The guardians who were still standing began to receive orders from Zeylan. While Anetta and I approached the secret entrance that Erick and Sharin were examining in detail, she was talking to him in a language that I could not understand. After a few seconds of listening to them, I gave up trying to know what the couple was talking about, and we continued until we got closer to where Zeylan was. The moment he saw me, he put that serious look on his face that extinguished that look that made me feel that he was able to protect me. I did not hesitate to address him, despite the distance that his role as leader had.
"I want to go with you, and I will not accept a refusal from you, Zeylan," I stated firmly, noticing that my serious expression had changed to those concerned eyes he used to look at me: "Despite my lack of combat experience, I am willing to fight with the strength I have."
The others remained silent. My firm and determined look surprised the guardian, who made a thoughtful face when he heard my request and began to reflect on how he was going to answer me.
"All right, you will go with us, Mera, but you and your friend will only intervene when necessary, okay?" He answered me when he heard my request.
"Yes, I just want to save my friend, go home, and forget this nightmare," I said, clasping my hands on my blue dress.Why don't we follow those bastards that have Remina?" I asked while everyone's eyes were fixed on me.
"I understand your concern, Mera, but we have to organize our next move to counter the enemy's advance," he replied, then turned his eyes to Anetta, who was looking at us confused, and said, "Your friend must be scared with all this; I should assign someone to protect her."
Listening to what Zeylan had said, a brown-haired boy approached Netta's side. My girlfriend gave a shy smile to the guardian, and he responded with a similar gesture. The captain of the guardians looked at him authoritatively, waiting for the boy to make clear his intentions.
"Captain! "I want to offer myself to protect her," he exclaimed attentively to his superior.
"Are you willing to accept the implications of having someone under your protection?" He looked at me for a few seconds after addressing the boy.
I just looked aside without saying anything. I was more interested in the answer of the boy who did not hesitate to answer such a question. After paying attention to his superior, a smile was present on his face, as if he had already foreseen such a question.
"Well, I've been waiting to be able to do it, to feel like a real guardian, and I would like to know that about her." "Are you willing to accept my protection?" He asked as he was facing my friend, who, upon hearing such a proposal, did not avoid showing her astonishment.
"I really don't know what's going on here!" She said, embarrassed, "All this seems crazy to me!" She gave a sigh in order to gather her strength and continue talking. "Seeing things that I never thought possible is so hard to believe! And at one point, I thought it was all a dream, and I wished with all my heart to close my eyes and wake up in my bed next to my cousin and Mera." She replied, almost crying.
Despite her calm character in the face of difficulties, unlike us, Anetta could not deny that sometimes the extraordinary things that are happening and these horrors could have as much impact on her as anyone else.
"Netta, at this moment, we need as much help as possible to save Mina," I said as I hugged her and continued my words, "I was afraid you wouldn't believe me, and I will not stop apologizing for not having told you all this no matter how crazy it sounded." I gave a sigh and, to conclude my words, said, "This is not the first time I have gone through such a horrible situation."
I separated from my friend to continue what I was going to say, how all of this started, and maybe if I listened to all of the events I would understand the current situation; right now I just wish that all of this was just Anetta's dream and that I didn't have to tell her what was really happening; tell her that all of this had a lot to do with the bastards who took Mina, that it was all my fault, and just as I was about to say it, Zeylan
"You have awakened in the vigil, the bridge to the union of The Midnight Kingdom with the world you know, just like your friend Mera; in this reality, the creatures and monsters that inhabit the dreamers' nightmares and minds are real; due to the power that the dreamers have in this plane of existence to create every corner of the Oniropolis and its inhabitants, they will not hesitate to devour an awakened person."
"All this is..." The youngest Maverak cousin hesitated.
"Netta, I understand that all this is not very credible, but it's the whole truth." I said to my girlfriend.
"It's not that; I mean, all this is fascinating, Mera; it's as if you woke up in another world," spoke the light-eyed girl, "but I will try to understand that you should not take lightly the dangers we are facing."
"Thank you, girlfriend," I said calmly.
When the boy with short hair and a confident smile approached my friend, he made a kneeling pose while holding his gun in front of him, holding it with his right hand over his left, and in time I would realize it was an oath pose and the weight it would have between both of us involved in such a commitment.
"Would you trust me if I swore to protect your life with mine?" He asked, extending his hand towards Anetta, "Well, among us, my name is Dreis Aransa, and I am willing to give my life to protect you!" exclaimed the guardian.
My friend seemed to reflect when she heard Zeylan's words and was speechless before Dreis' gesture. She still could not understand the situation completely, but the boy's help could prevent a noctophagus or noctal from attacking her, and in a way, I would stop worrying about it. She gave a smile of approval and took the guardian's hand.
"Although all this is confusing for me, I want to receive your help, Dreis and all of you, but we must go for Remina; let's not waste time," said Anetta to the group of guardians.
"Count on me, Anetta," said Dreis.
"If you've already finished proposing to each other, let's go to that sewer!" A strong man in the group that surrounded us commented, and the rest of us burst out laughing.
"Enough! On, everybody!" exclaimed Zeylan.
The Guards immediately obeyed the captain's order, and I noticed that the boy who accompanied Veria was next to me; next to him was also the girl with short hair above her shoulders and blue color; she smiled at me with confidence. The captain of the guardians led the group in front of us, guided by Sharin, Kyara, and Erick, while Anetta held Dreis' hand, accompanied by another brunette girl and an Asian-looking young man.
"Don't worry, little one, my friend Lahir's ability will be of great help if there is a surprise attack," said the witch as she placed a hand on my shoulder, while the brown boy nodded in a gesture of approval and confidence accompanied by a smile.
"I'm glad I can count on your help; by the way, I'm Mera Albaceleste; it's a pleasure to meet you," I replied, extending my hand.
"The pleasure is mine, Mera; my name is Veria Kusakova, and this is Lahir O'hara," said the blue-haired girl with a noticeable Russian accent when pronouncing her last name.
"What's up?" said the boy, raising his hand.
As I descended and crossed the enormous arch-shaped threshold, I began to see some engravings on the walls of the vaulted hallway. As I tried to decipher the images, I realized that each engraving on the walls spoke of the creation of a universe. Fixing my eyes on a being whose figure vaguely resembled that of a woman, she had in her image a dress that was confused between fabrics and feathers, and she seemed to be dancing on top of a golden sphere. Making the feathers from her costume turn to dust and extending towards the edges, where two identical female figures seemed to awaken between light and shadow, they were followed by figures in equal tones but smaller than them.
"The Noctals have always been fascinated by the creation of realities," Zeylan commented upon seeing my interest in the carvings on the walls. "Their greatest desire has always been to return to the beginning of everything and reclaim the land in the name of the lords of darkness."
"Who are these dark lords, are they?" I pointed to the image of the dark beings following the dark female figure.
"Indeed they are, considered by the Noctals as the first beings, children of Tenebrarum, the dark sphere, the deep darkness, like their mother Eselena, twin sister of Awaukan, daughter of Solticius. The N贸ctals, according to them, are lords of The Midnight Kingdom and Oniropolis, the land where the Night Warden cannot protect the sleepers," he said, pointing to a point between light and shadow that bathed a globe, below the huge golden sphere where that winged female figure danced, "and they are very convinced that they were born of the Eternal Night, the darkness of the absolute nothingness of the beginning of the universe, and Zeylan answered as we walked until we reached an interesting part of the murals.
When I looked at the engravings in more detail, I saw how the day, the night, my planet Earth, and the human species emerged. In the image, we could see how the light emanating from the sun, represented in the huge golden sphere where that woman creator was perched, threw those lords and their followers into the darkness of our world, who were nothing more than the reflection of the earth. But with the fall of the sun, that figure that symbolized my world and its dark reflection were united in one.
"When they were pierced by the light of day, the Noctals and their lords of darkness lost their physical bodies, becoming entities that inhabited the vigil as shadows. It was not until the children of Gaia, the daughter of Ibwa and the younger sister of Eselena and Awaukan, plunged into the dream of their mother Gaia and built the Kingdom of Midnight, next to the Oniropolis, In the world of dreams, where the N贸ctals have managed to survive, devouring the consciences of the sleeping and awakening to steal their bodies and escape to the sleeping city, they created the Noctophages, extensions of themselves that they made to harvest the fears and horrors in the darkness of the night; they are the creators of nightmares and feed on the fear and the souls of men," continued Zeylan.
"How can such beings exist, and why were we humans never aware of their presence?" I asked indignantly: They were to blame for those horrible dreams I had for a long time, but a part of me knew that there was something else behind them, as if there were a secret message in all this.
"For us," Sharin answered, giving that dry answer as he stopped next to Erick at an engraving where a group of men were braiding sunlight into a circle that appeared to be made of wood, "our job has always been that, to prevent humanity from going into horrible chaos as the existence of both worlds is revealed."
"Isn't that leaving them at the mercy of their enemies?" "Wouldn't that be leaving ordinary humans out of this war?" "What kind of guardians are they if they don't let the rest of humanity defend themselves?" I threw my questions angrily; I felt disappointed in Zeylan, the guardians, and those who wanted to help me fight against the cult of darkness. Just thinking that many people suffer for the evil of the N贸ctals without realizing who they were or knowing what to do to save themselves reminded me of that feeling of helplessness I had, not understanding why I was tormented by those dreams. Angering tears began to come out.
"Weren't you very happy with your life as a daddy's girl?" "What makes you different from the others?" Sharin answered me. "Have you lost a lot by deciding to be part of this war?" "What gives you the right to question the order we have maintained between realities?"
Everyone began to give me a look of judgment with the exception of my friend. I could not hide my shame; I wanted to leave that place or just go to the place where Remina was imprisoned and escape from here as quickly as I could. I tried to open the door, but Zeylan stopped me, making a sign of silence and pointing me to a specific place. I was frozen for a few seconds when I noticed something with a blurred silhouette moving between the corridor's walls; they were monstrous-looking beings, similar to the huge dog that had attacked me a few weeks before; they looked almost human with their skin in tatters and their humanoid-looking bones visible between the strips of flesh that wrapped them.They had no eyes, only huge slits that opened, sucking in air as if they didn't have any; finally, horns twisted on their heads and claw-like blades in their hands; the monsters stood motionless in front of us; I was deafeningly silent. Seeing those terrifying creatures reminded me that this was the reality I was living in.
"Aahhhh!..." Netta's scream alerted the creatures.
Dreis embraced her and made a greenish beam of light cover both of them, making them invisible. When I looked ahead, Lahir had taken off his biker glasses, and the figure of a white light dreamcatcher appeared in front of me. I didn't understand at the moment, but I saw how the monsters were heading to Zeylan as if they were really seeing him.
"Damn it, they're soul rippers, Phalanx guardians!" Zeylan exclaimed after having unsheathed his blue flaming sword from the lamp. He kept a flame of the same color and blocked the attack of those monsters as six others approached.
Some Guardians reacted in time to the captain's commanding voice, but others were surprised by the beasts as they tried to take their agreed position in their group when the nightmarish beasts came out of the walls a few meters away from Erick.
"Naruk, Hanset, watch out!" Sharin's fiance shouted at the top of his lungs as he saw two of the beasts pounce on them, piercing the chest and right side of his two companions, "You bastards!" He shouted full of rage, launching two fire spheres that set the Noctophages on fire.
Zeylan had risen in a violent combat against the tearing while two others approached where I was. The monsters launched their first attack against me, and their limbs were torn when their blades tried to pierce the white dreamcatcher in front of us.
"What was that?" I asked, puzzled by what had happened.
"They received their own attacks," Veria answered as she made a new hand position; notice that she immediately raised both her hands, opening her palms in the direction of two monsters that were approaching her. "Pavan Talavaaren!" she exclaimed with an echo in her voice.
The four beasts were pinned to each wall, with pieces of their long limbs falling to the ground. Zeylan stood back-to-back with Lahir while Sharin and her boyfriend tried to keep the monsters at bay with their abilities.
"There are too many of them; we must neutralize them with a single attack," Lahir suggested to his captain.
The blue-eyed guardian looked with determination at the creatures that were still advancing towards them. I noticed something in his expression as if he had found a strategy for the attack of the rippers.
"Remember that time I told you not to use your ability offensively?" asked Zeylan.
"Yes, but that would be risky; last time I almost killed them all when I tried to use it in Laos," exclaimed the biker in response.
Almost as soon as he finished his response, the Guardian of Dreams Dreis appeared, piercing the chest of a heartbreaker who had managed to break through the Sharin encantris' solid invisible wall, and making a quick appearance near both warriors.
"The reason was that I wasn't with you," he explained, smiling.
I looked for Netta with my eyes until I saw her behind us. My concern diminished when I realized that she was in a place isolated from danger.
"What do you mean?" questioned the the captain Levi, Lahir, and the blue-haired girl.
"Your eye of hindsight, Lahir, only counteracts what you can see, but... what if you don't see any of us and only these bastards?" asked the short-haired boy, folding his spear and putting it away.
Zeylan smiled as he caught his friend's idea and looked to his companions.
"Do you think you can hide everyone with your domain?" He looked doubtfully at the boy.
"Maybe yes, maybe no, but if we don't do something, these bastards will overtake us," said Dreis, heading to the barrier that kept Sharin in the encantris.
"Everyone get out of Lahir's sight!" exclaimed Zeylan as his companion removed his black goggles, causing the light of a red dreamcatcher in front of his face to laser the corners of the place.
The guards had obeyed the order of the dark-haired and blue-eyed captain; each one moved a considerable distance away from Lahir, placing their backs to the engraved walls of the vaulted corridor. I saw what they had done and imitated their actions in the same way. Anetta did not seem to understand what was happening but stood in the distance, watching what was happening with eyes of disbelief.
"Girl, you should stand somewhere because what is about to happen can be very dangerous," Veria told her as she took her by the hand, indicating that she should lean against the wall.
While the redhead, Erick, and another guardian waited for the beasts to attack, Dreis appeared behind them, beginning to release from his body an aura of green color that invaded the place until the entrance; it was when the biker opened his left eye that changed the greenish tone that turned the place into an intense white, allowing us to see only the rippers that rushed over the redhead girl and her partner. Several threads emerged from Lahir's uncovered eye, crossing each other and passing over his companions without hurting them, piercing the skin of the monsters and severing their limbs, staining the walls with blood, their remains falling in that vaulted corridor, everything looking like a scene from a horror film when we saw how the crimson stained the corners of the place.
"What just happened?" I said as I saw the creatures' remains rolling on the floor.
Veria Ivanova made me look away from what her companions were doing; she whipped away a piece of the beast that was heading towards her, moving confidently as she saw Lahir put his dark glasses back on.
"It's what almost killed us that time we asked him to do it. It's a manifestation of the power of his dreamcatcher," he spoke as he touched his friend's shoulder. "It's a dangerous ability to use because it can also harm the user of it," she said as she helped Lahir stand up.
The brown-skinned boy smiles at her while she looks at him with a worried face, trying to hide her anger. Maybe she was avoiding showing that part of her.
"You're going to get yourself killed, you idiot!" She expressed her anger at seeing how the motorcyclist sucked in big breaths of air.
"There was no choice; maybe if we hadn't been outnumbered, it wouldn't have been necessary to resort to this," he replied with a smile to Veria.
Zeylan approached, and his serious look scrutinized us as if he were looking to find some wound in those of us who were still standing. The others paid their respects to the guardians who were killed by the beasts, while Sharin spoke again in that language unintelligible to me, to which Erick nodded every time he listened to her.
"Are you all right, Mera?" Again, that question made me feel like I was a burden to everyone; I hated that, and I didn't want to see that look of doubt in him when facing the Noctals.
"Yes, I am, but we must move on before they hurt my friend." I took Anetta by the hand.
"You are being too hasty, don't you think?" Sharin said, approaching us with an angry look on his face, "Don't you see where your carelessness has gotten us?" She blocked my way, and Erick stopped her, but the girl goes on to say with anger in her words "If only you had stopped thinking that this is a bad dream that you refuse to believe is real, we would have avoided unnecessary deaths tonight."
Erick hugged her, and she avoided showing her tears, but he noticed the pain in her lilac eyes.
"You're right, I was a fool to think I could reclaim my normal life; I was a fool to think all of this was something I could ignore," I sobbed as I looked at Anetta.
"Mera..." She said when she heard what I said, "This is not something you knew was going to happen."
I looked up and walked towards the door.
"What do you want from me?" More than two weeks ago, my life had no other priority than achieving my goals and sharing time with my friends, but you, Zeylan Levis, appeared in my life and this became a nightmare. "I pushed my hand away and continued walking towards the door while the memories with Anetta, Remina, Mom, and every person in my life gave me encouragement and courage. "Do you want me to stop being a naive girl? I'll do that, but I'm not going to take it on my shoulders if the Noctals beat the Dream Keepers tonight."
I punched the wall in my anger, feeling that something deep inside me that fueled my doubts had stayed behind.