A FOREST OF POSSIBILITIES

Leomere looked at the blue sky and the scorching sun. Time was passing and they weren't making any progress.

HE wasn't making any progress. It was as if they had to work together, even though only one of them could win in the end. He took a deep breath and called out the names of the contestants. "Joz! Parele! Mohieazttha!"

Of course not lustros.

After a while they began to emerge from the dense foliage of YHÀKADÉI forest. Leomere was relieved they were close by.

Parele came first, followed by mohieazttha then Joz.

"Clues anyone?"

They shook their heads.

"There are riddles to solve and clues to find, and we don't have much time before the sun sets." They all nodded their faces drawn and serious.

It was obvious that Parele was hiding something and he knew something he wasn't willing to share. His face was flushed and his forehead damp with sweat.

He found the first note two hours ago but he didn't have the brain power to solve it.

"Parele, tell us what you know. You found something didn't you?" Mohieazttha asked her voice gentle and insistent.

"What! Me? No." Parele hesitated his eyes darting around.

"Perry!" She stomped her feet on the ground.

Parele looked at the sky and rolled his eyes in exasperation. But you know we are not supposed to work together, it's against the rules."

Joz shook his head. "Yeah yeah... RULES as if!"

Parele mumbled something I'm mohieazttha's ears which made her eyes widen.

"What?! You did omawoa? Again!" She blabbed about what was supposed to be a secret.

"Way to go shorty." Parele gave her a side eye.

Joz grabbed him. "You can summon the forest?!"

Parele shut his eyes. "Oh not again! Get him off me before he kills me again." Joz realized this and released his grip. "Ooh sorry."

"It's the second time." Mohieazttha stated confidently.

"How do you know all these?" Leomere inquired.

"Man we speak a lot."

"No soul shall hear of this! It's sorcery from fandrahe, very dangerous, you're too young Parele! You'll be tamed..." Leomere warned.

Too bad lustros already had a taste.

They were diverting from the main thing. The first time Parele realized he could summon the forest was when he got lost in a jungle as a child. However he hadn't summon the forest again until now. He tried summoning it many times but it didn't work until today. As a child he learned about the sorceries in the book of fandrahe even though youngins were not allowed.

It was a secret he hid from everyone until he met mohieazttha and now Leomere and Joz too.

"As great as that sounds..." Leomere began. "I'm actually more concerned about finding that clue." Joz nodded in affirmation.

"I think you guys are trying to take advantage of me!" Parele blurted out.

"Just this one time...I promise after this, we'll all go our separate ways." Leomere pleaded. Joz agreed.

"Can you try to summon the forest now?" Mohieazttha asked, trying not to focus on the squirrel scurrying through the under bush.

"Really shorty? That's all you care about?"

All four of them began to argue. Leomere and Joz were being selfish. Just wanting to get their hands on the clue, while mohieazttha just wanted to quench the thirst of her curiosity.

"Perry do it again!"

"Give us the clue!"

"Let's see it!"

Suddenly Parele began to hear the sound of everything around him. Mohieazttha nudging him to do omawoa, Joz and Leomere's voices, lustros' footsteps, their heart beats, their breaths, birds chirping, leaves falling, rivers gurgling. He shut his eyes and buried his face in his hand. What was going on?? He wanted all of it to stop.

"All of you just stop!" He yelled, his voice breaking through the cacophony of noise.

It was as if he cast a spell on everyone and everything around him. They all came to a complete halt, everywhere was dead silent. The birds, the squirrels, the wind, people. They all froze in time. Parele threw his eyes open.

"Shorty!" He tapped her shoulder but she wasn't moving nor responding. Frozen in time, even the strands of her hair were frozen.

"Oh no!" He shook in emotion. "No no how did I? Zuianzx(the time binding spell.) How I read about it in the books... but how?"

"Joz! Leo!" He called out in fear. What did he do? He cast a spell on the entire forest. Where was all this power coming from? "Such sorcery I'm darned."

There was something something about YHÀKADÉI forest. He felt a surge of power the moment he stepped on it's ground.

He wanted to reverse his action but he didn't know how, he knows all the books and spells but practice makes the man. He needed to calm down first, he shook his head to get it out of his head. He took deep exhales.

He took a deep breath and closing his eyes. Then extended his arms to his sides, palms facing upward. With his eyes still closed, he traced a circle in the air. Focusing all his energy in the center. He began to release the spell in reverse. "Yeaulx ayea Yeaulx ayea O my dear forest...in anger I have condemned my friends in a state of stasis, the pulse of eternity lies within their souls. Now hear my pleas and set them free..."

He felt a rush of energy coursing through him, the world around him began to move once more, as if coming back to life. The trees swayed in the wind and the birds took flight. His friends that were frozen in time began to blink and move as if they woke from a slumber. Parele breathed a sigh of relief.

"Perry I fear you!" Mohieazttha stated with wide eyes.

"The time binding spell??" Leomere shut his eyes and turned away. "There has to be an explanation for all of this! It is not in your path to know such sorcery."

Mohieazttha was still keen on summoning the forest. But Parele decided that was enough for the day, he handed Leomere the note.

"Read this out loud, after this let's all go our separate ways. Something is going on in this forest we have to get out of here as soon as possible.

If this is what's happening in the forest in broad daylight, I dread to think what might transpire when the sun sets and the shadows lengthen. It's a disturbing thought, to say the least."