Illusion.
That was the first thing that popped into her mind the mont she pondered the cause of their current predicant.
They had been going around in circles because a powerful illusion had been blocking their senses.
"Did we accidentally go the wrong way or what?" Derek frowned.
Zerra thought about it and decided to reveal the reason. "It seems to be an illusion... every ti we passed a place, it’s like we were walking through a new path, but actually we had passed through it before."
Derek widened his eyes and mumbled, "Illusion." He examined Zerra’s expression. "How do you know it’s really an illusion?"
"It’s the most plausible explanation right now." She frowned. "I have encountered a mutated plant with such ability."
She didn’t imdiately detect it because the illusion was one with a wide range. It lulled their senses, making them mistake the sa landscape they were going to pass by for a new path.
With the forest having similar scenes everywhere — tall trees, lush and green vegetation with occasional weird-looking mutated plants here and there — it wasn’t easy to notice they were trapped and going in circles until so ti later.
Others might even realize it too late, when they were already starving and nearly dead.
"We have to find the mutated plant and squash it." Zerra spun around, inspecting her surroundings as she said so.
"What kind of mutated plant can create an illusion?" Derek instantly beca interested.
She knitted her eyebrows. "It’s so kind of mushroom... but any plant can have such abilities, not just mushrooms."
"Can you tell its characteristics?"
"The mushroom grows from eating the flesh and blood of other living beings. It has a red color like a heart after it just had its fill, and the color will fade after a while..." She ntioned the mushroom’s attributes, anything which could be analyzed from a single glance.
He nodded in understanding, but she didn’t miss the sparkle in his eyes. Obviously, he wanted to find whatever powerful plant it was that had trapped them to inspect it.
"Let’s find it," He exclaid in excitent.
They moved again, with the tiger following them. It had wandered off briefly sowhere to catch a mutated deer and now was munching on it.
The baby tiger had gone back to its mother after the mother was done eating, drinking milk. It still looked drowsy after sleeping in Zerra’s arms.
"Stay here." Zerra told them when she saw the baby tiger busily drinking milk. It must have been hungry.
Thus, she and Derek went to find the mutated plant. Of course, she had marked the tiger with her senses so that she could find it again.
After walking a few hundred ters, Derek opened his mouth. "I suddenly wonder... does the tiger actually get trapped with us?"
"What do you an?" She tilted her head.
"You know, animals have better senses than ours. Considering that it treated the forest as its ho, will it get lost like us?" He paused, pondering it a little. "It even hunted a deer. We haven’t seen many mutated animals so far, but the tiger found one."
"How was the forest when you first ca here? Did you find a lot of mutated animals?" She knitted her eyebrows.
"Not that many..." he trailed off, as if recalling his mories, "but definitely not this quiet either. I still occasionally heard birds chirping or other noises."
They stared at each other in silence. There was only one thought in their minds: find the tiger!
Now, all the confused look on the tiger’s expression made sense. It was wondering why both of them kept on walking through the path they had been through before!
"Let’s go back." She breathed.
Her senses locked onto the direction of the tiger. She heaved a sigh of relief when she could feel its presence.
Derek went first, occasionally turning his direction with her guidance when he was about to go the wrong way.
After they were a few ters away from the tiger’s original spot, Zerra was stunned. The senses connecting her to the tiger were gone! She couldn’t locate it no matter what.
"The tiger is supposed to be here." She took a deep breath, eyes wide. As she took in the surroundings with her eyes, she still didn’t spot the tiger.
From Derek’s conflicted gaze, he didn’t see it either.
"The tiger is gone..." he muttered. "Maybe it has moved? Or did we go the wrong way?"
"No." Zerra shook her head. She crouched down, picking up a pink flower from the ground. "I rember this flower."
It was a little crushed because the tiger had sat on it when it was feeding its baby. She continued, "It’s exactly this place... maybe you are right. The tiger has gone."
Her frown deepened. Because... when she was a few ters away from this place, she had clearly sensed the presence of the tiger. Had the illusion deceived her again?
A sense of unease crept into her heart. Why did she feel as if soone had been watching for a while now? She had faintly sensed this yesterday. It was very faint, so she had brushed it off as so kind of mutated animal watching over them.
But now... she wasn’t sure anymore. The feeling never went away. It had disappeared briefly, and now it was coming back.
"Zerra, what’s wrong?" Derek noticed her biting her nails anxiously.
"We have to find the tiger." She inhaled deeply. "It might guide us to the way out."
"How about trying to make so noise?" Derek suggested. "If you call it, maybe it will be back."
He had seen the tiger acting so docile around her. Her claim that the tiger didn’t listen to her might not be quite believable.
She pursed her lips and nodded. Trying to call the tiger wouldn’t hurt...
"Tiger..." she cleared her throat and began to yell. "Where are you? I have co back!"
Yelling like that made her feel like she was crazy, but she endured the embarrassnt and focused on communicating with the tiger. Through brain wave communication.
There was a rustling sound in the bushes, but after a while, it died down.
"It’s also not there." Derek narrowed his eyes.
She also received no response, as if the tiger had disappeared from the forest or had gone too far away.
"Let’s leave this place." He suddenly grabbed Zerra’s hand. "It looks–"
Before he could continue his words, the ground shook again. A sinkhole abruptly appeared in front of them, and fortunately Zerra was quick enough to pull Derek away. If not, they would have been swallowed by that black hole.
Both fell to the ground, sitting down. Shock filled their eyes.
Their hearts were shaken when they saw the sinkhole spreading. They didn’t even have the ti to exchange words before they got up and attempted to drag each other behind.
Complete darkness surrounded the sinkhole. Zerra was stunned when she faintly sensed the traces of space power in it.
If they got dragged inside...
"It keeps spreading." Derek breathed out, with eyes filled with fear. They managed to get away about fifty ters from the sinkhole. "What the heck is it?"
She stared at the sinkhole worriedly. The tiger wasn’t swallowed by that thing, right?
"Let’s go, Zerra. We can’t stay here." Derek clutched her hand.
"The tiger..." she bit her lip. "It wasn’t swallowed by that thing, right?"
The round shape was spreading, like a shadow, swallowing everything in its path. Inside, it was pitch black.
Just as Derek was about to open his mouth, they felt another earthquake. The ground shook, nearly throwing them off balance.
Zerra jolted when she felt sothing biting her hand.
"Oh, you..." she widened her eyes.
The tiger has co back. It was urging her to go, growling anxiously. Now, it had moved to biting her clothes. She had no choice but to follow what it wanted. Otherwise, if her clothes tore apart...
"Derek, run!" She yelled.
The tiger’s anxiety was spreading through her from the brain wave communication. It seed that the previous sinkhole had left a deep trauma on it.
Derek followed Zerra and the tiger.
However, no matter how they tried to run, they found themselves back at the starting point again. Around fifty ters from the sinkhole.
Now, it had gotten bigger.
The tiger let out a deafening roar. It bit her clothes again, trying to make her leave the place.
Zerra was stunned when she saw its condemning eyes. It had the sa look Nyra often gave to Laziel when he did stupid things.
"Why are you looking at like that?" She asked it. She wasn’t offended, because it could be a clue to leaving this place.
"Huh?" She couldn’t believe what it was saying. "You say I keep going back to the sinkhole by myself?"
Just as Zerra pondered it, she felt the traces of the ti and space from the sinkhole getting stronger. As if it were about to swallow the forest whole.
Then, a dark shadow lood over them. She gasped when she saw what it was.
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