In a dark, cold and gloomy forest that only sang the theme of the night. The sky was mixed with red and black colors, showing the disaster the earth had suffered from the descent of the Echoes. The sight was like no other, it was more like the earth had been brought into hell.
In this lone forest, there stood a building. It was an abandoned-looking building that looked like it hadn't been used in years. Inside the building, there were three figures, each wearing the armor of a knight. A single female and two males.
"When do you think they are going to arrive?" one of the male asked.
With brown and yellow mixed hair, and blue eyes. He was seated on a dusty-old couch, legs crossed on a small table before him. He appeared comfortable.
With a bright expression, he looked like he didn't care about anything in the world except for his own looks, while he played with his hair.
"They should be arriving any minute now, Alex." the second male responded, while looking at the book he was holding, as though he could track their movements in it.
He was a young looking man, around his early teens. He had golden hair and silver eyes. With an expensive looking royal cloak wrapped around him and an eye glass on his face. He was a spitting image of a prince than a knight.
"Hmph… they sure are taking their time. Reynold should have taken me along with him." Alex said.
Hearing his statement, the young lady among them rose to her feet, and walked to the window. Her slender body displayed in the knight armor she wore, with a pink sword sheathed at her side. She leaned onto the window, her dazzling green eyes set at the unusual night sky, while her long pink hair danced with the wind.
"It's not like he had a choice, we were needed to protect his Highness." she spoke, her voice calm and smooth.
"Hmph… I didn't talk to you, Miss know right." Alex fired at her, with a displeased expression.
"Now, now, don't pick on Sinon." The young prince said.
Sinon turned away from the window and stared at Alex, her expression, unbothered by his statement. And then shifted her gaze to the young prince."
"How long do you think they would take to get here?" she asked him, in a mannered way.
"If I am correct, they will be arriving…"
Before he could finish his statement, Alex jumped from the couch as though he had sensed something. Which he had.
"They are here!" he proclaimed.
The young prince and Alex instantly rushed to the window to see. Then in a far distance, not too far from the building and also not to close. Their eyes landed on a specific area. A small bright light began illuminating and then got bigger forming a round shape, before opening.
Reynold and the others began coming out of the portal. Their expression looked gloomy as though they had just lost someone or something, which they actually did. However, those with the most sad expressions were both Uvenna and D'lean.
"Hm?"
Still staring as they came out one after the other, the prince squinted his eye, making Alex to notice, and asked:
"What is the matter?"
"I don't understand." the prince uttered, looking utterly confused.
Seeing his expression, Sinon rushed to the window to see what was wrong. But as she got there, they wasn't anything that seemed wrong, prompting her to ask the prince:
"I..Is there a problem?"
And then he answered:
"I'm not sure myself. I am getting a different reading on my grimoire than what I am seeing from them."
Alex and Sinon glanced at each other with a bewildered expression. They didn't have the slightest idea of what he was talking about.
"What do you mean?" they both asked in sync.
"From what I am reading in my grimoire. There should be only thirteen of them coming out of the portal, but what I am counting while looking at all of them is… fourteen. Or am I mistaken?"
"Imposible."
Alex and Sinon quickly took a look at his grimoire and counted thirteen glowing dots, and then looked outside the window hoping to count exactly thirteen, so they could tell the young prince he was seeing double. However, as they counted.
"Fourteen!" They exclaimed the last, in sync.
They both looked at the young prince and then he gave them a look that said:
I told you.
"But… your grimoire can't make a mistake, isn't that right." Sinon asked, looking concerned.
"That's correct." the young prince replied.
"Hmph!" Alex sighed, as he leaned away from the window. His face, a bit shocked but at the same time filled with a mockery smile, and then said.
"It looks like you'll need to check out that book of yours."
Sinon looked at him with a stern expression. It was not much, but enough for him to back away. Her glare was daunting.
"That doesn't matter now. Let's be grateful that they are back in one piece." The young prince said.
Sinon agreed with him and moved away from the window, while her daunting glare was still focused on Alex. She walked towards the door, opened it, and walked outside, towards Reynold.
"What happened" she asked, as noticed the down expression he had.
"Let's talk inside…"
-
Inside the building, everyone was in the massive living room. It was enough to contain the whole seventeen of them. Reynold was seated at one of the chairs, his other comrades who came back with him also by his side. They didn't say anything, expect from the sad expression they had. Almost as though they were reliving a particular terror.
"Can you explain to me what happened?" the young prince asked, as he stood in the center of the room.
He had a curious expression, and demanded an explanation seeing how everyone was gloomy.
On the other hand, Uvenna and the other students were with Sinon in a certain area. Those who were injured were gathered around her. She held both her hands above each wounds, a green light glowed, closing and healing the wounds. It was magical and beautiful. But they didn't see it that way, as the horror they had lived was still engraved deep within them.
However, at one corner of the room was a figure seated on the ground, isolated from the rest. It was D'lean. His eyes were fixed on the magical display before him, and also at the others who all looked like they had abilities of their own.
But he didn't.
He was floating in the thought of losing his best friend, and no power to save him. The pain, the sorry, the agony, the guilt, all filled him inside, as though they were about to eat him up.
He held the hand that was injured, and felt a little pain. His skin was covered, so it was impossible for anyone to see what kind of injury he had. And he wanted to keep it that way. Making sure no one knew how he got it.
Then suddenly a certain statement entered in his ear. It was the voice of Reynold speaking to the young prince.
"That is what I'm saying. I saw it with my own eyes. Those who were bitten by an Echo were turned immediately, not even following the usual two minutes range. It was something that we have never seen before."
"This is new…" the prince utter, as he placed his hand on his chin.
Instantly, D'lean's eyes widened in shock. The information he had just heard, played repeatedly in his head.
'Bitten? Turned into? Echoes? Two minutes?'
He couldn't process what he had just heard, as he stared down at his injured arm, with only a single thought.
What could that mean for him?