Suddenly, Kael, with sharp reflexes, turned and fired an arrow toward the back without hesitation. The sound of the bowstring snapped through the tension, followed by a stifled cry.
"Argh!"
Everyone turned at once. From behind the bushes, a masked man dropped to his knees, clutching his arm where the arrow had struck.
Kael narrowed his eyes. "Over there," he said firmly, stepping forward.
The others followed cautiously. Teresa was faster—she was already pointing her gun at the masked man's head.
"Who are you?!" she shouted.
The man raised one hand slowly, his voice rough but calm. "Easy, Teresa… It's me."
Teresa froze for a moment, squinting as she tried to recognize his voice. "You…?"
"I'm here under orders. They know you've switched sides, Teresa. They know you're with Ticonic now. You have to come back. If you don't, everything will be too late," he said with urgency.
Teresa's expression tightened. She glanced at Kael and the others.
"Kael… all of you. Get away from the village. Head into the forest. Now!"
Kael hesitated, wanting to protest, but Teresa's intense gaze held him still. It was a mix of command and desperation. There was no time. He finally nodded and signaled the others.
"Let's go!" he shouted. Parker, still injured, was helped by Teren, while Mira and Rana followed closely behind as they ran into the forest's cover.
Just seconds after they vanished, two more soldiers in dark uniforms appeared from the shadows. Their helmets bore sharp, unfamiliar emblems.
"Target secured," one of them said. They grabbed Teresa's arms and restrained her.
The masked man, still grimacing from the wound, yanked the arrow from his arm. Blood trickled down.
He watched the direction Kael and the others had gone. "They really do look like something out of a fantasy story," he muttered. "Their faces, their presence… not from our world."
He turned back to Teresa, now captured between the two soldiers.
"Such a shame, Teresa. You shouldn't have resisted."
Their boots crunched against the dirt as they marched away from the now-empty village, leaving it in silence once more.
Meanwhile, deep in the forest, Kael and the others were on the run—realizing they now faced more than just an invasion. There was betrayal, a ticking clock, and a war much bigger than they ever imagined.
Kael glanced back once, toward the village fading in the distance.
"Teresa… I promise I'll come back for you," he whispered, then hurried deeper into the trees.
Their steps slowed as they ventured deeper into the forest. The towering trees filtered the sunlight, casting thin beams across the mossy ground. Suddenly—
"Snap!"
A rope tightened beneath Kael's foot.
"What—!?"
In an instant, Kael was yanked upward, flipping as he was pulled into the air, hanging upside down from a thick tree branch. He swung back and forth, disoriented.
"OH, COME ON!" Kael shouted in frustration. "Why now?! This is not the time to become forest bait!"
Parker, Mira, Teren, and Rana all froze for a moment before bursting into laughter.
"Kael," Mira said, giggling, "you look like a fish that failed to escape the net."
Just then, the bushes rustled nearby. Two young men stepped out from behind the thick undergrowth. They wore traditional Terra outfits—light cloaks, leather pants, and blue-striped headbands.
"What the…" Parker muttered, preparing to draw his weapon.
Kael stopped swinging and squinted at them. His eyes widened. "You guys?!"
One of them grinned widely. "Long time no see, Kael. Still getting caught in traps, huh?"
Kael groaned. "Rion?! And… Arek?!"
The two burst into laughter. Rion had once trained with Kael in the eastern forest camps, and Arek had been his hunting partner before the great conflict began.
"So this is how you welcome old friends?" Kael asked, still dangling.
Arek stepped forward, pulling a small blade and starting to cut the rope. "If we knew it was you, we would've set a fancier trap."
Thud! Kael dropped to the ground, landing hard on his rear. "Ugh… I missed you guys, but my spine doesn't feel the same."
Rion glanced at the others with a curious look. "You guys aren't just travelers... and that wound on Parker's arm—someone's chasing you?"
Kael nodded, his face serious. "We need help. Our world… it's in serious danger."
Arek and Rion exchanged a glance before Rion spoke again. "Then you've come at the right time. We're not the only ones left out here. There are more of us… and we've been waiting a long time for a reason to fight again."
Kael looked at them, a glimmer of hope returning to his eyes. "Looks like the war is about to begin."
And in the forest that was once silent, the spark of resistance began to burn again.
They walked deeper into the forest, following Rion and Arek, until they reached a hidden valley shrouded in mist, with the soft sound of running water echoing through the trees. From behind the dense foliage, several small campfires glowed. Dozens of people—forest tribes dressed in traditional cloth and armed with handmade weapons—gathered silently.
Kael and the group froze in awe.
"This is…" Mira whispered. "The forest tribes. I thought they were wiped out."
Arek nodded. "They've been hiding, waiting for the right time to fight back."
An elder from the tribe stared at them with sharp, weathered eyes. There was no hostility, only curiosity. They were welcomed to sit near the fire, and warm food was passed around—boiled roots, wild fruits, and mushroom stew.
Arek leaned in and whispered to Kael, "You need to tell them. About the real threat."
Kael took a deep breath, then stood up in front of the fire. Every pair of eyes turned to him.
"What I'm about to say isn't just about war," Kael began, his voice steady. "It's about why they've come to our world in the first place."
Silence fell over the gathering. The night wind rustled through the leaves.
"The invaders from Earth… they don't just want our forests, our water, or the rare stones beneath our soil. They want us—our bodies."
A murmur of unease rippled through the crowd. The tribe elder watched Kael intently.
"They've discovered something inside us. A liquid… maybe in our blood, maybe something our bodies produce from living in Terra. That liquid has power. To them, it's valuable—maybe it extends life, or fuels some energy source."
Arek added, "We've heard it from escaped prisoners. They're doing experiments. Extracting that liquid from Terra people slowly… until they die."
Rion nodded grimly. "This isn't just colonization. It's harvesting."
Kael clenched his fist. "They call us fantasy creatures. But they forget—we have spirit. And we'll fight back."
Tension filled the air, but with it came a spark of courage. The tribe elder finally stood, his voice strong despite his age.
"If they've come to steal our bodies… then we'll give them one thing they can never take: our courage."
And that night, deep within the forest, a new alliance was born. A quiet resistance began to rise from the shadows—ready to defend Terra with everything they had.
Meanwhile, back to Teresa…
She was being led through an underground facility in the Earth military base. Her hands were bound with magnetic cuffs, and two armed guards flanked her as they walked down a dim, blue-lit corridor. Her steps were calm, but her mind was racing behind her stoic gaze.
A high-ranking officer, dressed in a pristine uniform with a triangular emblem on his chest, stared at Teresa from behind a glass desk.
"You shouldn't have betrayed your origin, Teresa. But there's still time to choose the right side."
She didn't respond. Her eyes remained forward, silently planning her next move.
Back with Kael…
Kael sat on a flat rock beside a small fire, with Rana sitting quietly next to him, hugging her knees. Morning mist still lingered among the trees. Kael looked down at the tech-band now attached to his face like high-tech goggles. He had tried pulling it off, pressing it, even tapping strange symbols on the sides—but nothing worked.
"Why won't this thing come off?" he muttered.
Rana turned to him, her eyes still red from crying. "Maybe it's responding to your biology. Terra bodies might trigger its permanent activation."
Kael groaned. "I just need a bow and good aim. Not some machine stuck to my face."
Parker approached, munching on some forest fruit. "Try tapping the left side twice, then hold it for three seconds. I noticed it blinked earlier when you touched that area."
Kael followed the instructions. Tap, tap… hold.
Click.
A soft mechanical sound followed. The device loosened, retracting smoothly into its original bracelet form and wrapping around his wrist.
Kael blinked in surprise. "Whoa… it worked."
Parker chuckled. "Their tech is crazy. But you're doing great keeping up with it."
Kael managed a brief smile, then turned to Rana. "Are you sure you still want to come with us?"
Rana nodded, though worry still clouded her face. "We can't just sit back, Kael. If they take one more of our people… I'll never forgive myself."
Kael nodded slowly. "Alright. But now we need a real plan. This isn't just about surviving anymore. It's about fighting back."
And somewhere in the distance, through the fog, the sounds of morning birds echoed—signaling a new hope in the middle of an unfolding storm.