“A flash storm.” The female next to me frowned. “There was no mention of a storm on the forecast for today, but no one can predict a flash storm. I hate them.”
I looked at her. “I haven’t seen a flash storm before.”
“They’re more common near the forests, but they happen everywhere. You’ve probably slept through some. They can be brutal but last only minutes.”
“Wow.” I blinked. “That’s a little scary.”
“That is Kalbik for you.” She snorted. “Our territory has weather that changes by the minute.”
Kalbik was the name of the country where Royal City was located.
“Do you think it will rain, nona?”
“Yes,” she answered. “It looks like it might be a bad storm.”
“Maybe we should—”
A bolt of white lightning suddenly snaked from the darkening sky and struck a huge tree along the forest line a couple of hundred metres to our left. Both myself and the female screamed with fright and jumped back. The sheer volume of the strike was louder than anything I had ever heard in my life. Seconds after the lightning struck, the terrifying sound of cracking was heard. In horror, we watched as the tree that was hit by lightning split down its middle. Time seemed to slow down as the top half of the tree began to fall towards us. I felt my eyes widen, and my fear caused me to react.
I reached out, grabbed the female’s arm, and roughly pulled her as I began to sprint down the path. It began to rain both water and falling tree debris. We ducked left and right to avoid being hit. We were running for maybe a handful of seconds when I was knocked to the left, and I lost my hold on the female. Whatever fell, struck me in the head and distorted my vision. Something was covering me too. I opened my eyes and realised it was a green-coloured body-sized leaf. Rain pelted against it.
I lifted my hand to my throbbing head and warm liquid coated the palm of my hand. The stomach-churning metallic twang of blood filled the damp air of the enclosed space I was in. Feeling trapped, I began to panic. I focused on taking deep, steady breaths. I positioned myself onto my knees, then my feet. I was hunkered down with the heaviness of the leaf on my back. I used all of my strength to stand upright. My knees nearly buckled under the weight, but somehow, I freed myself.
I found myself standing in the middle of fallen tree debris.
I turned and sucked in a sharp breath when I saw the downed tree. It was massive, and it was only half the size of what it should have been. The other half was still stuck in the ground a couple of hundred metres away. I stared at the broken tree. The bark was a mixture of red, brown, and green, and there were zigzags of white that ran all over the bark too. Green, and turquoise leaves littered the ground. The fallen tree was gigantic. The tree’s top half was narrower than its broken base, but it was unbelievably big. I had never known a tree could be so wide or so tall before. I guessed it to be about one hundred metres in length … likely two hundred before the lightning hit it.
I couldn’t focus on it for too long because my head was killing me.
I didn’t realise how hard it was raining until thunder rumbled and jolted me into awareness of the rest of my surroundings. The boom in the sky was utterly terrifying. I placed my hands over my ears and resisted the urge to cry. My heart was beating so fast I thought it would burst. I wondered how the female and I would get out of the debris without harming ourselves. At the thought of the female, I jerked around, my eyes frantically scanning for her.
“Nona!” I shouted. “Nona!”
I couldn’t see her anywhere. I lifted my hand to my head, swaying slightly. I hissed when my fingers ran over an open wound within my hair. It was about an inch or so long. It didn’t feel too deep, but it sure hurt a lot. I used both hands then to wipe the falling rainwater and blood from my face. It was coming down so hard it was like a river of water streaming into my eyes. I held my hand flat above my eyes to act as a barrier as I scanned for the female.
“Nona!” I hollered. “Can you hear me?”
The pounding of the rain and the howl of the wind were the only sounds that answered me. I couldn’t believe the difference in the weather. It had been clear, sunny, and boiling hot just minutes ago. The skies were now darkened with angry clouds, rain poured like there was no tomorrow, and the thunder and lightning only added to the nightmare visual. I screamed when the sky flashed once more, and the rumble of thunder followed.