Chapter : 231
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Chapter : 231
"I am dying," he announced to nobody in particular. "I am actually dying of starvation. This is how Ken Eliot ends. Not in battle. Not in glory. Just hungry in a jungle."
Nobody turned around. Nobody answered. They were all too tired.
Zinia finally stopped and leaned against a thick tree trunk. She wiped her forehead with the back of her hand and let out a long, heavy breath.
"We have been walking for three hours," she said, her voice flat. "Three hours. No clues. No landmarks. No sign of anything useful."
She looked back at Ken. "That book you stole is probably complete garbage. It could be sending us in circles for all we know."
Ken opened his mouth to argue, but his stomach let out another enormous growl. He shut his mouth and clutched his belly instead.
"The earth defender makes a fair point," Laxmi said, cracking her knuckles. Her fists sparked with tiny flames that sizzled in the wet air. "We might be going nowhere fast."
Princess Iris stopped at the front of the group. She turned and looked at everyone with tired but steady eyes. She did not speak right away. She just breathed and thought.
"We cannot stop," Iris said finally. "We have no other choice. The book is all we have, so we follow it until we find something better."
"That is the most depressing motivational speech I have ever heard," Ken muttered.
Iris ignored him. She turned and kept walking.
Sayma adjusted her glasses and studied the stolen book over Ken's shoulder. The pages were old and faded, and the drawings of the jungle looked nothing like the jungle around them.
"These illustrations are very rough," Sayma said carefully. "The terrain does not match. Zinia might be right about the accuracy."
Ken snatched the book back and held it to his chest. "It is not garbage. It is a valuable historical document that I risked my life to obtain."
"You stole it from a sleeping guard," Ira said without turning around.
"A valuable historical document," Ken repeated firmly.
They kept walking. The trail—if it could even be called that—wound between massive trees and over roots that grabbed at their ankles. Every step was a struggle. The ground was soft and wet, and their boots made a disgusting sucking sound each time they moved.
Naomi walked near the middle of the group. Her red hair was damp and stuck to her neck. She had her twin daggers out, not because she sensed danger, but because she was too tired to keep putting them away and pulling them out again.
She glanced back at Ken, who was stumbling like a zombie. His face was pale and his eyes were glassy. Despite her irritation, she felt a small pang of concern.
"When was the last time you ate?" Naomi asked.
Ken looked up, surprised she was talking to him. "Yesterday? The day before? Time has no meaning in this jungle. I have been hungry for approximately one thousand years."
Naomi sighed and reached into her pack. She pulled out a small piece of dried meat and tossed it to him without looking.
"Eat that and shut up."
Ken caught it and stared at it like it was a treasure. "Naomi. You beautiful, kind, generous warrior. You are a goddess among—"
"Shut. Up."
Ken shoved the meat in his mouth and chewed happily. It was tiny and tough and salty, but to him it was a feast. He followed the group with slightly more energy after that.
The jungle grew thicker. The trees pressed closer together. The canopy above blocked almost all the sunlight, leaving them in a dim green twilight. Strange flowers glowed faintly on the tree trunks.
Laxmi punched a hanging vine out of her way. "I hate this place. I hate every single leaf and bug and root in this stupid jungle."
"Your fire would clear a path quickly," Sayma suggested.
"And burn down the whole jungle with us inside it," Zinia added. "No thank you."
Laxmi grumbled but did not argue. She kept her fists low, letting small embers pop from her knuckles to light the way.
Another hour passed. Then another. The group moved slower and slower. Hope was fading with every step. The stolen map showed a village somewhere ahead, but they had seen nothing except endless green walls on every side.
Even Ira showed signs of weariness. Her steps were slightly shorter. Her head was slightly lower. Her usual perfect posture had the tiniest slouch. For Ira, that was the same as collapsing.
Ken was shuffling behind everyone when he suddenly stopped. His whole body went rigid. He held his hand up high, his fingers spread wide.
"Wait," he whispered.
The word cut through the jungle like a blade. Everyone stopped. The elite girls turned to look at him. Ken's face was perfectly serious. His eyes were wide. His jaw was tight.
"Wait," he whispered again, even more dramatically. "I hear something."
The girls tensed. Naomi's grip tightened on her daggers. Laxmi's fists erupted into full flames. Ira's fingers shimmered with gathering moisture. Even Sayma raised her hands, ready to cast a barrier.
"What do you hear?" Iris asked quietly.
Ken tilted his head. His expression was grim. "A low, rumbling sound," he said. "Coming from deep below. It sounds like something massive is moving underground."
The jungle was suddenly very quiet. The insects stopped clicking. The wind stopped blowing. Every girl held her breath and listened with every fiber of her being.
Naomi drew her daggers up to fighting position. Her wind magic swirled faintly around the blades, making them hum. She scanned the trees, the ground, the shadows. Her heart pounded.
Laxmi dropped into a fighting stance, her fire burning bright and hot. "Where?" she hissed. "Which direction?"
Ira had already formed a long whip of pressurized water. It coiled in the air beside her like a living snake. Her pale eyes were locked forward, completely focused.
The tension was incredible. Every muscle in every body was coiled tight. The silence was deafening. Nobody breathed. Nobody moved.
Ken's serious expression held for three more seconds.
Then he casually patted his stomach.
"Oh, never mind," he said brightly. "It is just my stomach. I am literally starving to death. Can we order a pizza to this jungle?"
The silence that followed was different. It was the silence of pure, concentrated fury.
Laxmi's flames flared so hot the nearest leaves scorched brown. Zinia's jaw dropped open. Sayma lowered her hands and pinched the bridge of her nose.
Ira's emotionless expression cracked.
It was small. Just a tiny twitch at the corner of her eye. A slight downward pull of her lip. For Ira, it was the equivalent of a screaming rage.
Her water whip snapped forward like a striking serpent. The high-pressure lash cut through the air straight at Ken's head with lethal speed.
Ken screamed and threw himself backward. His body bent in a clumsy, dramatic backbend. The water lash sliced through the empty air inches from his nose. He could feel the mist on his face.