by people earlier, they were distant. I knew someone was watching us, but when I looked into their eyes, there was no sign that they knew us. Given the fact that the Princess is with us.

She sighed. "Yes, only people from Tamora can see me, the students and teachers to be exact. The citizens haven't seen me yet. " She replied gently.

That makes sense.

Suddenly, the door opened, and the worried Relm and Copelan entered.

" What happened?" Sandra asked worriedly.

Relm caught his breath. "A-after we bought food, the sky suddenly got darker. Look!" he said and hurriedly opened the window. We look outside confusedly. There is no light left here. Everything is dark. Pure darkness.

"The sky gradually darkens, and the vendors suddenly close!" Relm continued.

"That was why we decided to run. We are the only ones left wandering on the road. We don't know if what will happen to us." Copelan added.

Vandel closed the window. "We are safe here." Let's eat and rest," he commanded.

I looked at them one by one. They were eating in silence, but they were still tired from the journey earlier.

Then we took turns showering and dressing. Since there are only two beds here, we girls are next to each other, and the boys are next to each other.

"Goodnight, everyone!" Sandra said that it makes us fall asleep.