Doom...

The grass there had never been so dry. The leaves on the trees had turned yellow to the point of crumbling with the slightest breeze. A leaning trunk was losing its vitality until it snapped in the middle like a twig, knocking its skeletal top against the ground with a heavy clatter. A bird flew by and lost height until it fell inertly to the barren earth.

Kevin was trying to free himself from Gwen's grip. He tried to keep his eyes and mouth closed, but in his desperation for air he opened them, and since then he felt something escape him like a sigh. His vision was blurred and colorless, but he was able to perceive the intense glow emanating from the eyes of his tormentor.

Then he heard a voice from among the trees that chanted:

"Vürkthera!"

A thick beam of violet light flashed from side to side across her field of vision, enveloping her friend. Kevin fell sitting on the ground as soon as he had freed himself from Gwen's hand.

The anodite girl had been hurled toward the lifeless trees, through trunks as if they were cardboard columns, until finally her back hit a rock stuck in an earthen ravine. She fell to the ground inert.

Kevin looked to his left and saw a small purple cloud floating still among the trees. The cloud began to stretch upward and toward the ground, until it became the length of an average adult. From within the cloud emerged the overbearing figure of Charmcaster, in possession of her purse and the staff of her Uncle Hex.

"Did I interrupt your conversation?" asked the sorceress.

"Wha-" Kevin coughed and massaged his throat, then continued in a slightly hoarse voice "What are you doing here?"

"It seems I'm saving you." Charming stared up at Kevin, "although I'm already regretting it."

Kevin staggered to his feet and leaned against a dry tree. He looked at the trail of destruction that Gwen's thrown body had made in the forest, then stared at Charmcaster and said:

"If you think I'm going to let you do anything against Gwen you-"

"Oh, stop being such a baby!" Charmcaster waved her hand in the air as if she were hitting something with the back of her hand, "You're in no condition to protect even yourself."

Kevin frowned and made a snapping sound with his tongue in his teeth.

"Come on, tell me, who was responsible for the explosions?" said Charmcaster. "Was it Gwen?"

"No, it was Albedo."

Charmcaster stared at the bottom of the trail, Gwen was starting to get up. Then she asked:

"And what about her?"

"She protected the city from the second explosion, but seems to have lost control after that."

"Got it. Are you sure we still need her to solve the Albedo problem?"

"I'm not even going to answer you."

A sharp sound cut through the air, making Kevin and Charmcaster look up at the sky through the branches. Three plumber ships passed swiftly toward the center of the explosion.

Suddenly a cell phone ringing came from inside Charmcaster's bag.

She opens her purse, takes out her cell phone, and looks at the number on the screen.

"How do you have a signal?" asked Kevin.

"Does it matter?"

"Of course it does! If we had a signal we would have called for reinforcements long ago!"

Charmcaster looked Kevin in the corner with indifference, stared again at his cell phone, and then said:

"This miserable rat, I'll kill whoever gave him my number! There, kid!"

Kevin was surprised by the cell phone being thrown in his direction. He narrowly misses dropping it.

"Pick up the phone and explain to them what's going on." Charming started to walk away from Kevin, towards Gwen who was now coming in the opposite direction. A smile grew on the sorceress's lips "I'll hold her."

Kevin didn't recognize the number, put the cell phone to his ear and said a suspicious hello. He heard a naughty voice answer:

"That voice... Kev, buddy, it's been so long!"

◇───────◇───────◇

The sound of the first explosion had reached Hex's magical library.

Charmcaster got up startled from her chair and looked around.

"What the-"

The sorceress walked at a brisk pace through the bookshelves, aiming to reach her room. There she could access sources of information that could explain what the sound had been: her crystal ball, which allowed her to see anywhere in the world at the mere echo of its command, and her television, which also had a voice command.

She opened the door of her room and was approaching the pedestal with the sphere when the sound again reached the library, but this time a powerful tremor accompanied it, causing books to fall from its shelves and the huge chandelier to swing in mid-air. The sorceress even tried, but the crystal ball spun off its base, slipped through her fingers, and shattered on the cold floor.

"Oh, what the heck!"

The lights blinked twice until they finally went out, leaving the library in deep darkness.

"What the hell is going on!?"

Charmcaster left her room and turned toward a chandelier fixed on the wall next to her bedroom door. She licked the tips of her thumb and forefinger and closed them over the extinguished wick of one of the candles in the chandelier.

"Lux esparsa."

The wick lit, then the other candles in the chandelier lit up, followed by all the candelabras in the library radiating their flickering lights.

And then came a new sound. It was not an explosion, no noise, no tremor. His Uncle Hex had told about its existence. A metallic, musical sound from the non-existent library tower. Its sound meant only one thing: the library is in danger of perishing to imminent danger. Perhaps this is why its sound is so reminiscent of an omen of disaster:

Doom... Doom...

Charmcaster was afraid.

Doom...

Her uncle's library was the safest place she knew.

Doom...

If even that place collapsed, there would be no chance of survival.

Doom...

But what could she do?

Doom...

The ringing of her cell phone was almost suppressed by the ringing of the bell. She grabbed it from her purse. She stared at the screen with the unknown number. In the upper right corner she noticed the total lack of cellular signal.

She put the cell phone to her ear and said:

"Hum... hello?"

"Charm, buddy, it's been a long time!"

◇───────◇───────◇

Charmcaster and Gwen were approaching each other in the best Wild West duel style.

The anodite was breathing rapidly; her muscles tensed leaning her forward; her steps began to accelerate until she was running.

The sorceress opened her purse and took out two small spheres. She threw them against the ground in front of her and chanted:

"Silicus Milez Sasitatio!"

Two huge stone golens grew from the spheres and stood in defense against Gwen's advance.

The girl was about ten feet away from the creatures when she jumped, put one of her hands over the head of the golem on the right, and pulled it away, causing it to fall backwards against the ground.

Charmcaster jumped back, her staff and left arm making an xis in front of her face to protect it from the dust that rose up.

Gwen dug her fingers into the creature's head and in a matter of moments sucked out all the mana that kept the stone structure alive. The second creature spun its arm back, striking the girl full in the chest and abdomen, throwing her back into the trees.

"Excellent!" said the sorceress, "Now, come on, before she gets up!"

Charmcaster had the sudden feeling of something coming towards her. She pointed her staff in front of her body and said:

"Amplusmica!"

The thrown tree trunk turned into countless yellow petals and splattered into the air and onto the barren forest floor. Although she received no damage, Charmcaster felt her vision was badly impaired by the flowers.

"You'll need more than that to defeat me, Gwen."

Charmcaster suspended her defiance as she realized that her second golem was beginning to crumble, making way for Gwen's figure visible among the mana-less pieces of rock.

The girl's gaze was merciless. The nature around her lost more and more of its essence, becoming gray and lifeless.

"You miserable girl..." Charming took a step back.

Like a predator, Gwen again advanced. Charmcaster raised a shield at the last moment, making the girl crash into the semitransparent surface. Gwen felt the impact and no longer moved forward. She stopped.

Charmcaster held the staff up with her left hand, keeping the shield around her. Her right hand had been taken to her purse and was rummaging through her belongings.

Gwen raised her left arm and rested the palm of her hand on the barrier. At the same instant, the shield shattered, its pieces paralyzed in mid-air. Slowly the pieces of the barrier crumbled into a violet mist and flew towards Gwen's raised palm.

As the barrier broke, Charmcaster jumped to the side and spun around on the ground in a somersault. Again she took her hand to her purse and finally managed to find what she wanted.

"Multiplicet obiecti"

The sorceress threw up a small statuette that resembled a dog with an ant's head, clothed in an orange light. The small object vibrated in mid-air and became two, then four, eight, sixteen, and so on, until it reached the mark of about sixty statuettes scattered around Gwen and Charmcaster.

The girl remained impassive, as if nothing had happened. The enchantress, for her part, did not hesitate to continue her plan:

"Silicus Milez Sasitatio!"

One by one the statues were transformed into four-footed golens the size of wolves and advanced towards Gwen. Their stone teeth could not hurt the girl's anodite skin, but their headbutts threw her off balance.

Gwen tried to grab the creatures. When she succeeded, within seconds the golem was transformed into useless pieces of rock, spreading around the girl.

That's it, stupid girl, keep going.... ― thought Charmcaster.

One by one the golem was grabbed and sucked of its life force, turning into boulders. Charmcaster kept a close eye on Gwen's actions. Suddenly she heard behind her the sound of footsteps accompanied by a female voice saying:

"What are you doing!?"

Charmcaster stared at the young blonde with the backpack on her back and clicked her tongue in her teeth.

"It depends, if you like her, I'm trying to save her. If you, like me, hate her, I'm trying to put an end to her..."

The young woman threw the backpack on the ground and clenched her fists. Her hands were wearing fingerless gloves. Finally, she said:

"I won't let you hurt Gwen. Gorilla beringei."

A green light escaped through the fingers of the girl's hands and suddenly they went out. The girl opened her mouth, showing dangerous fangs, and then advanced at a rapid pace, her arms raised over her head.

Charmcaster tried to turn around, but the approach of the teenager was too fast. That's what you get for trying to help someone, she thought.

Suddenly her field of vision was invaded by the back of a young man with his arms outstretched, shouting:

"Eunice, stop!"

The young blonde lowered her arms and braked with difficulty, stumbling and being caught by Kevin.

"Kevin?" said Eunice, "Why did you stop me? She's hurting Gwen."

Kevin looked over his shoulder at Charmcaster and said:

"I really hope not."

The enchantress ignored the attempt at intimidation and with a look of contempt said:

"Ah, don't be ridiculous!" Charmcaster turned her attention back to Gwen. Now only twenty-three golens remained alive "Tell that to my shattered golens on the floor!"

Kevin and Eunice stared at Gwen in amazement. The girl squashed the creatures like insects, sucking out their energy and leaving a carpet of stones around them.

"Magistrate Tennyson sent me here to try to help Gwen," said Eunice.

"But how?"

Eunice ran to her knapsack, slung it over one shoulder, and returned, rummaging through the items inside.

"Here, hold these for me," she put some shiny egg-sized rocks in Kevin's hands, "I was going to try to finish them off, but Magistrate Tennyson said it wasn't necessary..."

Charmcaster was impressed to see the rocks brought by Eunice. Firrdene Diamond, Bulvarian Rubellite, Caland'ere Beryls, Turkninomer Amber, and others she couldn't even name. The energy capacity of these ores was something out of the ordinary. Using them would be like turning a microwave oven straight on in a nuclear power plant!

"Where did you get this?" asked Charmcaster.

Eunice looked at the sorceress suspiciously and put her hands on the rocks to prevent her from seeing them.

"And what do we do with it?" asked Kevin.

"The Magistrate said to have Gwen absorb their energy, but..." Eunice tilted her head to look at the girl behind Kevin.

"If you try to approach her with this," said Charmcaster, pointing at the stones, "you will be absorbed together."

"What do we do then?" asked Kevin.

"Give me that Firrdene diamond."

"No way!" said Kevin.

"Kid, if I wanted it I would have stolen it from you and got the hell out of here, now come on!"

Kevin looked at Eunice and nodded. The blonde girl took one of the diamonds and handed it to the sorceress.

"See, it wasn't hard," Charmcaster felt a surge of energy fill her body the instant she held the diamond firmly in her hand. "When I give the signal, you come forward and place the stones around the rebellious teenager there.

Gwen had just destroyed the last golem.

""How is it? And how are we going to approach it?"

"Petrus movidius" Charmcaster ignored Kevin.

The carpet of rocks around Gwen began to vibrate slightly, and gradually the rocks began to levitate. Gwen, realizing that something was about to happen, went towards the Charmcaster through the rocks. She took three steps before the rocks clumped together, enveloping the anodite girl in a solid sphere.

"Now!" shouted Charmcaster.

Kevin and Eunice took off, and one by one they began to sink the ores into the surface of the stone sphere. A hollow sound began to be heard from inside the shell, as if someone was punching it. Even so, the two young ones continued their task.

As soon as they were finished, they walked backwards, watching what was going to happen. The hollow sounds became more and more intense.

"Come on, Gwen..." said Kevin.

Let's go, you stupid girl... ― thought Charmcaster.

The ores glittered in the sunlight. The sphere trembled with each hollow sound. And then the energy rocks were losing their glow. The punches became less frequent, little by little, until only silence remained in the dead forest.

"And now what?" asked Eunice.

"If you want to go check it out, be my guest," said Charmcaster.

Kevin walked slowly towards the sphere. Suddenly, a small crack appeared on the surface of the stone casing. Another fissure, this time accompanied by a pinkish light coming from within the fissure. Another crack, another, another, until finally the sphere exploded into a thousand little pieces, leaving only a ball of light.

The three of them put their hands in front of their faces to protect themselves from the luminosity. Kevin, who was closest, saw a figure present in the center of the glow. The light began to dim and the young man realized that Gwen's figure became increasingly clear. However, her skin still bore the marks of anodite existence.

"Gwen?" he asked.

The girl was sitting up, with her legs bent at her sides. Her left arm rested on the sandy ground. Her head was kept low.

Gwen became aware of someone approaching. Her mind was trying to process the last memories of when she lost control. Slowly she raised her head and looked into the face of the teenager standing in front of her. There was fear in his eyes.

"I'm sorry, Kevin," Gwen said, tears streaming down her face, "I swear I didn't mean to..."

Kevin knelt down, wrapped the girl in a strong hug and said:

"I'm the last person who can judge you, Gwen. We all have a side that we struggle to keep under control."