The Way Of A Leader

Chapter 71

~Alex pov~

As Pak was yelling at Zu and me for picking flowers, I turned around to ask Aki something when Zalk moved forward before falling to his knees. We all panicked, although I think Aki and I panicked the most and since Aki was the closest to Zalk he crouched down to check on him.

'I never thought someone like Zalk could trip and fall over nothing. I wonder what happened to him?'

"Are you okay Zalk? What's wrong?" I hear Aki ask as I walk closer. "It's nothing major, something probably happened to A.J on their end causing a reaction out of me." I'm pretty sure Aki and I shared the same look of concern but Zalk reassured us.

"Don't worry, something like this could happen if A.J hit themselves or crashed into something. It's not that big of a deal." He shrugs off our worries like nothing and I calm down but as I look over to Aki, I can still see him worry over Zalk.

We continue walking through the forest avoiding multiple branches and roots. 'Maybe we should forgive A.J? But they did lie to all of us by not telling us that people were disappearing. Maybe I should ask Zalk to tell Pak off, it was his fault we're in this mess.' I sigh and look behind me to see the twins admiring the forests.

"Well, how far are we from this heartbeat thing?" I try to break the tension and get everyone talking. "Yeah, well if you can't tell three of us are human while two are magic beings." Pak gestures to the three of us while pointing at Zalk and Aki.

"Don't worry you annoying child."
"Hey!"
"We should be arriving soon. I must warn you though, this place seems to have an eerie aura so please stay together and don't wander off." Zalk looks at me while saying that which makes me feel offended.

I could hear Pak and Zu snicker while Aki smiles at me. I sigh in defeat as I feel someone drag me to the front. In front of me, I see a worn down castle made out of stone with vines surrounding it.

"Is this the place? I don't think I need magic to know that this place is creepy as fuck."
"Language Zilly." I turn around to see Zu with a straight face while Pak shakes his head.

"We've talked about your horrible language, it's not fitting for a lady." Zu shrugs and ignores Pak while walking up to the castle. "I must agree with Young Parnak, Lady Cuzela, but yes, this is the place. I know I said we mustn't separate, but I must depart from our little group in search of my own... answers."

We all stare at him as he disappears in a purple mist leaving us behind. "Well for a ghost of a gentleman, that wasn't very gentlemanly of him!" We all agree with Zu and we make our way into the creepy castle.

~A.J pov~

It took a couple of minutes, but I think I'm finally calm enough to go ask the Old Lady for answers. I walk out of the room and see her sitting at a table drinking something from her mug. "...so, what happened back there?" I fiddled with my fingers as I asked her the question.

"You had a bad nightmare." She tells me while getting up to refill her drink. "Don't you think I know that?" I feel a bit irked that she gave me that as an answer. "I want to know why I had such a realistic dream."

She sits back down and points at a chair. I sit down and feel anxious all over again. After seconds of awkward silence, she finally spoke. "The Menar crystals are very strange." 'Menar Crystals?' I feel my eyebrows come together in confusion as she mentions the names of these crystals.

"Originally they were used to protect this town from demons and evil spirits, however in recent years, they've only managed to cause more harm to the people. Now instead of showing loyal guards, they show someone's fear." She places my bag on the table and takes out my paper.

"The Mayor marked this no?" I nod and she takes out a small pouch. She opens the pouch and pulls out a crystal shard. I look at her confused since she's just told me how dangerous they are, but yet here she is holding one like it's nothing.

"You might be thinking how I'm holding this," I look away and scratch my head, "It's fine dear, I've had a sorceress look into this piece and fix it back to normal. Only this small piece though."

She hands me the piece and I take it very carefully. "It looks the same as the one I was looking at before, but it feels...warmer." She nods. "The crystals hold our happy memories and use that energy to protect us. I suspect someone messed around with our Temple Deity causing the crystals to become more negatively charged."

I take back my paper before looking for a temple. "But there's no temple on this map. It's only a vast forest." The Old Lady gently presses the tip of the crystal onto the paper letting it emit a bright yellow light before removing it.

In the middle of the forest a building seems to manifest in the shape of a castle, but what shocked me the most was how in every single place where there was a mark was an image of a giant crystal. "The Mayor told me to inspect and destroy these locations," I barely whisper out. "She told me that these places were contaminated and needed to be destroyed. What does this mean?"

"I'm afraid it means that she plans on destroying our ancient deity and bring destruction to this town." The Old Lady sighs and takes a sip from her mug. "What about the disappearances? Do you know anything about that? What does she even gain from this?"

"The disappearances might be of people who found out her secret. A friend of mine was working under her before she disappeared and was replaced by someone else." She hands me a book. "If the temple was ever destroyed protecting this town, the power would go to the individual with the highest power, our mayor."

'This is the book I needed. This means I need to inspect that castle.' "You can find out more in the book, but I suggest you go fix this mess so that you and your friends make it out alright." I nod and thank her before gathering my things and walking towards the door. "You don't happen to know where my friends are...right?"

She shakes her head before waving me goodbye. I feel ashamed and disappointed to know that they just up and left me, although I guess it was partially my fault. With a sigh, I thanked her again before heading out following my updated map.

~3rd Person Pov~

As the Old Lady was drinking her tea she felt a gust of wind before a glass fell. "Must you always make your entrances dramatic, Patty?" The Old Lady looks up to see the Mayor standing in front of her with a crystal in hand.

"Did you tell A.J everything?" The Old Lady nods and the Mayor smiles. "Beautiful, now I can't wait for that insolent child to die. Now then, I'll have to come up with a convincing act for their friends."

The Mayor laughs evilly as the Old Lady looks out the window to see A.J running into the forest. 'I'm sorry to have to lie to you young one, but I trust you'll bring all this to an end for me.'