Chapter 5

Noah and Gemma continued their journey in silence. They'd been traveling for hours and were already getting tired. Gemma slowed down and relaxed.

"We're almost there." She said excitedly. 

"It's mostly safe here since it's so close to camp. It's been so long, I really miss my bed...a lot..and maybe a bath would be nice too. Speaking of which, you really need to take a bath. You stink really bad." She added. The closer they got, the more talkative Gemma became.

They gradually moved further away from the city while avoiding the monsters. 

"We're here!" She finally said.

"Where's here?" Noah asked. He looked around but couldn't see anything special. They were in front of an old farm. The farm was protected by a tall brick fence. 

"This is the camp?" He asked again. Gemma glanced at him again. 

"Does your brain still hurt?" She asked sweetly. Come on in. 

The both of them went around the fence till they came across a thick iron gate that was covered in rust. 

Gemma paused in front of the gate and then knocked three times with a few seconds pause between each one. The old gate buzzed and they could hear the door as it clicked open. Gemma pushed the door open and walked in. 

The both of them stepped in and Noah was surprised to see that there were so many people going about their business. What was so surprising was that the farm looked abandoned and empty from outside but the inside was bustling and it also looked nothing like a farm. 

"Come on." Gemma called out. 

"Let me introduce you to the rest of the gang." She added.

A few people paused to look at them when they came in but after that, no one paid attention to them and they quickly blended into the crowd.

Gemma led Noah to a smaller building to the east and then entered inside. The inside was large. She entered inside a room and he followed.

As soon as she entered she collapsed on one of the many couches that were placed in the room.

Shortly after, the door opened and a group of people entered the room. 

The group consisted of three people. Two boys and a girl. They were dressed in leather outfits. The three stopped when they saw Noah and Gemma. 

"You're back!" The girl said.

"Of course. Gather round folks. I want to introduce you to our latest member." Gemma announced.

The three of them gathered round and the girl spoke first. "You can call me Crane. I can create illusions." She waved her hands and suddenly Noah was in the desert. He could feel hot wind blowing his face and the sand in the air. All of a sudden, everything was gone and he was back in the room.

"It's all a trick of the light" she said with a smile.

The second boy then introduced himself. 

"I am Matthew. I can shapeshift." His form suddenly changed into one of the monsters. It was all the same. He even captured the evil glint in their eyes. He then resumed his normal appearance.

The last boy cleared his throat loudly. 

"Pretentious prick." Gemma muttered softly. 

"My name is Nicholas and I have the power of aeromancy. Meaning that I can control the very air that you breathe." He snapped his fingers and Noah felt the air leave his lungs. Nicholas then snapped his fingers again and Noah took deep breaths to fill his lungs as he fell to the floor.

"I can also make air blades." He added proudly.

Once Nicholas stopped speaking, the room became silent and everyone looked at Noah with an expectant look.

Noah took the hint and introduced himself.

"My name is Noah. Nice to meet you." He then gave an awkward looking wave. 

"Okay Noah, nice to meet you." Said Matthew. 

"What's your power?" Mathew asked him.

"I don't have one." Noah replied. 

The others looked at Gemma curiously. 

"Well I'm sure you're all wondering why I brought an ordinary person here." She said, looking into their faces.

Sounds of agreement came from all three people. Even Noah felt curious as to why she had brought him here. 

"I saw this guy do something incredible. For some reason, the monsters don't attack him. So i thought that maybe he'll be useful for our mission." Gemma said.

"What mission?" Noah asked, looking lost. 

"This one." Nicholas said dramatically as he pulled out a map out of nowhere. 

He spread the map on a nearby table and pointed at a place on the map. something here seems to be able to stop the monsters. We don't know yet but we'll stop them and save the world. Noah looked at the map. 

"We're so far away" he said hesitantly. 

"It's too dangerous. Someone has to do it though" Crane replied. 

"And that someone is gonna be us" Matthew finished.

Gemma pulled Noah away from the crowd and sat him down close to where she was seated before holding his injured leg. She sent a wave of energy into his body that made him comfortable. After a while, his pain went away.  

He felt curious about how Gemma was able to survive even though her ability was healing. Gemma seemed to be able to understand what was going through his mind. 

"I'm stronger than I look, you know. I worked hard everyday. trained harder than anyone else and now i can kick ass like no one else can." She explained.

Noah felt a bit embarrassed having his thoughts seen through.

Night soon came and the five used sleeping bags and the cushions in the room to make makeshift beds for themselves.

Noah soon fell asleep. 

He had a dream that night. In his dream, he saw his sister sitting in a field and as soon as he approached her, she turned into a monster and chased him. There were suddenly a lot of monsters coming against him from all sides.

Noah suddenly woke up with a gasp. Gemma who was closest to him was awakened by the sound. 

"Did you have a nightmare?" she asked.

"No. it's nothing. It's just that I've never seen the monsters before. I can't get them out of my head. I've been a servant under the protection of a noble family all this time." He said. 

Gemma was surprised by the new information.

"That's all gonna change" Gemma declared confidently and Noah suddenly felt much better.