Walking a few meters from the grass field, Luke and the others noticed that there was not a single tree or speck of grass in the vicinity. It was a flat land and stretched wide.
They started seeing a black dome like structure at the distance as they went forward. The more they approached it the bigger and clearer it got.
Finally, they arrived in front of the dome and saw a huge dome made of black stone covering a wide area. It was almost the size of the guild in the city. There was a single entrance in their front. It was an arc shaped entranced which led to a tunnel, like that of a cave.
"The Reflet tree must be inside that cave!" Luke said.
"Reflet tree?" Ruby asked.
"It's the tree which attracts the sunlight and reflects it in the surrounding and raising the temperature, making it ideal for the noon bloom to grow." Noah said.
"Let's hope that we were right in coming here!" Luke started moving forwards as the others followed him towards the cave entrance.
The further they went in the darker it got, and after a few metres inside it was complete darkness. Ruby conjured a flame over her palm which then illuminated the surrounding.
After some time, they saw a light coming from ahead. They had found the exit and excited, they rushed towards the light.
Leaving the tunnel, they were out on a dome shaped structure. The ground was flat with small patches of grasses spread around. The ceiling had a large hole at the far end from where sunlight directly entered inside.
Just below the hole was a huge tree of about sixteen feet. The leaves were cherry colored and reflecting light in the surrounding glowing bright. The trunk was soft brown and had an unusual shine to it.
But the fact that sucked their attention was the small four petalled bright luminous red flower at the base of the trunk.
All four of them were surprised as their eyes opened wide. A smile spread on their faces. Their objective was swaying right in front of their eyes, asking to be plucked out of the ground.
But just as they were about to give their first step towards the flower, sounds of footsteps came from the opposite entrance of the cave.
The smile vanished from their faces and they got on their guard when three figures came out of entrance. Adriana was shocked seeing another team reach here before them.
"You!?" Adriana yelled out in surprise.
Luke's lips parted into a smile again. He never imagined that he would see her again, and in these circumstances too.
"We meet again!"
"You know her?" Noah asked, surprised.
"We met in the library. I found that book thanks to her!" Noah replied.
"Did you follow us here?" Adriana charged at Luke.
"Why would we be here earlier than you if we followed you here?" Shane chuckled as he said in a sarcastic tone.
"Adriana! Look there!" Jane shifted her attention away as she pointed towards the flower.
Her eyes turned towards where Jane pointed and then she saw the glowing red flower below the luminous tree. She was ecstatic as well as relieved that she was right and now the mission would be successful.
"Shane, when I give the signal, fire a shot in their direction and Luke take this!" Noah whispered seeing the three newcomers distracted and handed a small coin shaped disc to Luke. "Use this to store the flower and run towards it on my signal!"
Luke nodded as all of them got ready. "Now!"
Luke zoomed towards the tree on Noah's signal and Shane's arm was already morphed into the cannon and he fired a shot at them.
Adriana and the other two were shocked seeing Luke running towards the flower suddenly. They were about to react but a fast ball of light reached at them instantly.
A shield slammed on the ground as Jordan put it in front of the cannon shot. Sparks and ambers of fire scattered around as the shot hit the shield. Adriana reacted fast and she chased Luke immediately.
But before she could catch up, Noah appeared in front of her.
"Get past me first!" Noah said with a smirk as he blocked her from moving ahead.
But his smirk didn't last long as she turned sideways and from her behind a huge fireball came at his direction.
Noah couldn't evade in time and he put his shield in front. The fireball hit squarely on his shield, pushing him back a few steps, but within that time Adriana had passed him moving towards Luke.
He removed his shield and looked towards the direction from where the fireball came and he saw Jane. He could see her smirk even behind that mask of hers. "Shit!"
"Stop! The flower is to be taken by the military! You'll be going against the whole military if you steal it!" Adriana yelled at Luke, hoping to scare him away with the military's name.
"I would love to give it up to you! but I can't betray my friends you see! And I'm not a fool too!" Luke replied with a smile.
Adriana clicked her tongue in frustration and mana started to gather on her metal boots as she suddenly zoomed towards the flower, trying to get past Luke.
Luke was about to reach the flower when suddenly he started feeling uneasy. His senses started warning him and doubt arose in his mind. Just when he was hesitating, he saw Adriana rush towards the flower.
His eyes moved up and shock surfaced on his face. "STOP!!" He yelled at her but she didn't listen or slowed down.
Prana rushed to his feet and he instantly vanished from the spot.
Adriana was about to reach the flower when suddenly Luke appeared out of thin air. He rammed into her as he pulled her away with him. Luke couldn't control his speed as both of them fell and rolled a few meters on the ground, hugging each other.
Luke hit the wall of the cave and groaned in pain as they came to a stop. Adriana was about to hit him for pulling her away when a loud sound behind her pulled her focus away.
BOOM!!
The spot where she was earlier just a few seconds ago, a huge tail fell right on that spot.
If Luke hadn't pulled her away, she would have been seriously injured and coughing out blood right now. instead of anger, she now looked at him with gratitude as her expression softened when she looked at him groaning in pain.
The tail lifted, leaving a depression on the ground, breaking a few stones of the floor.
Hissing noises filled the air as a huge snake like beast about eight meters long came out from the back of the tree. It had two horns on his head and jet black scales on its body. Yellow eyes with vertical pupils and tongue slithering out as the hissing filled the air.
"That…that's a fucking Imoogi!!!" Noah screamed out, his voice shaky as fear took over his senses.