"Well, uh, we're…" Yahd trailed off, looking over to Kalimba, who stared back at the soldier, wide-eyed.

  'If he decides to shoot, none of us here are fast enough to activate our energy and push Yahd out of the way before he dies,' Asher thought. He clenched his fists, the futility of the situation weighing heavily on him.

  "Don't look at them. Look at me," the soldier ordered.

  "Okay, okay," Yahd's hands were high in the air, "We got a bit lost, alright. We were on this trip with our parents—like a kinda safari tour trip, ya know? They let us tour around by ourselves and we drove off an embankment and got lost trying to get back to the route. We've been going for a few days; but it seems like we've been going 'round and 'round in circles. There's no way we can call anyone since our phones can't connect to anything out here…" he trailed off, watching to see what the soldier was going to do next.

  The soldier’s icy stare bore into Yahd for a long, excruciating moment. Finally, with a heavy sigh, he holstered his revolver, "Alright, whatever. I don't have time for this shit," he sighed. "Alright, we gotta move!"

  The group let out a collective breath as the soldiers piled back into the helicopter. The roar of the rotors grew louder as the aircraft lifted off, a cloud of dust and grit whipping past the jeep.

  "I woulda honestly pissed myself if I was Yahd," Asher said.

  The helicopter quickly descended over the small town.

  "Alright," The lead soldier leapt out, his boots crunching against the hard-packed dirt. He scanned the area, his sharp eyes falling on a tall man with leathery skin sitting outside a stucco home. “Hey!” he called out, striding toward the man. "You wouldn't have happened to see either one or multiple people come through here with a little girl?"

  The man nodded slowly, his weathered face unreadable. "Ah yes sir, I did not just ten minutes ago."

  "Really?" His eyes lit up, "Do you know where they went?"

  "Hmm," the man scratched his chin, "If I recall, they went east," he said, pointing in said direction.

  The soldier smiled, "Thanks, man." He hopped back into the helicopter, relaying the info to the pilot.

  Far away, the beast bounded across the desert sands, its heavy limbs pounding against the ground. It paused, sniffing the air, its heightened senses catching the faintest whiff of its prey. The girl’s scent spurred it onward, a primal hunger guiding its every step.

  As it took another step forward, the sand beneath its feet began to shift unnaturally, cascading down into a widening pit. The creature growled low, its claws digging in to steady itself.

  A brief sniff informed the creature that this was no ordinary landslide. Regaining its balance as it descended the pit's side, it seized a rock resembling a sizable bowling ball and hurled it toward the middle.

  Upon the rock's impact with the sand below, something hidden beneath the surface stirred. Its teeth closed around the boulder, reducing it to dust with a single bite.

  Completely forgetting about Melody, the beast jumped down further into the pit. The ensuing battle was feral and brutal, with the beast’s claws rending through flesh and bone. The sand-creature screeched as it attempted to coil around its attacker, but the red beast overpowered it, tearing chunks of its body apart.

  The red beast opened and closed its jaw, feeling the muscles around its skull grow and change; knowing its bite was now more powerful than ever before.

  With a single, effortless leap, it cleared the pit’s edge and resumed its hunt. The girl’s scent was as vivid as ever.

  Leo and his two colleagues strolled into the town.

  Leo squinted at the horizon, the morning sun casting long shadows across the dusty town. “Looks like we beat it here,” he muttered, scanning the intact buildings.

  "Do people actually live here?" One of his colleagues asked incredulously. She looked around, her eyes wide with confusion.

  "Clearly," the other colleague replied dryly, adjusting their satchel.

  "Like how though? There's nothing around. You can't do anything here. Like, how does an average person even survive this? This isn't even a town; more like a cluster of buildings in the middle of a desert."

  Leo raised a hand, cutting off the discussion. “Uh-oh,” he murmured, his sharp eyes catching a metallic glint on the horizon. "Someone's coming this way."

  They both looked, seeing the object in the horizon approaching quickly.

  "Hey," he turned to his female colleague, "You put the megaphone in your bag, right?"

  "Oh yeah. You want me to get it?"

  "Mhm," Leo nodded.

  She retrieved the petite designer purse from her shoulder, unzipped it, and delved inside. She produced a colossal megaphone that extended almost several feet long, impossibly large for its source.

  "That's always crazy to see," the other colleague admired.

  Leo clicked it on, and put the microphone up to his mouth, "Good morning everyone! If you can understand me, I advise that you go back and stay in your homes. We are here to protect you, so make sure that you do all that you can to stay out of harm's way."

  "That was beautiful," the male colleague said.

  "Thank you," Leo smiled, handing the megaphone back to the woman.

  She slowly pushed the object back into her purse; watching it shrink down as she shoved it inside.

  The gunshots carried over the sprawling desert, quickly reaching the group of kids.

  "It's coming from the town up there," Kalimba said.

  "Are we stopping?" Asher asked from the back seat.

  "That's where the tracks lead," Yahd sighed. "We'll get to the edge of town in like two minutes. Is everyone ready?" He looked at them through the rearview mirror.

  Zoe, Mitani, and Asher all nodded.

  The jeep skidded to a stop, and they all quickly piled out of the car.

  'Why is this place so luscious?' Asher thought, looking at the bright green vines hanging from the buildings, the massive ferns that littered the dead sand, and the large oak trees that protruded from yards and the windows from the buildings.

  A sudden scream pierced the quiet, drawing their attention. They watched as one of the soldiers they saw from before fly into the side of a nearby house. He crumpled to the ground, unmoving.

  Kalimba closed his eyes; when he opened them, the leafy green aura surrounding him pulsed gently, radiating through the air. The rest of the group followed his lead, energy flickering to life around them as they shifted into position.

  'There were at least seven of those soldiers,' Zoe calculated, her brow furrowing, 'With one down, we may be able to get the rest.'

  Kalimba edged closer to the corner of the building, peering around cautiously. His gaze landed on a young woman, perhaps in her late teens or early twenties, strolling through a yard as if she didn’t have a care in the world. Her posture was calm, almost unnervingly so. 'She's definitely not a local, nor is she one of the soldiers,' he thought, 'This is weird though. What is the reason for her being here, then? Was she the one that knocked out the guy just now?'

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  Yahd motioned to Mitani that he was going to go down a few houses to look around.

  Slipping from tree to tree, Yahd moved with quiet precision. The occasional crack of gunfire punctuated the stillness, and faint rustling sounds from the homes kept his nerves taut. Inhaling deeply, he disengaged the safety on his pistol, steadying it in both hands.

  Inhaling deeply, he disengaged the safety on his pistol, steadying it in both hands.

  Peering around the corner of the small-town store where he had taken cover, he observed Leo, bathed in a yellow light, advancing past the helicopter toward another soldier entangled in a tall tree, vines had wrapped tightly around him.

  Yahd's eyes widened as he watched another of the compound's troopers step from behind the helicopter, the rifle in his hands aimed at the back of Leo's head.

  'Oh, no no no no no no,' Yahd thought, his pulse pounding in his ears. He raised his pistol, lining up the shot. Time seemed to slow, the details around him sharpening—sweat dripping from Leo's forehead, the smell of blood, the hum of energy, every twitch of the soldier’s finger as he prepared to fire. It was as if he were studying a painting.

  The bright green leaves of the nearby tree bore a gruesome coat of blood and brain matter as Yahd squeezed the trigger.

  Leo turned in surprise, observing the teenager with trembling hands aiming a pistol at the now lifeless soldier. The fallen figure slumped to the ground, blood spilling from the head wound. However, what captured Leo's attention was the vibrant pink aura enveloping Yahd.

  With a quick hand motion, Leo raised his arm, and a tree branch descended from above, entwining itself around the soldier ensnared in the vines, making a makeshift wooden sarcophagus for the soldier as his muffled screams were silenced once the box was completed.

  "He's still alive in there," Leo said, noticing Yahd's wary expression. "Are you here alone?"

  It took several seconds, but Yahd was able to answer. "No," he said quietly. "There's a few others. Four more people." He stared at the body on the ground. "He…he was going to try to kill you right?"

  "Try, yeah. He would've tried to."

  "I did a good thing then?" His voice was almost pleading.

  Leo looked from Yahd to the corpse, "Look," he sighed after a long pause. "We can talk about this in a sec. There's still some of these guys around."

  Inside the helicopter, the mercenary ripped his hand away from the binding, finally wiggling free and removing the rest of his bindings.

  Stepping out cautiously, he scanned his surroundings. The area was eerily empty, save for faint echoes of conflict in the distance. Taking advantage of the moment, he sprinted away from the town, disappearing into the cover of nearby foliage.

  Both Leo and Yahd rounded the corner of the home, looking into its backyard, seeing two soldiers on the ground with six people surrounding them.

  Yahd instinctively raised his gun, but quickly lowered it when he recognized the group. Alongside his companions stood the woman he had seen earlier, as well as a man in similar clothing to Leo’s.

  The woman smiled when she saw Leo. "Leo!" She ran over, "I was honestly worried," she said as she hugged him.

  'Woah,' Asher thought, staring at the woman.

  “I’ve dealt with poachers before,” the woman said with a casual shrug. “This wasn’t so different.”

  "Okay," Leo said into his phone. It was a massive thing, with a box on its back and an antenna sticking out of it. "Yeah, they'll be in the middle of town, tied up." He paused, listening to someone on the other end. "I'll have both of them keep watch, just in case." He put his phone in his pocket.

  His two colleagues both nodded and walked off to go round up every soldier in the area.

  "Well, can't stay long, kids. Hope you guys have a ride, 'cause I'm off," as he finished talking, his yellow aura appeared, and within seconds, a massive condor, about the size of the jeep they rode in, swooped down and landed next to Leo.

  Zoe's jaw dropped open, staring at the creature. "How did you do that?"

  Leo didn't answer, as he hopped on the back of the bird, and with a single flap of its wings that sprayed sand everywhere, it flung itself high into the air, disappearing into the distance.

  "Now what?" Asher asked.

  Zoe looked at the ground around them, "we keep following the tracks, I presume."

  "Yeah," Kalimba said. "We can't really waste more time," he looked at Yahd, whose eyes glazed over as he stared at his feet. Between them, his gun sat sticking out of the sand.

  "You okay?" Mitani asked, following Kalimba's gaze.

  "Mm," he grumbled, reaching down and picking up the gun with shaky hands. Without a word, he turned and walked back toward the jeep.

  The rest of the group exchanged looks, but followed him back to the car.

  After fueling the jeep, they continued their journey, the tracks in the sand fading quickly as the desert heat intensified.

  The sun dipped lower on the horizon, painting the sky in hues of orange and purple. In the distance, faint tire tracks glimmered under the dying light.

  Palmer yawned and looked at his watch, "Jeez," he turned to Melody, who also yawned, fidgeting with his empty back-up pistol. About two football field's distance away, he spotted a cluster of small abandoned shacks, barely bigger than an outhouse. "We're gonna rest for a few hours," he said, pulling over to the side.

  Melody yawned, "can we do it outside," she begged. "This car is so uncomfortable."

  "Don't worry, there's a small house right here."

  "Ewww," Melody held her nose as she walked toward the shed, her hand tightening around Palmer's.

  "Yeah, I know it's not the best, but we're only going to be resting here for a few hours."

  A wave of golden aura surrounded her as she walked into the shack. For that brief moment, a sweet smell wafted through.

  "What the-" Palmer's eyes widened as he watched the energy arc around the room, billowing from Melody. 'This smell…it's like I'm in a bakery.' Before he could say more, the energy dissipated just as soon as it materialized; with that, the smell. Melody yawned and fell forward. Palmer caught her before she hit the floor.

  "She's totally out," Palmer thought, carrying her the only bedding in the shack, placing her on it.

  "I think that's the car," Yahd said, pointing straight ahead. The sound startled everyone, as Yahd had not said a single word since leaving the small town.

  Zoe looked between the seats, squinting through the dusty window and seeing the glint of something metal from the headlights.

  The sky had turned black at this point; stars littering the sky like she'd never seen before. 'Pretty-ful,' she thought, a smile coming to her face.

  "Wait," Kalimba said, "Stop the car here, and turn off the headlights. Quickly."

  Yahd did as he was told.

  They all sat silently in the jeep, not moving.

  "So, who's gonna be the one to sneak in and grab her?" Asher asked.

  Everyone turned and looked at Zoe.