TWENTY-FOUR

"So, what are we going to do now?"

Sky asked her voice calmer and with a lesser hint of fear and anxiety in it. Maybe the story distracted her from the terrifying creatures lurking around the cave paths or it could be a false feeling of safety while hiding away in the dark room.

" I've been thinking about going out there to invade a creature's mind using mind transfer. Then we'll hide in the storage room while the creature goes to kill the king. The storage room is safer than here because there are no creatures going there for now"

"But you can't walk with that wound," Hassan said

"I can walk with my left leg and then use the walls as a crutch"

"What if?..."

Was that worry I was sensing? Was Hassan worried about my well-being? I didn't know him too well to say that I knew him too well, but from what had happened so far I took him to be a distant person, who was always lost in his mind.

Sometimes I did wonder what his mind was like...What did he usually think about?

"It's not that hard walking with a crutch. I did it when y'all were unconscious. "

" But what about after the mind transfer? What if you fall and break something important ?" Sky said with her voice hinting worry.

Sky was the opposite of Hassan; she said everything she was thinking of and made sure she relayed all the emotions she was capable of.

"That's a very valid point," I said

"I have to go with you. Sky can wait here for us to ..."

"No way!" Sky said raising her voice a little higher than we had been talking with.

"No way" She repeated but this time in a lower whisper as if she was correcting her clumsy mistake. "This place is too dark. Do you think I came with you guys just to be left alone? I can run away if things go wrong. I'm just not going to stay here alone."

As she spoke her voice tremble giving the illusion that she was about to tear up. Out of the three of us, she was the only one reacting normally.

"Out of the three of us, you're the most important one," I said

"Don't feed me that bullshit, Jess. Hassan is also a healer who just happened to know how to fight."

She could sense what I really meant. She was indeed the most important because she could heal but fighting... I hadn't seen her fight so I had assumed she didn't know how to.

"Exactly. That's the point. He knows how to fight. Can you?"

"I've survived till now so that means something "

If I was presented with an option to stay back and do nothing while they fight and save us all, I would've definitely chosen that option.

"Okay, then. Just know that if things go wrong we may all die"

"I know that."

The plan was all set, there was nothing left to discuss again except to delve into the action.

"Don't worry. I can walk fine" I said to Hassan as I felt his breath on my face when I tried to stand.

Walking slowly while avoiding any pressure on the wounded leg I used the wall as a crutch.

When we came out of the room there were still creatures up and about the space a few meters away from us.

I started to feel a rising tension slowly enveloping my body.

Hassan walked slowly trying to move at the same pace as me. His expression was the same as it had always been; blank and emotionless, but deep within his eyes there was a hint of something that looked like hope and gratitude.

Behind Hassan was Sky; with fear as visible as the lighted cave, written all over her face. The blood supply to her face was probably obstructed somewhere because her face had become paler than usual.

This time we weren't as lucky as the first time we were before we went to hide in the dark room.

Seconds after leaving the first room two of the creatures spotted us and dashed at us like a crazy ghost in a hunted house.

It wasn't just any regular creatures but two of the cave pavers.

Pushing all the fear to the back of my mind, the willingness to survive took charge of my mind, and all I could think of was a mind transfer. Immediately I thought of mind transfer I found myself in the vast darkness and soon after that, I started to watch the world from the eyes of a cave paver.

The creature had a name like Andy because 'Why not?' I called it 'snowstorm.'

Acting even faster than the one remaining cave paver Hassan reached out both hands and caught my body about to fall to the ground.

As soon as he caught my body he shifted it to Sky and drew his Sword immediately clashing with the claws of the creature as it tried to slash through him and the two humans behind him.

The creature slashed him using one of its limbs and then the other. Each of the slashes only went through the air and made huge sounds.

The path was a lot smaller than the entrance area so Hassan was able to use it to his advantage, by evading the creature when it was so close to slashing him.

Hassan focused the little chances he got to attack the little creature on the creature's weak point, but each time his ice gladius got close to the creature's body it phased out that part and turned that part into gas causing the sword to pass through it to the other side.

Each time that happened it threw Hassan out of balance and drew him a little bit closer to the creature risking being killed by it... But as soon as he found himself in that position he'd push himself backward with the greatest force he could muster making it seem like he could summon a gust of wind beneath his feet.

It was a repetitive fight because Hassan and the creature didn't look to compromise and look for other ways to attack each other.

The creature swung its upper limbs in the air while it evaded Hassan's attacks.

It also started to seem as if Hassan could barely get to attack and was only evading the creature's attacks.

If the fight continued that way it would be a Battle of stamina.

Just when the battle looked like it had reached its plateau something changed. As Hassan ran around evading the strikes of the creature a dark essence emanated from him, but this time it wasn't just surrounding one corner of his eyes but he was enveloped in it like it was some sort of armor.

With the appearance of the dark essence, Hassan lost his usual 'calm and collected' composure for a moment. Charging toward the creature he didn't bother to evade it even as the claws were mere inches away from him.

Before the creature's right claws could tear through his skin, he swung his sword right through its forearm.

His battle style changed. He was no longer carefully evading the creature while looking for spare moments to strike at it but was attacking full-on like he was a monster of his own; one that the creature should be running from.

Striking through the creature's forearm he lunged himself upwards from the ground and struck his ice gladius through the creature's neck, completely separating its skull from the rest of its body.

At that moment a realization filled my mind turning my odd admiration into something more.