"Hello, darling. Why do you look so horrified?" A jovial male voice greeted her.

Sarah tried to calm down as quickly as possible and glanced at the source of the voice. She saw a tall boy and a petite woman, both staring at her.

"Are you new to this?" The boy gestured to the whole surrounding.

Who are they? How dangerous are they?

"They are harmless," Gu sighed, "after this, you are going to learn how to read minds. You need it to protect yourself. Don't be weak."

Even though she was slightly irritated with Gu's short sermon, she instantly felt a sense of relief when she knew that he was by her side. She wouldn't be facing the unknown all by herself.

The boy smiled widely when he saw Sarah stayed silent. "Yes, you must be new to this!"

"I am Prakash," he gestured to himself before gesturing to the petite woman beside him, "and this is Ee Yin."

The young woman looked at Sarah shyly before smiling gently. With her milky white skin, phoenix eyes* and pink lips, she looked like a doll.

"Hello. I'm Tan Ee Yin. Nice to meet you." Ee Yin said softly.

"Nice to meet you too, Ee Yin." Sarah nodded her head once in her direction.

"What about me?" Prakash ran his hand through his hair.

Sarah scrutinised him. He was tall, dark and handsome. His Indian features were distinguishable. He seemed to be the playful type, friendly with everyone.

"I'm handsome, right? Don't fall in love with me." He winked at Sarah.

Sarah's face remained stoic but in the inside, she was guffawing and chortling. How confident was he?

"If he's handsome, then what am I? Heavenly handsome?" Gu glanced over Prakash without giving a care.

You're a naga. Of course you are on different level of handsomeness.

"I can shapeshift into a human, you know. Even then, my handsomeness will surpass others." Gu said confidently.

Before Sarah could react, Prakash was already calling her.

"Err... you don't look amused. Please ignore what I said just now. By the way, can we know your name?" He asked, while rubbing the back of his neck.

"Sorry for spacing out. My name is Sarah." She purposely didn't gave them her full name. A name has powers too.

His eyes brightened. "Okay, we're done with the formalities! Now, let's explore! We will guide you and answer your questions, right, Ee Yin?"

"Yes." Ee Yin smiled.

Prakash brought them to a random shelf. The shelves were not numbered and Sarah was already lost.

This place is less organised than the one that I first went into.

"This is where I got my power." He said when they stopped in front of a shelf. He held a staff gently. The staff was so long, Ee Yin and Sarah was shorter than it.

The body of the staff was intertwined with green and brown vine. A piece of emerald topped the staff.

"This is my tongkat sakti*. As you can see, this staff has two colours. Green symbolises flora and brown symbolises fauna. I'm a nature whisperer."

Sarah was shocked. Why did he tell her about his power?

"I'm sure you don't trust us yet, but don't worry. We will be friends one day. Plus, we will meet each other sooner or later." Prakash smiled brightly at Sarah.

"How are you so sure?"

"The Arakian** will bring us together." Ee Yin spoke up.

"What on earth is that?" Sarah frowned.

"The Arakian will ensure that your power is under control and you're not using it to create destruction." Prakash answered excitedly.

"The Arakian didn't visit you as soon as you got your powers? They visited us the day we got our powers and they were really formal with both of us!" Prakash eyes gleamed as he leaned closer.

"No." Sarah answered simply.

"Wow! This means that you are backed up by an important and wise soul! Just who did you bond with?" He leaned even closer in excitement.

So guys like gossips too?

"Only him." Gu inched closer to Sarah. Sarah smiled inwardly.

"A naga." Sarah answered Prakash modestly.

Ee Yin and Prakash froze, shocked by her answer.

*Phoenix eyes: as seen in the picture (Mulan's eyes)

**Arakian: A classical Malay word that loosely means 'after that'.

D E D I C A T I O N

 To the one from my homeland who stayed loyal till this day. Thank you. Terima kasih yang teramat. 

TeaTells

C R E D I T

That Summer (Second Story) by INFINITE

Update 2/3

One more teaser to go! Wattpad is glitching up >.<

Love,

Eireen x