Once the arms were free, the young man raised both hands and muttered a swift phrase in his tongue.
The remaining earth coating him dissolved into fine dust, drifting to the floor. He flexed his wrists, shaking off the last grains.
"Matha*," (Let's move) he said, voice steadier now.
*tha is pronounced as ta as in tank
They hurried through the charred foyer, past smoldering floorboards and upended chairs, and were soon out in the peculiar field of mushroom-like field.
The trees had one thick leaf which resembled a mushroom cap and a great stem dotted with small pores all over. The pores seemed to emit steam.
The trees were at least five metres away from each other—leaving huge gaps between them.
They could now clearly see the mob that was attacking them. The mob consisted of people of all ages and genders carrying all sorts of strange weapons.
A volley of fire arrows flew towards them.
"Jess," Lufe called, "grab my hand. Tight."
Jess clutched him, nodding. Merry stayed close by Lufe's side. He shot a wary—yet expectant glance at the young man.
The young man thrust both hands forward. A blinding wall of violet light sprang up—a translucent barricade towering above their heads. Arrows and flaming bolts collided with the barrier and flared out in harmless sparks. The light wall flickered, then vanished as its power waned.
Lufe, Merry, and Jess sprinted through the mushroom grove, vines parting ahead of them. Each step sent puffs of spores swirling. The mob's shouts faded behind them, muffled by the trees.
The young man shouted, "Jala fia!" (this way!)
He leaped over a narrow chasm that divided the pale earth from a patch of green, moss-covered land thick with ferns and flowers. Lufe and Merry followed, Jess clinging to her brother's back as they sped across the gap's log—moss soft beneath their boots.
Suddenly Merry skidded to a halt at the cliff's edge. A shallow river basin lay below, starlight dancing on rippled water. Lufe and Jess slowed, peering down.
"Si taphai" (Don't stop), the young man called, voice distant.
Lufe exchanged glances with his sisters. Fear flashed in Jess's wide eyes; Merry's jaw clenched.
The young man reached them and gave a hard push.
"then*! "(Jump!) he urged.
*the is pronounced as te in tell
They screamed as they sailed into the air. Wind roared in their ears. Halfway down, a horizontal wall of violet light—like a glowing carpet—materialized beneath them. They landed with a soft thud, the light dissipating in an instant.
The final plunge into the cool water sent a spray skyward. Lufe hauled Jess and Merry under the surface, the shock of the cold steadied their racing hearts. Bubbles escaped their lips as they surfaced, gasping.
Swimming in the river, they glanced up expecting to see the mob on the edge of the cliff but there was no one. The mob seemed to had stopped pursuing them. They couldn't help being relieved.
The river proved shallower than they had feared. As they moved away from its center, the highest water could get was in their knees. They waded ashore, abandoning swimming for walking.
Lufe shot a grateful gaze at the young man and said "Thank you"
One could tell from the expression on his face that he said from the depth of his heart. However, that got overshadowed by the realisation that the young man didn't understand English but the mysterious language.
Lufe quickly shifted to the unknown foreign language. "Ao zintar." (Thank you.)
The young man said the same thing—Ao zintar, as a reply while working on his long hair, that dripped water like cascades. His hair was longer than Merry's and Jess'—longer than most women.
"Foso Lufe"(I'm Lufe) Lufe said. "Iba... foca oreth so Merry ba Jess"(and... my sisters are Merry and Jess)
Jamo wiped his hair from his face and smiled gently. "Foso Jamo," he replied.
"Oh, my phone!" Jess screamed, pulling out her phone.
Lufe's eyes flickered, the might be useful especially to get assistance. "Is it working?" he asked sounding impatient.
Jess carefully clicked the power. The screen flashed with 30% battery. It nearly died but survived and was still functioning.
Neithertheless, Jess slowly shook her head as a response. "Its working but no service."
Then, she cradled the phone protectively.
"It make sense." muttered Lufe facing forward. What he meant was that this place didn't look like a civilized country with modern technology.
"Why were those people attacking us?" Jess suddenly asked seemingly seriously bothered with their situation.
"Yes," Merry chimed in "why did they attack? what have we done?"
Lufe simply diverted the question to Jamo. "Mojla Oai tsapa ndka ma kujiqi? Fo tyan bindar" ("why were those people attacking us. I mean the mob.")
"Ao ditai mo" (You offended them) that was Jamo's simple yet astonishing reply.
Shock cut across Lufe's face. He stood motionless in the river, watching Jamo stepping out the water onto the moss-covered shore. Merry froze beside him. Jess, who couldn't understand Jamo's words, cocked her head in confusion.
"What did he say?" she asked, glancing up to Merry.
Merry quickly but softly replied, "He said we offended them—the mob"
Upon hearing that, Jess's expression changed drastically. "We offended them?"
She turned to Jamo and shouted "How!?"
Jamo merely looked at her and said nothing. He shrugged off his wet cloak and draped it over the top of a small, tall tree—for the sun to dry it. To their astonishment, the tree bent down to receive it, then straightened once the cloak was in place.
Lufe quietly led his sisters to the shore. They were not that surprised by what Jamo did with the tree. They had seen so many strange things already. In fact, beyond the swampy bank stretched a dense forest of bizarre plants different species and possibly fungi too.
When Lufe reached Jamo, the latter asked, gesturing at Jess. "Fa tsaxa pow jile powiqia kujiqi?* (Why does she keeps speaking that language?)
*pow is pronounced as poe because w is pronounced as wi in will
"It seems like she can't understand this language. Neither was I supposed to understand it. This is surprising!" Lufe gently shook his head in disbelief.
When he stared at Jamo he noticed his expression becoming that of a perplexed person.
"What do you mean?" Jamo asked, his gaze fixated on Lufe's face.
Lufe explained, voice cool with disbelief: "This language—you and I are speaking—Merry and I shouldn't be able to understand it."
Jamo blinked and said "I do not understand what you say"
Lufe's frowned as confusion got painted across his face. The confused Jamo—with his responses started confusing him—Lufe—too.
"Fo... Um..." he stuttered finding it difficult to find proper words to make Jamo.
Merry stepped forward and interjected. "We're not from here, Jamo." Her voice sharpened with frustration. She found it annoying. Why was it difficult for him to understand this simple thing—there were not from there, naturally they were supposed to be fools in the place's language. "We—Lufe and I—should be outsiders to this language."
Nonetheless, Jamo was even more confused. At almost the same time, Jamo shouted as if suddenly angry. "It doesn't matter." he paused swallowing hard before proceeding "It doesn't matter you're not from here. Everyone in the world speak and understand Living Syllable!"
The last two words—Living Syllable were almost an angry shout.
(AUTHOR'S NOTE: *From now on, conversations in Living Syllable will be directly translated to English.)
Merry and Lufe were rendered speechless. Jess just watched with utmost curiosity. No time spared for her—to inquire what was going on.
Silence invaded the area. The revelation made Lufe and Merry even more bewildered. Everyone in the world speak and understand the language known as Living Syllable? In the world they knew—Earth, English was predominant followed by Mandarin, Hindi, Arabic, Spanish, French and Portuguese. A language called Living Syllable was in no way a major language on Earth. In fact they were pretty sure it didn't exist at all.
Thinking about all the events that had occurred they came to a common speculation, unbelievable one—They were in another world. Superpowers, strange plants, strange people clad in strange clothes and a universal language called Living Syllable?
No, no, this was not Earth. Teleporting to another world was something that only existed in films and novels.
"Where are we?" Merry finally asked aloud. "What is the name of this world?"
At this moment, Jamo seemed to notice something was amiss too. His eyes flicked to horizon and suspiciously responded "This is the... The World Of Living Things"
The World of Living Things...
That sentence replayed itself countless times in their heads.