Chapter 16: Trapped in the Woods
Athena's POV:
We had been wandering in the forest of Celestia for days now, hoping to come across a new puzzle, but there was nothing. The silence was becoming deafening, and I was beginning to feel restless. Oliver suggested we might have taken the wrong path, but Draco dismissed his idea, saying he had a feeling that we were on the right track.
As we continued our journey, I couldn't shake off the feeling that we were being watched. I looked around, trying to find any signs of danger, but everything seemed peaceful. Suddenly, Raven's device beeped, and she started typing on it. I couldn't help but wonder who she was messaging.
"Who are you messaging Raven?" Draco asked, and his tone was full of suspicion. I could tell that there was some tension between them, and Raven's curt response only confirmed my suspicions.
"My friends," Raven replied, and I noticed that she didn't even bother to look up from her device.
I turned to look at Draco, and he seemed to be deep in thought. It was as if he was trying to solve a puzzle in his head, and I wondered what was going on with him. Raven and Draco seemed to be hiding something from each other, and I couldn't help but feel curious.
"Draco, is everything okay?" I asked, breaking the silence that had settled between us.
"Yeah, why do you ask?" he replied, looking at me with a frown.
"It's just that you seem to be deep in thought. Is something bothering you?" I asked, trying to sound as casual as possible.
Draco looked at me for a moment before shaking his head. "No, I'm fine. Just trying to figure something out."
I wasn't entirely convinced, but I didn't want to push him any further. Instead, I turned to Raven and tried to strike up a conversation.
"So, Raven, what are your friends like?" I asked, hoping to get her to open up a little.
"They're fine," Raven replied, her voice flat and devoid of emotion.
I sighed inwardly, realizing that Raven was not in the mood to talk. It seemed like we were all in our own little world, lost in our thoughts. But suddenly, the sound of a branch snapping caught our attention, and we all froze.
"What was that?" Oliver asked, his voice barely above a whisper.
We all looked around, trying to find the source of the sound, but there was nothing. It was as if the forest had swallowed up the noise, leaving us in a tense silence.
Then, out of nowhere, a group of rebels appeared, surrounding us with their weapons drawn. I felt a cold shiver run down my spine as I realized that we were in danger.
"Who are you, and what are you doing in our forest?" the leader of the rebels demanded, his voice rough and menacing.
"We mean no harm. We're just passing through," Draco said, trying to sound as calm as possible.
But the rebels were not convinced, and they tightened their grip on their weapons. It was clear that they didn't trust us, and I knew that we had to act fast if we wanted to get out of this situation alive.
Forget about being fast ,they were fast, faster than any of us. In no time, each of us was tied to a different tree. I struggled to break free, but the ropes were too tight. The rebels seemed to know what they were doing.
"What do you want from us?" Draco shouted at the rebels. There was no response. They seemed to be more interested in tying us up than communicating with us.
I looked around at my friends. Oliver was struggling to get free, while Raven was analyzing the ropes. Draco, on the other hand, was staring at the rebels with a fierce determination.
"There's just no way we can escape other than someone untied could untie us," Raven said, breaking the silence.
"I don't think they're going to untie us anytime soon," Oliver said, with a hint of frustration in his voice.
"We have to think of a way to get out of this," Draco said, his eyes scanning the surrounding area.
The rebels seemed to be patrolling the area, and we couldn't risk making too much noise. We needed a plan.
"We could try to distract them," I suggested.
"How?" Raven asked.
"Maybe we could make a noise on the other side of the clearing," I said. "That could draw their attention away from us, and we could try to escape."
"That's a good plan," Draco said. "But who's going to make the noise?"
"I can do it," Oliver volunteered. "I'll create a distraction on the other side of the clearing, and you guys can try to escape."
We all looked at Oliver, and he nodded, determined to help us.
"Be careful," Raven said, as Oliver began to move towards the edge of the clearing.
Oliver managed to make a noise on the other side of the clearing, and the rebels rushed towards the sound. We saw our chance and started struggling to free ourselves. The ropes were tight, but with some effort, we managed to break free.
As we ran towards the edge of the clearing, the rebels realized what was happening and started chasing us. We ran as fast as we could, dodging trees and ducking under branches.
Finally, we made it out of the clearing and into the safety of the forest.
"That was close," Draco said, breathing heavily.
"We have to be more careful from now on," Raven said, looking at each of us in turn.
"I agree," Oliver said, with a nod.
We had narrowly escaped the rebels, but we knew that we couldn't let our guard down. We had to be ready for anything that came our way in this forest of Celestia.
After we escaped from the rebels, we started to look around, trying to find a way out of this unknown forest. We were lost, and Raven's device that was supposed to tell us where we were didn't seem to be working.
"I can't believe it, Raven, do you have any maps?" I asked, feeling a sense of panic rise within me.
"I have a device that can tell where we are," Raven replied calmly, bringing out a tablet-like device and starting to work on it. "But I can't seem to see where we are."
Oliver took the device from Raven's hand and examined it. "What the hell, what are we supposed to do?"
Just as he said that, an arrow landed right next to my head, and I could feel the wind from it as it whizzed past me. I turned around and saw a group of teenagers, some not older than us, dressed in rugged clothes and holding bows, staring at us.
The group of teenagers surrounded us, their bows aimed straight at us. I could feel my heart beating faster with each passing moment. I looked over at Oliver, and I could see the fear in his eyes.
"What do you want from us?" Draco asked, trying to sound confident.
One of the teenagers, who seemed to be the leader of the group, stepped forward. He was tall and muscular, with a fierce look in his eyes. He looked like he was in his late teens.
"You are trespassing in our territory," he said, his voice stern.
"We didn't mean to," Raven spoke up, trying to reason with them. "We got lost in this forest and we are trying to find our way back."
The leader of the group seemed to consider her words for a moment. Then, he lowered his bow slightly.
"Who are you?" he asked.
"I'm Raven, and these are my friends," she said, gesturing towards us.
The leader looked at us with a critical eye. I could feel his gaze lingering on me for a moment longer than the others.
"We are just passing through," I spoke up, trying to sound as convincing as possible. "We don't want any trouble."
The leader seemed to ponder our words for a moment, then he nodded his head.
"Alright," he said. "But if we catch you trespassing in our territory again, we won't be so forgiving."
"Wait, where are we actually?" I asked and The leader turned around and faced me with a serious expression on his face. "You are in the middle of the Forest of Celestia," he replied, his tone conveying a sense of warning. In the middle? The rebels brought us in the middle of the forest?
As soon as the leader responded, the other teenagers lowered their bows and arrows. I breathed a sigh of relief, but the feeling of uncertainty still lingered within me.
The leader of the group seemed to read my thoughts and addressed us. "You are in the territory of the Rebels," he said, his voice firm and unwavering. "We are a group of teenagers fighting against the tyranny of the Celestian government."
My mind was reeling. All we knew was that they were a group of rebellious teenagers who had been fighting against the Celestian government for years.
"Why did you sorrounded us ?" Oliver asked, his voice shaky.
"We sorrounded you because we thought you were working for the Celestian government," the leader replied. "But now, we realize that you are just innocent bystanders caught in the middle of this conflict."
I let out a sigh of relief, grateful that they had finally realized their mistake. But at the same time, I couldn't help but feel a twinge of guilt. We had unknowingly stumbled into the middle of a conflict we knew nothing about.
The leader seemed to sense my unease and spoke again. "Don't worry. We won't harm you. But we can't just let you go either. You know too much about our operation."
"What operation?" Raven spoke up for the first time, her tone cold and clipped.
The leader looked at her, his eyes narrowing. "We can't tell you that. It's classified information."
Raven scowled, but didn't press the issue any further. Instead, she turned to me and the others. "We need to find a way out of here," she said, her voice low and urgent.
I nodded in agreement. We needed to get out of here and fast. But how? The teenagers seemed to have us completely surrounded, and we didn't have any weapons to defend ourselves with.
Just then, a commotion broke out among the teenagers. One of them shouted out, "The Celestians are coming!"
The leader turned to us. "We have to move. Now."
Without hesitation, the teenagers started to pack up their gear and move out. We were ushered along with them, running through the forest as fast as we could. I could hear the sound of approaching footsteps getting louder and louder with each passing second.
We had no idea what was going to happen next, but one thing was for sure: we were in the middle of a dangerous situation, and we needed to find a way out.
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