Days passed, maybe weeks.
Almost a month.
This time, there was no forest or sandy plains
Just rocks and mountains
Very few trees managed to grow, and they were slender and small
Bushes barely existed here, just small patches if they were lucky
Multiple rocky mountains rose higher, past the clouds
A few others stopped lower
There weren't many signs of life, other than iguanas, lizards or the occasional bird
The sun was hidden behind dusty clouds
Its faint light shone behind the clouds
Making the land look like rain was about to fall, except-
The clouds weren't really black
Just grey
On the flat, rocky ground, the trio walked
Side by side at a calm pace
Leo in the middle, eyes dark, low and focused
Back at the castle, his messy dark brown hair had been cut clean
Now it had grown messy and shaggy, long enough to pass the back of his neck.
He still wore the gray tuxedo pants, but his upper body was bare
The pants had been torn into shorts
No shoes on his feet
Thomas was on his left, dark lines hanging heavy under his eyes
Unlike Leo, his eyes weren't low. They were wider, more alert
Just not too wide.
His black spiky hair had grown too, with some strands covering the right side of his forehead
The rest shot at other angles
He still wore the black tuxedo, only its color had faded
The jacket was gone, leaving only the under shirt
A sturdy piece of twig was wrapped diagonally from his shoulders to his waist, holding the crown together against his back.
His white long-sleeved undershirt no longer had sleeves
His pants had also turned into shorts
He ditched the shoes as well
On Leo's right, was Autumn.
Her short blonde hair only grew a bit, barely past her chin, but also messy
Her eyes were pointed at the ground
Not blinking
Just a very distant gaze
She floated five inches from the ground, moving with the group almost automatically
She still had the "white" dress
well, gray now
The skirt piece ended at her knee, but it had been shredded diagonally
So on the right side, it ended at her thighs.
For the upper area, she was covered by Thomas' tuxedo jacket
The sleeves were long enough to hide her fingers
Autumn hugged herself while floating beside the others
No one was speaking
Just silence as they moved
The air was humid and still
Earlier they usually heard a few rattles
Maybe behind the rocks or on other paths nearby
But now, it was quiet.
Too quiet.
The trio still walked at the same pace
A brownish lizard ran across their path, disappearing beneath a pile of rocks
Briefly, Leo's ear twitched.
A slight beat
"We are being followed," he muttered casually
The two still walked calmly
"Great... I'm getting hungry," Thomas muttered
Autumn didn't answer
She still floated while hugging herself, eyes distant
The trio walked calmly
Soon, the walk led them into a narrower stretch
Two higher, flat mountains basically sandwiched them
The three could still walk side by side, but it was darker here
And quieter
Leo glanced upward at the higher mountain on the right
Something shifted, out of view
Only a glimpse
The moment it shifted, a few pebbles rolled down the mountain
Falling onto the ground
"They're sloppy," Leo muttered, his words dragging calmly
Neither of them answered this time
Just the same pace of walking and silence
Thomas walked, his eyes aimed forward
But he was actually scanning
Then he saw it.
Aimed at him.
Approaching pretty fast.
An arrow.
He dashed forward from the group
Dodging the arrow
By the time Thomas could look up
The crevice got darker
Arrows began falling from the sky
Leo didn't move
But Autumn quickly floated backward, separating from Leo
More arrows came after Thomas and Autumn
So they had to go farther away
When far enough
A huge boulder rolled off the mountain, separating them from each other
Leo was in the middle, broken arrows scattered around his feet
He didn't move one bit
Two boulders blocked his path. One separated him from Thomas
The other separated him from Autumn
Instantly, creatures began running down the mountains on all fours
They had bows, arrows, and swords.
Some had shoulder armor some didn't
The creatures were brown and had heads just like the lizards
They had tails and hands that gripped their weapons
Some were about the height of a grown man
"Keaaagh!" one of the lizards roared, pointing at Leo
AUTUMN'S POV
She turned, looking at the boulder that separated her from the others
The creatures were sliding down the mountain
They landed easily, drawing weapons.
Bows were pointed at her
Spears aimed
She turned toward the creatures, eyes still distant
She stopped hugging herself, still floating
She rolled up the sleeves that were way longer than her hands
Revealing a sharp dagger, bone-like and almost tooth-like.
The blade curved at the tip, while the handle was wrapped tightly for a better grip
The moment she drew the weapon-
Her hands began trembling. She looked at it hesitantly
Eyes unsteady
The monsters looked at Autumn
with pure intent
Some were licking their lips
"Kah Kah keh!" a tall, slender one shouted
On command, the lizard men dropped their blades
Instead-
They got ropes.
Autumn was still looking at the bone-like weapon
Briefly, tears began building in her eyes
When-
A rope was thrown at her
She glanced upward just in time to fly out of the way
The lizard men all gasped in astonishment
Autumn looked downward.
Their expressions hadn't changed
She stopped shaking, her eyes narrowing in disgust
Then
She charged forward
The tall one who ordered them earlier, stepped forward
It threw another rope
Autumn quickly flew to the side
The rope missed
She swung her blade
Fast
The creature didn't even react
Autumn landed behind it
A beat
The creature's hand slowly went to its throat
It began choking
The other Lizard folks froze
A few took steps back
Autumn didn't move. She held the landing pose, eyes still cold.
Her blade still in her hand
Slowly, she raised her head, looking at the others
Meanwhile-
The one behind her fell.
The others began shouting
"Keaah!"
They all grabbed their blades
Charging toward her
Autumn's grip tightened around the weapon
Her eyes narrowed
She flew forward
THOMAS' POV
The boulder was behind him, and the lizard men were in front
An arrow was in Thomas' right shoulder
But he didn't seem to notice
Or care
"Keah!" One of them shouted
His right palm ignited
The monsters began shouting and pointing. Some took a step back.
"Kear kea keah!" It shouted again, charging with a short sword.
Thomas watched, not moving
When the monster was close enough
It thrust forward
Thomas dodged to the right
He followed up by grabbing the monster's face mid momentum
He twisted, slamming its face into the nearest mountain wall
The wall cracked on impact, dust rising.
Its blade fell to the ground.
Instantly, Thomas' flames flared
Fire ran from his palm directly to the monster
The lizard's whole body ignited
It let out a high pitched scream
Flailing and clawing at Thomas
But he didn't let go
It didn't take long for it to stop moving
Thomas released his hand
The monster still burned, slowly slumping
The rest of Lizard men began backing up
"Keow, keow, " some muttered
A few had already ran
But Thomas didn't chase
[FIVE MINUTES LATER]
Leo was leaning against the boulder that separated him from Thomas
He was picking blade shards out of his thick hair
The Lizardfolk in his area were already crushed
Literally
Their purple blood oozed into the dry ground
Leo grumbled as he shook his head
Thomas ran along the side walls and jumped onto the boulder
He peeked over at Leo's side
Not a single moving lizardfolk
He jumped off, landing beside Leo
Leo looked at him briefly, then smirked
He pointed at a lizard man
"Still wanna eat?"
The lizard he pointed to was basically bashed into mush.
Thomas looked at it and shrugged
"I don't give a shit," he said, revealing the burnt arm
This was the same lizard he cooked earlier
Thomas bit into its flesh, filling his mouth
"Ugh... Oh," Leo muttered, staring at Thomas
"Eww.." a soft voice muttered, almost hesitantly.
It was Autumn.
Traces of blood stained her face
Her hands were now covered by the long sleeves
Thomas shrugged again, biting into another part of its flesh
He walked past them toward the other boulder
...
Leo gazed at Autumn
She was staring blankly at the wall
"Autumn," he called. "You're doing it again."
She blinked before turning her head
"Sorry," she half-whispered
"Don't apologize," Leo said
He looked away slightly, then looked back at her
"Y-you guys know I'm sorry, right?"
Autumn looked at Leo
Before she could answer
"Guys?" Thomas called
The two turned
Thomas was already coming over
"We should go before the crows appear again," he said.
"I'd rather we go to the top than stay down here," he added.
Leo looked around, blood spilled everywhere
"You're right," he agreed. "I'll climb up."
Thomas nodded
Autumn got closer to him, holding his arm
Slowly, she began to rise
Leo took a few steps back
He dashed forward, then leapt, fingers gripping the ledges
Leo pushed higher, lodging his fingers into the cracks
...
By the time Leo reached them, the two were already there waiting.
Backs turned, looking out over the shorter lands
"Eh-ehm" Leo cleared his throat
Both Autumn and Thomas turned
"Yo, come here" Thomas called
Leo walked toward them
He looked over at the lands
Trees, just pure trees.
And somehow, sunlight was over there.
Then he saw it.
The notification
[ALL ACTIVE PLAYERS FOUND: 3/4]
Then it glitched and flickered
[ALL ACTIVE PLAYERS FOUND: 3/3]
The trio exchanged glances before looking at the next notification
[THE DESIGNATED PLAYER HAS ENTERED THE EVENT AREA]
[SPECIAL EVENT:
EMBERS IN THE SNOW]
Then it disappeared
The trio exchanged glances again
Thomas didn't look at them. He just pointed ahead.
"Where did that come from?" he asked
Everyone looked
In the middle of the forest was a village
A village covered in snow.
Except there wasn't snow anywhere else
End