Amora's breath was quickening at a worrying pace. Chase noticed, but couldn't comfort her without letting go of Slim.
On the other hand, Slim's breathing was starting to get labored as they tried to make their way towards the treeline. The group had quickly realized that the temple door wasn't going to open back up anytime soon, so they had silently agreed to move towards the trees like Ratu suggested when they first landed.
Biggie's brow furrowed as he noticed Slim's state.
"Slim-" Biggie whispered.
"Shh." Slim responded between labored breaths.
"I can't hold this for much longer." Slim thought. "There's gotta be somewhere to hide."
"Fuck this." Biggie muttered to himself.
He pulled his hand from Slim's shoulder.
Warp
Biggie immediately came back into vision, the rest of the group still staying invisible as they tried to reach for Biggie.
The boy manifested two of his mallets, hitting them against one another as he stretched his neck from one side to the other.
The reptiles snapped their heads towards the noise.
After no more than a second of staring, the beasts trampled over the dry grass as their mouths began to slobber with the thought of consuming the boy.
"Run!" Biggie muttered towards his invisible friend.
Slim's eyes widened, as did the other three invisible teens.
Akilah, Chase, and Amora were beyond surprised at that one word.
"Is this the same selfish asshole?!" Chase thought, but he didn't have time to think any further.
Bam
Biggie's mallet struck the jaw of the first komodo dragon.
The reptile's head swung with the weapon, but it recovered in an instant.
The mallet the boy had struck with had turned yellow.
Biggie took a step back in shock.
The reptile was unharmed.
He took another swing at it, swinging at another of the beasts at the same time.
Bam, Bam, Bam
After a few more hits, the malletheads had turned bright red.
Biggie exhaled before striking the mallets against each other.
Ping
A bright red cloud of Spirit loosely forming a mallet head rushed towards the reptiles, knocking them out of the way one by one.
Boom
One komodo dragon was flipped onto its back, just as the one after it, and the one after that.
The invisible group quickly realized the situation.
"C'mon!" Biggie booked it for a rock formation on the other side of the grassy field.
Slim released his ability.
Warp
The group was visible once again, as the teens turned and sprinted behind Biggie as fast as they could.
Akilah wrapped Kai's arm around her shoulder as the both of them tried to avoid getting left behind.
Amora looked behind to see the two slowing their pace. Each step Kai took felt like he was getting closer to snapping his foot off.
Amora could feel her instinct kick in as she ran back towards the two.
"Amora!" Chase ran after her, spinning his rifle around as he prepared to scare off the beasts.
Now that she had closed the distance, Amora quickly realized she had no idea what she was going to do.
One of the dragons leapt for the Kai, smelling the blood dripping from his ankle.
"C'mon, Amora. Think." Amora thought, before it all clicked together.
She held her hands out, relying on pure instinct for what came next.
Boom
A deep sound shook the hearts of those around her as a familiar red light appeared from Amora, but it was different this time.
The red light only shot out from Amora's hands, hitting the leading dragon and the reptile behind it without affecting the girl's friends.
The rest of the reptiles seemed to take a step back as their companions dropped unconscious, slamming against the sandy dirt below.
"There's a house!" Biggie yelled from the front of the group, pointing to the once indiscernible rock formation they were heading towards.
The rest of the group caught up quickly, Kai and Akilah now able to pick up the pace with the help of Amora.
The reptiles followed, but slower, more cautiously, allowing for the kids to add space between them and the beasts.
Amora had surprised herself, but she had failed to realize the direction she had shot the red light in.
Inside the stone temple, Vida and Charlotte held onto the unconscious Ratu, her black braids touching the ground behind her as her head hung limp.
"Is she gonna be okay?!" Charlotte turned to Vida.
"Yeah, just give her a couple seconds-" Vida was interrupted as Ratu woke up, throwing a left hook into the air in front of her as her fist made direct contact with Vida's cheek.
The girl toppled back onto her behind, rubbing her cheek with a confused look on her face.
"What just…" Vida thought to herself as she watched the situation unfold.
The girl noticed pieces of stone falling from Ratu's closed fist, her eyes wide as she realized what they had come from.
"You okay?" Hendrix ran to her side, examining the damage as Vida nodded.
"The key… It's broken." Vida muttered as Hendrix looked at Ratu's hands.
"Hey." Charlotte shook Ratu by the shoulders as the girl looked around frantically, breathing shallow, scared breaths.
"Hey!" Charlotte screamed, finally catching the girl's attention.
Ratu calmed down, looking to Vida before looking away.
Through that now blank expression, Vida caught a hint of shame hidden behind it, just enough to notice.
"It's okay." Charlotte sighed, releasing her grip on Ratu's shoulders.
After collecting her thoughts, Ratu shot back up and onto her feet.
"We… We need to move." Ratu took her first steps down the staircase, firing up the group once again.
"No!" Hendrix exclaimed, helping Vida onto her feet.
"I can still smell them." Ratu turned to the boy. "They've only bled a little."
"Only?!" Taro interjected. "They shouldn't be bleeding at all! Unlock that fucking door!"
"The key's broken." Vida spoke, pointing at Ratu's hand.
Ratu looked down at her fist, opening it to reveal a bloody palm holding broken stone.
"God dammit!" Taro said, grabbing his face with his hands. All he could think about was Kai, out there with those… Things.
The group shook their heads, holding back their infuriation.
Boom
The rebels turned to see Taro's fist meet the stone slab at the front of the temple.
He reeled his fist back in pain before hitting the stone again.
"Everything on this island is built with Spirit." Charlotte said, grabbing Taro's shoulder. "All we can do is move forward."
Taro's face twisted with anger as he turned to the staircase.
Ratu made her way down the stairs first, then Charlotte, then Hendrix, Vida, and finally Taro, all walking into the darkness below.