Guardian of Elements

Chapter 2: Ruins

"Oi! Are you sure we're going in the right direction?" Draniell asked out loud while he followed behind both Zack and his sisters. He couldn't help but look around for certain landmarks or move around some sticks in a specific pattern in case they got lost or they ended up walking in a big circle and they needed to go home.

"Of course we are!" The cyan haired man said, as he hopped over a fallen tree. "Just trust me on this, will ya?" Zack responded, looking back at the older one with an annoyed yet a somewhat hopeful expression.

"Come on, big brother." Charielle slowed down her pace to walk beside Dran, placing a hand on his shoulder. "Sure... Zack might be bad at directions sometimes, maybe even more, but I'm sure he remembers where this interesting 'thing' he wants to show us is." Charielle reassured him while defending her best friend.

"Finally! Somebody here has their faith in me!" Zack said in relief, smiling back at Charielle before continuing to lead.

"Yeah right..." Rovellyn jumped into the conversation, not really sounding optimistic about Zack's navigation skills. Which earned a frown from the younger man.

"It isn't that bad!" He protested a bit, looking at her unimpressed. "I know where it is!" He adds, trying to prove his point.

"Remember the time we sent you out to town so you could buy cake for Charielle's birthday?" The blue haired girl reminded him, almost in a playful taunting manner.

"Oh! I remember that!" Charielle exclaimed, giggling a bit as she began to recall what happened that day.

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"Here you are." The cashier said, as they handed both the cake and receipt to Zack. "Have a nice day." They said politely, soon watching as the young man walked out of the shop.

"Finally!" He exclaimed proudly, with the cake box in hand. "After hours of waiting, I now have the cake!" The cyan haired man celebrated, exaggerating a little on how long he waited, as he looked down in excitement. Nearly drooling at the sight of the beautifully decorated chocolate cake, but quickly shook his head while remembering who it was for.

"This is for Charielle." Zack reminded himself, taking a deep breath as he does so, not wanting to give in to sweet temptation.

"Now... Where did I come from again?" He stared up from the cake and turned his head to the sides a couple of times. Almost like a child missing in a mall and looking for their parents.

"Okay..." Zack turns his head to the left, "Uh...Yeah! This way!" He said, pointing to the left as he started to walk down the street. After a bit, he soon stopped as he found himself in the middle of town at the main square where people chatted and walked.

"Wait... " He froze a bit realising his mistake, as he looked back on the path he came from rather than forward. "I don't remember seeing a statue on my way to the bakery—." The cyan haired man mumbled, as he turned around in confusion. His gaze couldn't help but wander up at the old statue in the main square. It was of a man holding a sword that was pointing north and wearing a shield on its left arm.

He nearly shivered at the way it looked, starting to get anxious as he thought that he might be lost. Zack immediately walked towards the statue and looked at the four possible paths he could take.

Back the old path where the bakery was,

Forward,

Left,

And Right.

He swallowed nervously, as the sound of people and footsteps began to flood into his brain. While he thought on which way to go.