The Girl in the Stone

The lovely couple after enjoying their day off decided that they should get back to the guild and find another job for them to do together. Evelyn notices a flyer about this mysterious crystal thats located outside of the Ace of Spades. The two of them grabbed whatever necessities they need for the journey and set off to travel to the Ace of Spades to see what the commotion was all about. Upon arrival to the busiest side of town Evelyn went around asking about the crystal mentioned in the flyer. A old man who looked to be in his late 70's over hears Evelyn asking one of the merchants about the crystal and comes up to her."Excuse miss i'm sorry for intruding on your conversation, but I couldn't help but over hear you mention something about looking for a crystal am I correct?" " Yes, my partner and I are trying to locate this crystal thats located around here. Would you know where we may find it? The old man nods " I can gladly show the two of you to the where the crystal is at. If you would be so kind as to follow me." Evelyn and Zar follow the old man outside of the town. It was a few miles out from where they were at. When they finally arrive to the crystal Evelyn was in shock on how big the crystal was before her. " I would be careful If I were you that crystal reacts to magic power. I don't know what could happen if the magic you two have reacted to it." This made the two of them curious where this crystal came from and what purpose does it serve. She walked closer to the crystal its colored match the color of the sky above them. She reached her hand out to take a hold of Zar's hand. She didn't know what would happen if she touches the crystal and wanted to make sure if something were to happen that Zar would be with her. She was heisted. She thanked the old man for helping them find the crystal before she laid her hand on it. The crystal started to glow and not paying much attention to anything else until Zar points out that her arm is slowly getting sucked in by the crystal. She squeezes Zars hand tightly and closed her eyes. She didn't want to be separated from him. Soon they were both sucked inside the crystal once Evelyn opens her eyes she was shocked. They were not in the Ace of spades anymore, but where were they? She looks around at their surroundings the place looks creepy. The trees all around them looked like they had the life sucked right out of them. There are bones and corpses of dead animals that once roamed these woods. A young purple haired girl appears from behind one of the dead trees."Your no longer in your world. You left your home as soon as you touched the crystal. If your thinking about trying to find a way out of here using magic there's no way escaping theses woods doing that. But I will tell you that there is a way of leaving this world. Across the lands their are 12 crystals you need to find them. My creator will be released from her imprisonment and will be able to send you both home.But there is a catch the crystals have powerful entities that they are embedded in which you must kill in order for us to collect the crystals. If you to are ready I can take you to the first crystal." Evelyn looks to Zar processing everything that this girl has told them to of them. They are trapped in this world until they collect these crystals.

The crystal sucked them in quicker than Zar had time to react, and with Evelyn holding onto him for protection he was guaranteed to get pulled in along with her. Once on the other side, they were introduced to a ghastly sight of death and decay spread out as far as the eye could see. Nothing remained but bones, dust, and broken trees with their life force drained entirely from their hollow husks. To Zar's surprise, a young girl who couldn't be more than 17 came out from behind one of the dead trees."You're no longer in your world. You left your home as soon as you touched the crystal. If your thinking about trying to find a way out of here using magic there's no way escaping theses woods doing that. But I will tell you that there is a way of leaving this world. Across the lands, there are 12 crystals you need to find them. My creator will be released from her imprisonment and will be able to send you both home.But there is a catch the crystals have powerful entities that they are embedded in which you must kill in order for us to collect the crystals. If you two are ready I can take you to the first crystal." The main takeaway from the girl's warning brought him and Evelyn to the conclusion that we needed to collect some sort of crystals before they could leave this place and they just so happened to be guarded by large beasts of unknown origins.

The most problematic issue with the information they had was the fact that a random girl with unknown intentions gave it to them by sheer luck just as they arrived. She already knew they were here before they made a sound or announced their arrival, and yet she had revealed herself to them without a care in the world; she was either the bravest or dumbest girl he'd ever met in his life. Another factor in deciding whether or not she was trustworthy was that Zar and Evelyn had no information of this land other than what the girl could provide. Unless they wished to make this place their graveyard and add their bones to the mound, they would put their lives into the hands of a complete stranger. His eyes fell on Evelyn, her light and purity continuing to shine brightly in the darkness as their bastion of hope, and found peace of mind through her presence. It felt good to have someone close by Zar's side who could bring these feelings to him just by meeting her gaze with his own. He'd been on his own for so long before the guild that he'd forgotten what it felt like to be working with others. These people had become more than friends to him as he'd come to rely on many through countless jobs. None garnered as much thanks and reverence as Evelyn received from Zar for her part in adding greater purpose to his life's work. He had more reason than ever to bask in the power and wealth knowledge of ancient arcane lore brought with it; it would fall upon him one day to protect her from harm as much as she has up to this point, and becoming the most powerful mage he could be would be crucial in realizing that goal.

With that in mind, he knew his plans for the girl as he approached her. Walking up to the girl with Evelyn in tow, Zar made himself as imposing of a figure to her as possible, showing her that he wasn't a man to be trifled with. "We'll follow you young lady, but know this, if you so much as even think of betraying us to these beasts you referred to, I will make your life a living hell before we all die together." With his promise made to her, they all walked together in the direction of the crystal mentioned by the girl.

Evelyn held onto Zar's arm tightly. This place gave her a very unsettling feeling and she didn't want to be separated from him. She didn't want to get lost in this world. The two of them continued to follow the girl deeper into the dark forest. She wondered what the other places in this world looked like. Would they be drained of life like this forest or worse. All she cared about was defeating these monsters and collecting the crystals that they needed so they can get back home. The girl stopped in her tracks"Hm the creature should be around here from the energy I've been feeling off the crystal. You two best be on your guard. The creatures here are extremely dangerous. There are creatures in this world that feed off magic of wizards who come through here. Some of the bones here are from wizards who didn't make it out alive." She shuddered at the thought of her and Zar ending up like them. She shook her head she shouldn't think like that. They had to make it out of here alive. She looked around at the empty wasteland there was nothing but dead trees. How can a creature so big be able to hide from them. She looked around and noticed a few trees in the distance that looked a bit off. She let go of Zar's arm to walk a bit closer to the trees. The creature they were hunting was there looking Evelyn dead in the eyes. The Monster stood 30 ft tall and besides him are two 5 ft tall creatures that look exactly like it. The creatures looked like plants with thorns sticking out from its neck and its elbows. Its feet looked like the roots of trees were weaved together to the rest of its body and the creatures neck looked like it had a rusted red armor plating covering it.Evelyn tries to run back towards Zar, but the creature inhales a massive amount of air which was pulling her towards the creature. She manages to fight the pull and make it back to her partner and the girl. She looks at the two minions that are besides the boss. They are looking at the young girl with blood thirst eyes.This worried her if they attack the girl there would be no way for them to gather the crystals from these creatures" Zar we need to protect the girl. I have a feeling that those minions of that creature are going to target her. They know what we are after and they will try to kill her along with us. I can do my best to protect her from the minions. But we must be careful with their boss. I'm getting a strange feeling from it so try not to get to close to it. I think we should take care of his minions first and then go him. I don't think I can fend off two of them at once while trying to protect her." She moves in front of the girl and holds both of her hands out. The minions growl as they take off running towards her and the young girl. She focuses her magic to her hands and creates her spear of pure light and throws it hard at one of the minions impaling it to the tree behind it. The other minion keeps charging towards her and as soon as it gets close to them she puts her shield around her and the girl. The minion pounds on her shield over and over. She knew she had to use most of her strength to keep this shield up. But shit this creature was tough. The force of its attacks was making it hard for her to keep it up, but she couldn't give up not with all of their lives on the line. She screamed" Zar a little help would be appreciated. I cant keep this thing off her for to long. She wasn't lying these things are dangerous and tough."

Spoiler:

Zar felt Evelyn's fear growing as she held onto him while they followed their mysterious girl guide on their way to the first crystal on their way home, and their first encounter with an otherworldly beast. Their scenery that came into view was more of the dark forested area that seemed to endlessly stretch out for miles on end, never allowing one to be rid of its awful and depressing sight. As he thought about it, he was given a glimmer of hope at the chance of witnessing a brighter landscape as they continued on their quest for more of these crystals. The girl had told them that they would be going to multiple different areas within this world that would present all sorts of challenges, new environments, new enemies, and new forms of excitement. It gave him an increased sense of duty and importance to experience all this place had to offer and return home with his love by his side. He would not allow any threat, foreign or domestic, bring harm to either of them while they trekked through the dangerous lands that lay before them, ready to swallow them up and erase their very existence from history as nobody would ever be able to tell their mound of bones and rusted armor after a few decades after dying to whatever horrible beasts they would soon face.

Zar, the girl whose name they still had not received, and Evelyn finally arrived at the spot where the crystal should have been, according to the girl's assessment. Surprisingly enough to theirs and her dismay, there was nothing of the sort to be found. The only thing of any substance were the mounds of bones left from wizards who had perished trying to get out with the first crystal of twelve. If this many wizards died from the first beast, Zar couldn't even imagine the power and dominating presence that it wielded against them. The thought of such a foe facing them filled him with excitement and dread; the prospect of victory or defeat that would determine their chances of leaving this place alive and intact. It wasn't long before an undesired presence began to make itself know to the party. He could feel something watching them, but from the girl's description, the creature was said to be taller than most buildings in Fiore and all that lay before them were millions of dead trees. Unfortunately for them, that was the wrong line of thinking in a world that had it's own rules on how things were perceived to those from Earthland.

Evelyn had let go of his arm and wandered off, seeming to have spotted something in the trees. He stayed behind her, but approached just enough to see what she was looking at. When the fear finally gripped him at seeing the beast for himself, he could only watch in horror as it broke its cover as the trees, along with its two monster minions that accompanied it. The Monster stood 30 ft tall, and besides him, there were two 5 ft tall creatures that look exactly like it. The creatures looked like plants with thorns sticking out from its neck and its elbows. Its feet looked like the roots of trees were weaved together to the rest of its body and the creatures neck looked like it had a rusted red armor plating covering it.Evelyn tries to run back towards Zar, but the creature inhales a massive amount of air which was pulling her towards the creature. She manages to fight the pull and make it back to her partner and the girl. Evelyn warned him of the danger that the three monsters posed toward the girl, and rushed into action just as she made a stand of protecting her from the smaller creatures.

While Evelyn kept the small nuisances busy, Zar lunged into battle against the titanic foe that had tried sucking up Evelyn moments before, teleporting under him, and slashing at its legs. He was only able to make a few small cuts into the creatures legs before it stomped the ground around him, causing Zar to lose his balance. As he started to get up, he noticed the creature was arching its body upwards in preparation to slam its full weight onto Zar, and in that moment he melded into the shadows to avoid any real harm from it. The shockwave from the creature landing still made Zar's head ring uncontrollably as he maneuvered behind the creature to keep its attention on him. Thankfully, the creature seemed to be extremely slow due to its massive size, acting more as a siege weapon that was meant to deal massive amounts of damage to stationary targets. As long as Zar could finish this fight within his shadow form and avoid the gulps of air it took in, he would be able to save his charges from the terror. Zar clasped his hands together and blasted the creature's back with Dark greed, spreading the vile shadows onto its back, making it wail in pain and continuing to wail loudly as the growth began eating away at its back, halting its progress of turning. He moved around to the side of its head, aiming for its jaw line with a barrage of shadows to add onto the damage he's already inflicted, and plunging his greatsword into the area where he'd sent his missile attack to hit.

It inflicted considerable damage upon the foe but proved to be a terrible idea in the long run as his sword stuck firmly into the beasts jaw and caused it to flail around erratically. It kicking up dirt, knocked over countless dead trees, and shook the ground asunder all around the area, affecting those he sought to protect and the other two beasts assaulting them. If this creature's existence and rampage continued, he would lose the one thing in life he cared about above all else. As it wailed in pain with the sword stuck in it, it began gulping in massive amounts of air from all around, slowly catching onto Zar and pulling him closer to its gaping maw. He could feel his energy being slowly drained the longer he remained in its presence but also felt rejuvenated thanks to his ability to drain anything hear him of their life force. He used this to get close enough to latch onto his sword and use all his might to rip out along the creatures now torn jaw line, and open a gaping wound in it. Blood of tainted color oozed out of the opening onto the ground below it in massive droplets, collecting into a puddle of sludge beneath its massive limbs. He was dealing considerable damage to the beast, but his luck was slowly running out with the close calls increasing Zar's chances of meeting his end to this foe.

Once he had recovered from the task of removing the sword from the beast's jawline, Zar brought himself to the creature's side, speaking to his sword, Grimvaldir, and targeting the beast's massive shadow. Within minutes of casting, a titanic shadowy version of the creature came to life and began to attack the beast from behind, smashing it into the ground without warning and creating another shockwave. The shadowy visage of the creature continued to pound upon the beast, not allowing it to regain any footing to retaliate, and allowed Zar all the time in the world to assist the girls in their struggle. He rushed down to the creatures and severed one of them in two with the momentum he had built up. The other one he ensnared with tendrils propping up from the ground and formed a shadow bomb within its head, blowing it to pieces. Once they were out of the way, Zar turned his attention to Evelyn and the girl, inspecting them for any signs of damage. "I hope I wasn't too late in coming to your aid. The beast turned out to be more of a challenge than I previously thought. Damn thing nearly sucked me into its maw and ate me! I just hope you two are ready for the fight of your lives because this is far from over," exclaimed Zar, just as the behemoth got a kick off into his shadow and began to fight back as best it could under the circumstances.

Evelyn sighed in relief that her partner came to their aid quickly.She looked to the girl who was heading over to the large beast. She was extracting the crystal from its neck. Evelyn walks up to the girl and asks her"so where is the next beast that we must slay? Is it somewhere close by or is a few days of walking? After the girl extracts the crystal she looks at both of them. "The next area we are going to looks similar this place, but the enemy there is quicker then the one you guys just fought. So keep your guard up and to answer your question Evelyn. Its only a few miles from here." The three of them head off to there next destination. After what seemed like days to them. Evelyn noticed the scenery changed. They were surrounded by fog, which made it very hard for them to see anything in the distance. Evelyn grabs Zars hand " I don't want us to get separated in this fog.This fog is to thick to see and I know the enemy must be close by. It must be using this fog to its advantage to attack us." She looks around and than she feels something scratch her back and she screams in pain. The creature was fast and none of them could see where it was hiding. Evelyn could feel the air touch her bare back. The back of her clothes her torn at the top from the creature scratching her. She could feel blood dripping down her back. The black creature comes up again and claws her arm. She winces in pain this creature was really quick. How the hell are they suppose to fight something that was to quick for them. She looked over to Zar who had his guard up protecting the three of them. The young girl is looking in front of them this confused
Evelyn."Is there something over there?The girl nods slowly as a black creature standing about 1 foot tall decides to show itself. Its body was entirely black and had two small bat like wings on its back. Two more creatures appeared around them. They looked exactly like the black creature that was in front of them. Even though Evelyn was wounded she made her spear of pure light and stabbed one of the black creatures in the head. It quickly faded away which meant that it was a fake."Zar one of these two creatures is a fake. I think this creature can create fake copies of its self to confuse its pray." She looks at the other two creatures that were left. One of them disappears and Evelyn knew exactly where it was going. She put her shield around the girl and the creature backed off as it hissed at the shield. So the creature can't stand nor can it touch her light magic, but why? She wondered if it touched her magic would it burn them or would it do something else to them entirely. She keeps her shield up, but starts to feel a bit dizzy from the blood shes been losing from her back and her arm. She shakes her head she couldn't black out right now. Not when the enemy is near by. She keeps her eyes on the girl who is in her shield making sure shes safe is her priority. The enemy comes back and attacks Evelyn's back she winces in pain again. She knew that she couldn't use her healing magic right now. She had to endure the pain and the blood loss until the enemy was defeated. She could feel the creature striking at her back over and over. She tries her best to ignore the pain so she can focus on keeping the shield up.

The death of the first of many beasts the trio would fight brought about a renewed sense of accomplishment within Zar's body with the foreknowledge that many others had fallen to this beast before his arrival, and yet he was able to defeat it with strategy and precision. It was not without its challenges when it's ability to siphon magic from anyone caught in its suction pull. It was an odd power and one that Zar was most intrigued by. To curb his curiosity, he ordered the shadow of the beast to break open the beast's guts while it still remained around and looked around for the beasts lungs and esophagus. It was easier than he'd hoped to find the organs inside the large beast. To no one's surprise, the beast's lungs were its biggest organ within the confines of its chest cavity, covering up all other essential organs in the region. He dug his way through the tough outer layer of tissue surrounding the lungs to find an extremely advanced network of Bronchi, allowing it to store and absorb vast quantities of magical energy. Even with the creatures life force having left the body, trace amounts of bodily functions caused the lungs to drain a very small portion of Zar's energy before he realized it and carved out the samples he needed from the lung. These would be of great value to his research into magic later down the line.

When Zar finished his probing of the creature's anatomy, he quickly rejoined the group as they headed off in the direction of the next crystal and its guardian. Throughout the whole trip, Evely held firmly onto his hand as they collided with a thick screen of fog surrounding the area where the next crystal lay. With her observant mind, Evelyn strengthened his growing suspicion that their next fighter would utilize this dense fog to limit their sense of sight and ability to fight back against their upcoming foe. It was a horrible situation they had found themselves in, only growing in increased difficulty as they plunged further into this mysterious land they'd become trapped within. To top it all off, now the weather was becoming their biggest enemy by creating this convenient fog that the creature had most likely adapted to and was using to stalk us as we came closer to our destination.

As he's pondering a way to fight this creature they had yet to face, Zar feels something scrape across his armor and simultaneously feels Evelyn grip his hand tightly and scream in a fit of pain. He looked over at her back to see long claw marks gouged deep into her back, already bleeding considerably down her back. He brought his sword to bear and used his attunement with the shadows to feel around for the presence of the creature that had brought harm to Evelyn; Zar would not let this creature escape with a shred of its former self left intact after what it had just wrought upon her. Evelyn spoke to the girl, who was apparently looking at something through the fog and urged us to look closely. To Zar's disgust, he laid eyes on the creature that's blood would coat his sword soon. A black creature, standing about 1 foot tall decides to show itself. Its body was entirely black and had two small bat-like wings on its back. Two more creatures appeared around them. They looked exactly like the black creature that was in front of them. Evelyn, ignoring her wounds completely, created a spear of blinding light within her hand and stabbed one of the entities through the skull, causing it to disappear almost as soon as it appeared.

She warned him that they were fakes and that only one of them was the real culprit. It didn't matter to Zar one way or another; he was going to slaughter any that opposed him and brought harm to his companions. His battle with the creature began immediately following its follow-up attacks on Evelyn, striking at her as she tried to hold up her defensive shields against the foes. Zar quickly connected with the creature's shadow and was successful in his attempt to catch it by surprise, swiping his sword up its torso only to have it disappear into the fog as its identity of an illusion was revealed to him. Zar cursed aloud at his blunder and sought out the real threat that terrorized them in the fog. It rammed into him and sliced at his back from behind, slamming into his armor and causing a loud shriek as its claws raked into the heavy plating. He was fortunate to have his armor to prevent him from falling victim to serious wounds such as Evelyn's on her back. He readied himself this time, clearing his thoughts to perceive where the creature would likely come from next and planning out his next strike.

The creature lunged at him from his side, once again trying to dig its claws into him. Zar was ready for it this time as he allowed the loss of momentum from the creature's attack to slow it down enough that he was able to smash his sword into it, bringing it face first into the ground. With the creature at his mercy, Zar cleaved off its right arm and blasted it with a barrage of direct shadows before it was able to zip away, leaving a trail of blood pouring out from its fatal limb loss. The creature would surely die without any regenerative traits, but he wasn't about to leave it up to chance with how dangerous it had already proven to be to their safety. This time the creature came from above, latching onto the top of Zar's helm and covering his eyesight as it tried to sneak its remaining hand into the gaps in his helmet. He could feel the blood pouring over him from the grievous wound he'd dealt it, and some of it founds its way into his eye hole during the struggle. Even while blinded, Zar still managed to get the creature off of him, throwing it to the ground and stabbing it straight through its brain, severing its other arm for good measure in case it was able to come back somehow.

Zar let out a hefty sigh and went over to Evelyn as she stumbled from the blood loss. He caught her just before she fell and began to tend to her back wounds with healing salves he had brought for this mission. Once he had stopped the bleeding, Evelyn regained consciousness and began to heal herself fully, leaving nothing but large scars on her back as a reminder of her mistake. The girl came back with the crystal shortly after defeating the creature and urging them to continue following her. Zar helped Evelyn to her feet and walked with her close to his side, allowing her to regain her strength for the next 13 crystals and their protectors the groups still had yet to face. If she kept getting wounded like this, he wasn't sure he could handle it all on his own. IT was hard enough to fight the first two single-handedly, but fighting the rest would push Zar beyond limits he wasn't sure he would survive being introduced to. It was nothing but grim thoughts that filled his mind on his dangerous trek through misery, but it would all be worth it if they made it out alive.

Evelyn looks to Zar who was helping to heal her wounds on her back. She knows what he is thinking. He thinks that we wont make it out of here alive at the rate that we are going. She has been the one who has been getting hurt, but she was doing what she needed to and that was to protect the girl no matter the cost. She was the only way that they were going to get back home.It broke her heart that her lover would think that she is weak. She had to show him that she wasn't weak and she would prove it with the next creature that they would fight. The young girl walks over to the both of them after she had collected the second crystal from the creature they just defeated. "The next place we are going to is going to be very hard for you two to fight." The girl starts walking to their next destination and the two of them follow her. What exactly did the girl mean Evelyn pondered on what she meant. When she felt rain touch her skin. She looked up and the rain started to pouring down on them. She thought that the sudden rain was odd. They were just in a area that was covered in fog and now its raining and there seems to be no end to it. The three of them continued the pace until they ended up at a flight of stairs. Evelyn looks around, but with all the rain it's hard to see anything off in the distance. Evelyn was about take the first step down the flight of stairs, but the young girl grabs her arm. "Something is coming our way prepare yourselves." She shook her head they were about to battle a creature not only in the rain, but also on a flight of stairs. Evelyn looks around quickly trying to find any source of light that was around them. There were a few light poles that were visible through the pouring rain. She held her hand out in the direction of the poles trying to absorb the light from them. All of a sudden she felt the ground underneath her shake. She looks down to the bottom of the steps and she sees a girl, but something was off about her. The girl started climbing up the steps and Evelyn was prepared to attack this girl. The girl wasn't human she was a machine. Her entire body was a weapon, upon looking at the girl she had a pair of chain guns attached to her hands. She looks to Zar who was trying to figure out a strategy on how to take this girl down." Zar I think we have to attack her at close range. If we stay back here shes going to shoot us back here like sitting ducks. We need to go now while shes down there. We have to keep this machine far away from the girl as possible." Evelyn jumps on the rail and slides down heading towards the machine girl. She focuses her magic in her hand creating a spear. The machine girl looks and sees Evelyn coming towards her and she fires her chain gun at her. Evelyn takes her other hand and creates a shield to protect herself from the bullets that were flying at her. As soon as shes close she jumps off the rail and runs up to the girl. She takes the chance to change her shield into another spear and she stabs the girl once in the chest and other in one of her guns. The girl tries to swing her arm to hit Evelyn, but Evelyn manages to dodge her attack. She kicks the spear thats in her chest lodging it deeper inside causing sparks. The girl starts to get angry and points the gun that has her other spear lodged into it right at Evelyn. Evelyn just stands there and smiles as the girl tries to fire it and it explodes due to it being jammed by her spear. She then focuses her magic to call her beam of pure light to strike down the girl. The machine was blinded by the light and was swinging her arms around like a crazed monkey. Evelyn slowly backs away from the girl dodging her arms as she makes another spear and stabs the girl a second time in the chest and pushes the girl down the flight of stairs.

Before Zar had a moment to react to the new threat that stood in their way of leaving this cursed place, Evelyn was already on top of the situation, fueled by his harmful words from earlier apparently having inspiring her to prove her worth in battle to him and not remain a hindrance; the effect he had been searching for in speaking to her in such a manner. It wasn't kind of him to do so, but it was necessary if they were to survive this foreign land intact and with stories to tell their friends and any future children they might have. Her battle strategy was quick and decisive, utilizing her strongest defenses in unison with her greatest offensive abilities to throw the girl off balance and at the complete mercy of her attacker. Evelyn was proving to be a fierce fighter in the context of a Sabertooth guild member and that of a fellow mage. Zar felt she may dare he say, become stronger than himself if she is taught by the right person and has the patience to learn from someone else if the need arises when they are finally able to return home.

The girl was unable to counter Evelyn's moves as she quickly closed the gap between them, using her shield to protect her while she plunged a spear into the girl's chest and the other into her gun hand which exploded when she attempted to fire a round off at Evelyn. This is followed by her signature beam of light falling down upon their enemy, followed by yet another spear to the chest that sends the girl tumbling down the stairs. It was a brutal way to go but from the lack of pain or screams of anguish from the girl, the notion that she was more machine than human became more than just a theory and transformed into the reality surrounding it. The girl tumbled all the way down the stairwell, hitting ever bump imaginable, leaking blood and fuel all across the ground as she went. When she finally stopped rolling and landed at the foot of the stairs, she lay in a growing pool of her own fluids and broken parts, twitching and spasming as sparks flew from her tattered remains. Zar walked down the steps to where she lie and looked at her with intrigued eyes scanning up and down her. He drew his sword and sliced off her head and proceeded to toss the head into his shadow, allowing it to disappear into the darkness. The girl took the crystal from the corpse and begged them onward with no more than a gesture of the hand, remaining mute the rest of the way onto their next crystal.

Zar grabbed Evelyn's arm under his and walked closely by her side, following the woman past the stairwell and into the field just as the rain begins to pour heavily. He smiled and chuckled lightly as her hair was soaked by the unrelenting downpour and couldn't keep his eyes off her from her performance earlier. She cared so much for his approval that she had risked her life to face off against an enemy that was nothing the likes of which they had fought before. It was everything Zar had hoped to gain from a close partner like Evelyn: strong, smart, beautiful, reliable, and courageous. He cleared his throat and spoke to her in a mellow tone. "I must beg your forgiveness for my comments I made to you earlier. They were unbecoming of me in regards to your abilities. I was frustrated and tired from the previous fight and I ended up carrying my burden all this way only to shove it into your face. I understand if you don't feel the need to accept my apology, but it would be rude of me not to ask when you clearly showed me you're more than capable of contributing to our survival"

Evelyn sighs in relief that the creature was defeated, but she was happy that Zar had watched her every movement. She had proven to him that she was reliable. She feels his arm weaved with hers and she smiles. She was happy to have him as a partner. This man truly loves and cares for her. Thought he tends to not show it completely she can tell how he truly feels about her. "It's ok love I forgive you. I know you have been pulling most of the weight with these fights. There isn't much light around here to get power from. I'm sorry for not trying to pull my fair share of the weight. I will continue to fight to the best of my ability. I want to survive this place so we can both return home. Also Zar thank you for believing in me even just a little. I'm willing to give it my all to protect you." She wanted to protected him and she wants to get back home safely with him.She hopes when they return home that they can talk about their future together. But She needed to focus and do all that she could to get them home. They continue to their next destination in the rain until Evelyn sees something in the distance she stops walking and Zar stops next to her."I think I see a house over there." Evelyn points straight ahead of them through the rain there is a faint light peaking through. The three of them head towards the house keeping their guards up. Once they arrive to the house Evelyn looks around the outside. Its a rather small house, but what Evelyn found odd is that this was the only house out in the middle of nowhere. She heard giggling of a child inside the house and she wanted to check it out. Evelyn stands in front of the door, but waits on opening it. She wanted to regain the power she had used on the previous enemy they encountered. She takes all of the light from the tiny bulb until it cracked. She warns Zar to prepare himself because they maybe walking right into a trap. She knocks on the door and and a young boy opens the door. Inside the house there were eight more kids that were playing with toys. Something was off why were there children alone in this house. She looks at the other kids none of them looked like they were related to one another. She had a bad feeling not only about the house but the children as well."Hello little boy where are your parents? Are you and your friends all alone out here?" The little boy just looks at her confused at the questions she had asked him.

The boy completely ignores her and goes back to his friends. She looks back to Zar who just shrugs there was something definitely off about these kids. The three of them enter the house and looks around.Suddenly, the door slams behind them.The children start to giggle as they all morphed. The children looked like creepy dolls that you would only see in horror movies.Suddenly, a man wearing a dark hood with chains wrapped around both his arms appeared from the shadows. The man appeared to be strong from how built he was. The children gathered around the man. Was this man responsible for why the children changed? Her anger got the best of her as she yelled at the man."what the hell did you do to these kids. I know you are responsible." The man just stood there as he looks up at Evelyn. The mans face appeared to be nothing but a dark black shadow. His eyes lit up a whitish yellow along with his creepy smile. She noticed that his eyes matched all of the children that were huddled around him. The children began chanting "Master..... Master can we play?"The man simply smiles and looks to the children and says in a deep sinister voice. ."Of course my children lets have some fun with our guests." Eight of the children come running towards them,but one decides to stay close to their master. This was sick Evelyn never fought children of any creature that she has encountered. She felt a hands clawing at her legs and her arms four children had surrounded her. She quickly glanced behind to see the other four attack Zar who was protecting the girl. This man had complete control over the children as though they were mere puppets. This made her blood boil she wanted nothing but to kill this man. She yells to Zar to take the girl and move away from her. She didn't want him taking damage from the attack she was going to do. She focuses her magic and summons her pure beam of light to strike down on herself. Her beam hits all eight of the children that were near her. The children screamed for their masters help as they burned into ash from her light. Evelyn looks up to the man who just laughs. He didn't care for their cries for his help. He just found her amusing he sent the last child after the girl that Zar was protecting. The man wanted to have some fun with this little mage of light. He holds both of his hand out and a orb of pure darkness forms."Come little girl lets see how your pity light magic compares to my magic."

She takes off running towards the man while she makes a spear of light. The man throws his orbs at her as she makes her way to him. She manages to dodge each orb that throws at her as she closes the distance between them. As soon as she gets close to him he smacks her stomach causing her to fly against the wall. He quickly goes to her pinning her to the wall. He has one hand around her neck and the other is creating another orb of dark magic. Her spear disappears as she is struggling to breath as his grip tightens around her neck. She tries to stay conscious she can't die now not when they have come this far. She absorbs the light that surrounds the room. She smiles with blood dripping down her mouth."Burn in hell you sick fuck."She sends another beam of light down on her striking the man as well. The man releases her and screams as the light burned him alive until there was nothing but a lifeless corpse. She coughs and looks to see Zar striking the last child down with one swing of his blade. The girl makes her way to the body and works on getting the crystal out. Evelyn slowly gets up from the floor still feeling a bit light-headed and tried walking towards to the girl and lost her footing. She felt a pair of arms catch her before she hit the ground. It was Zar, he held onto her tightly against him.She smiled she had taken down another creature by herself, but she is also sad that she had to kill children. What would her future children think of her killing them? What does Zar think of her killing them? She was afraid of the answers that she might get. She just hopes that Zar wouldn't view her differently after this battle. It would break her heart if he hated her for killing those children. She didn't see any other way of setting them free from their masters clutches.

The walk through the rain toward the house Evelyn had spotted was a short one thankfully. There was a bright light coming from one of the windows that allowed her to glimpse it through the heavy downpour and darkness. As they neared the house he started to wonder what a house like this would be doing all the way out here in the middle of nowhere when there was nothing for miles. They hadn't seen any real people or cities since they set foot into this world, so why should they believe that anyone was truly living here amongst all these terrible beasts that prowled the night and guarded their way back home to the others. It was a rather small house, nothing but a few extra rooms for the beds and bathroom whereas everything else was out in the open for all to see. The thing that felt most out of place in the entire room was that of the child which answered the door and let them in. Behind him when they entered were eight more children, but the first thing he noticed when he made contact was that not a single one looked like the other in any semblance of the word; none of them were related.

The only possible explanations for the lack of resemblance to each other would have to be that they were orphan children sent here to die by the monsters and abandoned when they were first sucked in through the portal or however they came to reside here. The other alternative was that this was a trap which they had carelessly fallen for and would soon be paying the price for it in their blood. The latter quickly became reality as the door slammed shut behind the three and the children began morphing into monstrosities that sent shivers down Zar's spine. The worst part of these chain of events came when the children's master revealed himself and sent the children into attack mode after Evelyn and Zar, both ready to fight as soon as they came charging at them, but before Zar could bring his sword down on a single one of the little troglodytes, a brilliant flash of light came down upon them, burning them to ashes as they pleaded for their master to save them. All he could do was laugh as his 'children' suffered an died, all except for one who was quickly sent to his death by Zar's blade,  and sought a fight with Evelyn who was already seething with rage at the deaths of the children.

Their fight didn't last very long as Evelyn nimbly dodged each and every attack the man had in his arsenal to such an effect that she quickly overcame him only to be beaten down and pinned against the wall. With all seeming hopeless for Evelyn, Zar quickly made his way over to her captor only to be greeted by a great pillar of light smacking down upon the man, burning him away just as the children before him, and dropping the fourth crystal that would help them escape this wretched place. He went to Evelyn and congratulated her with a warm bear hug while the girl collected the crystal. He was glad for her quick thinking that took them down so effortlessly and couldn't help but let out the joy he felt toward having her at his side. Everything was right in their world and he aimed to keep it as such. They quickly left the cabin behind, but not before Zar set fire to the accursed place, letting the flames cleanse the evil that had once inhabited that wretched place as they continued on their adventure in search of freedom.

They spent at least two hours traveling in the darkness accompanied by nothing but the strange sounds of creatures lurking off in the distance watching them walk, unsure of whether the direction they were going would lead them to the next crystal. For miles, they saw nothing but ever expanding darkness prohibiting them from seeing anything past the 25 ft every which way they looked. It was all encompassing and a burden on the others, but it was a paradise for someone who used Shadow Magic in the manner in which Zar did. He was regaining every ounce of strength he had lost in the previous fights the longer he stayed here and welcomed it graciously. With this new strength granted by the all empowering dark, his senses and reach were also heightened to the point where he could feel an abnormality in the darkness. A large blob of something residing straight ahead of the party. He asked them to quicken the pace to discover what lie ahead for them so that they might catch it by surprise if at all possible. When they could see in front of them again, there stood before them a dilapidated cabin, worn down, and ruined with a gaping hole where a section of it once stood. As they entered they found the inside to be similar to the state of the cabin from the outside with broken tables and chair pieces scattered throughout its confines with a light blood trail leading around the corner of the divider. When Zar came around, he was greeted with the stench of death and a large blood spatter and indent into the wall of something smacking it with great force, followed by the sound of a loud creaking coming from where they had entered from.

He turned only to find five young men looking at them hungrily, armed with knives and their fists alone. He couldn't sense an ounce of magical energy emanating from any of them and a large grin grew on his face from this knowledge. He gestured to the other two to remain behind him as he turned into shadows, confusing them greatly as they exchanged worried glances at one another. Before they realized it, Zar had teleported within their midst and cleaved one of the boys in two, dropping in a heap of guts and accompanied by a fountain of blood pouring from his opened body. The others flew into a frenzy, attempting to attack Zar only to find that their weapons passed directly through him and into one another, injuring each other. He took the opportunity to toy with them, capturing them in his shadow tendrils and slowly draining their life force from them by remaining in their presence. He proceeded to slowly chop off the limbs of each and every one of them for endangering his beloved and the girl who sought only freedom from this wretched place; they deserved nothing less than sheer agony in their final moments of life. As he got to the last two, he pressed them all against one another, cutting open the chest of the one in the middle and placing a shadow bomb within him. He reappeared next to Evelyn and grabbed hold of both her and the girl, turning them into shadows as well just before the bomb exploded, taking with it more of the house and showering the ground with guts and gore. Once everything had ceased to fall from the sky, the girl left his grip, returning back to normal, and plucked the fifth crystal from what remained of the corpses and turned to them with a serious look on her face. "I must warn you that from here things will only get worse for all of us. These first five enemies are the weakest of the lot. The next beast is just that, a monstrous beast quicker than anything we've fought before. I hope you're prepared for it because it will be coming soon after hearing those screams."

Evelyn walked back to what was left of the cabin to taking in any source of light there was left to regain her magic. She had to prepare for the sixth creature they were going to fight. After taking the last source of light in the cabin she returned to her lover's side. She rested her head against his arm and sighs. She is exhausted and sore from the constant fighting, but they couldn't rest. This world wasn't safe for them to take a break. The creatures could appear at anytime and catch them completely off guard. The girl had told them that the next creature that they were to face was going to be faster than the others they have previously fought. They all set off through the wood wondering where and when the next monster would appear. Evelyn asks Zar and the girl to wait something felt off. She looks up to the sky where the stars completely covered it, but there was no moon anywhere in the sky.She than looked down to her feet where the grass used to be. Now everything below them was pitch black. She looks over to Zar who looked confused as to what was happening around them. All of a sudden Evelyn could feel the wounds she had all over her body begin heal and she could feel some of her magic coming back as well. The healing wasn't any of her doing and she wondered why that this was happening as soon as they stepped into these woods. A strange mist of magic surrounds the three of them. Evelyn hears something coming from the bushes behind them. A pure white wolf that is about 30 feet long and 15 feet tall jumps out. Its legs and tail are made of some sort of metal and its fur is covered in dirt. The wolf snarls as it comes running that them. Evelyn runs at the wolf while creating a spear of light. The wolf jumps to try to tackle her, but she kicks it and stabs it in the side. The wolf howls in pain as it gets back up and opens its mouth to breath fire at the girl that was next to Zar. But Evelyn manages to put a shield up around the wolf and its flame surround it. She puts her shield down only to see that the wolfs fur was melting off its body. What the hell kind of wolf is this she thought trying to think of what her next move should be. The wolf snarls again coming at Zar who grabs it by the neck and stabs his sword into its gut and  drags the sword down its body cutting the wolf in two. Zar tosses the wolfs body to the ground as the girl walks over to collect its crystal. Eveyln stops her and creates a spear and stabs the wolf in the heart and steps on its head crushing its skull. The girl looks at her confused as to her actions." I wanted to make sure it wasn't going to come back. This place has a strange magic where everything heals and regains there power. I didn't want to take any chances of it coming back and killing you." The girl simply nods and goes to the wolfs body and begins extracting the crystal from its body. Once girl had finished they continued through the forest until they saw sunlight peaking through the trees and the grass had ended. The ground was now covered in sand and dust.The three of them were now in the desert.The sun beats down on them as they made their way through the vast and empty desert. Continuing their hunt for the next beast that awaits them in the dry wasteland.