Chapter 11
1764 Words
Ashta, Roman, Riah, and Ray had feasted out in the garden, and they decided to explore the strange town. Riah thought that maybe something would jog Ashta’s memory if they walked around.
“So, anything yet?” asked Riah, and Ashta shook her head.
They had made it down to the four-way, and they headed toward the Forbidden Forest.
“The whole town looks exactly the same as it did when I lived here, except for the neatly mowed lawns and the people who live here,” she said, irritated, and Riah looked at her with care.
“Okay, okay. Calm down. We will figure this out,” said Riah softly, and Ashta gave her a frustrated look.
Suddenly, Roman stared into the distance for a few moments, then shook his head. Ashta looked at him with concern.
“What is it?” she asked, and Roman put his palm to his temple and blinked a couple of times.
“Nothing,” he said, and he shook his head again.
Ray walked up to his cousin, grabbed him by the shoulders, and looked at him with concern.
“Are you sure you are alright?” he asked, seriously, as he searched Roman’s eyes, and Roman nodded his head.
“What happened?” Riah asked, and Roman looked at her.
“I don’t know. I just got light-headed, I guess,” he said, and Riah nodded.
Suspiciously, Ashta looked at the forest as they approached it. A foggy memory of her running through the trees popped into her mind, and then she heard a whisper.
“You have to hurry. Find your way back home,” called the whisper, and she took a few steps closer to the forest’s edge.
Oddly, the two men dressed in armor and guarding the forest turned their heads toward them and looked at Ashta.
“I think that is far enough. No one goes into the Forbidden Forest,” said one of the guards gruffly, and Ashta looked at them curiously.
“Why?” she asked.
“Because those are our orders,” said the other guard.
“Orders from who?” Ray asked curiously, and the guards looked at him.
“From the chief in command. He controls the land and its people.”
Roman and Ray looked at each other, and Riah looked at the two men that guarded the forest. They were both dressed in black and gray body suites, and they had on helmets that didn’t have face shields.
“Why is it called the Forbidden Forest, and why are you two guarding it?” Riah asked, and the men looked at her.
“Because that is our orders,” repeated the guard, and then the two stood back the way they were standing before they were disturbed.
Heavily, Ashta sighed, and she looked at Roman, Riah, and Ray.
“Come on, guys. There is nothing here,” she said, and then she began walking in the opposite direction of the forest. Roman, Riah, and Ray looked at each other, shrugged their shoulders, and followed Ashta.
They spent the day walking around the town, trying to jog Ashta’s memory, but nothing worked. After a while, they decided to go back to Ashta’s house and try to find something else they could try. Roman and Ashta laughed as they walked through the front door, and Yinlin was standing in the middle of the living room, staring at them.
“Ashta, what is this craziness?” he asked as he looked at Roman, Riah, and Ray with his dead eyes.
“What do you mean?” she asked, and the man turned his dead-eye stare back to her.
“Ashta, who are these people?” he asked, and she rolled her eyes.
She was starting to get annoyed with this man.
“My friends,” she said, and Yinlin smiled.
“How nice. Well, if you will excuse me, it is my quiet time,” he said as he sat down on the couch and turned the countertops on.
Annoyed, Ashta shook her head, and the four of them walked out to the garden.
“You know, this place is getting weirder and weirder. It’s like we are the only ones in this whole town that hasn’t gone completely brain dead,” said Riah, and Ray snickered as he pulled a berry off the little bush in the garden and popped it into his mouth.
“I can defiantly agree that everyone is brain dead,” laughed Ashta, and Roman snickered.
“So, what should we do now?” he asked as he looked at her and squinted in the sun.
Happily, she looked at him, and then she looked at the ground.
“Wait. We can call upon the elements now, so one of us should get a bird’s eye view of the place. Maybe that will jog your memory,” said Riah, and Ashta looked at her thoughtfully.
“Now, why didn’t I think of that?” she laughed, and Riah shrugged her shoulders as she smiled.
“Because you are stressing so much,” she said, and Ray nodded in agreement.
“Alright. Let’s do this,” said Ashta as she got to her feet.
Ashta leaned down and kissed Roman on the lips, and then she shook her arms out.
“Okay,” she breathed, looking up at the sky.
She looked back at Roman nervously, and he nodded to her encouragingly. Ashta nodded, and then she took a deep breath as she closed her eyes. She heard the tiny voices laughing at that moment, and then the breeze picked up around her. Roman, Riah, and Ray watched as she was lifted and carried to the sky.
Happily, Ashta sighed as she felt a sense of peace wash over her, and she looked over the town. Weirdly, she noticed that the town looked like it was in a dome-shaped magical area, and the road that led out of town just stopped and dropped off. Suddenly, she bumped her head into something above her, and she looked up.
Amazingly, a shimmering force field was above her head, and her eyebrows shot down in anger. She realized that someone had put them in the strange world, and now they had to figure a way out of there. Slowly, she descended to the ground, and the breeze faded away along with the sense of peace. Ashta looked at her friends, and she sighed as she sat back down next to Roman. Intrigued, Riah, Roman, and Ray looked at her, and she gave them a disgruntled look.
“We are in a magical dome, and this place isn’t even real. It’s a replica of Erendel,” Ashta explained.
“It’s a huge force field,” she added, and Riah sighed.
“There has to be a way out of this place,” she said, and then they noticed Yinlin walking up to them.
Annoyed, Ashta looked at him, and then she sighed.
“Yinlin, these are my friends,” she said, and the old man nodded as he smiled.
“Yes, of course, they are. I’m sure that you all will have fun at the party this evening, and in the morning, we can all have a nice big breakfast,” he said, and then he walked away from them and went back into the house.
Oddly, Riah looked at Ashta.
“Party again?” she asked, and Ashta shrugged her shoulders.
“I guess it’s part of the simulation. Maybe the rotation of events has changed,” suggested Roman, and Riah looked at him, impressed.
“Wow, you do have a brain,” she snickered, and Ray laughed.
“It’s just physics,” he said matter-of-factly, and Ashta grinned at him.
Suddenly, Roman started gasping for breath and coughing, and he sat up. Frantically, he looked at Ashta as he continued to cough, and she grabbed onto his shoulders.
“Water,” she said, and Riah sent a stream of water towards Roman.
Quickly, Roman leaned forward, drinking the fresh, cool water. He stopped couching, and he wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.
“Better?” Ashta asked.
Roman nodded as he caught his breath.
“What happened?” asked Riah.
“I don’t know. One minute I was fine, and then the next thing I know, I felt like the air was completely sucked out of my chest,” he said with wide eyes, and Ray nodded.
“We need to get out of here as soon as we can,” said Riah, and Ashta nodded.
“All jokes aside, we need to come up with an actual plan,” said Ray, seriously, and Ashta sighed heavily.
“Yes, we do,” said Roman.
Ashta nodded as she looked at Roman with concern. She hoped that whatever was bothering him would go away.
“Okay. So, we know that we are in some sort of force field, and the main road that is supposed to lead out of town doesn’t lead anywhere. So, that leaves the Forbidden Forest to check out,” said Ashta, and Riah thought for a moment.
“We are going to have to figure out how to get passed those guards,” said Ray, and Riah nodded.
“Okay, tomorrow morning, Ashta and I will distract the guards while you and Roman sneak past them,” suggested Riah, and Ashta looked at her oddly.
“But doesn’t that defeat the purpose of staying together?” asked Roman, and Riah sighed as she picked at the grass.
“It was the first thing I thought of,” she said in a soft tone, and Ashta looked at her with care.
“It’s a very good plan,” she said, and Riah smiled at her.
“Thank you,” she said, and Ashta smiled.
Suddenly, Roman started coughing again, and he started gasping for air.
“Roman?” Ashta asked as he looked at her frantically and tried to catch his breath.
He felt like all of the air was sucked out of him again. Quickly, Riah produced a stream of water and sent it over to him. He drank from it and slowly gained his breath. He looked at Ashta with a pained look on his face, and she looked at him with concern.
“I don’t think that I am going to up for going to a party tonight,” he said as he grabbed his chest.
Ashta, Riah, and Ray looked at each other with wide eyes.
- Writer
