Enchanted University of Magemenos

Chapter 22: Made it out alive

We began running, reaching the beginning of the Crape Myrtle trees, only to find bears engaged in a quarrel. When they saw us, it seemed as though they forgot about their quarrel and intended to come at us.

"Stay back," Keth said, his voice firm with determination.

"You have no strength, Keth. You can't protect us. We have to work together, guys. Eagen, listen for the direction of attack and alert us beforehand. Ella, prepare food to distract them. Drake, try to smell the exit and inform us. And Keth, do your best with whatever you can and i will just help in whatever way possible," I said, assigning roles in our impromptu strategy to fend off the bears.

We began executing our plan, managing to distract numerous bears by offering them food. With Eagen alerting us to the direction of incoming attacks, we were able to maneuver more effectively.

"Guys, the smell of the trees is too strong. It's almost impossible to smell the exit," Drake reported, his voice tinged with frustration as he struggled to detect any scent amidst the overpowering aroma of the Crape Myrtle trees.

"Are you even sure there is an exit here?" screamed Keth, his frustration boiling over.

"We can at least do something rather than doubting each other. I am almost positive the exit is here," I asserted, refusing to let doubt derail our efforts in what seemed like our only hope of escape.

"Drake, concentrate. I'm sure they taught you in your training sessions to focus in stressful situations," taunted Ella, her words a sharp reminder of the skills we had all been trained to utilize in moments of crisis.

Drake closed his eyes and began to focus on the smell. He remained within the protective circle we had formed around him. The bears continued to scratch and hit us, and Keth exerted all his strength in defense. Though the bears were barely injured, our resilience was enough to intimidate them. I felt a swell of pride for Keth, witnessing his unwavering strength and determination, even in the face of exhaustion.

"Got it!" shouted Drake.

"It's to the left," he said, his voice ringing with certainty as he pinpointed the direction of the exit.

We began moving swiftly, following Drake's guidance. Even Drake himself began delivering powerful blows to the bears with his nearly truck-sized fists, causing many of them to retreat in fear. However, in the chaos of the battle, one of the bears managed to tear into Keth's chest, leaving behind a large, bloody scar as a grim reminder of our perilous journey.

"This is the exit!" he shouted, his voice cutting through the chaos as we finally reached our destination.

"5 seconds left, 5... 4... 3... 2..." Eagen counted down, his voice echoing the announcement we couldn't hear, heightening the tension as we raced against the dwindling seconds.

As soon as we passed between the two trees that bent in a welcoming gesture, the boundary on the ground lit up with a green light. Just before time ran out, I grabbed Ella and pulled her close. Suddenly, the forest erupted in a deafening explosion, and the door slammed shut behind us. We found ourselves inside a room, realizing it was the sixth entry door.

"We made it," Eagen said, tears streaming down his face, his voice choked with emotion as the weight of our survival washed over him.

"We made it out alive," Ella said, her voice trembling with emotion as tears of gratitude and relief filled her eyes.

They jumped into a hug, pulling me and Keth into the embrace, though Keth seemed rather disinterested.

I suppose Nathan and Keth would make good friends.

"Congratulations for passing the 5th level or going through the 6th door," said the robotic voice.

"You can take a break either ways we have  to wait for 10 more minutes for the other participant's time to end," said the host.

You can take a break. We drink water and eat some food. It feels like we haven't eaten for two days, even though it seems like only an hour has passed. But everything was different there, from the food to the passage of time.

Eagen started stuffing food into his mouth as if he hadn't eaten in days maybe it is .

Even I was gulping down all the food, unable to help but think about how Kate and Nathan were doing, and of course, how the boys Tyson and Aiden were faring. I hoped they were all fine and alive.

So this is real, I pondered. I wonder if I'll make it out alive.