INSIGNIAS: THE LUX SIGNIFER ACADEMY

The ground was covered with thick and long tree roots. The paths between towering wide trees. Thick leaves shield the forest from the heat and light of the sun. Streaks of sunlight formed lines extending to the ground but it wasn’t enough to illuminate most of the paths. However, the darkness and difficulty to traverse the dense forest didn’t stop him. From the distance, Aria only saw his shadow. Everyone was still running, without a destination. Clyne, when he noticed that Tessa couldn’t catch up to Hunter, released Aria’s wrist and bolted.

Running wasn’t new to her but they had been running for a while that she was having difficulty breathing. She slowed down then stopped. She was loudly panting when she dizzily slumped on the trunk of the nearby tree. Cold sweat continued to dribble on her forehead and hair. She looked around then bit her lower lip when she noticed that she’s alone.

Her hands began to tremble. The terrible silence enveloped her as she wide-eyed stare at the still leaves on the branches. Then they began to move. Slowly then violently as if the wind began to move faster, unafraid of the destruction it might cause. She began to pant again but not because of running. She couldn’t breathe properly. The dark green turned darker. Burnt. White and red violently destroyed them. The red swayed, turned, and then spread on the ground, engulfing everything, while continued to watch. She couldn’t move. No…

Then the scene changed. There was laughter around several bonfires. She tightly closed her eyes then shake her head. When she opened them again, the scene vanished. Determined eyes stared at swaying leaves. I’ll face it so I can move forward…

When she felt a presence behind her, she immediately turned around to defend herself. Her sword materialized. A Concordian was running around. Is he lost? Aria reminded herself that he could be an enemy.

“Aria!” Her eyes widened. She lowered her sword on the ground then it disappeared.

“Idiot,” she mumbled as she stared at the ground. She heard his footsteps getting closer.

“Aria, you’re here!” She looked up and found a panting Clyne with messy brown hair climbing a thick root then jumped down. He ran toward her then stopped in front of her. She noticed all the leaves and twigs sticking from his hair. His amber eyes were twinkling even in the dark. How is that possible? He returned to his old self. She tried to hide her smile.

“I’m fine. Where are the others?” she asked.

“Divided. Nate and Hanne are waiting for us,” he replied while panting.

“What?” She thought he was able to catch up with Hunter. Did he come looking for me?

“Don’t worry,” he beamed. “Skhy, Lei, and Tessa are with him. Nate and Hanne were with them but decided to separate to find the exit to this forest.” He looked around while Aria stared at him. She couldn’t see his face clearly. When he looked down again, she panicked.

“It’s dark here,” she blurted without thinking. Ahh… so embarrassing! Clyne laughed.

“Let’s go then.” He turned around. Before he could take a step forward, Aria grabbed the hem of his parka.

“What’s wrong?” She couldn’t look at him so she just stared at the ground.

“I’m sorry for saying that you won’t understand me…”

“Wait. I-”

“I’m not done yet!... Thank you for always trying so hard for me. I…don’t know how to repay you.” Her heart was drumming in her chest. “But…both of us know how much we love them and how much they love us. They would want us to live our lives…not blaming ourselves for something we couldn’t control. They would want us…to be happy.”

Clyne was quiet. She didn’t want to look at him because her cheeks were flaming.

“That’s all.” She let go then walked past him, only to be pulled toward him. He was hugging her tightly. Her bath on his front. She could feel his warm breath on her hair. Her cheeks flamed even more.

“Hey!!!” She tried to push him away from him but he was strong. This is embarrassing!

“I’m happy,” he whispered, making her stop. “I wanted to end it all if not for Faz.”

“But I wanted to move forward because of you.” Her eyes softened.

After the embarrassing position, the two joined Nate and Hanne who were patiently waiting beside a broken tree. Hanne ran toward her and grabbed her hands.

“We were worried. I wanted to look for you but Clyne insisted for us to wait here,” Hanne complained. She shot a knowing glare at Clyne who raised both of his hands to surrender. Aria couldn’t hide her huge smile.

“Thank you. I’m okay.”

“We’re glad,” Nate said with a smile. “We should move now. We don’t want to stay here at night. I’ll be really cold.” Aria nodded. While it doesn’t snow in most of the southern regions of the country, they still might freeze in the dense forest where the sunlight is blocked by the thick leaves.

Nate produced a map from his backpack. It was the usual map.

“We need to find a landmark,” Nate said.

“But we don’t know where we are,” Aria pointed out. Nate sighed.

“I’ll climb up,” Clyne offered. Aria frowned at him.

“Climb where?” Clyne pointed up.

“You’re going to climb that?” The trees in the forest don’t have lower branches. Clyne nodded. Without a warning, he jumped on root after root, until he found a branch low enough for him.

“Don’t worry. He’ll be fine,” Nate said. She was confused at first but he pointed at her clenched fists. She immediately rubbed her palms on her pants, earning her a chuckle from Nate.

Clyne proved that he can reach the top. He disappeared in the clusters of leaves. When he returned, he was again covered with leaves and twigs. She didn’t know why but she wanted to remove them from his hair and clothes. She chased the thought away. This is weird.

“This forest seems endless,” he reported.

“What?” Hanne exclaimed. Her wide eyes were full of fear.

“Anything that might help us?” Aria asked.

“The river.”

“Good. Skhy said to follow it downstream,” Nate said. “We’ll meet there.” Clyne pointed in the direction of the river. While traversing the bulging mossy roots, it streaks of sunlight dimmed.

“I don’t want to sleep here,” Hanne, who was walking beside Aria, murmured. Nate and Clyne led them, helping them climb on and jump from the stems.

“It…feels weird here,” she added. Aria understood. She had been in different forests and slept there several times. But Aria felt that there’s something wrong with this place. She couldn’t feel life even though they are surrounded by countless trees.

They were walking on a wide tree root when Aria suddenly felt eyes on her. She swiftly looked around. She couldn’t sense any presence, even animals. She figured that the watchers hid their presence and power. Mortemians?

“What should we do?” Hanne asked. Only then that Aria noticed that her three companions also felt it.

“We don’t know how many they are,” Nate started, “but the eyes are everywhere.”

Before they could plan their move, the wind blew violently blinding them for a few seconds. Aria lost her balance but something warm touched her back. Clyne helped her stand properly while her eyes were still closed. When she opened them, she found intruders standing on the roots surrounding them. Four middle-aged men and women dressed casually in pants and shirts, dirty and ripped pants and shirts. Everyone was looking down as if they were hiding their faces. They didn’t look like the Mortemians they encounter. They didn’t seem to be Concordians too. But they were emitting power that she doesn’t recognize. Who are they?

Then they simultaneously raised their heads. The surrounding was darker than before because the sun is close to setting. But she could see their faces clearly. She shuddered a bit when she saw it. Their eyes were black. Their mouths hanged open.

“What are they?” Aria managed to ask.

“They look like zombies…” Hanne whispered. Aria felt her trembling hand on her back.

“Yeah… but their bodies are intact. I’m not sure,” Clyne said. The wind blew violently again. The loud rustling of the leaves was terrifying. Aria managed to keep her eyes open.

“You can’t leave this place,” the zombies chanted without moving their mouths. It was monotonous. A warning but also a spell. Aria couldn’t move her legs. Her arms were also frozen. But she was able to move her head.

“What the. What’s happening?”

“I can’t move,” Hanne cried.

“They have powers? What is this?” Clyne’s brow furrowed as he tries to move his limbs.

“Space. Telekinesis.” Aria turned to Nate who looked calm.

“Zombies are magic users?” Hanne exclaimed.

“No,” Clyne replied. Aria turned to the enemies. They’re not living humans anymore… so why do they have powers? She was getting exhausted exerting any part of her body to move.

“Look!” Aria looked up when Hanne shouted. Her eyes widened. The zombies had raised one of their arms. Floating near their palms were balls of elementals – fire, earth, and metal. What are these creatures?!?

The guy who was holding a ball of fire extended his hand toward them as if he’s giving it to them. Then the ball grew larger, turned orange with flames of blue. Aria’s eyes widened.

“Are we going to die?” she heard Hanne whisper. Aria glared at the zombie. She knew that it won’t help their situation but she didn’t want to show them her fear.

Everything happened in a blink of an eye. The ball of fire shot toward them. Hanne shouted. But Aria didn’t even blink as the red-blue flames approached them. A few meters from Aria, the fireball disintegrated and formed a semicircle around the four students. Aria couldn’t hold it in and she began to pant softly. She was able to use her elemental.

“How….?” Clyne, who was on her left, asked, looking amazed and worried at the same time.

“They’re not controlling our minds. But it took a lot of strength to control my elemental,” she replied when she was able to breathe properly.

“We have to find a way to break free,” Nate said. This time the zombie who was holding a metal ball extended her hand.

“Nate, Hanne…” Aria began to say.

“We will try,” Nate replied. The streaks of the sunlight slowly disappeared. Soon they will be embraced by darkness.