~Chapter nine~

I woke up to my arms wrapped around Lyria's small frame whilst she rested on me with her hands still draped over my waist. I looked around the cave and could make out the light creeping into it from the sun. Light.

Does this mean...We made it through the night! We're fucking alive!

Thank you Jesus! Thank you Jesus!

I did a mental dance in my head as relief washed over me. I had the urge to poke Lyria awake but I didn't have the heart to. She looked so peaceful and I didn't want to steal that from her at the moment. If only she could be like this all the damn time. Why can't she be like this all the time?

"Lyria?" I whispered softly shaking her gently. She just moaned and struggled further into my body tightening her hold on me which suddenly reminded me of the gash I had. Yup, it was still as fresh as ever. The pain told me so.

"Lyria..."I tried again, my voice coming out a little strained this time as I struggled to pry her hands off me. This girl has a strong grip.

Her eyes slowly shot open"Good morning"she yawned shooting me a lazy smile.

"y-you're hurting m-me!"I wheezed out, she looked confused at first then a look of realization crossed her features.

"Oh sorry"she smiled sheepishly unhooking her hands from my waist immediately. I released a breath through my mouth whilst she got up stretching.

I managed to pull myself up from the ground too and limped towards the entrance of the cave searching for any sign of the creature from last night.

The weird thing is, everywhere looked so serene. Too serenely for my liking...like there was no disturbance in the environment yesterday as the only sounds that could be heard were of chirping birds and the soft whistling of the wind.

"it's all quiet." Lyria whispered from behind me"I think it's gone"

I took one last look at everywhere then nodded. Maybe she was right. She draped her hand over my shoulder making me lean on her like she did before as we briskly left the cave.

We walked on for hours until we came to a stop by a cleared path surrounded only by bushes with a river just in front of it but, we were not alone. There was a group of four people seated by the bank of the river. Two guys and two girls to be precise.

One of the guys turned towards us alerting the others as he did"Who are you?"he asked eyeing us suspiciously.

"Pipe down Gerald" One of the two girls who was spotting a scar just below her eyelid said rolling her multicolored eyes"They might have been brought here by the portal too. right?"she turned to us asking with one hand to her waist and the other holding onto a bronze-like staff.

"Yes"Lyria answered furrowing her brows in confusion"but how?"

"Don't know hun, but I think it's best that we all stick together...I'm Aylin by the way"

"Well since we're stuck with each other, we might as well get to know each other...I'm Tauren"the second guy said slipping his sword back into the sheath attached to his belt. He was about my height with plantinum blonde hair and grey eyes.

"Gerald"the guy who noticed us first introduced himself. He was a tall buff guy with dark hair which was thrown into a tight bun behind his head with black eyes to match.

"Rave"the other girl with black curly hair muttered. Her caramel skin glistened in the sun complementing her deep blue eyes. She was a beauty to behold.

"Lyria..." Lyria began"And my friend Brian" she introduced us turning to me with a sly smile on her face.

Please remind me how we're friends again?...

Gerald suddenly sniffed then turned to me accusingly"He's human" he stated staring at me like I was mud under his feet. oh I ought to just pelt this guy's face with my fists.

"No way" Tauren's shock was written all over his face as he spoke"That's impossible, humans can't go through the portal"

"He shouldn't be here"Aylin added with a look of total disdain. Too bad, I was starting to like her though.

I hate when people fucking look down on me, it's infuriating.

"Do you think I'm fucking estatic to be here?" I scoffed in irritation matching her glare with the dirtiest one I could muster.

"Look it's a long story and-"

"We've got a lot of time"Gerald interjected raising a brow in challenge.

Lyria's face contorted to one of anger as she led me over to one of the trees so that I could lean on it for support.

"Can't even fucking walk on his own" Aylin mocked.

Bitch.

"Okay just fucking stop it!" Lyria yelled back"he didn't choose to be here. The amulet is fucking missing and he is just trying to help me find it! It's not his damn fault"she blurted out harshly.

"I'm sorry" Tauren snapped his head towards her direction so fast that even the speed of lightening couldn't match his pace.

"Did you just say the amulet's missing?"

"yes"Lyria sighed looking away slightly."We were trying to find it when we got attacked by the collectors and somehow ended up here." she explained.

Fear settled on their features and they gulped loudly. There was a slight lull in the air before Aylin spoke again

"How could you let this happen?"she asked in an annoyed tone.

"You Gobmen were supposed to be keeping keeping an eye on it!" Gerald added with a glare of his own directed towards Lyria.

I zoned out their conversation sighing deeply. I shut my eyes close and leaned into the tree I was currently resting on.

A warm sensation travelled up my arm making me snap my eyes open to see the girl Rave now seated next to me.

Curious as to what she was doing, I watched her and just as she was about touching my stomach...I stopped her.

Damn, her hand is too soft.

"What are you doing?"

"You're hurt"she said furrowing her brows and I almost awed at how baby like, she looked doing that. I nodded then proceeded to release her hand.

She gently unveiled the bandage revealing the gash on my stomach which seemed to look a lot worse than before"It's infected" she muttered making me sigh tiredly.

I watched her pull out a water bottle from the bag on her shoulder with the blue petals of a flower.

I winced when she washed the open wound with water and then applied the now grinded petals onto it. It freaking hurt but I felt a massive relief afterwards.

"Thank you" I nodded curtly to which she gifted me a small smile which almost made me blush. I said 'almost' bitches.

"How could you be so careless!"Tauren yelled bringing our attention back to the four of them.

"Hey! it's not our fault you piece of shit, the guardian got murdered" Lyria hissed.

"What an excuse" He scoffed sarcastically glaring furiously at Lyria who looked she was about to pounce on him and vice versa. Aylin and Gerald both looked like they were ready to do the same too.

This was getting really irritating.

I parted my lips to speak when Rave beat me to it.

"Instead of arguing with each other like animals, why don't we think of a solution to get out of here first" she suggested calmly.

"Did you not hear what she said?"Gerald asked angrily now shifting his gaze to Rave.

"I did but killing each other won't bring back the amulet. The only thing we can do is work together to find it"

"She's right" Aylin sighed in agreement" Lets do that before it's too-" she stopped mid-sentence as a fierce growl cut through the tense air around.

"Was that..."Tauren trailed off looking behind the tree where a replica of the same creature which Lyria and I ran from now stood in all its Glory.

"A Vrykolakas"Gerald finished for him.

I pulled myself up from the ground with a little ease now standing next to Rave.

Then almost like I had imagined it, the Vrykolakas smirked, charging towards us at a very fast pace.

Rave noting this, acted fast. She fisted her palms and stomped her right foot to the ground and immediately, a transparent yellow like thing was suddenly enclosed around us like a shield.

The Vrykolakas rammed into it but bounced back with such a great amount of force that its body thrummed against one of the trees like a drum.