The Betrayal of the Guardians

~ (46) Ambush (Part I) ~

Through the thick sandy dust, Arisa could see several wolves of various sizes wandering around the land. As the dust cleared slowly, she noticed that those creatures weren't regular animals.

Instead of seeing colorful furs covering their surface, those creatures were rock-sculptured. Their color varied from gray to dark brown.

With her heart hammering, pumping fear and worry in her blood, Arisa searched for her friends. Beyond the various boulders scattered around the vast green land, she couldn't see a trace of her comrades. The brownish dust stopped clearing up, remaining in the air, and challenging her sight.

The stone sculptured wolves kept walking around the zone, examining every side of the land, looking for their victims.

Heaviness pulled Arisa's heart as she continuously looked around in search of her team. She could feel her trembling hands against the rocky wall of the cave. She took a deep breath, trying to calm down.

Everyone must be fine. She breathed in and out. They're strong; they must have found a way to escape.

She took another deep breath. Despite her trying to calm herself by being positive, she couldn't help but worry about her teammates.

A sound of an object being crushed forced her heart to jump. She peeked by the cave's entrance, fear flowing in her veins. Her gaze caught one of the large wolves crushing with its claws one of the many boulders of the land.

Arisa gulped, hoping that no one was hiding behind that large rock. As her heart kept pumping fear, she examined the zone, thinking of a way to escape from that threat.

As she studied the area, relief calmed her heart. Several meters away from her cave, Arisa spotted a petite girl, hiding behind one of the scattered boulders.

Arisa released a deep breath. "Caris."

That relief vanished in seconds, as she noticed that one of the wolves was approaching the little girl. Arisa hoped Caris would notice the threat that was slowly getting closer, but it seemed as though the Oceanian's concentration was focused on the pack wandering behind her hideout.

"Look out!" Arisa rushed towards Caris' spot.

Despite using her speed, she couldn't reach the area in time. The creature smashed Caris along with the boulder. The impact stirred a storm of sand and stones.

"N-no, Caris!" Arisa's knees weakened.

Her heart sank like stone at the thought of that innocent girl losing her life this way. Before she could digest that reality, a claw attempted to pierce her head. Arisa protected herself with her blade, fighting for the creature to not put her down.

As she fought not to fall, heaviness struck her arms. Arisa tried to use her strength to force her opponent's claw away from her. But as the creature was built of stones, the little strength that she had wouldn't be enough to produce a light scratch on its surface.

A sudden weight formed within Arisa's heart. Her eyes widened. With instinct, she gave up defending herself against her opponent and fell sideways. A sound of a violent collision drummed her ears.

Bits of stones and dust slapped her face as a large wolf crushed into her opponent. As the dust slowly cleared, Arisa saw that one of the wolves survived and tried to move away from the pile of earth and sand caused by the impact.

Arisa's heart jumped when she felt something touching her shoulder. She turned around with her sword ready to protect herself.

"Ah," said a timid voice.