CITY DOOM

Chapter 5

I was wondering in the woods, looking for Rik, who had vanished and couldn't be found. My feet kept moving, but I had no idea where I was heading; all I knew was that I had to find Rik until I reached the heart of the forest. The place was enchanted and mystical, as could only be heard from tales. The bushes and trees near the falls weren't swaying with the breeze, and they appeared to be drawn to the lagoon below. Even I could feel the drawing force of the lagoon. There I was, standing at the edge of the lagoon, looking at myself through the calmed water. The enormous waterfall couldn't produce waves that would distort my reflection; it even failed to create the sound I hoped to hear. There were many fireflies, and their light was a vivid blue color. Something doesn't add up in this place, as if the power of nature were being slaved to something far stronger. I stretched my vision across the lagoon, and my eyes were caught by something in the middle. I couldn't see what it really was, but it appeared to be a creature moving below the water surface. It suddenly stopped. I moved closer so that I could clearly see it, but it was too late for me to react. What came out of the water was a spear made out of beetles, which struck me on my upper pack. The immense force caused the spear to come out of my back and nail me to the nearby tree trunk. I was in great pain as I tried to free myself from the spear's grip, but I was unable to accomplish it due to a lack of strength. There in front of me, by the water, the creature started to reveal itself. As soon as its head was fully out of the water. It spoke these words: "Foolish boy, so much potential but too naive to use it." I wasn't able to look at it due to the excruciating pain that I felt. Its voice was clear as crystal, and it cut deeper than the spear that I was struggling to remove from my body. The pain was about to devour my soul as the creature raised its dominant hand and commanded the beetles to eat me alive. The beetles at the end of the spear started to detach and crawl towards me; their mouthpart was ready to chew my flesh. I was screaming in agony as the beetle started to dig into my skin, but Rik saved me by waking me up.

"Skye! Skye!" Rik said. "You're dreaming; wake up, Skye."

I finally opened my eyes after Rik repeatedly rocked my shoulders. I immediately sat down as Rik told me to calm down a bit. I looked around and saw the guys we saved the other night.

"Are you good?" Rik asked. He was so concerned about what happened in my dream that it could cause my body to react.

"Your friend is quite an artist," the guy said.

"Shut up, Roddy!" the girl exclaimed.

As I felt like myself again, I got to my feet and turned towards the two.

"Sorry about that; I'm Lily, by the way," the girl said.

"It's okay, Lily," I replied while looking at the guy with hatred in my face.

He didn't say anything; he just stared back at me with his teary eyes. He had long, wavy hair. We almost had the same height, but he had a bigger and broader body with his brown, old-school long sleeves and pants that were the same as mine.

"That's enough, please," Lily said. Her height was about our shoulders, and she had a slim body, black hair, and a long-sleeve shirt and pants that were the same as ours.

"What's the plan, Skye?" Rik said, in order to end our staring match.

I looked at Lily, and she shook her head to indicate that they were welling to join us. We went outside, and I asked them to check if the frogs were still out there. After everything was checked out, I asked them to get ready so that we could head out as soon as possible while I took the map so that I could examine it. The last time I opened this map was when I was obsessed with leaving the doom to look for my father. I wondered if the magic of the map still worked. I opened the tube case, placed the map on the table, and glanced at the number on my card reader. I was shocked by the drastic decrease in numbers from 19962 to now; it was only 10023. This was the outcome of an unforeseen event, and some people took this as a joke. Numerous lives were taken mercilessly. As I was about to scroll the map, Rik joined me at the table.