**Present day**
The monsters lunge. In the split-second that separates me from being pierced by their dagger-like claws, my self-preservation instinct takes over.
I stumble away from the monster in front of me—from *Rose*—and open the keyhole in me as wide as I could.
Zeke's power rushes in like a waterfall, and the wave of darkness emerges out of my shadow the next moment. It splits into a dozen of thick tentacles, which immediately go towards the attacking monsters.
The next few seconds are a whirlwind.
Zeke's tentacles are fast, but so are the insect-like monsters. The farthest of them jumps out of the way with the speed of a grasshopper, slashing with its claws at the tentacle that fruitlessly tries to catch it. In a blink of an eye, the grass swallows the insect-monster and only the unmistakable clicks and zings tell me it's still there.
