While the two were alone, a boy that Caelyn hadn’t met sat down in front of them. There was an intense gaze in his eyes, as if he stared far beyond what he could possibly see. He grabbed Caelyn’s shoulders, causing her to freeze with shock. In a flash, Leslie pulled out her knife and pointed it at the boy, who ignored it and said, “Last night, when you were lost in the forest, what did you see?” He took deep breaths ever few words.

“Let go of her.” Leslie brought her blade closer to his neck.

The boy still ignored her, digging his fingers deeper into her shoulders. “Tell me. I know you—”

Leslie struck him with the point of her elbow, before kicking him back with a blow to his chest. “A wild animal killed John. It was your fault for going into the forest at night.” With her heavy boots, she stomped on his hands numerous times until he started groaning. “If I see you bother her again…” She let the threat hang in the air.

Without another word, the boy scuttled several paces away and limped down onto the sand. Leslie sheathed the knife and gently rubbed Caelyn’s shoulders to soothe them.

“Did he hurt you badly?” asked the girl.

Caelyn shook her head. The pain in her shoulders was the least of her concern. Had that boy also seen the shadow? She shivered upon remembering what she had seen and felt last night in the forest. Did that shadow kill John? The shadow could’ve killed her too. But why didn’t it? Did her voice somehow scare it away? How was she able to talk just at that moment, when her previous cries came out silent? These mysterious made her dizzy, so she laid down on the soft sand and closed her eyes.

“I’m going to sleep. Good night,” were the last words Caelyn said that night before falling into sleep.

***

Morning the next day, Caelyn woke up with a start. The shadow had chased her through the darkness. No matter how fast she ran nor how slow it sauntered, the shadow got closer and closer. It reached out a shadowy hand, but before it could catch her, she broke out of the forest and awoken from the nightmare.

Rubbing her eyes, she sat up and looked around. Around her, the world was tinted in the deep blue that heralded the rising of the sun, while the sea sang its rhythmic song with breezes providing a delicate melody. Unlike the prior morning, the others slept soundly on the soft sand except for that mysterious boy, who gazed out towards the horizon just as he had done yesterday.

She got to her feet and stumbled into the forest to relieve herself behind a bush. Once she had done so, she was about to return to camp when she heard soft whispers nearby, sending a shiver through her body. For a moment, she stood there, wondering whether or not to stay and listen. Though she was curious to a slight degree, getting involved in the private matters of others often led to trouble. Shaking her head, she took a soft step towards camp. But before she could even take another one, she heard her own name being mentioned.

“Caelyn saw it too, I am sure of it.” The voice resembled the boy from last night. “But that girl she’s always with didn’t allow me to question her.”

Another voice replied—Cain’s. “Well you were being a bit forceful. How about this? I’ll ask her the moment we get back to the shore, alright? As for Lucis, we can’t do anything without evidence. Even if it is real, it doesn’t mean that he is somehow connect to it. For now, I want you to calm down, okay? I swear, if you even try to attack Lucis… Alright? Let’s go back.”

Caelyn’s heart raced as she tip-toed back to the shore. What was Cain doing with that boy? Should she tell Leslie about this? No, she would overreact. Caelyn decided to keep it to herself for now and pretend she did not overhear the conversation.

The moment she got back to the camp, Leslie said, “Where have you been? I was so worried when I woke up and saw that you were missing.”

“I was just relieving myself,” said Caelyn quietly.

Leslie let out a breath of relief. “Sorry. I was just… really worried something happened to you during the night.” Her gaze swept the entire camp, and her expression darkened. “Where is Oliver… and Cain?”

Just at that moment, Cain and the boy, who Caelyn supposed was Oliver, walked out of the forest, carrying a pile of mangoes in their arms. She watched as two mangoes rolled from the top of the pile onto the ground and wondered how many mangoes were lost before they arrived here. Such a waste.

The boy glanced at Cain, who shook his head. Subtle gestures, unnoticeable if Caelyn had not known the agreement between the two. Regardless, she grinned and leaped towards the mangoes, accidentally colliding with Oliver and causing all the mangoes in his arms to scatter onto the sand.

“Oops,” said Caelyn, taking two mangoes from Cain, before skipping off towards the shore to enjoy her mangoes.

As she sat down and was about the peel her first mango, a boy took a seat next to her. He was the one who always sat at the edge of the sea, during the mornings, staring out into the distance, the one who had appeared dead on the day they had awoken. Leslie told her to stay away from him, so she never really talked to him. No one else did as well.

“You overheard them talking, didn’t you,” said the boy.

She stared at him, confused by how he knew.

“Oh, apologies, I haven’t introduced myself yet. I am Lucis. I just noticed that you entered the forest when those two were in there, and you seemed to be uneasy when you returned. Don’t worry, the secret is safe with me.” Lucis smiled. “A couple of moments before you woke up, Oliver asked Cain to speak with him in the forest. I suppose they were talking about that shadow in the forest. They were talking about you, weren’t they. You are the only other person who saw the shadow after all.” He glanced back and got to his feet. “Your friend is coming. I should go. We should talk later, hmm?”

As he walked away, Caelyn stared after him, even after Leslie sat down beside her and asked what he said to her. She only shrugged before staring down at her mango. With the circumstances and his manners, she couldn’t help but feel intrigued by the boy. Perhaps his enigmatic nature lent him the suspicion of everyone else. She did not know what to think yet, but she decided to take him up on his offer.

When everyone had finished eating, they continued forth, walking alongside the wall. As usual, Cain led from the front and the three of them trailed behind. Lucis, who she now noticed, walked closest to the sea, with the water sometimes brushing against his shoes. He, however, took it no mind, every step slow and leisurely as if this walk was for his enjoyment. The breeze sent strands of his raven black hair fluttering, like the feathers of a soaring bird.

“What do you two think of Lucis?” asked Caelyn.

Glancing at the boy, Courtney furrowed her brows and turned her head away without saying a word. Leslie, in contrast, shrugged and said, “I don’t know. Some are suspicious of him. I find him strange, a bit too calm in this situation. But I cannot say. It’s best to stay wary of him.”

“But what has he done? All he did was wake up at the wrong moment.”

Sighing, Leslie said, “It’s mostly because of Oliver. He goes around, spreading rumors about how Lucis was the shadow in the forest and whatnot. I think it’s absurd. But then again, look at him. There is something unsettling about him, don’t you think?”

“I suppose so.” Caelyn played with her fingers, bending them into odd angles. She wandered away from her companions toward Lucis. When she noticed Leslie following her, she said, “I want to talk to him alone. It’ll be fine.”

Leslie gave her a nod. “Be careful.”

As Caelyn neared the boy, he looked back and gave her a smile. His emerald eyes shone with the light of day. “I knew you would come,” he said, stepping deeper into the water. By now, the sea already engulfed his ankles. “This is a beautiful place, like paradise. I don’t know why the others are in such a hurry to leave. Do they really enjoy their bland past lives? I don’t know. For me, it is a dream fulfilled. I suppose it is the same with you, Caelyn.” He tilted his head. “There is much more here than meets the eye.”

“I’ve thought about it,” Caelyn said, crossing her arms. “I wonder if we are already dead, and this is where we go after death. At first, I thought this was paradise, somewhere I can be free. But… I can’t say for sure now. Anyways, how did you die?”

“I fell from a mountain.” For a moment, Lucis gently furrowed his brows and tilted his head as if to think, then he asked, “What if you stood at the peak of that mountain and knew that this paradise lied at its bottom? Would you jump? Or, would you turn around and walk away?”

“Of course I would jump.”

Lucis sighed. “But what if you still had someone from your life, someone important to you. What if you still had the warmth and comfort of home? Would you jump then?”

Caelyn took a step back, eyes wide from shock. The boy gazed at her with an expectant look. How did he know what her life was like?

“Apologies,” said the boy, “it was an assumption based on your current appearance. I’m sorry if I made you upset.”

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

She looked down at her dirtied and tattered clothing, before letting out a sigh. She did look like someone who had lived on the streets. He was just observant, that was all.

“No,” Caelyn said, shaking her head.

Without moving his head, Lucis looked down, lips tightening into a flat smile. “Hmm. That’s the same response everyone else would give. To stay in your gilded cage, or fly out to see a world full of dirt. Don’t you—”

“Hey!” Oliver came running over, a finger pointed at them. “Look, Caelyn is talking to Lucis. I knew it. I knew they were together in this. That’s why she was in the forest that night. That’s why she refused to say that she saw the shadow. It’s because she was meeting with Lucis that night, that’s what she was doing.” He ran towards Lucis, raising a fist. “We should kill them both before they kill us.”

He was about to lunge on Lucis if Cain had not shoved him onto the ground. “Stop, what’s wrong with you. Just because Caelyn was talking to Lucis doesn’t mean that she is involved in his plans, if he even had any.”

“They are both involved, I just know it. If you let them live, they will kill us all. You haven’t seen what they did to John. He disappeared into the darkness without a sound. Gone, without any trace of him ever being there. They might even be the ones who brought us here in the first place.” Jumping to his feet, he raised his fist. “If we don’t kill them, then we will never return home.”

Cain punched him in the face, knocking him back down onto the ground. “They are just as lost as we are. Come to think of it, John was with you when—you claimed—he disappeared. What if you killed him? What if you are putting blame on others to try to make yourself less suspicious?”

Whimpering, Oliver stumbled to his feet and glared at Caelyn and Lucis. She could feel that hatred in that gaze as it pierced through her. A shiver went through her body, and her hands could not stop shaking. With a gasp, she took a step back, tilting backwards away from Oliver.

He looked like a savage beast.

“Throw him into the forest,” Leslie said, seemingly noticing Caelyn’s fear. “He does not deserve our company. Let him fend for himself.”

Those in the crowd began nodding their heads and making sounds of approval. Upon hearing this judgment, Cain narrowed his eyes, averting them to not meet gaze with Oliver. With his hands clasped behind his back, he turned his back on the boy and started towards the stone wall. Those in blocking him backed up to make way. Once he reached it, he stood there and gazed at that field for several moments.

When he turned, his eyes were shut, and his lips were so tight together that they had turned white. He pointed his thumb backwards at the field, shaking his head.

Oliver stomped his foot. “What are you doing? I—”

Grabbing him by the neck, Leslie shoved him towards the field. “You don’t get a say in this. You were the one endangering us.” She glanced back at Caelyn and, with a gentle smile, nodded.

“No, you don’t under—”

“I understand perfectly well,” she said, turning back to the boy in her grasp. “If you are so afraid of the forest, then go swim out to sea.”

Oliver twisted himself out of her grasp, falling on the ground with a thud. He grabbed two handfuls of sand and threw them at her. One landed on her shoe and the other on her thigh, leaving specks of sand behind.

“Do you pity him?” whispered Lucis in her ear. “Do not answer, I know you do. You could say that he does not deserve such treatment. Yet in the conditions we are in, such a person as him in this group could lead to worse. That shadow, I want to see it for myself. To see why it had shocked him so.”

Caelyn blinked rapidly and nodded.

“I’ll continue walking. It doesn’t seem like there is anything of interest here.” With that said, he turned away and strolled off on his own lonely path.

She watched at he disappeared into the distance. But she did not have time to watch for long, though, as the rest of the group began cheering and howling. Caelyn turned to see what was happening. A boy with straw colored hair kicked at Oliver, who laid on the ground bloodied.

“You too, Travis?” asked Oliver, looking at the boy with an agape mouth. Tears and snot glistened on his sand-speckled face. He looked small and pitiful, like a cornered animal beaten to submission.

Travis opened his mouth and said something, but the words faded into the noise. As Oliver got to his feet and stumbled towards the water, everyone’s cheers became louder, filling the air with meaningless noise. Caelyn stood there silent, watching with a sense of fear. Together, they looked like a group of wolves, baring fangs and howling as they oust that pitiful creature. Even Leslie was among them, her eyes glinted with the sharpness of broken glass.

Caelyn looked away, her heart pounding. Even though Oliver had wanted her and Lucis dead, she couldn’t help but feel disgusted by the way everyone was treating him. She looked to Cain but saw that he still sat on the wall, doing nothing to stop them. Anger began burning inside of her, she clenched her fists, digging her fingernails into the palms of her hand. She wanted to stop Travis from hurting Oliver, to stop their bestial howls.

But before she could, a hand fell on Caelyn’s shoulder. She glanced over and saw Theresa holding her back. Courtney stood behind the scarlet haired girl, clasping her pendant with both hands.

“Don’t bother,” Theresa said, looking down at Caelyn. “What could a scrawny little thing like you do? All you could do is get yourself seriously hurt.” Taking her hand off of Caelyn, the girl wiped it on her shirt. She turned around, walking several paces away from everyone else, and sat herself down on the sand, disregarding what was happening.

Courtney glared at the girl. “Don’t listen to her. You are not—”

“No.” Caelyn shook her head, though her gaze never left that girl with the scarlet hair. “She was only helping. This isn’t worth our time, let’s go.”

From behind, the splash as Oliver fell into the water could be heard, followed by even louder howling and cheering. Perhaps it was just a moment’s frenzy, the type that comes out when an individual gets swept in by the currents of a collective emotion. Caelyn thought about Leslie and wondered if she was cheering along with everyone else or cheering because she truly believed that Oliver deserved to die. Caelyn hoped that it was the former.

Soon after, the noise died. Cain finally left his solitude on the wall and returned to them. Maybe he was right to stay away, if only for his own safety. Now that everyone had calmed down, Cain took his place in the front as they returned to their uncertain walk. Leslie walked by Caelyn side just as before, but the latter could not help but uncomfortable. She avoided Leslie, staying closer to Courtney instead.

“With Oliver gone, I feel much safer,” Leslie said.

Caelyn turned her head away, pretending to look at the fields, and tried to distract herself from Leslie’s words. Patches of flowers grew hidden among the grass, scattering drops of color on an otherwise plain canvas.

“Judging by how he acts, he might kill us all when we are asleep.”

Shouts came from the front, and everyone rushed to the wall, pointing at seemed like buildings in the distance. Caelyn squinted her eyes, trying to make out the details, but they were too far away. Everyone in front, excited to see signs of people, ran towards the buildings. Though she did not run like the others as she tired rather easily, Caelyn quickened her pace. Courtney walked beside her, and so did Leslie.

She wasn’t excited because the buildings provided hope for them to leave this place. After all, she did not want to return to her life sleeping on the streets. But she knew that even if there were people living there, which she highly doubted given the wildness of the fields, they still would not be able to leave. Their arrival here was beyond ordinary, and she doubted their departure, if it even existed, would be mundane. Instead, she was excited because those buildings were another mystery she could explore. And if there were people, then perhaps she could learn something from them about these mysteries.

Yet in the shadows of her mind, she still feared that something might be lurking in those buildings, which appeared to be more like ruins as they got closer. What if whatever had ravaged these fields still dwelt in those remains? What if those who lived there were hostile against them?

The more she thought about it, the colder her fingers became, even though the day was warm and the sun was shining.

The three of them met up with the others, who had stopped at the outskirts of whatever town had been here. Just as Caelyn thought, there was not a trace of anyone living there. The waves washed over the roots of unadorned piles, which were blackened at their tops.

Caelyn did not stop where the others had stopped and continued into the ruins. The wind whistled past her, like the faraway melody from yesterday. She stepped over a pile of stones that had once been part of a wall. The cobblestone street that stretched from the shore into the distance was overgrown with weeds, while the crumbling stone buildings standing alongside it were covered with vines. Yet even in their dilapidated state, they stood with an imposing stature, the stones themselves still solid.

“An impressive sight, isn’t it,” said a voice behind her.

She turned around. It was Lucis, his hands tucked in his pockets.

“Indeed,” Caelyn said, “I wonder how this town looked before it fell. Imagine all the people walking on this street, going from the docks to the forest.” She paused to gaze at a throne split straight down the middle, though it still stood; piles of rubble surrounded the throne, with the remains of a circular wall encompassing it all. “I wonder what caused the destruction of such a town. It can’t be the elements of nature alone, can it?”

Lucis said nothing as he walked towards the throne, stepping over the rubble that stood in his way. Then once he reached it, he sat down with a grin on his face. He leaned back chuckled, “I suppose I am the king of these ruins.” His chin was raised and his eyes looked down on his surroundings. “Well, better a wanderer in the forest than the king of this pile of stones.” He got up from the throne and strolled back to Caelyn’s side.

By then, the rest of the group had caught up to them. Almost everyone was groaning in disappointment. Cain kept silent with his arms crossed and a frown on his face. Courtney seemed more shocked than anything. So shocked, in fact, that her hands had finally left her pendant alone. Theresa, as usual, was sulking in the middle of the group, as if she was too annoyed to be disappointed.

“Let us set up camp here,” Cain said.

Leslie shook her head. “There isn’t any suitable firewood around here. Without it, I can’t make a fire.”

“Search around. If you still can’t find any, then we will have to sleep in the dark.”

As Leslie set off in search of firewood, Caelyn turned back to Lucis. The boy was sitting on the ground and examining a couple of rocks in his hand. He appeared casual as he did so with his gaze relaxed and his lips pulled into a small smile. He seemed amused by something, though she did not know how a couple of rocks could be amusing. Perhaps it was something else, some other observation in that mysterious mind of his. She considered whether or not to disturb him, but before she could decide, Lucis looked up at her and said, “Here, take a rock from my hand and let the light shine upon it.”

She did as she was told.

As the sunlight touched it, the rock sparkled as if the stars of the night sky were embedded in it.

“It is,” she began, awed by the beauty displayed by such a lowly rock, “sublime.”

Lucis tossed the rocks away. “I suppose it is.”

For the rest of the day, Caelyn wandered away from the camp to explore the ruins. She found nothing substantial, only empty rooms and piles of rock, but still she enjoyed every moment she spent lost within the gray forest. At camp, she mostly talked with Courtney and Lucis, though she did have the occasional conversation with Theresa. Leslie was gone for most of the time, and when she finally came back, she brought back nothing. So, when the sun had finally set, they had to sleep in darkness.

Caelyn sat down on the ground and leaned against a stone. Weary after after the long day, she closed her eyes and fell asleep.

But a touch on her shoulder woke her up. A man stood looming over her, illuminated by the strands of sunlight that shone through gaps in the leaves. She herself was leaning against the trunk of a tree. Where was she? She had fallen asleep in the ruins, so why was she in the forest?

“Caelyn Opeia,” said the man, taking a step back. “I apologize if I surprised you. I know you do not want to leave this island, but you should still heed my words. Head towards the center of Vitaras and meet me. Only then will you learn the secrets of this island and return to your old life.”

“Who-Who are you?” were the only words Caelyn could get out. She could not stand, nor move to any significant degree. This had to be a dream.

“I am Adam, Deus of Vitaras.”

And everything faded to black.