The eleven rebels bolted towards the trees, following Ratu as she bobbed and weaved between trees effortlessly.
The rest of the group staggered behind, trying their best to avoid tripping over what seemed like millions of vines, tree roots, and shrubs.
Behind them, a dozen komodo dragons stomped through the trees. Their chaotic sprint slowed each time they tumbled over each other, giving the rebels just enough time to escape onto the other side of the forest.
Panicked, Vida spun towards the beasts, putting her palms towards the creatures as that signature green glowed from her hands.
The teens heard roots cracking beneath the shrub-covered ground as a wall of twisted roots exploded from under the dirt, separating the rebels from the reptiles.
One komodo dragon was flipped onto its back as the wall appeared from underneath him, but his companions were not so stunned.
Vida watched in horror as long, curved claws shredded through the warped wood.
Crack
The claws made holes just big enough for the reptiles' heads to fit through as they began to bite at the wood, tearing Vida's construction to pieces.
Vida froze for a moment, the near futility of the situation weighing down on her shoulders like anvils.
"C'mon!" Akilah pushed her forward, snapping her back into reality as she caught up to the rest of the group.
"What's wrong with these things?!" Chase said after glancing at the sight, picking up his pace as he noticed some of the beasts making their way around the wall.
"They're even worse than last time, Ratu." Charlotte said, trying to keep her hat from flying away.
"There." Ratu pointed to a small stone structure while ignoring Charlotte's remark.
The ten rebels bolted towards what seemed like a small box made of stone slabs, covered by moss and vines.
The beasts were gaining on the crew now that they were in open terrain once again. Their claws dug into the sandy dirt after every stomp, kicking up dirt as a small dust cloud made the feeding frenzy only more terrifying to the teens.
As the faster of the group met the front of the stone structure, Ratu dug her hand between what seemed like two random stone slabs like it was instinct.
She took out a jagged stone key as a low rumbling came from somewhere beneath the teens' feet.
A larger stone slab in the middle of the structure's face began to recede into the ceiling above it, making way for an entrance.
Behind Ratu and Charlotte, some of them were still lagging behind.
Kai, glancing back at the reptiles, turned into a blur as he sped towards the stone structure, jumping through the gap between the receding stone door and the bottom of the entryway.
Hendrix took hold of Vida, shooting a steel string from his free hand as it dug between two of the structure's stone slabs. The two of them shot towards the entrance, making their way into the structure.
Taro jumped off the ground below him as he activated his Mode, making him fly towards the entryway.
Crunch
Taro hit the top of the structure with his arms in front of him to lessen the impact.
"C'mon!" Charlotte shouted at the remaining five.
Chase, Amora, Akilah, Biggie, and Slim ran towards the stone temple with all of their might.
In a panic, Chase spun his assault rifle to the front of his body, aiming it towards his pursuers.
Bang, bang, bang
He fired half of his magazine, but to no avail. The bullets bounced off of the lizards' scales as if they were nothing but toys.
Akilah's eyes widened at the sight of bullets reflecting off of scales.
"Shit. These aren't normal animals." Akilah realized as he spun back around.
In the temple, Vida looked for something, anything to help her friends outrun the reptiles.
She glanced towards Ratu's direction as she saw a worrying sight.
For the first time since they met, Ratu's face wasn't vacant of emotion. That blank stare was now replaced with a panicked look, her eyes darted between the rebels inside, the few still running outside, and a small keyhole between two of the stone slabs.
"Hurry!" Kai screamed.
He glanced once more at the reptiles as he gauged the distance.
The boy exhaled before turning into a blur once again, zipping towards Akilah-
"No! Don't!" Vida screamed at Ratu as she realized what she had decided.
Ratu jammed the stone key into the keyhole as the low rumbling returned.
Kai was able to turn around just in time to see it with the rest of the crew outside. The stone door dropped from the temple's ceiling, closing off the entrance.
The group outside froze in shock and confusion-
Hiss
A gurgled hiss caught Kai's attention as he felt a sharp pain surge from his foot.
"Ah!" Kai exclaimed as the rest of the group turned to him.
The teens reeled back as their eyes met a komodo dragon, it's jaws wrapped around Kai's heel.
"Kai!" Akilah screamed, unsheathing her sword before bringing it down on the dragon's neck.
Chase pulled his rifle out once again, emptying the rest of his magazine in a futile attempt to scare away the dragon.
Ping, ping, ping
All of the teen's attacks reflected off of the reptile's skin, but the noises were enough to scare the beast into releasing its grip, giving the kids just enough time to bolt away.
"Hold on!" Slim held his hands out as his friends all grabbed hold of his arms.
Warp
In an instant, the six of them vanished from sight.
The feeding frenzy behind them quickly lost momentum, the dozen or so reptiles standing still to try to catch a whiff of blood in the air.
After a few seconds, Slim let out a quiet sigh of relief.
"Thank goodness they can't sense Spirit." Slim thought. "But I won't be able to hold this for long."
Inside the temple the five others exploded into confused anger.
"WHAT THE FUCK?!" Taro screamed at Ratu before setting his sights on the stone door.
He pulled his sleeve up before reeling his fist back, ready to break the door into jagged pieces.
"Stop." Ratu pulled the boy's fist down. "The dragons are still lurking."
"I know!" Taro retorted. "You just stranded my brother out there with them!"
Taro gritted his teeth as Ratu looked away.
"It was them or all." Ratu stated plainly, refusing to look at anyone.
"Ratu, you know that's wrong." Charlotte said.
Ratu shook her head, walking towards a staircase on the other side of the room. "Time to move."
"We need to see if they're okay." Charlotte interjected.
"We need to move." Ratu shook her head once again. "Those dragons have consumed too many Spirit users to try and save your friends-"
A red flash poured through one of the stone walls as Ratu went limp.
"Amora…" Vida thought as she leapt to grab the unconscious girl before she hit the ground.
"What happened?!" Charlotte grabbed Ratu's shoulders, checking her for any injuries.
"It's one of Amora's abilities." Hendrix knelt down to help Vida pick Ratu up.
"That can't mean anything good." Taro tried to peer through one of the gaps in the stone slabs.