They arrived at the main hall of the place. Tala exerted more energy to the flame, making it brighter for the inspection the whole surroundings.
The pillars were made of intertwined huge vines standing in a circle.
In the main sit, a lady was sitting motionless. Her skin was black. She looked lifeless. She has a silver headdress with her folded wings on her back.
Kalipsi was going to approach the lady, but Tala stopped him. Although confused, he heed her.
Tala put her hand to the floor. She closed her eyes and surged her earthly energy to feel any vibration from below.
With his little earthly energy, Kalipsi hadn't feel her energy she poured to the ground. All he felt was the sudden disturbance of winds as a result of her energy.
Securing that there's no vibration, they approached the lady.
Tala felt the pulse of the lady. It's beating slow.
"Do you know what her condition is?" Kalipsi couldn't help to asked.
"She was still breathing but her life force was being slowly sucked up." Tala explained. "We need to bring her out her or kill the one behind this."
"Do...do you know who pull this off?" Kalipsi asked in confusion. The boy clearly just arrived and foreign to their land.
Does he already know the culprit? How he could tell? How formidable the young lass was?
Before Tala could open her mouth, an unfamiliar voice resonated.
"HA HA HA. HUMAN!" A hoarse voice suddenly sounded all over the hall.
"That's the culprit," Tala answered.
"Whaaaaat?" Kalipsi looked at Tala with incredulity. Just the eerie approach of the voice, Kalipsi could tell that the owner of the voice was a bad sign.
Tala did not pay heed to him, so he directed his attention to the unknown creature.
"Wh..who are you?" Kalipsi trembled sensing the uncomfortable energy became stronger. It approaches them from behind the lifeless lady.
A figure slowly approached them. A hideous two meter creature looked at them like they were his prey. Licking his lips, he said, "It's been a long time since I smell human flesh."
"What are you?" Kalipsi was filled with fear, but he didn't let it shown. He unsheathed his rusty elementary sword from his waist.
Elementary weapons were used by warriors. Secondary weapons were used by elite warriors. While mortal grade weapons were used by masters.
The creature didn't bother to answer him. He just looked at him as if Kalipsi was a good plater to salivate with. He dashed at a lightning speed towards him.
Kalipsi drove his energy through his sword to defend, but he just sent flying. The speed and the strength of the unknown creature was too great for him to handle.
The creature was going to launched his second attacked. Driving and gathering dark energy, he dashed again towards Kalipsi.
"I'm doomed! But I'm not going to die without a fight." Kalipsi murmured as he exerted his remaining energy to fight back. But as the creature came closer, he felt numbness. The energy became heavier. He can hardly breathe. He tightens his grasp to his sword ready for what is coming.
He tried to sway his sword, but he was unable to. The uncomfortable energy came like a boulder, crushing him. 'Is this my end?'
Kalipsi took a glance at Tala who seemed out of space. 'This creature is horroble after all.' He thought Tala frozed in fear.
He eyed her with the look of his face, telling her that he's sorry. Sorry for not be able to protect her.
Tala rolled her eyes in annoyance. She was examining the lady in front of her, but the creature seemed like wanted Kalipsi dead. She couldn't afford someone be killed under her nose.
Before the hideous creature could land the attack to Kalipsi, Tala vanished from her place, leaving disturbed dusts on the ground.
Tala appeared in front of the enemy, confronting the creature. She launched an ultimate punch. It didn't directly hit the enemy, but just the powerful surged of her energy made the enemy knelt on the ground.
Bam!
Blood drenched the ground. The enemy seemed to lost his life.
Kalipsi relaxed. He saw Tala raised her hand as if saying him, its done!
Just as he was about to approach her, their enemy moved!
"Noo.!" Kalipsi gathered all his strength to warn Tala, but she didn't seem to hear him.
The enemy rose. With its bare fangs, he attacked her.
Too bad for him because she was not novice when it comes to surprise attack. A circle was formed around Tala. It emitted light. Second later, the creature was sent flying when it made contact to the circle. Being annoyed from his strong desire to hurt them, Tala dashed at visible speed. She pointed a half-inch wide wooden stick to the creature's throat. No one knew when did she picked it up.
Raising her head to met the eyes of the demon, Tala asked, "Where are the others?"
"Do you think that this damn stick would be able to kill me?" the creature sneered.
Tala dabbed the stick to his throat. It seemed like a fragile stick, but it piercing his neck like he was just a jelly. Feeling pain, the creature step backward until he lean on to the wall. Blood flowed from the slight slit on his throat.
"How about it!" Tala smirked and raised her left eyebrow. 'A mere cacodemon like you think I can't kill you?'
"I don't know what you're talking about, but I will not loss to a mere human like you. I'M A DEMONNNN!" The demon gathered all the energy he could. The uncomfortable energy became heavier and heavier as dark energy gathered around the demon.
Tala, who was next to him didn't feel any helplessness. Instead, an expressionless face looked at the demon like he was just an ant.
"De... demon?" Kalipsi uttered. The uncomfortable energy became denser. It made him hard to breathe. He was going to faint at any moment. He staggered to the ground as his sight became blur.
Suddenly, the uncomfortable energy vanished. Kalipsi take a deep breathe and his senses came back. He wiped the cold sweat on his forehead. He looked at Tala and saw the lying demon motionless. He noticed the blood dropped on Tala's stick.
The blood was red as human blood.
Cacodemons were the lowest kind of demons with some characteristics of human, just like their blood.
"STUPID DEMON. HOW CAN HE ACT RECKLESSLY WHEN HE KNOW THAT SOMETHING SHARP WAS IN HIS THROAT!" Tala furiously yelled. She was going to interrogate the creature, but it suddenly made a move which made Tala's instinct stabbed its throat.
'My reflection from my previous life.' She sighed. 'It appears that he's just a wandering cacodemon.'
'Sharp? How could you say a mere stick was sharp?' Kalipsi was dumbstruck hearing Tala's words.
Regaining his strength, Kalipsi approached the lady.
"What should we do?" Seeing the lifeless lady, Kalipsi shyly asked Tala. He thought Tala would be unreliable, but it turns to be him.
"Do you have any pills?"
"I do." Kalipsi took out his pouch and hand it to Tala.
"It is just healing pills. Nothing more." Kalipsi explained.
Tala opened the pouch and saw five substandard pills.
"Feed this to her."
Kalipsi grabbed the pill. With a little regret, he feed it to the lady. Though, it was just healing pills, the sum his guardians needed to fetch that pills was enough for their monthly savings.
"Are you sure it is effective?"
"Just watch!"
Kalipsi knew that the lady wasn't s human, so he was hesitant that effectivity of the pills.
The lady's black skin showed sign of liveliness. A moment later, the lady regained her consciousness.
"Human!" The lady startled. She falteringly walked towards them emitting spirit energy; characteristic of a spirit creature.
She spread her luminescent wings.
"A spirit creature? A..are you Ani?" Kalipsi could not believe to what he was seeing.
"Yes, I am Ani, the spirit creature of harvest. I bet you two saved me. I thank you so much!" The lady bowed.
Spirit creatures were born according to the spirit energy of their surroundings, but their energy were not limited to only one skill.
Ani was born through the spirit energy of the plantations. She can dictate the harvest and she can also form a barrier. She can protect herself using her energy and can fight head on to an master level if given a chance to grow.
Her predicament situation earlier was due to her miscalculation.
"I...It's nothing." Seeing the spirit creature bowing, Kalipsi felt a little awkward. "He..he's the one who truly save you."
"No..it's your pill who save her." Tala stated.
"How can my pill saved her. I know you did something to it. And you're the one who kill the demon."
"I just touch it." Actually, Tala surged her little of her heavenly energy to the pill. It might be little, but as the purest energy among them all, little was more than enough. Guardian's energy was good for healing and recuperation among all living creatures beneath heaven, but she needed some medium to hide her identity. And Kalipsi's healing pills was just the right one!
The spirit creature was quite amazed by them. If it was a greedy one, they will probably fight for their so-called rights.
"Both of you help me out, so I thank you. But we needed to go out now for my absence weakened the barrier I set in this place."
Th...there's a barrier in this place?" Kalipsi couldn't keep out to Ani's words.
"Yes, there is. This is the place where I was born. In order to guard this place, I put a barrier because I could not guard this whole land days and nights." The lady explained as she led the way out.