Immersion World

by Max Jager

  "That's racist!" Kaden interrupted. When the others turned to him he shrugged. "That's all I have to add."

  "Anyways. The forest is our best bet, all things considered." Zanath finished.

  Mendelen and Estellese nodded and Estellese said "Sounds like a plan."

  The group slightly altered their path to head more westward, it would be a few more hours before they finally entered the forest. Thankfully due to careful maneuvering, and using the tall grass as cover a few times they were able to reach the forest without trouble. Despite being smaller than the other forest they had found, this forest oddly looked like a dense jungle with vines, bushes, and other plant life growing all over the place. They traveled towards the center of the forest for an hour more, before they stopped in a small clearing.

  "Estellese how are you feeling?" Mendelen asked.

  "I'm starting to have trouble breathing again, and the pain is back." Estellese replied, she tried speaking normally but anyone who listened closely enough could hear the pain in her voice.

  "Alright. I don't want to stop, I really don't. But we need to stop and rest for at least an hour or two. Or we're going to end up too exhausted to defend ourselves." Mendelen stated. "It is almost noon. I will take watch, you guys try to get an hour or two of sleep in." He said.

  The others nodded in agreement and started getting comfortable on the ground. "Estellese can I borrow your axe? I'm going to light us a campfire if I can."

  "Yeah." Estellese passed her axe to Mendelen then laid down in the dirt.

  Mendelen took the axe and walked over to the nearest tree, then he took a swing at the lowest thick branch to try and make a log out of it. His axe struck the branch and cut partway through it, then he heard this very loud, deep, and long growling noise echoing throughout the forest. He froze for a second, looking around to see if he could find out what made the noise. It stopped and the area became silent again. After a few moments, when he was sure it was gone, he lifted the axe and slammed it down into the branch again, cutting deeper and almost cutting it off this time. And right away that loud, deep, long growl echoed through the forest again, this time louder and sounding angrier than before.

  Mendelen looked at the axe, and the tree branch, then pulled his axe out of the branch and took a step back. "Okay… Let's stop hitting the tree then." He murmured. "Zanath! Got anything to make a fire?" He called out.

  "I still have that lighter I picked up in the city, before we got chased out by goblins the first time." Zanath replied.

  "Great, I'll gather sticks and stuff from the ground and we can try lighting that instead." Mendelen replied. He gave the axe back to Estellese, then went off to gather a small pile of sticks, dry leaves, and anything that would burn. Once he had a small pile he turned to Zanath "Can you light it? It is not much, but it should hopefully warm you guys up and make it slightly less uncomfortable. At least for a little." He asked.

  "No problem." Zanath replied. He took out the lighter and flicked it on, then lit the mini camp-fire in a few places so that the fire would grow and engulf the pile quicker.

  Suddenly they all heard that loud and deep growl again, this time louder and angrier than ever. Moments after it was followed by another voice joining in the growling, and another, and another, and soon there was hundreds of them in every direction.

  "What the hell is going on?" Estellese questioned as everyone started standing up as quickly as they could.

  "I don't know." Mandores said quickly. But his eyes widened as he suddenly saw every single tree around them starting to move… Starting to stand up. Faces began appearing on the trees, they all uprooted themselves and stood, ready to fight. "No…." Mendelen let out breathlessly. The closest tree to them whipped out one of its branches, slamming the thick branch down on their tiny campfire. It smothered the campfire and put it out immediately.

  "We just pissed off the entire forest. I don't think they like fire!" Kaden murmured in shock.

  "Thank you captain obvious!" Estellese stated.

  "We need to get out of the damn forest! They must all be ents." Mendelen shouted as he turned to run back out the way they came, but the ents had seen them enter the forest, they had already moved to completely block the way they came in. There was thousands of them, everywhere.

  "They blocked the way, pick any other direction and run! We need to get out of here NOW! Follow me!" Mendelen called out as he lead the way towards the biggest clearing in the trees he could find. Everyone else ran after him and followed as closely as they could. The ents were slow, but they were massive and no doubt incredibly strong, not to mention their sheer numbers.

  Mendelen stopped just in time for a massive branch to slam into the ground in front of him, and he changed directions to avoid it. The group followed right behind him, but Kaden and Estellese both had to duck to avoid being struck by another branch as another tree tried to knock them away from the group. They caught up and the four of them continued rushing towards any small clearings in the trees, trying to keep as much space between them and the ents as possible at all times.

  "I don't suppose we can just climb a tree and escape like we did last time?" Kaden called out.

  "Kaden now is not the time!" Zanath interrupted. They took a sharp turn to avoid a blockade of ents that was trying to catch them by walling them in, just barely slipping out through a gap in the wall of wood before the last ent could move into place. They were thankful for the creatures being incredibly slow. But as they bobbed and weaved through the trees towards the next clearing some of the smaller and faster moving branches lashed out and grabbed onto Mendelen. Yanking him to the ground as they tried moving to pin him down for the slower and bigger trees.

  Estellese acted quickly, pushing through the pain she slammed her axe down on the smaller branches, with her strength she sliced right through them in one swing allowing Mendelen to push the severed parts of the branches off himself and get back up. But by then it was too late, the bigger ent had reached them and was about to slam a massive branch down onto him and Estellese.

  Zanath swooped in and grabbed Mendelen, yanking him out of the way of the branch, while Kaden grabbed Estellese's arm and pulled her to safety. The other ents were closing in and there was no way they could hold up against the attacks from that many all at once. "Go! Go!" Mendelen called out, once he was on his feet he resumed running, making sure the others were keeping up, he spotted a clearing ahead of them that was much bigger than any of the previous clearings and hoped this was the way out of the forest. They were completely lost in all the commotion by now, they didn't know which way was out anymore.

  As they rushed into the clearing, they saw that it was infact not the way out of the forest but instead was just one massive opening in the trees. Near the trees on the opposite side of the clearing they spotted a human shaped figure. It looked to be a tall man, and they ran straight for him. As they got closer they noticed that the man had long white hair and carried a bow on his back. He also seemed to be wearing a light set of plate armor. His long white hair was tied back in a ponytail, so unlike the blue haired girl from before his thinner and pointed elven ears could be seen.

  "Hey! Help! They are after us!" Mendelen called out.

  Once they were approximately thirty feet away from the man, suddenly a hail of arrows came raining down from the sky. Hundreds of arrows, aimed right at the four Alphas from all directions. The four of them froze and stopped running, all they could do was watch as the arrows came down. There was so many that dodging them all would be impossible. The arrows did not hit them, they instead landed all side by side in the ground forming a perfect circle around them. The circle gave them about five feet to move in any direction while remaining in the circle if they stood directly in the center. The arrows were fired from so incredibly far away, there was no possible way the archers who fired them could have seen their target, yet every arrow landed perfectly on target to form the circle. Once the circle was formed each arrow lit up and fired what loo
ked like a small bolt of electricity towards the center where the Alphas were standing. All the bolts collided in the middle and disappeared except the ones that struck the humans. As the Alphas were struck by the bolts, they all collapsed to the ground and were paralyzed.

  The man then looked at the ents, which were all rushing in to attack, moving as fast as the slow creatures could. He held up his hand as if signaling for them to stop. "Halt!" He called out. "They have crossed into our territory. They are ours to deal with now."

  The ents stopped, but replied with a long and annoyed growl.

  "They are in our land, that is the agreement. We protect each other but we do not interfere in each other's land. We will handle the intruders." The man firmly stated.

  The ents let out their long growl again, then turned around and began walking back to where they were before. The man turned his attention to the humans and was about to speak when a girl's voice interrupted him.

  "Did we capture them?" The voice asked. As she spoke the girl walked out from the trees behind where the man had been, alongside her was Lillith, the blue haired girl from before and two other elven bowmen. She seemed quite young, much like Lillith, and looked to be no older then her mid-teens. Where as the man looked to be in his thirties. She had long blonde hair and carried a sword rather than a bow. She was short and wore a full set of thin and light armor. She was different from all the other elves though, everything she wore, from her armor, to her clothes and sword, to the jewelry she had, was all very elegant and incredibly expensive looking. While the others seemed to just have rather plain armor and clothing, fancy, but plain. The blonde girl's sword, armor, and clothing had jewels, gold, and incredible designs all over.

  The man looked over his shoulder at the woman and frowned. "Alicia, you shouldn't be here. This is a military matter." He stated.

  "Adamus, last I checked I was in charge of everything, including the military." Alicia stated sternly. "You can't tell me what to do."

  "These things are dangerous! You can't be here, you are in danger here. Especially not after what happened to your parents, the village needs you alive." Adamus argued. "Be the responsible adult you're supposed to be, don't needlessly put yourself in danger."

  "I had to see for myself if these humans really existed." Alicia stated. "And news flash, I'm not an adult so I don't have to act like one. That's why I'm still the princess, not the queen. I don't need to take responsibility." She almost snapped back. "Plus, I brought my sword. So I'm not in danger."

  Adamus frowned and gave her a stern look, but when she just gave him the stern look right back he sighed and shook his head.

  "We have wounded, and our friend is poisoned." Mendelen interrupted. "We only ask for help healing our friends, and safe passage out of the forest. We come in peace and will leave you alone."

  Alicia turned to Lillith, ignoring Mendelen. "Are these those aliens you spoke of?" She asked quietly.

  Lillith nodded quietly. "The exact same ones I was tracking." She answered.

  Adamus looked down at Lillith with a disappointed expression on his face. "You lead them right to us. You didn't cover your tracks."

  "Hey!" Lillith argued. "I am a healer, not a soldier. I'm not as good as the rest of you and I'm not used to these situations. It is not fair to expect me to think of that."

  "That is why we have rules! Non-military elves are not to go that far from the village." Adamus firmly scolded. "You should know better."

  "But A-" Lillith started, but then stopped and looked at Alicia.

  "I know Alicia gave you permission to go. That doesn't matter, you still shouldn't have gone out there. It is dangerous. You can't-" Adamus stated.

  "I am the ruler here" Alicia interrupted. "So my word is final."

  Adamus gave Alicia a stern look again. "You can't let people break the rules just because they are your friends. The rules are in place for a reason, people can get-"

  "Princess." Alicia interrupted again. "That means I can."

  Adamus shot her a glare, then sighed and shook his head. "This should not be discussed in front of whatever those things are." He said as he gestured to the alphas, then turned to them. "Confiscate their weapons, bags, clothing, and anything else they have. Examine their things thoroughly. Put them in the prisoner's uniform and in a cell immediately. They are prisoners until we decide what to do with them. Let's go everyone."

  - Next Chapter: Reality or Fiction? -

  Chapter 12: Reality or Fiction

  ~~ Chapter 12: Reality or Fiction ~~

  Mendelen, Kaden, and Zanath awoke to find themselves locked in a cell together. Everything had been taken away, their clothes, their weapons, their items. They had been dressed in an elven prisoner uniform. A bright orange one piece jumper that was heavily weighed down with weights on the inside. The suit also had straps that wrapped loosely around the legs of the wearer. This gave them the space they needed to stand and take really tiny steps, but running or moving quickly would result in tripping on the straps. On top of that, the suit gave off that odd aura of energy just like the previous enchanted items, it was enchanted to make the wearer feel extremely weak and feeble. The prisoner's uniform made quick movement and fighting near impossible.

  The three guys looked around. They could hear other people moving nearby, but walls separated the cells and they could not see their fellow prisoners. Oddly enough the ground under their feet was grass, not a stone floor.

  "Where is Estellese?" Mendelen stated.

  "I do not know" Zanath replied. "She was with us when we were knocked out and taken in, but she was gone when I woke up."

  "The ground here is grass." Kaden pointed out. "We can dig our way out and find her" he said as he immediately started digging. But as soon as he started to dig he heard a voice from somewhere down the hallway.

  "Stop Digging!" The voice called out.

  "Okay! Stopping immediately!" Kaden called back as he continued digging away as fast as he could.

  There was a sigh from down the hall, and the voice called out to them again. "You didn't stop. Stop it now."

  "Yes I did, no worries!" Kaden answered, but resumed digging.

  Footsteps approached and within a few seconds Adamus was standing in front of the group again, this time wearing a fancy white shirt and pants instead of his suit of armor. His long white hair was let down and his arms were crossed with an irritated expression on his face as he glared at the three guys. He held up his hand with the back of his hand facing the guys, showing a ring on his finger. This ring looked almost exactly like the magic one Estellese had that they never figured out the purpose of, only Adamus's ring was different. Where Estellese's was just a flat surface, Adamus's was a flat surface that had a carving of a rose on it. "Stop digging. I can feel everything you are doing with my signet skill. And I never take the ring off."

  "Signet skill?" Mendelen asked. "What is a signet skill?"

  Adamus frowned a little. "You do not know what a signet skill is? The female in your group had an unactivated signet ring on her." He questioned, giving them an odd look. "These signet rings, like the one the female had, are magic rings. Invented by the fairies, these rings will read and learn everything about you while you wear them. Your past, future, personality, fighting style, future career, everything. Then the rings will create one magical ability that suits you, based on what it learned. These powers are unique to the wearer, nobody in the world can have the same power. Similar, maybe, but never the same. Obviously, wearing more than one is pointless since they'd all give you the same power. Mine allows me to connect with nature, specifically plantlife. I can feel everything that happens to any plant life within a one mile radius of myself, and can extend it much further if I focus on it. I can also see through the plant life within that radius if I focus on it. This grass under your feet? I can feel every move you make and I can look through it to see you at any given time." He stated firmly. "And don't try digging out, we are not stupid human, there is a cement floor u
nderneath the grass. Plus if you left the cell I'd feel your footsteps on the grass outside and would instantly know where you are."

  Kaden hesitated a little, then re-buried the hole he had been digging. That plan surely was not going to work.

  Mendelen stumbled onto his feet, the restraining prisoner uniform making getting up difficult. "Where is Estellese? Our fourth member." He asked.

  "Gone." Adamus replied. When he noticed the expression on the three humans suddenly snap into a deadly serious glare at him he took a step away from the prison bars. "The documentation on your species mentioned her being the most powerful out of the group, and also the most likely to start a fight. Her being poisoned when we captured you was a very convenient way to swiftly take care of that problem before it had time to become a problem."

  "Bring her here, now." Mendelen nearly growled at him.

  Adamus shook his head. "Can't do that now." He replied. "You should be more worried about yourselves. I am still deciding on whether or not you three are to be executed for the safety of the village. Her fate was already decided hours ago, yours still remains undecided."