Shandra was still absorbing the shock of Gaia's strange contact, as well as her sudden disappearance, when a low voice whispers behind her."Shandra."She turns around quickly. Julian is standing with a totally apathetic expression on his face."Did you see it?", she whispers.The redhead nods his head in confirmation."Was it an important errand?"Shandra bites her lip, thoughtful about what to say about Gaia's words. She decides to be subtle and direct:"Yes."Julian waits for the explanation, but the girl just holds the jewel tighter and starts walking back to the camp."Wait a minute."She stops. The demon approaches again and asks:"What's going on? Are you okay?""I am.""You don't know how to lie very well, you know that?"Shandra snorts."I just don't want to talk about it."Julian looks at the girl's closed hand and stares at her as if he is about to question her about it."Please, please, don't ask me questions," she pleads.Genuine anguish takes over his expression."Let me
The final walk along the last trail that would lead them to the Tenebris Mountains was much more tense and silent than Shandra had imagined it would be.Nervous, the girl was paying attention to the vegetation around her; the way the trees and plants looked now that she knew they were all interconnected with Gaia.And speaking of Gaia, the entity's words still rang in her ear constantly. She takes a deep breath as she gropes around in her pocket for the strange artifact she had been given as a gift.Would she need to use it that day?Sam's voice sounded in her mind:"Disturbed?"Shanda looks discreetly at him before answering mentally as well:"Evidently so. Don't you?"His fire-colored eyes, always so confident, were somewhat misty that morning. A few seconds later, he finally replies:"I'm more than disturbed. I'm terrified."The heartfelt answer takes the girl by surprise. He continues:"At some point, Shandra, everything... Everything will come to light. The fact that we are inter
The dark, moonless dawn was only a mere detail of how horrible that day had been.Walking slowly down the sidewalk, feeling the tears falling down her cheeks without bothering to dry them, Shandra thought about what she would do with the painful life unfolding in front of her.The young woman tried to stop the sobbing that rose up her throat, but could not. Then she began to cry openly like a child, holding the medallion tightly under her shirt.The three events of the day flashed through his mind for the thousandth time, like a cruel and sad movie replaying on the television.First: her arch enemy and rival, Sasha Royal, had made Shandra suffer a huge embarrassment in the cafeteria, humiliating her in front of everyone in the school.Second: her favorite teacher, the handsome and friendly Mr. Rinkons, died of a massive heart attack on his way to school.And third: the man she thought to be her friend, confidant and possible fiancé in the near future, the athlete and now ex-boyfriend
Shandra's consciousness betrayed her.In a moment, she saw the men who had chased her being reduced to ashes by the winged stranger. Less than a second later, the girl fainted.Minutes, hours or days later, the girl woke up on a bench in a square. It was still early morning. She was sitting up, as if she had just fallen asleep, and next to her was a stranger reading a newspaper.The man smiled without looking at her, flipping through a page instead."Hello, sleepyhead."Shandra wanted to jump in fright, but the lethargy that was hitting her body stopped her. The locket was still warm against her skin, but not to the point of burning her.His face was broad, with a pronounced jaw, thick lips, and unsettling fire-colored eyes. His thin, slightly pointed nose matched his other features perfectly, as did his square jaw and pale skin.A thin beard harmonized the whole ensemble, and he blinks one of his eyes as he notices the girl's careful inspection."Do you like what you see?"Dizzy, the
"How did you get in here?! Who are you?!"The man seems confused by the human's apparent fear. After all, she summoned it, didn't she? Why was she acting that way?He steps out of the tiny closet space, freeing his muscles from that wooden confinement. Moving his arms and back to stretch, the stranger replies:"I have unlimited access to anything that concerns you. And... Well, you know who I am, so I didn't understand the purpose of your question."Shandra takes great care that her indignation does not draw her mother's attention as she inquires:"What?!"He just laughs."I like the role you are playing. It's fun. But you should be more cautious about your idea of recreation. For a second, I really thought you had no idea who I am."The young woman is so wide-eyed and her breathing so loud that he laughs. Then the unknown man takes a good look at the posters and occult objects in the room, approaching the crystal ball."Interesting. Do you also have the gift of clairvoyance?"Contemp
Shandra finally manages to make a move: she slowly gets up from the bed, and with slow tortoise-like steps, slowly approaches the unimaginable demonic figure in front of her.The tiny firefly-like embers are still around him, and delighted and amazed, the girl realizes that none of them fall to the ground or even come close to burning the floor.Sam seems to be proud of himself to see the young girl's reaction. Then he makes the wings and horns disappear, returning to the inside of the back and head. The eyes also take on their ordinary appearance again."My goodness," she says, assessing the man from head to toe. There is still awe in her attitude, but also genuine admiration."Are you really as surprised as you appear?""I am. You're not very good at detecting emotions, are you?""Only the most primitive ones. Fear. Hatred. Anger. Passion."He says the last word lewdly and purposefully provocatively, blinking one of his eyes. The girl instantly turns red.Sam ignores the girl's wave
Sam immediately gets to his feet and looks at the door. Shandra also gets up from the bed, feeling chills once again, but for completely different reasons now.The voice of the young girl's mother enters in tandem with her father's, also shouting and cursing."Are they wanting to beat you up because you've been missing all day?" He asks loudly."Sssssh! They can hear you!" Whispers the girl.Sam makes a negative sign with his head."People only hear me if I want them to hear me. Everything is under control, don't worry."The door is almost going down. Shandra's father shouts once again, his pasty voice indicating that he is drunk as usual."YOU WILL REGRET THE DAY YOU WERE BORN."The girl knows she should be armored against that kind of verbal violence that is so unnecessary. Most of the time, it was as if the words went in one ear and out the other.But that particular day was the most difficult one she had ever faced. It was incredibly challenging to listen to that mountain of curse
"What have you done?!" Shandra screams, panicking, looking at her mother collapsed on the floor. She immediately drops the phone and runs to her.Sam replies with absolute calm and fullness"I didn't do anything.""How did you not do anything?! Mom!" The young woman shakes her genitor quickly, and then puts her hand on her wrist to feel her heart rate. It seemed faint."I already told you I didn't do anything.""She just fell down and passed out in front of me, don't tell me that was going to happen one way or another!""Fine. I won't tell."The way Sam spoke, full of reassurance while panic stretched into every brain cell in Shandra, made her even more nervous and prone to outburst.Making a decision, the girl rushes to the phone once again, finally managing to make the emergency call. Panicked, she explains that her father fell down the stairs, her mother probably had a heart attack, and gives the address right away.About ten to twelve minutes later, a shrill siren is heard. Shandr
The final walk along the last trail that would lead them to the Tenebris Mountains was much more tense and silent than Shandra had imagined it would be.Nervous, the girl was paying attention to the vegetation around her; the way the trees and plants looked now that she knew they were all interconnected with Gaia.And speaking of Gaia, the entity's words still rang in her ear constantly. She takes a deep breath as she gropes around in her pocket for the strange artifact she had been given as a gift.Would she need to use it that day?Sam's voice sounded in her mind:"Disturbed?"Shanda looks discreetly at him before answering mentally as well:"Evidently so. Don't you?"His fire-colored eyes, always so confident, were somewhat misty that morning. A few seconds later, he finally replies:"I'm more than disturbed. I'm terrified."The heartfelt answer takes the girl by surprise. He continues:"At some point, Shandra, everything... Everything will come to light. The fact that we are inter
Shandra was still absorbing the shock of Gaia's strange contact, as well as her sudden disappearance, when a low voice whispers behind her."Shandra."She turns around quickly. Julian is standing with a totally apathetic expression on his face."Did you see it?", she whispers.The redhead nods his head in confirmation."Was it an important errand?"Shandra bites her lip, thoughtful about what to say about Gaia's words. She decides to be subtle and direct:"Yes."Julian waits for the explanation, but the girl just holds the jewel tighter and starts walking back to the camp."Wait a minute."She stops. The demon approaches again and asks:"What's going on? Are you okay?""I am.""You don't know how to lie very well, you know that?"Shandra snorts."I just don't want to talk about it."Julian looks at the girl's closed hand and stares at her as if he is about to question her about it."Please, please, don't ask me questions," she pleads.Genuine anguish takes over his expression."Let me
Shandra knew she was awake.Therefore, what was in front of her could not be a dream. Considering all the stress she had been under in the past weeks, however, she thought she was suffering from a delirium.Everyone else was asleep, except, of course, the demons. Although they felt no sleep, both Sam and Julian liked to lie down, close their eyes and apparently rest. Caleb and Ezan are also immersed in a deep sleep.The girl keeps looking at what at first she thought was just a trick of light and shadow: the thin, unusual silhouette that strolled by as if it were a mere traveler.However, the energy of that silhouette, the way it moved... This was certainly no ordinary person. Then Shandra stood up to take a closer look.The person, creature or whatever it was didn't seem to be intimidated by being noticed. Its skin was transparent, almost ghostly, and a subtle blue light radiated from it.Strangely enough, Shandra did not fear it. No, there was nothing aggressive or strange coming fr
Shandra feels her heart resounding inside her chest. A small shiver runs down her arms as she slowly takes a step towards the final trail; the one they would make before finally arriving in enemy territory.Everything could end well: Eluna would be rescued, and everyone could return to their respective homes.Or...She imagines the bodies of Sam, Julian, Ezan and Caleb lying on the ground like a sack of potatoes; their throats slit. Was cutting throats an easy method of execution for supernatural creatures?Shandra knew that killing a demon was too difficult a thing to do, so she doubted it very much. Werewolves, on the other hand, seemed weaker in that respect."Let's walk some more and get camp up," says Julian, who until then had been completely silent and immersed in his own thoughts.Shandra nods, trying to push away the dark misfortunes troubling her, but it is incredibly difficult. She knows she cannot let fear take over. Together, the group continues to advance along the narro
Shandra knew that she would never, ever be able to fully recover from this.As the small group headed towards the mountain range, the young woman barely opened her mouth to say anything and ate only what was necessary. The magic was dormant, still ready to spring into action, but she deliberately ignored the feeling.Looking up at the pale dawn sky, Shandra huffed audibly. It was very soon before they finally put the plan into action. There was still no word from Marcus and his group.Not that she didn't trust the abilities and strength of the pack. They could take good care of themselves.But would she, Julian, Sam, Caleb and Ezan be able to single-handedly accomplish a mission of that magnitude and not get screwed in the process?"It's going to be okay," Sam's voice breaks into her dark thoughts.Annoyed, the girl looks at him, and mentally communicates as well:"Are you reading my thoughts?""I don't need to. Your expression already says it all."Irritated, Shandra just keeps walki
As soon as Caleb's huge sharp teeth dig into Elara's unprotected torso, the vampire screams terribly in agony. The bite causes her a stabbing pain.Elara lets out another scream when, after having her skin torn apart by the wolf, her body is thrown backwards by the impact of this attack... Julian also approaches quickly, taking the opportunity to strike a powerful blow against Elara, hitting her full on.Sam once again looks at Shandra, obviously proud to see what had happened there. Ezan, Caleb and the yellow-eyed demon continue to attack relentlessly; Shandra stays focused on her task of neutralizing the vampire's artifacts. With the items weakened, Elara is no longer invincible, but still poses a danger.Sweating, the young woman realizes that she needs to keep her own energy connected to Elara's items. There was no way, or at least no easy way, to permanently deactivate them.Although she was obviously weaker, Elara was not vulnerable. Even though she is suspicious as to why her t
Shandra feels a mixture of relief and gratitude when, finally, Julian takes flight and attacks Elara, holding her by the neck and throwing her to the ground sharply."You really think you can take me, you pathetic demon?" she sneers, probably ready to use one of her many artifacts.And that is exactly what she does. One moment, Julian is strangling her without a shadow of mercy. The next, he is breathing hard, gasping like a smoker after climbing two flights of stairs.Sam, focused on destroying the vampire, casts more fire elemental magic energy, but at the last second the girl flinches, causing the flames to only burn the tip of her hair."You bastard!" she shouts, leaving Julian temporarily behind.Shandra quickly raises a shield to protect him, but the wall fails.Ezan's voice sounds behind the girl:"Beacon of Light!"She widens her eyes and addresses the older werewolf. The girl is surprised to see him in human form. Caleb, unlike him, remains as a wolf."Beacon of Light, we are
Shandra panics as she sees the werewolves advancing towards Elara, ready to attack. She knows that a fight between the werewolves and the vampire can be extremely dangerous and doesn’t want anyone to get hurt. With a mixture of despair and determination, she stands in the way, trying to prevent impending violence."No!" cries Shandra, her voice full of anguish. " Stop! It’s not worth it! Elara is not our enemy!"Useless. Completely useless, you know.The beautiful girl, seeing the two angry wolves coming towards her, drops her cloak, revealing pale skin like the moon and slender, thin and seemingly fragile arms and legs. Immediately Elara puts herself in a fighting posture, smiling as she feels the adrenaline taking over her body.Shandra can barely understand what happened when, out of nowhere, the vampire just disappears.But her energy was still there. Had she become invisible?The impact of a sharp blow to Ezan’s jaw, which makes him fly for a few meters, frightens the girl and gi
Shandra, Sam, Julian and the other members of the group stand on alert, watching for the approaching silhouette. Tension hangs in the air as everyone prepares for any eventuality.As the figure approaches, it becomes clear that it is a tall, elegant woman with long black hair and a piercing gaze. She seems to exude an aura of power and authority."Elara," Sam murmurs, with a mixture of surprise and apprehension in her voice.Shandra frowns from one to the other, wondering what could be happening, but doesn't have time to verbalize a single word.The werewolves transform into their lupine form and start growling loudly and menacingly. Elara doesn't seem to be upset or afraid of that sight."Interesting company you have arranged," are the first words she addresses to the coppery-eyed demon."Is that really serious?", Julian grumbles."Who are you?" asks Shandra.The questioning makes the woman laugh."Aren't you going to introduce me to your friends, Sam?"The prince from hell looks hes