A high pitched sound pierced Zander’s ears and all of a sudden he found himself on the ground; dropping Rain in the process. A solid strike. Whatever it was, it had already hid itself. With one blow his shoulder had already shattered. Gradually, he pulled himself to his feet. Rain, still disabled, stayed down; “Zander, what’s going on?”
“Just stay down,” he commanded. Again, the high pitched noise sounded, but this time in multiple quantities. He sent a shockwave to the surrounding area. Sparks flew and the unknown thing stopped for a moment. Zander could not keep up with the full use of his powers; one shockwave made him drop to one knee. Sudden flashes of light outlined a figure in the distance; it appeared to be human, perhaps it was help. The flowing lines were the only thing that Rain could make out and even through her blurred vision, one of the most beautiful things she’d seen.
“Take my hand,” a manly voice ordered from the darkness. Without any other options, Zander and Rain took his hand. They were moving unbelievably fast, or at least it felt so from the wind striking their faces. The forest smell was soothing and the warm breeze comforting, it felt as if it was a dream to Rain.
There was a dim light in the distance, and as they moved closer and closer it became clear that it was a town. It was planted at the side of a cliff with watchtowers all around and despite it seeming to be a thriving civilization, it blended seamlessly with the forest with the main part of it placed at the mouth of the cave.
“Roy! We need a doctor pronto,” yelled the man who, now that they could see, was short yet stalky. Not long after, a team of doctors led by Roy, came to their aid and Zander watched them all carry Rain away. He intended to follow suit but the man who had saved them stopped him and told him to leave the doctors to their tasks undisturbed. He was speechless, unable to comprehend what had just transpired.
“You are welcome. You are lucky we were passing by when the Mech attacked. I am Raikken,” said the man pointing his thumb to his chest, “Clan Leader of this great town we call Sýn. You are welcome to stay as long as you cause no trouble.”
Zander had many questions. What was the Mech? Was this where the Heart of Gold was located? But not wanting to disturb the temporary trust he and Raikken had, and with Rain in intensive care, he thought it best to leave these questions unspoken and find the answers himself. Firstly, he had to find Rain, she had to be wherever he was, otherwise they would not take him seriously.
Raikken had to leave Zander to himself and told him that he was free to look around. He also told him that the doctors must have taken Rain towards the market and pointed him to that direction. Zander soon made his way to the market but as he walked, Zander had the same odd feeling he had when they were attacked. He cautiously looked around, and though the feeling went away, he did not trust his surroundings to much extent. He saw a crowd ahead of him and pushed himself through to see what the ruckus was. As he came close to the clearing, he met eye to eye with what he had fought in the forest. It was hovering over an unconscious Rain. This must be the Mech, he thought. It must have had infiltrated the camp and was after Rain. He lost his breath and a cold shiver ran through his spine.
Zander was in no condition to fight, and he knew it well. All he had was his will, and that alone was good enough for him. He pulled out his side dagger and aimed it towards her face. The group of civilians surrounding the area quickly became hostile and they drew their weapons against Zander. Bewildered, Zander slowly placed his weapon on the ground; surrendering for the moment.
“N`Tirasei!“ yelled a familiar voice. The crowd dispersed revealing Raikken. The robot quickly headed towards the man “Stand down outsider.“
Zander could not put any sense behind the events that had occurred. He made his way towards the man. Suddenly, a familiar flash of bright purple and blue colors appeared before his eyes. Clyde planted himself in front of the clear enemy as if to defend it. Why was this?
“She is the one that saved you, leech.” The Mech stepped away from what looked to be the Clan Leader and cautiously walked towards Zander. He felt a sense of danger continue the closer she moved in, but he did not have a choice, he was the enemy here. Her hand made its way towards his face as Clyde gave way. Her hand was soft like a human, but cold as metal. His muscles began to uncontrollably tense up and visions streamed through his head. A slightly reverberated voice whispered through the walls of his brain. Visions began to funnel in; finding himself in a place full of gears, machines, and metal work, possibly the Mech base. The vision was blurry with echoing screams in the background as if a human was being tortured. A flash of bright light, and he saw the forest they were in before; this time it was as if he was looking through someone else’s eyes and saw broken Mechs around. As the last scene came about, the vision had become clear as day. She stood above Rain; working and operating. She was saving her life. The tension slowly began to go away and “N’Tirasei” echoed. Zander was pulled back to reality and saw Rain standing beside the robot. She gave a slight smirk.
The man who he had seen earlier, confronted him, “If you are done being impulsive, we can talk about Rain, the Nyvana.” Zander took a deep breath and nodded. He learnt that the man was indeed the Clan Leader of Acadia, Relira and that the Mech was N’Tirasei. She had saved them in the forest.
Both Zander and Rain were seated at a table not too far from the medical facility. There, N’Tirasei and some of the prominent members of the clan waited so that they could begin the meal. It was clear that there are two sides among the seated and the awkward tension caused by the divide was unnerving to all.
Clyde also found his way to a nearby nest where another hummingbird nestled. It seemed to be a clan member’s familiar.
