From the collapsed wall came huge flying creatures, which uttered high-pitched cries of liberating pleasure and heart-rending screams that undoubtedly signified their terrifying hunger and their equally excruciating desire to satisfy it at any cost. This time everyone panicked and screamed in dismay. The guests quickly left to take their leave and disappear into the unchanging webs of the night.

"Uh, sorry Sirkol, I think we'll leave you now."

Said one of them as he backed away towards a black swirling portal.

"Yes, this is starting to get a little too entertaining for us."

"We'll leave you in peace to handle with your usual dexterity, your internal uprisings. We'll send you a message later."

"We had such a good time as you promised us Sirkol and we won't forget it anytime soon believe it, especially tonight. But I assume you don't wish to have us in the way of getting your domain in order. Good night my friend."

"So that was what you feared so much about him Sirkol, so much so that you wanted to condemn him so." This time it was the mustachioed man who wished to obtain Miron who spoke while going to stand before his host before walking away in turn. "I only hope that you will be strong enough to subdue and put an end to what you have so boldly and recklessly provoked."

"I will." the dark mage certified, following his friend's departure for a moment before turning to the source of Athok's unprecedented disaster.

The guardians who had been assigned to finish off the boys also released them and fled without asking for help. Some of them had the misfortune to be seized by the flying beasts and were horribly mauled before being devoured without reason. Faced with this horrifying sight, Miron and Kei got up in turn and ran for their lives.

"This is not true! It's even worse than before. These creatures are true horrors, the ugliest things I've ever seen in my life!".

"You haven't lived long enough to make a comparison, you idiot. And if you keep making remarks like that, I myself will throw you to those ugly creatures!"

Sirkol reached out and ordered many flying beasts to attack the boys. When Miron saw what he had just done, he glanced at Kei.

"Kei, run! Sirkol is sending his greedy raptors at us."

"What, but that's not true? But I've had enough. First the land beasts, now the flying beasts. Hell, we'll never leave this hellish place! And him, his domain is on fire and he can't think of anything else to do but have us chased by his hideous creatures."

Still running, Miron and Kei narrowly avoided the creatures' sharp claws and jaws. In his run, Kei collided violently with a broken pillar and fell to the ground. He screamed in pain, but his scream turned into a howl of terror as a bird of prey flew straight at him, legs wide open in a hunter's stance to catch him, and clawed violently at his shoulder.

Turning around, Miron saw his friend put his hand on the deep wound, the blood flowing out and attracting other beasts that were just waiting for the fresh smell of the blood of a young prey to pounce on him.

Alarmed at first, when he saw a whole army of monsters heading straight for his friend, Miron soon felt his heart stop beating. He couldn't say for how long, but he felt the royal muscle twitch for a moment before stopping completely. And strangely enough, it seemed to him that everything had stopped with him too. Then just as suddenly, the heart began to beat again with a fearsome intensity, and a suffocating rage that inexorably overtook Miron and once again caused his magic to explode.

"No!"

He created a huge barrier that spread powerfully all around them and pushed all the creatures and walls hundreds of yards away around him. Thanks to this, to this extraordinary awakening, a wide path opened up before them. Everyone who witnessed this display of power was stunned.

"Kei, hurry up!"

Kei nodded, and they began running frantically again. They were still running when Miron sensed that something was wrong, something that must mean danger. It took him a few seconds to realize that the problem was inside him, and he soon discovered the cause. He was at the end of his rope. In fact, the young wizard soon staggered and fell limply to the ground. The shadowy mass of the two guardians, Koel and Johes, and their dark creatures immediately took advantage of this weakness to charge the two boys.

Once again, Kei supported his friend as best he could and helped him move forward as fast as they could.

"Come on, Miron. We have to keep moving."

But Miron was already deathly pale.

"I can't do it. I can't do it anymore. I think I'll stop here, Kei. I'm too tired."

"Just a little more effort, please."

Then, as he also felt his strength waning and despair overtaking him, Kei heard something rather curious and captivating. Senses heightened, he straightened up so that he could listen more carefully, and soon a smile appeared on his lips as he realized that what he had heard was the sound of water flowing intensely. Peering into the darkness, he saw the river, its moving surface barely reflected in the night's glow, flowing furiously though still far ahead. He felt his strength and hope return to him.

"Miron, look! Miron, there is water right in front of us, a lot of water flowing furiously, I think that's what they all call a river! Yes, I'm sure it is!" he added, watching the raging flow even more. "Just like they say in the stories."

Suddenly, Kei grabbed Miron and pushed him to the side, as three shadowy beasts pounced ferociously on them, missing them by millimeters with their sharp jaws and claws.

"That was close. They are really tough. Miron, please, you have to hold on. We've come so far. We're not going to give up this close, are we? Come on, just a few more meters!"

For all answer, Miron could only shake his head and whisper.

"Sorry."

Kei soon spotted a large beast not far from them standing up and shaking his head to regain control. Without waiting, the young blonde dragged Miron to it and made them climb on it.

"Listen to me beast, you better run with all your strength if you want to survive too".

The beast didn't say it twice, standing up as best as it could, it ran like crazy in its turn. As they chased them, the mass of shadows caused huge holes in their path, which scared the beast without slowing it down. But soon, a shadow beast grabbed one of the two heroes' hind legs and bit it cruelly until it bled. Another came out of the black mass growing at their feet and bit it in the stomach. Without loosening their grip, the dark creatures slowly sank into the mass of shadows, taking their damaged prey with them. The beast and Kei struggled desperately to extricate themselves, with little result.

"Let go of us, horrors!"

The guards in turn half emerged from their mass of slimy shadows as nauseating and revolting as usual. Köel laughed at their stubborn struggle to resist the fatal immersion.

"You really think you can escape from here, my cuties?" the old guard asked with a toothy grin. "How stupid you are. Only your cold bodies could get out of here, and in small cuts."

"We own you completely." Johes concluded , with a visible satisfaction that made up for even a little of the disaster that such a talented prodigy had dared to bring down on his beloved domain, not to mention the horribly bloody scene that was unfolding before his eyes.

Kei looked at them with contempt.

"You cowards are standing there, not knowing how to do anything but insult people, unable to beat them fairly. Because in the end, the real weak ones are you."

Johes opened his eyes wide, stunned, all amusement gone from his face, to be replaced by the eternal visceral rage.

"Oh, I'm dreaming, or the blond boy will start to revolt too!"

"Of course he does." Köel remarked, sarcastically. "Having spent his pitiful existence as that thug Miron's underling must inevitably have rubbed off on him."

"And you know a lot about underlings, don't you?" the latter retorted , mockingly.

Increasingly stunned and offended, the two guards shouted in anger at the same time.

"You little..."

But suddenly, a cloud of flying creatures descended upon them with unprecedented violence. In order to destroy them, the shadows had to release Kei's beast, and it was immediately taken away by the flying beasts. They would surely have ended up torn apart between the raptors if the improvised mount of the two fugitives had not had the good idea of devouring one of the flying monsters, and thus forcing its fellow creatures to let go. The boys and their beast landed brutally further away.

Kei bent his monster's neck to protect it when sparks appeared and flew all around them and exploded in the void with a frightful violence. And Sirkol emerged from the chaotic mess. He stared at the two boys with a rage even more savage than the one that animated his young guardian, however master in the matter. Then he stood up with all his power and released frightening magic waves that devastated everything around him, horribly lacerating the beast and the two boys who were riding it. Kei tried as hard as he could to protect Miron with his own body. But the beast totally exposed to the merciless attacks of the black mage screamed in agony, added by the wound that the black beasts had already inflicted on it, and finally collapsed. After that, the dark director of Athok dismounted and stood between his two faithful guardians.

"Now that's enough."