I tried to make my way through the crowd, pushing aside every person in front of me in order to pass. They appeared to be an infinite corridor of people that distorted the more I walked among them; with every step I took, they made laughter that sounded insane to my ears; I was getting desperate; I was out of breath; and with the last of my strength, I shouted Remina's name, but she was nowhere to be found. Every time the people who imprisoned me left a space between them, I passed immediately; I could not find her or her kidnapper in that section of the dance floor. The tears came out until they diluted the little mascara I used.
A few minutes passed, and I stopped to catch my breath. I looked to the front and noticed that a boy with brown hair and a strong physique was staring at me at that moment. Starting to go near where I was, I exhaled quickly, seeing how he could not hide it, but he came closer to where I was. I just wanted him to go away so I could recover the air I lacked and resume the search for Mina, but my indifference did not prevent his intentions.
"Hey, beautiful" "Are you okay?" "Is something wrong?" He asked me as he grabbed me by the waist.
"My friend; I need to find her," I said, my voice cracking from lack of air.
"Don't worry, honey, let me come with you; maybe I can make you forget all your worries," he said as he wiped the small black mascara tears on my cheeks.
Even though I felt limp, my eyesight was no longer deceiving me. Just like the cursed Deimos, this guy showed half of his face covered by that blurry darkness, leaving only that red glow in his right eye. They couldn't be humans!
"You are extremely delicious," he said as he brought his lips close to my neck.
"No, please let me go!" "Let me go!" I struggled with him until I pushed him away from me.
"Don't resist; it's worse if you pretend you don't want to," he said as he reached out to grab my hand.
I remembered my friend Remina, unconscious and disappearing into the arms of Deimos, and a fury took over my being. I gave him a quick slap that scratched the side of his face; some tears had been made on his face, leaving a dark color between them that did not bleed at any time.
"AAH! Damn!" he said as he raised his hand to hit me.
His fist was heading towards my face with all his strength, but before it could touch me, someone pushed me away and then stabbed the guy's chest with a flaming sword. I realized what happened when Kyara and Sharin were holding me in their arms, in front of me, and Zeylan was holding the sword that pierced the chest of my assailant.
"How in the hell could they get through the gates without being seen?" he said as he saw who had attacked him, giving him a look of hatred.
"Once you decipher the code of one of their entrances, it is easy to open another." "Now succumb to the flames of my cursed sword," said Zeylan as he raised his sword in a single movement, cutting from the center of the man's chest to his left shoulder.
When his sword was up, the blue flames began to cover the man's body until it turned into ashes; this caught the attention of everyone in the arena, who stepped aside as the remains fell to dust at his feet. The music stopped, and everyone came out of their astonishment to show their fury, standing on the other side of the place. Some changed their youthful appearances into dark faces, while others began to take the form of creatures of gruesome appearance, while at the other end, another crowd unsheathed their weapons.
"Guardians!" was heard in the screams of those beings that gave off an aura of rage and evil.
Zeylan made a deft movement of his sword to wield it with both hands, putting its edge against the enemy's side.
"ERICK! SHARIN! "FIRE WALL!" he shouted as those who took the form of beasts rushed towards us.
Erick stretched out his arms; blue flames erupted from his fists, and he began to raise a massive fireball that he threw over Zeylan.
"Sharin!" her fiance shouted.
The redhead joined her hands to form a reverse triangle with her fingertips, eliciting a violet glow from her hair and revealing a dreamcatcher symbol in the same color light on her bare back.
The crowd yells, "ENCANTRIS MAGIC!" "11!... Ramayana!" Sharin said in a loud voice.
Erick's fireball spread as he finished pronouncing those words, sweeping away the monsters of humanoid form that approached, extending claws and fangs. Some still in flames had managed to pass to the other end, attacking the first guardians with whom they crossed. The battles had begun; the sound of weapons impacting against each opponent could be heard, and Zeylan's comrades in arms had begun to use their abilities.
"It's not big enough to neutralize the noctophages, Encantris!" said the short blue-haired girl I had bumped into minutes earlier, standing behind Sharin.
"I don't need a traitorous witch like you, Veria Kuzakova, to tell me what to do," Encantris replied with a tone of displeasure.
"BEWARE!" I shouted to both of them as a group of sharp daggers were directed in their direction.
Veria made a quick movement with her hands, and a violet-colored aura emanated from her body. I had the impression that her hair had grown at that moment.
"Sheeld Kshetrah," she pronounced in a resonant and strong voice.
As soon as he uttered those words, the daggers began to hover in the air as if they had been stuck in the air, and then a female laughter was heard from the parallel stairs leading to the second floor.
"How ironic, encantris and witches fighting side by side, how pitiful," remarked the high-pitched voice.
We saw an adult woman jump over the suspended daggers. Her braided black hair reached her waist. She looked contemptuously at the girl with short blue hair. The guards tried to hit her with projectiles, but she dodged them with agility.
"You are a pitiful witch, lowering yourself to the level of a dirty encantris and serving the guardians of dreams?""By the honor of the Rode clan and the name of Aradia, I Kendra Mirie swear that I will end your life, Veria Kusakova of the cursed Tanis clan," said the red-eyed woman sensuously.
"Nothing would make me happier than to take you down from there and break your proud face," replied Veria defiantly, keeping her gaze fixed on her rival's face.
Sharin tensed her shoulders in rage at the insults hurled at her by the woman who despised both guardians.
"I wish you would come down and tell me straight, you damned witch!" she exclaimed, angry at the comments of the mysterious woman.
As Sharin's rage grew, the encantris changed the shape of the wall of flames into a huge ball of blue flames that she threw at the witch with braided hair, who turned around to calmly look at the sphere of flames that went straight at her, her body emitting a dark aura and her hair emitting a black glow.
"BLED ADRSHY," she proclaimed, raising her right hand in the direction of Sharin's attack.
The sphere of flame split into small fireballs that impacted against the invisible wall that Veria was holding with her magic; each small sphere of flame pierced the wall, sounding like broken glass. In fact, it could be seen to shatter like glass.
"NO, SHARIN! "Stop!" shouted Zeylan, but the girl didn't seem to hear him; her gaze was fixed on the black-haired witch.
The now-broken glass wall was besieged by the creatures and the grim-looking me.
Erick's fireball spread as he finished pronouncing those words, sweeping away the approaching humanoid monsters with claws and fangs.Some that were not yet in flames had managed to pass to the other end, attacking the first guardians with whom they crossed. Fighting had begun, and the sound of weapons impacting against each other could be heard. Zeylan's comrades in arms began to use their skills.
"It's not big enough to neutralize the noctophages, Encantris!" said the short blue-haired girl I had bumped into minutes earlier, standing behind Sharin.
"I don't need a traitorous witch like you, Veria Kuzakova, to tell me what to do," Encantris replied with a tone of displeasure.
"BEWARE!" I shouted to both of them as a group of sharp daggers was heading in their direction.
Veria made a quick movement with her hands, and a blue-colored aura burst from her body. I had the impression that her hair had grown at that moment.
"Sheeld Kshetrah," she pronounced in a resonant and strong voice.
As soon as he uttered those words, the daggers began to hover in the air as if they had been stuck in an invisible wall, and then a female laughter was heard from the parallel stairs leading to the second floor.
"How ironic, encantris and witches fighting side by side, how pitiful," remarked the high-pitched voice.
We saw an adult woman jump over the suspended daggers. Her black braided hair reached her waist. She looked down at the girl with short blue hair with contempt. When the guards saw her, they tried to hit her with projectiles, but she dodged them with agility.
"You are a pitiful witch, lowering yourself to the level of a dirty encantris and serving the guardians of dreams?""By the honor of the Rode clan and the name of Aradia, I Kendra Mirie swear that I will end your life, Veria Kusakova of the cursed Tanis clan," the red-eyed woman said sedately.
"Nothing would make me happier than to take you down from there and break your proud face," replied Veria defiantly, keeping her gaze fixed on her rival's face.
Sharin tensed her shoulders in fury at those insults from that woman who hated both guardians.
"I'd like you to come down and tell me straight, you damned witch," she exclaimed, pissed off by the comments of the mysterious woman.
As Sharin's anger grew, the encantris changed the shape of the wall of flames into a huge ball of blue fire that she threw at the witch with braided hair, who turned her calm gaze calmly towards the sphere of flames that was heading straight for her; from her body emanated a dark aura, and her hair gave off a black color.
"BLED ADRSHY," she proclaimed, raising her right hand in the direction of Sharin's attack.
The sphere of flames split into small fireballs that impacted against the invisible wall that Veria was holding with her magic; each small ball of flames pierced the wall, sounding like broken glass. In fact, you could see it shattering like a glass wall.
"NO, SHARIN! "Stop!" shouted Zeylan, but the girl didn't seem to hear him; her gaze was fixed on the black-haired witch.
The now broken glass wall was besieged by the creatures; the grim-looking men and women were striking with their weapons, powers, and claws at the now visible wall.
"AAAAAHHH!" He winced, and his hands began to bleed, just as his eyes dropped tears of blood. "I won't be able to keep condensing my Animus for long. If you're going to do anything, do it now, dammit!
"It won't last long; we have to use Mera's ability," said Kyara, drawing her bow. "We won't have enough Animus left to resist another wave."
I didn't know what to answer; the people Zeylan was denying me the right to belong to were asking for my help, but now the wounds in my heart shouldn't matter; I needed to save Remina and protect Anetta, and now that she was involved in all this, I was worried about her being protected.
"Erick, try to calm Sharin down," he said as he came closer to where I was, his blue worried eyes looking into mine. "Let's leave the apologies for later, Mera." "I need you to summon a dream lord again like you did that time on the roof of your building. "I need you to control your power this time."
I wasn't very sure, but secretly I had already found a way to make my powers present. The dream catcher trapped the bad dreams and the nightmares, but if I used the strong feelings of my heart, its power would be awakened. I nodded, hearing Kyara's request, and became determined. I started to remember my most precious moments in life with Remina and Netta, my parents, Kevin, and finally that look—those eyes that trapped me.
"Zeylan, look at me; look at the strong woman I can become," I expressed in my mind until I closed my eyes and I could see him, that powerful guardian that lived in the dreamcatcher.
"Your destiny goes beyond a human existence; you have existed since the birth of light and darkness, but your soul will need to be completed by the time that day is fulfilled," said a resonant voice of a man in my head.
I opened my eyes and saw that a huge dreamcatcher bordered the size of the crystal shield, which seemed to end up breaking at any moment. I raised my hand with the same symbol of the dreamcatcher in front of me. I felt powerful and magnanimous; this was my power.
"APPEAR!" "GIVE ME THE POWER TO FIGHT IN YOUR NAME, ROSHAKKA!" I shouted with the strength that surrounded my body.
The golden giant of impressive corpulence had appeared out of the huge ring, and his chains emerged along with the rest of his body. The strong glass wall broke, and the beasts crossed the barrier of Veria along with the boys who were with them. Roshakka fired a huge beam of light from the dreamcatcher towards the noctals; the witches and some shadowy beings started to escape when the shepherd of the dreamland raised his right hand in the direction of those horrible monsters.
"This doesn't look good!" Veria exclaimed, "Everybody on the ground!"
The dream guardians all threw themselves to the ground. I saw when the ray of light detached from the circular symbol; in its path, the bodies of those that the light reached were erased from that place. My sight blurred, and I fell to the floor. I knew nothing more about myself.
I opened my eyes, and there was Zeylan staring at me with that look that was looking for some wound in me; it belonged to me at this moment. Then, noticing that I was okay helped me get up. I looked around, and everything was undone. Something called our attention—it was one of the stairs to the second floor that had a visible staggered descent into a wide corridor. Erick and the calm Sharin began to examine that entrance.
"Zeylan, this seems to be the access to the temple of this cult of darkness," said Sharin's boyfriend, consulting the encantris, who had a black raven resting on her shoulder.
"I'm going to investigate," said the redhead, taking the raven in her hand, and with a few chants she transformed it into a dark rat, leaving it at the secret entrance.
Then we approached where Kyara and Veria were not far from there; they were with the boy dressed as a biker, and the rest of the guards had regrouped to wait for new orders from Zeylan.
"Veria, I want a report of the situation," he said while looking at his allies who were still standing after the bloody battle.
"There are more than five fallen comrades in combat and seven wounded." "I can heal a few with my magic and reduce that number," replied the girl while treating a serious cut on the shoulder of a boy.
"Gather those who can continue fighting; we will enter that place," ordered Zeylan.
When I saw the secret entrance, I thought of Remina and how difficult it must be for her to be kidnapped along with Deimos' trash. I heard a familiar voice behind me, and when I turned around, I saw Anetta standing in front of me. I felt calm, seeing that nothing had happened, and I ran to hug her with tears in my eyes.
I was worried that something bad would happen to you, but I'm glad it didn't! "When I wanted to go back to where you were, a strange guy wanted to catch me, and I tried to run away from him," she said, taking a sigh to calm down and avoid crying, "but when he managed to block my way, I thought the worst was going to happen to me until he saved me," she pointed to a guy who was nearby.
He was a tall guy, a bit stocky, with long brown hair and honey eyes; he carried a spear and just watched us silently.
"They have Remina!" Deimos was one of them, and I didn't realize it. Why hadn't I realized it since we first met? Maybe I would have avoided having" tears come to my eyes again."
She sank her face into my chest to cry too. I put my hand in her hair to comfort her, and while I tried to recover my strength, I looked at the entrance to the meeting place of those guys and wiped my tears. I separated from Anetta and looked her in the eyes.
"Let's rescue our girlfriend, Netta and go back home," I said with determination.