Entering The Eldritch Menagerie

Aiden was amazed as he had just witnessed the sand spitting out a thirty-foot doorway before him. He started to walk towards the doorway by himself.

As Aiden is continuously walking, Kai gazes at his friends. "Let's go," Kai then looked at the Scorchers, "You three come too."

Everyone followed Kai to the doorway, where Aiden was already standing there. The doorway had two thirty-foot-tall wooden doors. One door had the word Eldritch engraved in it in big words, and the other door had the word Menagerie engraved in it.

Aiden first observed the door. Then he rushed to Kai. "Open The Door!" Aiden said in a higher pitch voice. "The Sun Will Rise In Twenty-Minutes, Hurry Up!"

Kai took a deep breath before responding to Aiden, "No one's going in there." Kai continued, "Especially you."

After hearing Kai's words, Aiden facial expression changed from amazed to furious. He shouted, "I'M GOING IN THERE, EVEN IF I HAVE TO FIGHT YOU!"

Luna flew in, trying to release the tension. She said, "Aiden, calm down. We can talk about it."

"YOU STAY OUT OF THIS!!!" Aiden shouted at Luna.

"I HAVE SPENT YEARS OF MY LIFE LOOKING FOR THIS PLACE, AND WHEN I HAVE FOUND IT, YOU ARE TELLING ME I CAN'T GO IN THERE!!!!" Aiden continued, "WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE SAYING NO TO ME I'L. KILL YOU IF I HAVE TO!!!"

"Kill me! how are you going to achieve that?" Kai continued, "Your magic doesn't work against me. You don't even have your sword." Kai mocked Aiden's foolishness.

After hearing Kai's words, Aiden gazes at Kai's hand, which is still bleeding from a cut Kai had given to himself earlier. Despite the bleeding from his hand, Kai's grip was still firm on Aiden's sword.

Before Aiden could say anything, Kai tossed Aiden's sword towards Aiden. "Give it a try," Kai said in a calm tone.

After grabbing the sword, Aiden immediately pointed its tip at Kai. Luna then flew on Kai's side, she said to him. "Kai, we don't have time for this."

"I know, but he needs to know his place." As Kai said, he walked towards Aiden without any hesitation.

Aiden's sword touched Kai's chest, but that didn't stop Kai. He kept on walking towards Aiden.

Aiden started to walk backward while Kai kept on moving towards Aiden. "Stay Back, OR I'll Kill you!!" As Aiden said, he tried to pierce Kai's chest, but he stopped himself.

Kai first looks at the sword, then he gazes at Aiden. "You don't have the guts to kill anyone."

As Kai said, he grabbed the edge of the sword with his injured hand. Aiden tried to pull his sword from Kai's grip, but Kai didn't let go of the sword. No matter how hard Aiden tried, Kai kept closing in on him while holding the edge of his sword.

"You're naive, Aiden. Accept your limits and stand down." Kai stated.

"I'M GOING IN THERE!!" Aiden tried to hide his nervousness by yelling at Kai.

The Scorchers, Eiera, and Rin were watching everything at a close distance. One of the Scorchers said to Eiera, "The Wielder is trying to protect him from the Spellhounds." The Scorcher continued, "Even we can see that."

Eiera asked, "What are Spellhounds?"

Before Scorcher could respond to Eiera, Kai called the Scorchers. "You three, keep him with you until I come back."

The Scorchers listened to Kai. They immediately rushed towards Aiden, and all three of them surrounded Aiden in a circle. While the Eternal Blade was floating over the Scorchers and Aiden.

"LET ME GO!!!" Aiden kept on shouting, but the Scorchers kept ignoring Aiden while keeping him trapped in the circle.

"Keep him in there for now," Kai said.

Eiera and Rin approached Kai, "Why didn't you tell us about the spell hounds?" Rin asked.

"We can discuss about that later. Right now, I have to enter the Eldritch Menagerie." As Kai said, he turned around and walked towards the Eldritch Menagerie entrance.

As Kai was walking, Eiera called out, "Are you not taking the Eternal Blade with you? You always take the Eternal Blade with you whenever you go in there."

Kai stopped and said, "Previous time, we didn't have the Scorchers with us. If I took the Eternal Blade with me, then they would be uncontrollable."

 Kai replied to Eiera without even looking at her. Then Kai proceeded to walk towards the passing by Luna and Aiden, who is still trapped by the Scorchers.

Aiden also saw Kai passing by, "LET ME GO!!!" He shouted while Kai was passing by, but Kai ignored him and kept on moving.

As Kai stood in front of the thirty-foot-tall gates, they opened by themselves. The gates only make such a small amount of room for Kai to enter.

Aiden peaked through the Scorchers. He saw Kai standing in front of the opened doors, but through the door was pitch black. 

Nothing was visible, even for Kai, who was just standing before its entrance. Without wasting any more time, Kai stepped through the doors. The doors immediately closed as Kai stepped through them.

After Kai entered the Eldritch Menagerie, Eiera and Rin approached Scorchers. "Tell us, what are these Spellhounds?" 

One of the Scorchers said to Eiera, "Spellhounds are the worst creation of this realm. All of us are blessed that they are trapped in the Eldritch Menagerie."

The Scorcher said, "They are hounds, but not the ones we know. They don't have any eyes. You know what's the worst part about them. They have two forms, one for hunting and one for eating."

"I hope they eat him alive," Aiden said.

"What did you just say?" Eiera asked for clarificcation.

Aiden responded in a high-pitched voice, "I SAID, I HOPE THEY EAT YOUR FRIEND ALIVE!!"

"Kai is protecting you, and you are hoping that he might die." Eiera continued, "If you have so many problems with him. Then why did you join us in this journey?"

" I Only Said That I Wanted To Go In There!!" Aiden continued, "He Acted Like A Kid, Now I'm Trapped Here!!!"

"Are you even listening to yourself!!" Eiera continued, "You are the one who is acting like a spoiled child.."

Eiera asks, "What answers do you need from there? You are a prince of the wealthiest Kingdom in this realm. What else do you need??"

Aiden didn't respond to Eiera, but then Luna interfered. " We need to stop fighting with each other." 

"There are only fifteen minutes left till the sunrise. After that, the entrance will disappear." Luna continued, "We just hope Kai found the answers in such amount of time and made his way out."

The Scorchers said, "It's only fifteen minutes for us, but for the wielder, it's fifteen hours in there." The Scorcher continued, "That also means he has to last fifteen hours against the Spellhounds and the Watchers without the Eternal Blade."