Into the Oblivion - 20. Nikki: The Citadel of M'Vokagola

"Altimeraea is beautiful." I gasped.

It's only been a couple of hours since Eran brought me for the first time to the other world. But there was still a ringing headache because the ritual to summon us there was quite disorienting. It was like being sucked into a tiny vortex that turned my insides into some sort of moldy Italian pasta.

And it felt horrible.

"We have to go." Eran said. When I looked at him, there was some sort of creature that was following him. It was some sort of horse mixed with an eagle. The thing's front part of the body was an eagle, including its wings. And then the rear was that of a horse. "I found a shortcut to Teutesus. But we still need to travel to that Artizal."

"What on earth is that?" I exclaimed and pointed at the winged horse. The creature looked at me with those sharp eagle eyes. And it looked like it was about to peck on my face any second. "It looks angry at me for some reason. Have you already fed him?"

"Relax. This is a hippogryph." The blonde boy explained. Then I took note of the change of clothes. And everything he wore was black. From his black leather jacket down to his dark high-cut boots. "I was able to borrow him from a partner I made a deal with a year ago. They'll be waiting for us on the other side."

"Holy crap!" I shrieked. "It's the hippogryph? Wait. I thought these things don't exist! They're mythical creatures!"

"Some mythical creatures were inspired by real ones because they were seen here first." Eran started to enlighten me. But he looked annoyed at the fact that he had to give a quick history lesson. "There are mages that didn't settle in Altimeraea and chose to live in your world instead. However, some of their stories have inspired some people to put it in their fictitious works."

"You mean the other mythical creatures on Earth are real?" I gasped and started to think of the wildest ones I have ever heard. "

"Just shut up and hop on it." He commanded. "And no, the kraken is not real because it was originally something worse than that. There are sleeping titans in this world that could rip the kraken into shreds. And that movie monster called Godzilla will pale in comparison to them."

"Damn." It was all I could say. The imagery of giant monsters had already flooded my creative head. And I looked like a fool staring into the distance. Eran just looked even more annoyed. "I couldn't wait to share it to my friends."

"You're bound by the secrecy of this world." He pointed out. Then I pouted at him though he was unmoved. "It's something we need to discuss after."

"So, what about you?" I asked.

"I can fly." Eran replied, then turned around to see openings on the back of his jacket where wings can freely sprout. And as he turned back to face me, both of them erupted from his back in time. His white angel wings made him look so benevolent and honorable. "I'm used to it. Hop on him before I lose my patience on you."

And I did. But I was very reluctant to ride on a creature that could shove me off anytime on its back. The hippogryph didn't look very trustworthy. From the looks of it, it heard my thoughts and was as reluctant as I was.

"Are you sure about this?" I frowned. "This is insane."

"Stop worrying and ride on it! It's trained for things like these, okay?" Eran grumbled and already sounded pissed. And I hated to admit it, but he looks cute whenever he would look pissed. Although to begin with, he's cute in every facial expression that he would show. "We are against time. There will be lesser guards in the Citadel due to some sort of ritual on the other side of Teutesus."

We didn't stick to any more talking and simply went on our way. As much as I hated to say it, I closed my eyes most of the time. The height was too much, and I felt like I was going to throw up. There was some sort of thrill that I was able to ride on the back of some supposedly non-existent creature.

The flying went on for hours. I would steal a glance at Eran, who gracefully glided through the air and flew at inhumane speeds. Even I could barely see him because of the furious winds, he still looked like a mini-Adonis. I just couldn't help adore his physical perfection. He didn't even look tired, and I yet haven't seen what he could really do with his magic. Getting wings are cool. But we would need more firepower if we would be raiding a citadel.

Another hour went on through the skies before we got to land on top of some mountain. There were a couple of them standing on the ground, waiting for us to land. Both were men around their mid 20's. And both of them had a slim and lean build.

"Meet Isvar Shatosh and Marsdon Letha'as." Eran introduced. His voice was emotionless, which was already a giveaway that he didn't know both men personally. "They're mercenaries for hire but I got to convince them to be pro bono since they are willing to do anything to take down the Black Sorceress. Marsdon is a former Rytier here in Zidania and a member of two Houses—the Kaizer and the Yeter' el. Isvar, on the other hand, is a mage from Qidrah who specializes in negating magical attacks."

Both of them were wearing the same color themes, but both also had less leather on them. However, Isvar had a lot of knives and other projectile weaponry all over his clothes. There were even a couple of short swords strapped to his back. I wasn't sure what it was for, but mages don't usually fight with bladed weapons.

I just gave him a funny look before Eran approached them. "We still have a good distance to cover. Let's just get this over with."

The four of us started to walk, and a cave sprung into view on the side of the mountain. We went inside, and Marsdon used his magic to summon a huge ball of flame that hovered over this hand. It served as our torch as we went deeper into the opening. And at the end of the tunnel was a vast naturally-made dome with a pedestal in the middle. It was on an elevated platform that had weird markings all around.

"Good job on finding this." Eran commented.

"It wasn't easy." Isvar grumbled. "I had to corner a few people to make sure it was legitimate. It seems that this Artizal is being used by some people from the Ministry of Solus Magus to go directly to M'Vokagola. And you know how much they hold on to their secrets."

"How did you manage to extract it out of them?" Eran asked.

"It went bloody." The man shrugged. His voice was deep and intimidating. "And it took a while before they spat out the necessary combinations to use this portal."

The four of us stepped into the platform, and Isvar navigated the pedestal. There were markings all over it. The small tower-like marble contraption was divided into segments that could be rotated. As soon as Isvar aligned the proper components, it started to shake. Everything aside, the platform faded, and the cave vanished. It was replaced by the view of the clear sky.

We were suddenly transported to the middle of some forest. Isvar scanned the area and saw some old tracks that were used. He crouched to some seemingly random spot to inspect closer.

"This way." The man directed. Then he took a couple of throwing knives and hurled it to few spots around the pedestal. "It's a day old and I don't see any other fresh tracks so we're in the clear."

We just nodded at each other in silence and kept on walking for a couple more hours. Isvar took the lead while Eran and Marsdon were guarding the rear. I was in the middle because I had the least experience when it comes to fighting. We were already in hostile territory, after all.

Everyone stayed quiet. My palms were sweaty, and my stomach was churning into some awful dance. I would quickly jerk my line of vision from left to right as if someone would attack us at any second. But after an hour of walking through the trail, nothing really abnormal happened.

At the end of the trek was a hill that oversees huge plains beyond it.

"We're here. This will be our exit point." Eran announced. Then he turned to our other two companions. "As soon as we got out, you know what to do."

With their commands given, they started to walk away.

"Wait!" I quipped. Then I ran up to them before showing them a secret I was supposed to save for later on. There were only a few doses that I concocted during my short experiments with Isis. In each of my palms was a small viper that was wrapped around my fingers. "Just in case. They're friendly and I think they'll be handy for a worse case scenario."

"How can that be trustworthy?" Marsdon questioned.

"I was able to create a venom that can induce a curse. You can put them in your pocket and they will stay hibernated. Just feed them a bit of avroi to wake them up and they will bite your hand." I replied. Isvar took the viper reluctantly into his side pocket. Marsdon had no choice but to do the same after getting some sort of look from Eran. "That curse can temporarily amplify your physical and magical abilities. Use it as a last resort."

With that, they both left. Then I summoned a couple more vipers and dropped them silently to the ground. That way, I had eyes to check for our exit point.

"Looks like you did your cramming for your finals well." Eran said.

"I've got a lot of tricks up my sleeve." I replied. "But I have a couple of other experimental things I got to do with Isis. It's not yet finished but it should do a fair job if things go bad. I just haven't seen them yet if used."

"We need to be careful once we cross to the other side." Eran warned. But I was at a loss because he stared into the empty plains again that was a few hundred feet away. The boy didn't wait any further and started to walk towards the plain.

So, I made a funny look in the direction he was looking at. There was nothing before us except a vast piece of land. The place was quiet and eerie. To make things worse, I just noticed that it was actually some sort of cemetery as we walked closer.

"I don't see any citadels here." I stated. But Eran looked determined and scanned the small stone tablets that were laid everywhere. "Or any buildings for that matter."

"It's not here." He replied. "It would be on the other side."

"Oh. Of course." I agreed. Then I grabbed hold of his shoulder, and we both slipped to Asphodel. But when we both checked the land before us, it was still empty and barren. Before I could speak, Eran suddenly fell on one of his knees and groaned.

"Eran!" I exclaimed. He started to clutch his chest and winced in pain. Even his forehead started to sweat. His eyes were slowly turning bloodshot as if oxygen was zapped out of his body. "What's happening?"

"My body feels like it's burning!" He groaned. The boy gritted his teeth, and a massive discomfort was painted on his face. "Nikki, I'm afraid we have miscalculated something."

"Why?" I asked. But he was not able to bring out any answer. The boy just gasped for air, and I was already thinking if I would send him back to Altimeraea. And then it dawned on me. "Because you don't belong in Death. Only people who have learned the basics of Necromancy can roam around here. And it will claim you for good if you stay here. I think your body is slowly dying, Eran."

"It doesn't feel any slow at all." He moaned. Then he closed his eyes. He activated his mark, and the inscription of magical formulas started to slither like snakes around his skin. It extended from his right arm to the right side of his shoulder. And within the next few seconds, the signs of his hard breathing faded away. "That should do it."

"How did you—?" I gasped.

"I learned a kind of magic that can exponentially regenerate any damages that my body takes." He explained. "But I didn't know I would have to start using my avroi the moment we got here."

"Then we better finish this fast." I nodded back to him. And it gave me peace of mind that he looked normal again. It was still at the back of my head that I couldn't drag this raid for as long as we could. "What's next? I don't see the citadel here that you spoke of."

"It's most likely in the secondary layer of Asphodel." He stated. "Are you ready to bring us there?"

"Yes." I answered and took a grab of Eran's shoulder once again.

I closed my eyes as Eran, and I slowly sunk into the ground. It felt like we plunged ourselves into the ocean. But without getting wet. The next thing we knew was we were in the secondary layer of Asphodel.

We both found each other lying on the ground like a starfish. I stood up first and saw the endless and expansive sea. It was like we were standing in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. There weren't any waves that would toss and turn us. It was plainly calm, and flat. And above the sea was the endless and expansive dark sky of the night.

Everything was just dark and peaceful. Simply dead.

When I checked below the water's surface, I could see the primary layer of Asphodel that was set upside down. The secondary layer was simply an inverted sub-dimension underneath the preceding layer.

Just as Eran mentioned, the Citadel of M'Vokagola was an inverted building underneath the cemetery. But on that side of Asphodel, it would look like a standard castle-like building. Floating above the expansive ocean. And that was what we saw before us.

I went down on one of my knees and executed a corpse-summoning ritual for different critters. A black coffin emerged from the waters and opened itself. Vipers slithered towards the citadel from the coffin. Then ravens followed after and encircled from above.

After that, I sat in an Indian-stye position and pulled on my hood. Then I focused on my mental links and tried to see through the critters I had sent out to spy inside and above the citadel. In my mind's eye, I could see all over the place, and Eran waited patiently.

"You're right, there aren't much people inside. There are only a dozen of them and I already found the Necronomicon." I informed my companion. "It's on the east wing of the citadel and it looks like it's in the middle of a small dome-like enclosure. I think I'm seeing some sort of altar."

"That sounds about right." Eran mumbled. "As planned, I'll start blasting randomly everywhere and try to go for it as soon as you can. Then summon me to your side once we'll be able to get away."

"Got it." I hissed.

Eran clenched his fists, and white-flames erupted on both of them. He jumped into the sky and started throwing fireballs at the highest points of the Citadel. But I stayed out hundreds of feet away and summoned my small undead army. I began to use my mark, and inscriptions slowly slithered through my arms. The avroi that I saved up for rushed into my body and gave me the strength to expand my summoning circle further.

With that, the bodies of wights and wraiths started to materialize above the area with me in the middle. The souls of the dead had a different feel compared to the souls of the living. I was curious about what made them tick, but we were in the middle of a raid, and I would have to answer that question some other time. I would be needing more time for experiments.

As soon as their materialization was complete, they started jolting for the citadel and banged the door. Most of them had blunt weapons because I was not willing to kill any of those Necromancers outside. Knocking them out was my only goal. But my other priority is to see my experiment in action. A wraith and a wight stayed beside me, and as I approached from behind, I grabbed them by the nape and had a couple of my vipers bit them. They groaned, and their rotten bodies started to mutate. Both got slightly bigger, and their seemingly half-dead bodies went even firmer.

They were practically zombies with my specialized steroids.

As Eran and my small army wreaked havoc inside, I sent out the wight with my experimental curse to test its new powers. The wraith was beside me to protect, and I tried to search for a way inside the dome. The door was sealed from the looks of it, and only my critters could enter through the small spaces.

And then I lost contact with a couple of vipers and a raven. The mental connection was cut. No response was returned.

Eran! I called out in my head. But all I heard in my mind was a disgruntled voice. And it had me worried. I knew that Eran was a powerful mage, and something inside was giving him a hard time. I will be needing to enter the Citadel after all. I think the gate to the dome is sealed. We need to drag this battle a bit so I could get inside.

Go for it! I'm pinned here, so tell your goons to press it further. The last thing we need is them finding out what we want! He roared. The voice in my head was a bit shabby and animalistic. There's a mean asshole over here that I want to blast to pieces.

After that, I heard the sound of an explosion. So, I immediately connected myself to my experimental wight and commanded it to start destroying everything it sees. The wraith beside me ran forward and led the way to the dome. Then I commanded my critters to started fusing altogether into a mutated chimera. Since animal corpses were soul-less creatures, I could have them mixed into some sort of monster. And a new breed of the beast came into existence to join the fray.

As I walked through the Citadel's dark corridors, it was even more prominent on the inside. I snuck around with my undead bodyguard, and thankfully, there were no Necromancers that we encountered. In my head, I was able to layout the map where I needed to go. After a few more turns, I ended up in the bridge-way towards the eastern dome.

Before me was a massive door and in the middle of it was a place I could put my palm. It was then I remembered what Isis told me a couple of days before that there are some doors that only Necromancers could open.

I approached the door and put my palm on the engraved space. Nothing.

We have a problem. I called out to Eran. But there was no reply. So, I immediately sent a special raven to look for him. There was a special inscription inside that raven which could help me summon it to my side. The door won't open for me. It's not as easy as it looks.

I tried to study it, but before I could inspect it further, a fiery blast came at me, but my wraith could intercept it. In that split second, I managed to dive away and summoned the Nyxian Blade to my grip. Thankfully, it was a dark corridor, and my huge hoodie managed to keep most of my face hidden.

In the corner of my eye, there was a tall lady at the end of the corridor. She looked like an African, but her hair was silvery white. Her skin was dark mahogany that made her look elegantly muscular. The woman looked to be around in her mid-30's and looked at me curiously. Yet the corridor was dark, so I couldn't make out her physical appearance further.

She started to walk towards me with a curious look.

Meanwhile, my wraith was knocked on the ground. Its skin was still sizzling as if the blast was made of boiling magma. Then I took my focus out on it and activated the secret trick up my sleeve—the Alazonian Curse. The wraith started to mutate, and it's skin turned into a dark bluish hue. An icy aura emerged through the corridor as the undead thing stood again. The boiling magma that left a gaping wound in the middle of its body was neutralized. The undead slowly turned into an almost 7-foot monster of muscle.

It roared with majesty as the woman stopped in her tracks. But it did the same to me, too. I did not expect the curse to be effective. Markings started to slither all over its body, and vast amounts of avroi were released in the enclosed space. I stood back to my feet with my blade at the ready.

The woman started to cast a spell again, but my Frankenstein monster jolted for her. With one swing of its arm, the woman was jolted to nothingness. But before I could react, she suddenly appeared before me. I attempted to out-maneuver her with a slash, but I was suddenly blasted away to the door. My back felt like it was broken from the impact. The huge gate was a solid stone.

Before I could even think of my next move, she already had summoned a blade that was about to drive itself to my chest. She was a few feet away, but her movement was gracefully quick. Her feet had strutted into a dance and glided towards me with weightlessness.

The woman was practically a monster. She had the firepower to blast me with powerful magic. Then she had an excellent spell for evasive maneuvers. Yet she was also a master swordsman all at the same. And most of all, she was still doing all of that as if she was walking in the park.

The tip of the blade was almost to my chest when she vanished again. My wraith had swung its arm sideways, and she managed to evade it at the last second. I stood back up to my feet. But when I looked at my one and only ally, both of its arms fell off. Turned into a mush of flesh. Then the curse took into place, and the huge holes where the arms were ripped off started to regenerate quickly. Two muscular pairs of arms emerged from the body, and the woman who was suddenly a dozen feet away tilted her head in curiosity.

"You have a curious pet." She said. Her voice was soft but icy. Claws started to emerge from my wraith's fingers and growled furiously at her. "I have never met a talented young Necromancer."

I refused to reply. Then the other wight with the same curse appeared on the other end of the corridor. Bat-like wings erupted on its back, and the head had grown horns. As I expected, the mutations were random and designed to adapt to whatever wound was given to them.

The woman was in the middle of both monstrosities. She sighed in frustration in raised her thin rapier-like blade. Her form was fencer's and would rely on agile strikes to vital points. My pets were slower than her, but she could not afford a mistake. They will have a chance to strike her with a deadly blow.

That was when it dawned on me. Only Necromancers could open it because they had the touch of death. I ran for the door and used the avroi in my mark to send it over to the engraved spot. But I closed my eyes and remembered the feeling of how I would push myself into the realm of Asphodel from my own domain. The stone door started to absorb my hand as if it was an opening to another dimension, the same way how I would slip into Asphodel. Markings have begun to appear all over the wall and expanded throughout. Certain glyphs activated, and it started to grumble.

The woman rushed toward me. She managed to teleport but was stopped when the wight managed to get ahold of her leg. Its wings gave it a considerable speed boost to catch up to her. My enemy's blade was just a foot away from the back of my head. With a satisfying crunch over her bones, she was hurled to the far end of the corridor.

But she was still able to cast another spell, and a lightning blast erupted everywhere. The walls came down, and we were suddenly exposed to the outside of the Citadel. Its ceiling fell on us, and my wraith managed to come quickly to my aid and guarded me against falling debris. The other Necromancers jumped to the rescue, and with the seemingly impossible timing, the door finally opened.

I was surrounded, so I went inside the dome. But the other Necromancers knew the secrets of their own home base and started teleporting inside with me. Two of my best weapons had to hold down the woman, who was our biggest threat. And I was surrounded by at least five enemies, not yet counting the undead they have started to summon.

A blast came from the ceiling, and Eran shot inside. He landed a couple of feet away from me and looked different. The boy was glowing. His hair was golden light, and his blue eyes were further electrifying. The black markings turned into golden marks, and white flames danced on his skin. Even the black leather he was wearing turned white from the glow. He looked nothing short of glorious—an angel of light.

What on earth were those monsters outside? He asked in my thoughts. Eran clenched his fists, and a mix of flames and lightning erupted further from his arms. I saw the Necromancers stepping a bit back and were reconsidering their attacks.

They're my experiments. I replied as I stabbed my Nyxian Blade into the ground. A ritual circle expanded, and more of my undead started to materialize. And I could still produce a couple more. I just need you to pin down a couple of them and bring them to me.

Bad news. Eran hissed in my head. The enemies also retorted to summoning more allies to their side. Two armies started to emerge within the dome. We're surrounded.

Where? I asked.

Their reinforcements arrived. The boy said bitterly.

We don't have a way out. But it's not yet over. I concluded as I stared at our goal. The Necronomicon was resting in the middle of the dome as if it was some sort of religious artifact.

Pretty much. Eran groaned. I'll try to get you a couple of them.

One of their undead creatures started to run towards us, and the skirmish inside the dome ensued. It was like a miniature war as blades and hammers tried to strike its intended enemies. With the Nyxian Blade in my grip, I was able to slash my through towards the goal.

A couple of Necromancers got there first, though.

From afar, I could hear the roars of my two other experimental weapons trying to fend off the woman. Explosions could also be heard from the outside, and I noticed that more Necromancers have arrived. We were losing the battle of attrition because it was two against an army of Necromancers. Eran and I had the advantage against the enemies because we had more firepower. But they had compensated it with sheer numbers.

Before I could step further, a couple of bodies were dropped by my feet, and my ally flew above me. I immediately grabbed them by their necks, and my vipers slithered around them from my arm. The vipers bit the Necromancers at the same time.

Thanks to Isis' mentorship, I revised a bit of my mark's inscription and aligned it with the same summoning ritual I used for my critters. That way, whenever my mark is active, I could quickly materialize my vipers to inject any experimental curses I have on my targets.

Both Necromancers stood up, and I had overridden their minds with a strong mental link, amplified by Isis' mark. And their control over their bodies started to degrade as the curse had spread all over their body. They ran into the crowd and

Then I had the vipers inside the pockets of Isvar and Morsden. I felt them groan in pain and used the curse as a way to establish a mental link with them. Their avroi most likely shot up. I tried to peek into their sights, and they also had their hands full of enemies.

Morsden was blasting left and right. Then his flames suddenly grew hell of a lot more oversized, much to his surprise. While Isvar had a boost of agility and it became easier for him to slash through their enemies. Like us, they were still outnumbered, and I could sense their anxiety of being taken over.

This is Nikki! I alerted them. Get out of there! Now!

With the last of my breath, I pushed myself and jolted for the center of the dome. Other mages were pouring in, but after successfully injecting the Alazonian Curse into two of them, they started to mutate painfully into huge pounds of flesh.

Muscles erupted and expanded from within its arms. The curse was designed to continuously regenerate more muscular muscle fibers exponentially at the cost of the person's soul. During my time experiment with Isis, I learned that souls are potential sources of avroi. But there was a cost. It can never be converted back once consumed.

The good part is I didn't have to care because those victims because they weren't allies.

Another thing about the Alazonian Curse was it releases an animalistic rage from within the person. And it removes any logical or any form of reason that could help them. As of that moment, they weren't anything else but creatures slowly turning into cheap knock-offs of the Incredible Hulk.

As the curse progressed, they would be irreversibly reduced into soul-less animals. That was how I imagined the curse would be. But this would only be a beta version—a prototype. And we didn't have any time to stay around to check the results.

As soon as I could grab the huge tome, I summoned my other special viper and had it bit me by the left side of my neck. Its dark purple and blue scales shimmered in the dark dome as it injected my other experiment—the Li'Margian Curse. And it hurt like hell! Symbols of the magical formula started to appear from the wound and slithered all over my face and body.

"Eran!" I roared across the room. "Come here! Now!"

The blonde boy nodded, and the pair his glorious white wings flexed from his slender back. In one swift motion, he glided through the small battlefield. I looked around to make sure the other Necromancers were busy. They have tried to summon more undead creatures, but my beasts were faster before they had a chance to.

To make things worse for them, they wouldn't be able to resurface back to Asphodel's primary layer. It would drag them out of the battlefield, and I had left them a surprise, too. I might as well call it a checkmate as soon as we got out.

"What's the plan?" He gasped sourly. His pinkish left cheek was bruised, and blood was on his lips. The supposedly small skirmish turned out bad for him. "I see no way out."

"My wight back in Madburrow will reverse-summon us through a hex-ritual I placed on it." I explained and gasped in some air as the curse crawled through my veins. I could practically smell the avroi that surging everywhere. "Ugh! It fucking hurts."

"Your own I avroi will not be enough!" He warned grimly.

"That's why I was saving this other special experimental curse. This is my trump card that can get us out." I groaned and pulled back my jacket sleeve to show him the curse's inscription that had spread all over my body. "This is our only way but I have not tested it on anything yet."

"But you still need immense amounts of avroi for that! We're hundreds of miles away from Madburrow and we're coming from this dimension! This is an impossible feat." Eran hissed. But when he looked me in the eye, he knew I was being serious. "You're insane! You're going to die if you exhausted all your avroi!"

Both our lives depend on the unfinished experiment that I managed to come up with within three days. I was not even sure if it was going to work. The curse throbbed in my body, and I started to sweat profusely. My body's avroi was rejecting the curse inside me, and it was a huge physical toll.

These were definitely things I needed to improve on.

"That's the point of storing up all that avroi inside my mark and yours. With both of ours combined, it should be more than enough." I objected. If my theory was right, it would take a lot less avroi than it should. We were in Asphodel, and this dimension is potentially connected to my own realm. "Now give me your hand and unleash all the avroi inside your Aesculapius Mark!"

He grabbed my arm, and as soon as he did, the mark on my neck throbbed in full passionate flames. The curse's inscription formula slithered from the wound like a snake and traveled to the whole length of my left arm. I grabbed the mark that Isis gave to him, and I started to absorb all the avroi he could offer.

The two deformed monsters that started to mutate even further raged and battled against the other Necromancers in the room. Thanks to Isis' teachings, I could pull off a curse they have never seen before. Otherwise, they had all the means to beat us to a corner.

We were only saved by the element of surprise.

Within those precious few seconds, I momentarily possessed the wight I left at our house through the mental link. Then I commanded it to perform the summoning ritual that was linked to my body. In a last-ditch effort, I connected it to Eran as well, and I used myself as the source of the ritual.

Then with the final command, the wight summoned us from the other side.

Some sort of wormhole sucked Eran and me. My head felt like it hit with a baseball bat. The next thing we knew was we were both inside my living room. My hand was still clutched to his arm. And my other hand grasped the Necronomicon tightly to my slim body.

It was nothing short of a miracle.

And all I could do was gasp, "We made it."