"Jex, is that you?"
A stupid question to ask. But there wasn't really any need to scold himself — nothing that had happened to him was normal or logical.
And these were the only words he could come up with right now.
The figure, crouching, jolted at the sound of another voice besides his own. Then slowly looked up in the direction of the voice.
His eyes met Lucian's.
It was really Jex. Jex had paled beyond comparison. His hair was glued to his face by sweat, lips trembling, eyes shifty, like he wasn't actually present.
Lucian chuckled in relief. Why? He wasn't sure.
"You're still alive."
"I… I should be dead?" Jex asked, clearly scared and confused, muttering to himself again with added nonsense.
Lucian scolded himself.
'The boy was already far gone and you just had to add to it. Way to go, Lucian.'
He moved closer and squatted in front of Jex.
'Has he been hiding here all along?' he thought.
Seeing the state he was in, Lucian wasn't sure how long Jex would last. Screams were echoing around them.
"Come on. Get up. We can't stay here," he said to Jex.
'Why do you care, Lucian? It's not like you actually know him well.'
'But you've already lost a partner. Let's not add to the list.'
Lucian sighed at his internal monologue, then hooked his hand around Jex's arm and pulled him up.
With some stumbling, Jex was finally up, still dazed. Lucian sighed with pity as he looked at him.
One hand occupied, Lucian crept out from behind the tree, scanning their surroundings for possible attacks before stepping out with Jex.
Carefully treading, using trees as a partial shield, they inched forward.
After putting a visible distance between them and their starting point, and avoiding attacks, they were ready to move forward again. This time, the place they were about to cross left them exposed.
Lucian surveyed. He was ready to lead them across when—
A boy's figure cut past them, clearly running. His journey took a sharp cut and ended forever. He fell, and an emerging spike met him halfway through his fall.
The rest was the sound of flesh and blood being stabbed, blood spluttering, the body sinking to the ground, the blood acting as lubricant.
So fast, yet so slow.
Lucian stiffened, shocked.
A life could be lost that quickly. He stared at the once-living body. He'd seen the boy with Sapphire when they were being paired.
Before he could pull himself together, Jex — who'd witnessed the same horror — didn't take it well.
He ripped himself from Lucian's grasp and ran forward, unaware of the danger he was putting himself in.
"I don't want to die!" he screamed.
Lucian's hand was left empty. He was confused for a second before locking eyes on the running Jex.
"Hey! Wait! Slow down, you're running to your death!" Lucian shouted, running after him.
"Stop running with your eyes closed, you fool! How are you going to know where the attack is coming from?"
His voice was drowned out by Jex's screaming.
Increasing his speed, he tried to reach him.
But—
A spike burst from the ground between Jex and him. Lucian saw it in time and stopped his chase, but the force still knocked him back.
He rolled on the ground, then twisted, one knee down, the other leg ready to push him up.
When he stopped skidding, he looked past the spike for any sign of Jex. Surely it had affected him too.
Just as he thought Jex was a goner, Jex shot up from the ground and grabbed his attention. Then, without looking around properly, took off again.
Lucian was at a loss for words.
As Jex zigzagged randomly, spikes emerged, showered, and flew. Yet none managed to touch him.
And each time one nearly swept his feet out, he didn't stay down for more than a second before running again.
'Wow. Would you look at that? He's surviving better than me. Tons of luck.'
'He didn't need your heroic act, Lucian. He's doing just fine.'
But Lucian still got up and ran after him, dodging the onslaught.
____
She didn't know how long they'd been scaling the forest, except for her badly blistered feet and the frustration piling up that kept her moving.
And the silence existed like it was human.
She couldn't take it any longer.
"Can we stop? Please?"
Eoman said nothing, but halted his walk. He shifted slightly, and Kira saw part of his face. Blood-red eyes stared at her. Lips curved upward.
"You finally talked."
_Blink._
Speechless and caught off guard, Kira had to process what he'd just said.
Had he been waiting for her to speak?
All this while?
Eoman left her to it. He moved forward, then crouched to pluck a parasitic plant growing at the base of a tree.
Overcome with pain, Kira plopped to the ground. Carefully removing her shoes, she hissed.
Once they were off, she looked at her injury.
Just as she was about to touch it, her leg was grabbed by Eoman. With no time to protest, she grunted, nearly on the verge of screaming but held her tongue.
Eoman wrapped the leaves he'd plucked around her blisters. It stung badly.
"Next time, it's preferable to wrap your ankles and heels with gauze before wearing your boots."
He released her legs, got up from his half-kneeling position, and dusted himself off.
"Thank you," Kira said.
Eoman was already looking in another direction as she put her boots back on, already dreading how much longer she'd have to walk.
And there were still no signs of others. She didn't know if they were back in training grounds.
What's more she had no idea where she was besides being stuck with Eoman. And the chilling breeze seemed to get more rampant.
Mustering her courage:
"When are we going to reach there?" she asked.
"I never said there was a destination," Eoman answered, facing her.
"Like how a story has just begun. We can't know how yours ends."