Inventors system

Zoel POV

Pain in my entire body was the first thing I felt after waking up. One would think I was sad about it, but I felt the complete opposite. I felt pain which meant I was still alive, we have survived.

That was my first thought and the next second I frantically started looking around me trying to locate Sophia and Ezra.

I quickly found their scattered bodies near me, passed out and helpless. I ran to Sophia, who was nearest to me on my left and started checking her for any life-threatening wounds. 

Thankfully she only had some skin trauma and passed out from exhaustion, next I went near Ezra and just as I was about to check him he opened his eyes startling me.

I managed to quickly gather all my thoughts and concentrate on the problem at hand.

"Sophia?" Asked Ezra with unhidden worry in his eyes.

I pointed towards her, who was also waking up and said

"Just some skin trauma, nothing serious."

The next second I felt his tired body relax as relief flushed in his eyes. I felt how genuine he was towards Sophia who was like a sister to me. 

Even though Ezra and I have always competed since childhood we were always more like frenemies than enemies. I knew his character very well and understood what Sophia meant to him. So, after feeling surprised at first about their relationship I felt no inner resistance. 

But I couldn't help but worry, even though my family had a very good relationship with both of their families. Sophia's and Ezra's families had a very deep hatred for each other that resulted in many deaths.

I knew right away they would have to face lots of resistance from both families and it worried me knowing It was their battle to fight.

As I was once again lost in my own thoughts, Sophia's voice brought me back to reality.

"Zoel, we have now crossed the river and have escaped from our pursuers but I can't help but feel even more worried."

"Hmm. Those guys were acting weird after we jumped in the river and I could feel fear from them." Said Zoel. "By the way, we never got the chance to talk about what you saw after climbing that tree."

"Let's find a safe place to rest first and regain our strength and we can talk about everything then, it's not safe to stay here," I said and they also nodded in agreement.

As we advanced I remembered our objective for entering this place and what I saw from the tree, I for the first time truly realized the horrors of The Dream city.

After entering the Dream city I have seen a lot, but as it was never life-threatening to me or the people I cared about I couldn't help but underestimate this place a bit.

But now I couldn't help but admit how naive I truly was. This place was created by the Divine realm and even they couldn't help feeling threatened by the beings residing in here, how could it be as easy as I thought.

After all, we're still in the outer layer of the city but already in this sorry state, I couldn't help but worry about what's to come next.

Remembering all the old stories about Dream city grownups used to tell us I still couldn't understand what was real. 

We finally managed to find a relatively safe place if there were any and as we sat down I couldn't help but feel all the exhaustion rush over me. I knew Zoel and Sophia were the same, but we couldn't let our guards down if we wanted to survive.

"So, want to tell us what you saw on that tree?" Asked Sophia.

I started talking about everything that I analyzed and saw and I noticed as their faces changed at the speed visible to the naked eye.

After I finished recounting everything the place suddenly became awfully quiet as no one spoke, both of them were immersed in their own thoughts as I could see their expressions become grimmer with time.

Finally, Zoel broke the silence.

"So, what's the plan?" He asked with his usual nonchalant explosion.

I was a bit surprised how he reacted to our situation and couldn't help but shoot him a questioning glance.

He understood right away what I meant.

"We are already in this situation, It's not like anything will change if I worry about It. The best thing we can do is keep an open mind and do our best." 

Hearing his reply I couldn't help feeling funny about my previous worries, he was right, nothing will change if I just worry and waste time. We are all in this together and the best thing I can do is do my best.

I quickly organized all my thoughts and formed the best plan of action for us. My memory was quite good if I say so myself, so, after I looked at the place from the tree I could already form a map of the forest and roughly guess our location.

"We need to walk about 2 days to our destination and that's if we don't derail from our path. I don't know what else might come our way exactly, but I am pretty sure this is the place we need to go." I said. The other two had no complaints as we have already developed some tacit understanding of each other after so many years.

They knew my capabilities and didn't doubt my deduction.

After resting for a few hours till early morning while changing shifts, we decided it was time to set off.

So, I made all the last preparations I could and we set off towards our destination unaware of what was waiting ahead.

***

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@lazy-wanderer666

Don't forget to check out my second book "Spider lily."

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