Breaking Free: A Zodiac Story

Chapter 22: Camp

Firea had been turned into a wasteland. The usual pale, sand-coloured rocks or the dusty orange dirt had been reduced to dark soot and ash. There was no movement and no sound aside from the crunching of their shoes on the dirt.

A large scar in the ground marked where the wall once stood. Nobody said anything as they passed over it.

"I can't recognize anything." Leo said, half to himself, as he scanned the surroundings. The once well worn paths had disappeared under a layer of black ash, leaving the land nearly impossible to navigate.

"All we can do is walk forwards and... hopefully, we'll find someone." Sagittarius added. "Maybe they can help us."

"Or they won't," Aries said, frowning. "They'll probably recognize us as the... people who ran away. Or worse, the people who caused all of this."

"But... won't they help us if we tell them we're trying to help?" Leo asked.

Aries sighed and said nothing.

The group of twelve continued moving on through the wasteland.

---

They stopped to rest under an outcropping rock.

"We'll continue heading on after a few minutes," Leo announced. "I'm afraid there isn't any food or water right now, but if we keep heading forwards, we should come across Central Firea. Hopefully... they're still alive."

He turned away to gaze out at the sky.

They... my family... if they're...

Leo tried not to think about it and concentrated on searching for signs of life in the sky instead.

---

"We're about to go." Aries announced. As he waited for everyone to get up, he scanned his surroundings - and frowned as something caught his eye.

"Did you see that?" He said softly, taking a step towards Sagittarius.

Sagittarius glanced towards him. "Hm?" She said.

"Movement... do you think we're being followed?" He replied, looking around again.

"Maybe... at least that would mean there are others out here." Sagittarius answered, frowning.

"Are you guys ready to go?" Libra asked, tapping them on the shoulder. "We're just waiting for you two."

"Of course." Aries nodded. "Let's continue moving on."

---

A single figure darted behind another rock as they watched the twelve teenagers set off again.

The tall red haired male glanced around again. The figure held their breath and stayed perfectly still.

The male didn't seem to notice them and continued walking. The figure breathed a silent sigh of relief and continued watching them from behind the rock.

They weren't even sure what had taken place in the last few days. One second, they'd been enjoying a meal with his family, the next, everything had been blown to dust. Thankfully, none of his family was hurt.

King Deimos had immediately gathered all able elementals to set up a temporary residence and to search for survivors. Currently, they were one of the first elementals to go out to seek out survivors - and to their knowledge, the first to find some.

They eyed the twelve teenagers and frowned as they quickly calculated the distance between them and the camp. If the twelve continued walking onwards, they would walk directly into the camp.