INSIGNIAS: THE REGALIS -
CHAPTER XXIV: NATE
The heat played with Nate’s mind. At first, he saw a pond on the edge of the plain, but it became a swimming pool after blinking. He was seconds from tearing his shirt that seemed to cling to his body more than ever. It was uncomfortable and frustrating.
“When are they going to come?” Clyne whined for the fifth time in a minute. He had raised his shirt on his head, exposing his upper half body.
“How long have we’ve been here?” Aria asked. She was using her jacket as a fan.
“Three hours, I think,” Lei replied after a sigh. Sweat rolled down from everyone’s forehead. There was no shade of the trees nor water to soak their burning bodies.
The mentors directed them to climb a plain without other instructions. When the students asked if they could use their elementals after they saw the height, the knights nodded. However, the students forgot that they weren’t strong enough to fight the island’s supressing power. When Skhy and Faz tried to fly and found that they couldn’t, Skhy kicked a rock and Faz glared at the direction of the manor. Everyone tried to use their elementals but they don’t last longer than a few seconds. They dreaded climbing without any equipment, but to their relief, a long, narrow, and steep flights of stairs made out of white rocks were waiting for them at the foot of the plain. The students slowly made their way up to the plain while gripping the roots and rocks on the side of the tall plain, trying to hold on for their dear life.
“I feel sick,” Tessa muttered.
“Don’t look down,” Faz instructed.
It was easier said than done. Nate wasn’t afraid of height but whenever he looked down, he felt something pulling him. Of course, it’s the gravity, Nate. What else could it be?
“How far are we?” Lei asked. Skhy led them, behind him were Faz, Tessa, Aria, Lei, Nate; and Clyne was at the end of the line. Each of the step was so narrow that only half of Nate’s foot fit. One wrong move, he would plunged to his death.
“I don’t know if we’re halfway or not,” Skhy confessed. One step.
“I think we’re near,” Faz said. Another step.
“Near the top?” Tessa asked.
“No,” Faz replied, “Midway.” Everyone groaned, except for Skhy and Faz who was far in front that Tessa tried to catch up to them.
When they finally reached the plain, the noon sun had turned their skin reddish. The students dropped to sit behind the nearest rock formations to hide from the glazing sun. Everyone was panting and catching their breaths.
“Do you see them?” Lei asked between deep breaths.
“No,” Skhy, the only one standing, replied. After a few minutes of resting, Skhy, Faz and Aria walked around to look for the mentors. Nate, on the other hand, check Lei and Tessa’s wounds. They both crapped their hands on spiky rocks.
“Its fine, Nate.” Tessa poured water from her bottle on her hand. “It’s nothing serious. Thank you.”
When Faz, Skhy and Aria returned with deep frowns on Faz and Aria’s faces, Nate immediately noticed the situation. Three hours had passed with the students waiting for the knights who didn’t tell them what to do after they reached the plain. Nate’s back was wet of sweat. Faz removed his shirt long ago while Skhy tried to summon the wind but to no avail.
“Let’s go.” Faz’s looming glare was directed at the ground. His fists were clenched, turning his knuckles to white. Nate understood his feeling. He, too, felt frustrated and his exhaustion feeds his frustration even more.
“Alright.” Tessa followed Faz’s footsteps. The others were about to follow them when Nate felt their presence. He quickly turned around to face the people the group was waiting for for hours.
“Are you playing with us?” Skhy’s voice was dangerously low. He seldom show anger but he does when his friends’ lives were involved. Nate glanced at Faz whose eyes and expression turned darker than earlier.
Homer’s scarlet hair shone under the noon sunlight. He stood in the middle of the group of knights. His usual uninterested gaze was replaced by curiosity.
“I’m surprised,” he said. The other knights silently stood behind him. “You lasted for three hours.” Nate’s frown deepened. Is this how we’ll be trained? Just toss us in the water to teach ourselves how to swim?
“At least tell us what you expect us to do,” Tessa exclaimed. She matched Faz’s anger.
Cora, the woman who Nate fought yesterday, walked toward Homer and whispered something. Her long dirty blonde hair was in a bun. The students, despite the growing anger and frustration, waited patiently.
“We were looking for something,” Homer said after his and Cora’s short talk.
“Here in the island?” Nate asked. But you shouldn’t have left us here for hours! He slowly inhaled and exhaled to calm his nerves. He didn’t like feeling deep anger. It tires him quickly.
“No. In you.” Confused, Nate glanced at his friends to see if they understood what Homer meant. The others were confused like he was.
“Like courage? Patience?” Lei asked. Homer shook his head.
“Not about your personality,” Cora replied. The other five knights joined Cora and Homer. They glanced at each other as if silently communicating.
“We’ll start later tonight,” Anika told the students. So what did we come here for?
“We will teleport you back,” Cora said. “Wait for us there.” Nate grew suspicious. When he imagined him and his friends in a cold place waiting for hours, he bit down a groan. Cora glanced at him which made him stood straight. He didn’t know why.
“Don’t worry.” Anika gave the students a smile.
“We’ll start for real. We will be there.” Nate turned to his friends who also looked unconvinced but they couldn’t do anything but follow them. Cora and Navi transported them in front of the manor while the rest of the knights stayed behind in the plain. In a blink of an eye, the blue manor appeared before Nate. No, WE appeared before the manor.
“At what time?” he heard Skhy asked so he turned to face Cora and Navi.
“7,” Cora replied, “You’ll need your night backpacks.” Without waiting for the seven’s reply, the two knights left.
“We’ll be sleeping outside,” Lei deduced.
“Or we won’t be sleeping at all,” Nate countered. The group separated to prepare their things. Skhy suggested to eat in the cafeteria before leaving because they still have five hours before seven in the evening. Everyone agreed to meet there at five. While Nate was putting necessities in his bag, he was reminded of what he felt when he looked down the forest. He realized that it was the same feeling he felt while they were in the forest the first night. He wanted to dismiss it as simple fear of the unknown land and its powers but it felt something more than that. He felt eyes following the group. He felt the gaze on his back and face. No, on my whole body. When they were climbing to the plain and he looked down, he felt someone’s gaze looking up at him.
“Nate?”
“Huh?” He blinked. He noticed Skhy standing in front of him with a concerned expression.
“You ok?” Skhy asked.
“You’ve been staring outside the window for five minutes,” Clyne said. Nate sat on his bed below Skhy’s.
“I felt someone’s eyes when we’re in the forest last night,” he revealed. “And earlier, when I looked down from the narrow stairs.” He watched his friends’ change expressions. Faz frowned, Clyne looked curious, and Skhy appeared to be in deep thought.
“I kept telling myself that I was just scared.”
“Maybe it’s something more,” Skhy ended the sentence for him.
“I don’t know.” Nate massaged his temples. Maybe my mind is playing tricks again?
“Let’s find out.” Nate immediately raised his head when he heard Faz’s words. Clyne nodded.
“You don’t usually tell us things that bother you,” Clyne said, “If it’s something that’s bothering you to the point that you revealed it to us, it’s something that we can’t ignore and it’s something that might affect the whole team, right?” He grinned at Nate who chuckled as his response.
“Agree,” Skhy added. “Also, I’m curious about something.”
“The island’s powers.” Faz smirked at Skhy. These two are always in sync. Skhy nodded. Nate was a bit hesitant when he remembered their mentors.
“We’ll get caught,” he said.
“No one told us we can’t,” Faz pointed out. Clyne nodded. Nate turned to Skhy because he was the most responsible in the group and usually leads the team.
“It’s just walking around the woods.” Clyne chuckled.
Without telling the girls, the boys decided to take a walk in the forest they entered into the first night. The huge forest surrounded the field where the manor and a few houses stood. Since it was impossible for them to cover the wide forest, the four decided to start where they found the blue stones. Not one of them knew what they were looking for.
They exited the manor through the back door. The heat of the sun was painful on their still sensitive skin because of hours on the plain. Their jacket hardly helped.
“Too hot during the day, too cold during the night,” Clyne commented once they were under the shades of the forest and felt the cold breeze.
Nate spotted the triangular rock painted in blue.
“If we follow this, we’ll be back in the beach.” Skhy stepped closer to the rock.
“We shouldn’t follow them,” Faz suggested.
“We’ll get lost,” Clyne pointed out.
“That’s how people find treasures.” Faz smirked. I don’t think we’ll find any treasure in this island.
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