Tarin unsheathed his greatsword and swung it at the barrier with all his might. A loud, hollow boom echoed in everyone’s ears. Still, not a single scratch appeared on the barrier.

  Arix realized he could not pass through the barrier without destroying or disabling it. He turned around, looking for any key or any way to get past it. The tree was standing in the distance, with a straight road leading to it. Houses stood all around the road, dust covering them. He lifted his chin. “The clouds are moving fast today,” he thought to himself. Gazing even farther beyond the clouds, he saw a big bird-like creature with a pointy face and very large claws tearing through the sky. The creature didn’t seem to notice him and kept flying onward.

  The wind whispered in his ears. Beneath it, he heard fading muttering-someone's voice he couldn't quite place. Only his loud breathing and the dust remained.

  “Are you just going to stare at those clouds, or are you going to move on?” A familiar voice reached his ears. He was sure it was Elena’s voice. He turned left. Nothing. Then right. Nothing. And then behind—

  “Ari… Arix… ARIX…”

  Lyra was shouting, loud enough to burst his eardrums. He scanned immediately. Meilie, Tarin, and Lyra were already waiting on the road, a few yards away.

  He hurried over. “Let’s go already,” Lyra said, turning around and walking with the others.

  “And where are we going?” Arix asked, looking at Tarin and Lyra.

  Lyra sighed. "Come on, Arix. We already discussed this while you were... wherever you were. We're going to explore all these houses to look for a way out."

  “Got it.” He turned back one last time, hoping he would see Elena’s beautiful face. But all he could see was a big mountain visible in the distance.

  The sun was already about to set. They all walked their separate ways to gather some clues, but with not much luck. With little expectation, Arix observed the house on his left. He had gone quite far from the place they had decided to meet before nightfall.

  Arix gazed at the house. “Let’s search this last house, and then I will go to the tree,” he whispered, not knowing Meilie loomed behind him.

  As he walked toward the house, someone tapped his shoulder from behind.

  “W–What the—?” He jumped back, heart pounding. Turning around, he found Meilie standing there with curiosity in her eyes. “Oh god! When did you come here?” His hand was on his heart, trying to calm it down.

  She kept staring at him.

  “Did you check all those houses already?”

  She nodded.

  “Okay. Let’s go search this one too.” He moved toward the house with Meilie.

  After entering, he found himself in a rather large space. There were stairs on his left that led to the upper section of the house.

  If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

  On the ground floor, a long wooden counter stood near the wall, covered in a thick layer of dust. Broken chairs and tables were scattered around the room, some lying on their sides. The air smelled old and rotten, and cobwebs hung from the corners of the ceiling. Empty bottles lay on the floor, and the wooden boards creaked softly with every step.

  Arix recognized it as a tavern. Leaning below the counter, he came across a bottle filled with a liquid. After opening it and smelling it, he quickly recognized the smell. Wine. He safely put it in his bag.

  Meilie kept blinking with her head slightly tilted and both her hands behind her back. Looking at her, Arix said, “I don’t think you can drink it. But we will at night.”

  After finishing with the ground floor, he climbed the stairs. On the wall hung a painting.. Arix approached it and took a good look at it.

  “THE LAST OF LOMS,” the painting read. Below the text, there were many Lom creatures standing in a line. They seemed like the same ghosts Arix had seen at night.

  A pinch came to his back from behind. He turned and spotted Meilie pointing outside. “It’s already getting dark, huh?” he said.

  He took the painting with him and returned outside, heading toward the tree.

  “Have you found something?” Arix asked both of them.

  Tarin shook his head while crossing his arms.

  Lyra pointed her hand forward. “I found this.” She had a small wooden creature in her palm.

  “It’s a horse,” Arix said, picking the horse up to take a closer look.

  Meilie leaned forward, closer to Arix, to take a look as well.

  “It’s a toy, I guess.” Arix turned the horse all around and gave it back to Lyra. “It’s of no use.”

  “Have you discovered something?” Tarin asked Arix.

  “Yes, this painting.” Arix took out the painting and put it on the ground in the middle of all of them.

  “Last of Loms. What does this mean?” Lyra asked.

  “These are the same creatures we saw last night.” Tarin picked up the painting.

  “And today too,” Arix said, pointing toward the crowd that had already gathered a little far from the tree in a line.

  “I can’t sleep knowing that all these creatures are staring at me.” Lyra crossed her arms. Her face twisted in clear reluctance.

  “Let’s go to the house we camped in yesterday,” Tarin suggested.

  Everyone agreed and went to the house for the rest of the night.

  The next morning, everyone started exploring the remaining houses for any answer on how to escape, but they came back at night disappointed. For the next seven days, this cycle went on. They had already searched all the places in the village—the tavern, the monastery, the wedding hall, the horse stable, the small wooden stalls. Everywhere they looked, only dust, cobwebs, and an old smell answered them. And the ghosts repeated their endless march, unchanged. They had already investigated the tree multiple times, but discovered nothing that could help them in any way.

  On the morning of the ninth day, they were having their breakfast in disappointment.

  “We only have enough food for three more days. We have to hunt soon. Good thing that we bought supplies.” Tarin said.

  Everyone sat near the tree and looked at the same path they had been staring at for the last nine days.

  “There is nothing to hunt here. We have to find our way out fast,” Arix said, chewing the vegetable soup Lyra had cooked. She had learned cooking when she was small from her mother, and she was good at it. Back on the island, everyone used to visit her house just to taste her food.

  Tarin took another bite and said, “And how will we do that?”

  Meilie leaned toward Tarin, her eyes fixed on the bowl of soup in his hands. She was sitting between Arix and Tarin.

  “Hey, stop staring. I am hungry.” Tarin pulled the bowl closer to himself with both hands.

  Meilie straightened again, still staring at his bowl.

  “Why are you only staring at my bowl?” His brows knitted together.

  Lyra kept looking at them from the other side, sitting beside Arix. After a while, she snapped. “Hey, Arix.” Arix turned toward her. “Can I see the painting you found the other day?” she asked.