Chapter 16

{{ Willow's POV 🌿 }}
The insane winds only lasted for about five minutes, but it felt like hours to Willow. The wind had left, the trees had bent back to their former shapes, but the pool of leaves remained beneath her so that when she fell, she landed somewhat comfortably.
Sophie, on the other hand, looked completely unfazed, aside from the remaining look of utter helplessness plastered on her face. But now that Willow was looking more closely, she could see that Sophie had a distant look in her eyes like she was staring at something that wasn't really there.
After sitting in silence for a few minutes, Willow pulled herself out of the leaves and stumbled toward Sophie, still slightly dazed from her bazaar experience.
"Sophie?" her voice came out hoarse and raspy, barely audible due to her panicked screams. She tried again, not wanting to startle the girl out of her trance, "Sophie, can you hear me?"
Willow walked over to where Sophie sat on the ground and slowly reached her hand toward Sophie's shoulder. But right before her hand reached the girl's arm, her head whipped around and Sophie looked her dead in the eye.
She opened her mouth to ask if she was ok, but Sophie cut her off, "Y-you're glowing. You're glowing gold," she stammered, her whole body visibly shaking.
"What are you talking about? I'm not glowing, and neither are you."
"No not me, just you-" She stopped, taking a deep breath and started again looking more confident, "It looks like some sort of aura. It's moving, surrounding you, but it almost looks like it's part of you. I can't see it in myself, just you."
"I don't know what's happening. You're seeing golden auras and I was just attacked by nature itself!" Willow practically shouted, running her fingers through her dirty blond hair.
"Willow, have you considered that maybe you were controlling nature?"
She took a moment to contemplate Sophie's statement. It made sense, but how was that possible? If she had this power to control surrounding nature, then did Sophie have power too? She figured that would make the most sense, seeing as Sophie saw her encased in some form of a glowing, golden aura.
"Willow? Willow, can you hear me?" Sophie was waving her hand in front of her face.
"Oh, uh, sorry I guess I zoned out. I guess what you said makes sense, about me controlling nature." She paused for a moment, still trying to wrap her head around the whole situation.
"But if I can control nature, what can you do? I have a feeling that the golden aura you're seeing is more than just a moving light, circling my body."
This time it was Sophie that spaced out, staring down, not really looking at anything in particular. Willow could tell she was concentrating, so they sat there on the ground in silence until the loud rustle of bushes broke through the quiet.

{{ Devon's POV 🎪 }}
Devon Atlas had finally collapsed. He had spent the last fifteen minutes slamming into trees and almost falling down mountains. He had been zooming around the forest at incredible speeds. Impossible speeds. Every time he had taken a step it had felt like a mile. But it had all finally stopped. He could now walk normally, without the fear of getting a concussion from running head-on into a tree.
His shoulder-length blue-black hair was now a mess, his light gold eyes dulled from his exhaustion. His coffee-toned skin was scattered with new bruises and scratches, the freckles under his eyes barely noticeable through the dust and dirt caking his face.
After his last sprint, he had collapsed to the ground, the previous energy that had been coursing through him, now completely gone. He sat on the ground for a moment before hauling himself up to lean against a tree.
Devon just stood there, leaning against the tree. Then understanding of his situation hit him like a brick. He had super speed. That was the only explanation. But how was that possible?
Then the next thought struck him. If he had powers, then did everyone else in the arena have them too? He had no idea how to find out, seeing as the only person he had seen since being put in the arena had fallen off a tree, and had remained there motionless on the ground.
He had lost all of his few possessions somewhere in the vast forest, so he decided just to start walking. What else could be done?
He continued his walk for a mile or two, not finding any other forms of life until something stepped out from behind a tree only a few hundred feet away. It was the most horrifying creature he had ever seen in his entire life.