Chapter 3 3

"And what's the last rule of the hike?" Aera sang while staring down at the two teenagers who were a part of the ensemble. Keeping her knuckles pressed on the torso of her pink puffy jacket, Ellen held her head high in the air.

Together, she and Chesterg yelled out in unison, "Always stick with your buddy!" as they linked arms and sprinted in the direction of their respective fathers.

The fairly cumbersome item was brought to Dexter's attention as he gave a little smile in response to their youthful laughter. As Darrell focused the lens at the path that was in front of them, the sound of the lens clicking caused a groan to accompany it.

He complained, "We just entered the actual forest, and you've taken twenty photos," while putting his phone up to get some form of reception. "I do not know what you are doing."

When Lottie was strolling alongside her partner, she rolled her eyes and walked with a lot of energy in her steps. While she was walking up the incline without any difficulty, she hummed, "I think your photographs are incredible."

A different female, on the other hand, was already gasping for air and her lips were beginning to form an expression of exhaustion.

She screamed out in a dramatic manner, "I think I'm going to die-just go on without me," as she stretched out for the tall boy who was in front of her. Her thighs were burning. The exaggeration that she made caused Dwain to laugh, and he took her hand in his. The fact that Carlene was one of the group's weaker links caused her to huff as she glanced at people who were ahead of her, including their personal military officer and athletes competing at the D-1 level.

Do not be concerned; I do not believe that I have worked out since I was in high school. All I do is spend the entire day working behind a counter. While she was going at the same rate as Gregory, a voice could be heard behind her. Suzanne smiled as she observed the nature around her reflecting lovely shades of green, despite the fact that spring had just begun to arrive. This was despite the fact that she was taking heavy breaths out of her lungs.

"If only there were some nature goddess to give me the strength to walk up this mountain." Augustus, who was walking at the same rate as the adults, caused Jordon to cry out as she struggled to keep up with her brother.

While Luisa was following closely behind the two of them, he let out a loud laugh at his complaints. Her gaze strayed to take in the sights and sounds of the surrounding area, and she was mesmerized by the leaves that were blossoming despite the cold winter weather. The bushes were already producing fruit, giving the impression that they were utterly oblivious to the changing of the seasons. This added a splash of color to the otherwise bright path.

All she could do was let out a breath of admiration, wishing that she could remain for just a little bit longer. She cast a peek to her right and smiled unconsciously as she noticed that Javier was experiencing the same level of astonishment as she was.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?" She gently prodded him, which caused him to jolt him back into the present moment. During the process of scratching the back of his neck, he looked up and noticed that the sun's rays were penetrating the branches that were reaching out.

"It is absolutely breathtaking. You are aware that Dreamstream is famous for that, right?

Luisa cocked her head to the side in fascination, shaking her head to demonstrate her lack of knowledge. As she was growing up, she experienced feelings of insecurity over her social standing because it was not typical for families from the middle class to take a vacation in a forest of wonder every year.

They never die; they simply bloom in a variety of ways throughout the entire year. These flowers were blue the last time I came here in the summer. "The plants grow differently here." In other words, they never die. By pointing to a bed of petals, he described it as an ocean of violet with frost created at the tips of the petals.

The sight of purple caused her stomach to churn with pain, serving as a continual reminder of the terrible dream she had the previous night. Her smile was pushed out, and she responded with a nod of her head. She said this with a sense of wonder as she kicked a rock beneath her boots. "So that's what you guys meant when you said the geography here was different," she said for the first time.

Suddenly, the chilly air touched her neck with a peculiar sensation, which prompted her to stop what she was doing and check both left and right for the person responsible for the incident. As Javier paused alongside her, he tilted his head to see the frantic expression on her face.

"Are you okay?"

She was able to snap out of her fantasies and find her way back to reality, where she discovered that a couple of other people had passed them over. She brought her hand up to her flesh and then timidly nodded her head in his direction.

Her senses were satiated by the sound of leaves crunching beneath her feet as she continued to follow in their tracks. She went out of her way to reach the leaves that were not on the trail. A childlike expression began to appear on her face, and she began to bounce around like a child on the playground. Javier observed as this occurred. With her neck craning upwards, she stared up at the branches of wispy petals that were hanging above her. The waves in her hair swirled in the zephyr that enveloped them.

It wasn't until she looked up that she noticed the smile that was on his face; once she did, she realized that he was smiling straight back at her.

"What?" When Luisa returned to his side, he did so with a slight bump on his shoulder. The sensation of their elbows brushing against each other every few seconds caused them to intensify their speed with each other. He shook his head and drank down the dryness that was in his mouth as he refocused his attention on the path that lay before him.

Her senses were once again assaulted by a chilling sensation, which this time began at her fingertips and spread all the way through her forearms. She sped up her speed, attempting to ignore it for a minute, but she ended up falling over a tree root that was concealed beneath the leaves that were scattered around.

"Watch out." Her shoulder was suddenly grasped by Javier , which prevented her from falling onto her face and causing her to feel embarrassed. Both of them came to a halt as his hand continued to be wrapped around her back, and the warmth of his flesh continued to radiate through her clothing. The same warmth came to her face as she stared blankly at the ground, and she did it without any conscious effort.

Darrell, who was standing close to the front of the group, shook his head and looked about at their situation. "There is still a considerable distance to travel; quicken your pace!" he yelled to the rear of the group. While Dwain was observing them with a look of annoyance, he was also experiencing an unwelcome wave of panic that washed over him.

The thought occurred to him, "She's getting the rushes." In an effort to encourage him to keep up with the rest of the group, Carlene pulled at the cuff of his jacket.

Luisa regained her composure and wiped herself off as she walked up the slope, her calves showing through the leggings she was wearing despite the descent. In a gradual manner, her palms started to become clammy, and she wiped them helplessly on the dry-fit material that was in her pockets. During this process, she severed her relationship with Javier and found herself in close proximity to another pair. Suzanne and Gregory were able to observe her agitated countenance, which included beads of sweat developing at her temples, despite the fact that the weather was frigid.

This foreign term, "ignis vitae," was repeated over and over again.

As she brought her palm to her ear, her head began to jerk in a spastic manner, and the refreshing sensation of a breath that smelled like mint spread down her spine. Even the sound of the leaves crunching beneath her shoes was not able to drown out the sound of what sounded like gibberish, which became increasingly loud with each step that she took.

Her worry was completely unnoticed by the others, who had gone on. Gregory and Suzanne maintained their distance from her as they watched her breaths become noticeably irregular and her complexion turn a pale tone.

"Luis-"

Under her trembling breaths, she mumbled, "Ignis vitae, ignis vitae," as she shook her head. She felt as if she were torn between two different climates, as her body temperature had increased, and she was also experiencing occasional surges of chilling breezes that were sparking through her. The temperatures were so drastically different from one another that it felt like she was trapped in the middle of the desert with icicles biting through her flesh.

"Ignut, what now?" As Gregory gingerly laid a hand on her trembling limbs, his face contorted into a startled expression of bewilderment. As she quickly retreated, she came dangerously close to colliding with the trunk of a tree. As she watched her in terror, Suzanne felt an overwhelming sense of shame that she could not explain.

Luisa brought her quivering hands to her periphery, and as the sweat rose above her palms, she let out a squeak that was light and airy. When she was in a state of fear, the last thing she wanted to deal with was shifting the water.

"M-Luisa?" A gasp came out of Suzanne's mouth as she watched the liquid transform into a violet hue. To the best of her understanding, she was just a fire shifter of the Argenta race; why would she be able to levitate water?

Without a doubt, Gregory likewise found himself in a state of panic. As he stood there, transfixed, watching the girl psychologically damage herself, with drops of purple hovering in her palms, he struggled to find the appropriate words to say, or even if he should say anything at all. He remained there watching her destroy herself.

She was hearing the sentence again and over again, and it was becoming increasingly louder and louder in her ears. In the terrifying speech, the phrase "ignis vitae" hissed. When the sun's rays penetrate the leaves, they strike the flesh on her face, causing it to feel as if it were being burned by metal. In spite of the fact that she was clenching her fists around the water, she managed to suppress the need to scream.

"Snap out of it."

There was a pair of hands that were around her wrists. Although Luisa was unable to collect the courage to look up, the water that was falling on the leaves that had fallen beneath her created a little pool.

"Dwain, please give me my medicine," she insisted, but he responded with a little scoff when she did so.

"If you really want to know what's happening here," he added, tightening his grip on one of her wrists and effectively cutting off the circulation to her fingertips when he remarked, "You're weak."

"You need to deal with it here." His index finger reached up to her head, which allowed her left arm to be released at last.

The girl shook as he released his grip on her, and she looked up at him with wide eyes. "Are you going to deal with it? You want me to handle the powers that I've accumulated over the course of eighteen years as if I were a prodigy? Despite the fact that she kept her voice low in order to avoid being provoked by the group that was in front of her, her attitude was still as sharp as a viper.

A sign of annoyance appeared on Dwain's face as his patience began to wear thin. When I went into the woods, I was well aware that it was a poor decision. Within his head, he muttered a curse to himself, wishing that he could escape into one of the cabin's hidden rooms.

"Are you guys coming? The view is insane!" Because of Dexter's voice, their stress was relieved. As Dwain peered forward, he noticed that there was not much of a path, and he picked up on the aroma of water that was completely clear. Additionally, he was able to hear peaceful crashes, which prompted him to move some distance forward.

He murmured under his breath, "You heard him," as he hurriedly caught up with the others and took a few steps forward.

She climbed the slope with a furious demeanor, ignoring the searing echoes that were flowing through her brain as she rose. She performed a bodily shake to the left and right, maintaining a low position, and keeping a close eye on her feet to ensure that they did not collide with one another. The sounds of a thundering waterfall went ignored by her as she halted her movements as she saw a variety of pairs of shoes entering her field of vision.

There was a waterfall of pure blue that descended from the height and landed as softly as it could into the mouth. She felt a refreshing mist that landed on her face and sprinkled itself into her cheeks. In the moment that she was watching the two children stoop over the side of the body in order to get a better look at the tadpoles, she was pulled back to reality by the sound of laughter. Changing the color of the wave that she was holding in her hands, Carlene was able to create a rainbow of colors.

When she peered into the rippling sheet of water, she felt a sense of security settle over her shoulders. There was a part of her that wanted to reach out, to bring different kinds of droplets to her fingertips, but she was aware that she was unable to do so.

Being in the water, on the other hand, was sufficient to stop the flames that were raging inside of her chest.