Selection (Book 2 of P.O.E. chronicles)

Chapter 2 You are not the only thing out there

Tracking through a forest was no easy task, even though we had all sort of got used to it now. To make sure we can respond to danger as fast as possible, we worked out a formation to walk in: with Tom in the front with me and Owen right behind as the spear head to detect and defend the front;  Evanna encased in the middle behind us between Nate and Casey. Behind them are Fred and Natalie with Oscar bringing up the rear.

I didn’t especially liked being put in the front with Tom, but it’s either him or Fred, seeing as you can’t put those two together and those two and Oscar are the strongest one in the group, so naturally they should be at the front and back of a group. And Fred demanded that Natalie must be on his side, so there’s that. It’s kind of sweet, if he isn’t such a jerk.

Evanna was automatically put in the middle, since she is the most valuable member of us all. We were all on high alert today after the events of yesterday, no one wanted a replay on that. Me and Owen was working extra hard on detecting.

I revealed the fact that I could detect the surrounding like Owen after our first day in the forest. It wasn’t like I wanted to, but I could see that there was no getting out of the forest anytime soon and if we had to work together we needed to know what each other are capable of. However, their reaction wasn’t exactly what I had expected.

Tom eyed me suspiciously as if I was going to explode, before declaring that he knew I was hiding something all along; Fred responded similarly. Those two resembles each other so much that sometimes it’s creepy.

Casey, Natalie, Nate and Holly told me that they wouldn’t expect anything less from someone in Mr. Andrewson’s tutor group. And that they were numb from all the surprises from me.

Evanna smiled at me knowingly, she probably knew I was going to say it. Two minutes beforehand. Maybe that’s why she tripped over.

And Oscar being Oscar didn’t look that at all faze by the new information.

Sometimes I think I was the only one who is normal in the group. Maybe with the exception of Natalie.

“I don’t feel anything.” Owen declared next to me, jolting me from my little trace. Feeling guilty that I was day dreaming whilst he was doing his duty I did a double check of the area. No sign of anything.

“Same.” I said, a little too quickly earning an eye roll from Tom. Making a face behind him I return to my task with renewed concentration. Even though my job was made easier with Owen, but it’s still important that we get a warning as soon as possible if a danger is coming; so I got to stay focused.

On a typical day, we would usually detect one or two high class Legres and trek around them; on the off day where they happened to sense us we will run, or fight. That had only happened three times (including the time when we got chased by the Lupas), but mostly we avoid such nasty incidents because of Evanna’s warning rather than me and Owen’s scouting.

“There is a Hancock 10 o’clock five miles from us.” I said, feeling the presences of a Legre. Hancocks are a type of mutated bird-like Legre that’s the size of a big dog. Whilst they may not be big; their pointy beak is lethal and their mutation gave them speed and the titanium hard feathers that can shoot a hole through you. They are often found in families, so finding one meant there would be a few close by too.

“Oh god why.” Nate pouted, since we would have to detour around a vast area now to avoid the flock of Hancock. Everyone rolled their eyes at him; it wasn’t like we had a set route anyway. We were just heading North West vaguely. Fred, who come from a POE family said that judging from the code of the Citybase, we must be somewhere in SE China, and must head north to Europe to avoid looking suspicious upon entering. A group of white people entering a predominantly Asia Citybase. Imagine the horror.