366 Remember To Hide

"I'm assuming everyone heard the sound of the horns and the song being played?" Vyrena asked. 

Everyone nodded. 

"We're not out of the woods just yet. Let's pack up everything, ready to move," just as she finished her sentence, Vyrena got a whiff of the pot of food they were cooking by the fire. 

Her stomach immediately emitted a growl. Almost everyone heard it. The situation might be tense, but that moment caused all of them to chuckle. But this was no time to eat! They had to be prepared for anything and everything. 

Tizzie came up to Vyrena with a piece of fruit in her hands, "You must be hungry from your travels, Vy! Here, have this!"

Vyrena gratefully received it from her and began to eat it while everyone else got to work. El walked up to them and was most surprised to see Mara. 

"What happened?" El turned to ask Vyrena. 

"It's a bit of a long story," Vy replied. 

She looked up and concentrated on her hearing. She was trying to figure out if there was anyone or anything nearby. So far, all seems quiet. 

"I'll explain it to you later." she added. 

El nodded but she could not help but ask, "Did you knock her out?"

Remembering how it transpired made both Sorren and Vyrena exchange glances before chuckling. 

Sorren replied as he shook his head, "No, she passed out."

Vyrena recalled the weapons they had hidden in the City before heading towards their vantage point. However, their present location was nowhere near it. Although it would have proven extremely useful in their current situation, they would just have to do without it. 

Once everything was packed, Boss came up to Vyrena and asked, "What should we do next?"

Seeing as there was no movement in their surrounding area, Vyrena reckoned that they were safe for now. She decided to take to her raven form and fly up into the sky. An aerial view would give her a better idea of what dangers could be approaching them. 

To reduce the chances of being found, Vyrena instructed them to put out the fire or any light sources they had lit. They huddled together in the cover of darkness, careful not to make too much noise which could also attract unwanted attention. 

Vyrena flew up into the open sky and surveyed their surroundings. As far as she could see, there weren't any immediate approaching dangers she could see. However, she noticed a larger campsite in the distance that was brightly lit. 

Out of curiosity, Vyrena flew over to take a closer look. As she came up upon the campsite, she realised that the site was on fire. She could hear screams of terror. A chill ran down her spine. Vyrena hesitated if she should take a closer look. 

"What on earth is going on there," she muttered to herself. 

"This… this is…" Vyrena knew who it was. 

It was as Pigeon had described, Arantaur. Long hair that was down till its waist, which was where it's spider body began. The creature had three pairs of eyes, each pair was of a different colour. 

Vyrena could not take her eyes off the creature. Despite the long distance between them, she could sense its aura. It was powerful, very powerful. Just then, an attack from the ground came up at Arantaur. 

But the attack did not even scratch the creature. A malicious grin appeared on Arantaur's face before it began laughing maniacally. It's voice boomed across the land. Vyrena could hear it from where she was. 

"Foolish creatures. Do you think an attack like that could have any effect on me? Is that all you have?" Arantaur belittled. 

With one swift movement, all the nearby tents were crushed beneath him. 

Vyrena remembered Pigeon's words. 

'2. Do not come into direct contact with the beings, they are too dangerous to confront. Death or torture is guaranteed.'

She looked all around her, trying to figure out how much time and distance there was between Arantaur and their campsite. The creature seemed preoccupied at the moment, so they seemed to be safe for now. 

Vyrena flew back to the campsite immediately. As she dived down, ready for a landing, she could smell blood. She cursed beneath her breath, she had not gone off for so long. 

There were unknown entities at the campsite. 

Vyrena landed on the side of the clearing, she noticed everyone was silent and huddled close together. Some of them had their hands on their mouth. Since it was dark, they could not see her approaching. 

Vyrena followed the scent of the blood. At the side, she noticed that El was lying on the ground gritting her teeth in pain. 

An unknown creature loomed over her. 

It had elongated limbs that sharpened at the end. The creature that loomed over El had one of its appendages, seems to be it's arm, stabbed into El's shoulder blade. The smell of her blood, sweat and fear was in the air. 

Vyrena could hear her palpitating heart. 

A wave of emotion grip her. Memories of the past flashed past in Vyrena's mind. She was not about to lose someone again. Not like this, not now. 

While Vyrena had been away, all was well at first. Then, Sorren noticed there were creatures approaching their location. He quickly informed everyone so they huddled up close together. 

When the creatures entered the clearing, it soon became clear that they were blind, they could not see where they were. Using this to their advantage, everyone remained as still as they could. It was difficult to slow down their breathing, but they did what they could. 

All the children were huddled together, with Mara's unconscious body. The rest served as the first line of defence. Using his ability to connect with the mushrooms and funghi, he released spores surrounding one of the creatures. 

Within a matter of seconds, the creature dropped down onto the ground. It was unconscious. El, armed with a sword, was not so lucky. She noticed one of the creatures were getting too close to the children.

Thinking on her feet, she threw a small pebble to attract the attention of the creature. It immediately caught hold of the sound and dashed forward towards El. Meeting the attack head on with her sword would only produce more sound. 

So El did the unthinkable, she tried to wrestle the creature. But as time went on, she could not maintain her stance. That resulted in the creature stabbing her shoulder with one of it's elongated appendages. 

She wanted to cry out in pain, but El did everything she could to hold it in.