Lufe pushed himself up and, with trembling fingers, flung open the door.
A young man, dark of hair—hurried inside, slamming the door shut behind him. He wore a dark green, leather-like cloak, the hood drawn low. Underneath, a matching tunic and pants clung to his lean frame, as though crafted for a world unlike theirs. His boots, too, were of the same tough, leather-like material. The stranger's face, framed by long, dark hair, was handsome and delicate—almost feminine, as if the features belonged equally to a teenage girl. Most of his hair was tied at the back, but wispy locks escaped, brushing his forehead and cheeks.
He glanced at everyone in turn—Selena, Merry, Jess, and Lufe—his eyes wide with urgency.
He spoke a rapid, unfamiliar language: "Takov, Takov! Makov!"
The party glanced at each other in confusion, however, Lufe seemed more confused.
"Did you say we should hide?" Lufe asked in english, stepping forward.
In fact, what the young man said translated to the following; "Hide, hide! Let's hide."
Lufe frowned, he was mystified—English was the only language he knew, yet he somehow understood that the boy was calling for them to hide.
The boy only repeated the same foreign phrase, "Ma kov, O Bociat holijir! ("Let's hide! The Bocians are coming!") " His tone had become urgent—fear laced every syllable.
Merry's calm face shifted in surprise. She scooped in front of Lufe, her eyes widening. "Yes," she said with sudden confidence. "He said we have to hide. Right now."
Selena stepped back, hand pressed to her heart. "When did you learn a new language?" she asked Merry, her voice trembling with confusion.
"I… I don't know," Merry replied, looking down at her feet. She swallowed hard, brushing a stray curl behind her ear. "I just... knew."
Selena glared deeply at Merry for a moment then shifting the gaze to Lufe and said "It doesn't make sense."
"It doesn't make sense" she immediately repeated when she noticed that it came out an incomprehensible mumble.
At this moment they all came to understand that due to the air being dense than normal, speaking had become a little difficult and they had to speak with more energy than usual.
Lufe patted his mother's shoulder gently.
"It doesn't make sense, indeed," he agreed, "but it seems we must hide immediately." He seemed far more composed than he felt—his lean frame tense, shoulders squared as though he were bracing himself against a storm.
"Why should we even hide?" Selena's voice rose, exasperation mixing with fear. Her fingertips dug into the wooden frame of the door.
Before anyone could answer, a single, thunderous kick splintered the doorframe. The door burst inward, wood fragments flying. The force knocked Lufe, Merry, Selena, and Jess off their feet, sending them sprawling across the floor.
A hulking figure filled the doorway: broad-shouldered, towering over all of them. His eyes were ink-dark, gleaming with fierce hunger. A long, tangled beard threaded with silver ore cascaded down his chest. He wore a vest shaped like a grasshopper's carapace—its shiny, greenish-brown armor might have been made from the carapace of a gigantic glasshopper or a glasshouse like creature they had never seen. Underneath, a long-sleeve shirt woven from smelted ore mixed with coarse fabric covered his bulk. His pants, matched to the shirt, were stiff with some strange blend of metal and cloth.
He held a heavy club, crafted from some dark-colored ore, striated with faint veins of rust-red.
His subordinates—equally large men clad in similar ore-and-shell attire—lined up behind him, their faces shadowed, rings of ore gleaming on their fingers. Their weapons were identical clubs. Wristbands of rough ore and shards of animal shell clinked on their arms. Each one looked like a bandit from antiquity.
The leader calmly scanned Lufe and the others and his lips curled into a cruel grin. He babbled in the same foreign tongue, his voice triumphant.
"Ao fan dohez giwe. (You did a good job)" He gestured toward the young man who had burst in and burst into a laughter. His men followed suit.
He turned to the three women: Selena, Merry, and Jess. He scanned and nodded at each of them one after the other. "Aoca dien gra kel maca mila. Ma sjuf e inali. Ao xapa ta (Your beauty must grace our clan. We are short of women. You will come.)"
As soon as he finished speaking, he burst into laughter again and—as usual, his subordinates followed suit. These men were crazy and insane.
Then he stopped laughing and gesticulated his subordinates to do the same. His expression had turned cold and stern in an instant. He glared daggers to Lufe. "Ao wero—inali ae sinali? (What of you—a woman or a man?)"
Lufe's figureless body spoke of a man but his face said otherwise.
Lufe understood what he talked but remained silent, unwilling to respond. The only thought of replying triggered words like—sinali(man) and simali(boy) to pop up in his head.
The leaders expression softened gradually and he said "si!... fodem!... Aoi!... xapa ta!" (It doesn't!... matter!... You too!... will come!)
Each word dictated with incredible energy, resembled a bark. He completed the sentence with a laughter, too loud and too manic. His subordinates joined in, their silver and gold teeth(if not some unknown ore) flashing in savage grins. The laughter was rather, a terrifying sound, like animals cackling over a fresh kill.
"Mola cia* so koda dientu wisisa kodas inali" (These two are even more beautiful than most women!)
Another man said without ceasing the laughter.
*cia is pronounced as sha as in sharp.
"What do you want?" Selena shouted in english, stepping forward as if fearless. Although, she couldn't understand what the men were talking, it was apparent their intentions were not good.
The leader's black eyes shifted to her. He sneered but did not understand her words.
"Ao fed weroqi?" (What did you say?) he asked.
"Mom," Lufe grabbed Selena's hand, ready to sprint. "Let's run, these people want to abduct us"
"In a broad daylight?" She inquired. Lufe didn't respond, he dragged her up the staircase. Jess and Merry had already reached the top of the stairs. They young man went last.
The leader smirked, his expression relaxed. With a sharp gesticulation, the club in his hand flew through the air on its own. It shot across the room. The young man ducked and the club struck Selena's leg. She cried out and collapsed onto the floor, unable to move. Lufe attempted to help her up.
The club retreated and halted midair. It hovered for a few seconds before charging towards the escaping party again.
A malevolent grin never left the leader's face. His hands clasped behind his back. He seemed to be commanding the club with some kind of telekinesis powers.
A flash of lavender light erupted from the young man's fingers. He had raised his hand in a smooth, practiced motion.
The light shot towards the club. Everyone understood the intensity of the force in the light when the light collided with the club. The club violently spun, flying through the air and smashing into the far wall. The young man eyes watered with effort—he bore the strain of holding the club aloft for a moment longer until it clattered to the ground.
The leader's grin faltered for a moment and he smiled again. He took a step forward, but suddenly, the ground beneath him trembled. Dry earth surged upward, wrapping around the leader's feet causing his feet to look like statue's feet.
He didn't even attempted to pull them off.
"Dot," (Child) he bellowed at the young man, "ao solav ao view* dar na Bociat efi gebs rusefim?" (do you think you can compete with Bocians in earth manipulation?)
He laughed, a deep baritone that rattled the rafters.
*view is pronounced as viyewi with vi as in visa, ye as in yes and wi as in win
With a glance at the feet the dry earth instantly turned into fine soil—as fine as powder. He pulled off a foot, shook it to get rid of the earth powder and repeated the process for the other foot.
The young man began shooting light beams towards the leader. It looked like horizontal rain of light beams.
With his arms hands still behind his back, he telepathically commanded the earth to extend and form a strong pillar. The pillar acted as a shield blocking him from the light beams.
When hitting the pillar—initially, the pillar seemed unaffected. However, too many light beams struck it and cracks began to emerge. It was evident to everyone that in no time the pillar might burst into gravel.
The young man who—by this time stood on top of the stairs with Lufe and the others behind him—got increasing courage to keep on attacking. All of the sudden, he received a violent and brutal punch from behind. Immense force from the punch sent him flying and he collapsed under the feet of the leader.