El leaned back against a wall of an old house and observed the central square of the Nulla City. The twins were desperately trying to catch their breath as they had spent the last hour running around the city, estimating the damage of the rats’ invasion.

- How does it look like? – the redhead asked indifferently.

- Looks like the legion’s warriors will be busy for some time. – reported Nick.

Ada slipped out of the Council’s Hall front door and headed to her friends crossing the square, full of small, skinny people in long green robes. The people in green seemed to be confused and randomly rushed around in panic as if they were locked in a trap. Trying to make her way, Ada accidentally pushed a little lady with her shoulder. The woman instantly jumped up in fright and pointed at the girl with her magic wand, trying to look threatening. Her shaking arms, nevertheless, completely gave out her own fear. The witch apologizes quickly and ran further, trying to leave the square as soon as possible.

- Why don’t we also have magic wands? – asked Sam.

- Because we are no fairies but magicians, Tinker Bell. – El replied with laughter.

Ada finally reached her friends and looked back at the square. She seemed to be very irritated.

- God, they are so nervous! – huffed the girl.

- Of course, they are. Those forest hamsters are not made for war. I don’t know why the council decided to involve them. – the necromancer shrugged – What did Jadeite tell you?

- Almost all equipment was to some extend destroyed by rats. The council has already ordered new armors and weapons from Terra Creatores but it will take at least one more day to get the first batch of goods. – Ada concluded with satisfaction.

- Did he say something about the rats?

- My parents blame it on the recent attack. They said the rats came because they had smelled blood.

- I see, they don’t know the difference between rats and sharks, but whatever. Better for us. Let’s go, it is time to talk to our dungeon pet. – El nodded.

The witch turned around and walked away from the square. Her friends hurried after her. They shortly stopped at the crossroad when a round, short man bumped into the redhead and almost fell down. El grabbed his collar, helping the man to stay on his feet.

- Careful! Slow down. – she said calmly.

- Ah! Sorry! Sorry! – the man adjusted his big glasses and nodded.

The girls gazed at each other. This was the man they saw yesterday in the Council Hall. However, today he looked rather shabby. His long coat was hiding fresh bruises on his hands and neck. Seemed like his companion yesterday didn’t limit himself only to mocking.

- Are you okay? – Ada carefully examined the man.

- Yes, I am! I need to hurry to the council! Thank you again! – Theodor nodded and was already about to run further – By the way, be careful next time. The soldiers sometimes use the utility room for rest.

The girls gazed at each other once again. This time with great surprise though.

- Has he seen us? – the little witch raised her eyebrow.

- Well… Lucky for us he also wasn’t completely sure of D’s guilt. – replied the redhead.

The four went further away from the center, made sure nobody saw them, and teleported back to Terra Terrorem. They stepped out of the portal in the conference hall of the castle. Deas and Arcada were impatiently waiting for their return. Lady Varana was also there, she unexpectedly kindly smiled when El and the kids appeared in the hall. Lord Jolios and Lord Blind Shadow seemed to be less friendly. The first one, a tall, man with long blond hair, who was naturally so skinny, that one could count all his bones, frowned with disgust and turned his head away. Blind Shadow bent forward carefully catching every sound. His vision had left him decades ago, but he still could feel the presence of the children in the castle from his very first second there, and he definitely considered them to be unworthy and weak allies.

- We have a day, maybe two. Fairies have arrived today, and they look rather lost and helpless. The arrival of troops from Terra Ores was delayed because of yesterday’s… - El proudly smiled.

- I assume, My Lord, it is time for the ritual now. – the blond man bowed his head.

- Varana, prepare the dragons. Shadow and Jolios, take care of our new army. – Deas commanded as he was about to leave the room – We must be ready before Nulla decides to attack!

Arcada put a paralyzing spell on the creature and dragged it out of the dungeon to the pentagram that the twins drew days earlier. The potion worked and the monster had become significantly weaker, so the children weren’t afraid to come a little bit closer. They had never seen dark magic so closely and were sincerely interested but even before the ritual started, the kids had felt sinister ancient dark energy filling the dungeon and obscuring their minds. Ada shivered and moved closer to Arcada. The old wizard decided to stay in the dungeon in case if his El needed some help.

-You sure it is not dangerous? – Nick stared at the big man.

- Well… Necromancers often go between death and life but this time they need to go further despite the dark magic of another necromancer.

- So, you are not sure? – Sam frowned.

- I am sure, that my ward is strong enough… And this unpleasant man as well. – it sounded like Arcada was trying to calm himself down.

Deas and El took a sip of the potion and slowly stepped inside of the pentagram. As they neared the creature, it made a loud roar and powerlessly dropped its head on the floor. Both necromancers took their true form making the witnesses of the ritual back down in fear. The magicians were holding long silver daggers in their hands. In a second, they rapidly raised the daggers and pierced each other’s stomachs with them, and then just as quickly they pulled the daggers out and stabbed the monster. Dark, almost black blood, spilled on the floor heading to the lines of the pentagram. The kids heard how two magicians yelled: “Thanio ou-no Kay” and then an oppressive hum, spiteful hoarse whispers and a strong smell of decay made them retreat from the dungeon.

When El opened her eyes, she was standing alone in complete darkness. It was very cold, way too cold here. The wind was blowing through to her bone. The witch made a step and heard a loud echo. She hugged herself and tried to look around but vainly. Darkness was the only thing she saw. Suddenly somebody touched her shoulder, making the girl startle.

- Calm down, it’s just me. – Deas neared his face to the girl.

- So, we are here, what are we going to do next?

- Hmm… - D sighed.

- You know, it’s not really what I expected to hear from you now. – El glanced at the young man reproachfully.

- Let me focus, the dark spell we used is supposed to show us the way further. – the necromancer huffed.

The two were wandering around when they felt a throbbing pain. They heard furious animal screams far away from them and hurried to the noise. However, with every next step, it was getting more and more difficult to move. Necromancers’ legs were drowning in a dark substance that reminded tar. Spiteful whispers now got louder and turned into screams getting inside the heads of two magicians and making them go insane. El felt how the sticky mass wrapped around her legs like a snake, pulling her down. Deas could barely move as well. His black eyes teared blood and he made a loud inhuman roar. The substance immediately let its prey go and the sinister voices became quieter. As soon as the necromancers felt that they could walk again, they ran towards the noise as fast as they could. They had almost reached a bright portal of light when El stopped and looked around.

- What’s wrong? – D grabbed her hand.

- Hmm… No… No, nothing… - the witch replied thoughtfully.

The two stepped forward and entered the portal; entered the memories of the monster. The last thing this creature saw was a wide field of its home Terra covered with silver-green soft fresh grass. The animal raised its head and looked at three purple moons in the dark night sky. Far away, the forest rustled soothingly. The creature put its massive head on its paws and closed its eyes. The next second it felt a sharp unexpected pain. Endless pain, as if something was tearing its flesh apart over and over again. The animal desperately screamed but the pain only increased.

This torture lasted for maybe 10 minutes or maybe for one million years. Time stopped existing and locked the poor thing in a loop of its suffering. It couldn’t move or roar anymore, billiards of invisible sharp knives pierced its body, paralyzing the creature. All at once it heard a loud clap and finally managed to open its eyes.

It was in a large cave, decorated with skulls and animal skins. Here and there were laying ancient books and bottles with suspicious potions. The animal turned its head to the fire. An old but still muscular man was preparing something in a large pot. He stared at his monster with his tiny green eyes and hissed something, then he approached his creation with big steps, pressed his wide hand to the thing’s forehead, and whispered:

- You will know only pain and no mercy! Now go! Hunt!

The animal obediently walked to three other monsters, and quickly disappeared in an opened portal, teleporting to the cold, snowy Terra Gelu.

El woke up. Arcada was holding her head and mumbling something bewildered.

- Do you hear me? Do you?

- I do, I do, big man. It is all fine. – the young woman made some effort to get up.

- Why don’t you ask me too, if I am okay? – Deas offendedly stared at the old wizard.

- You are okay. Pests don’t die that easily. – the magician waved his hand.

The young witch stepped closer to the bleeding monster and touched its head with her fingers.

- You suffered enough. Rest now. – she pronounced as the creature turned into ashes.

The three left the dungeon. Children were waiting upstairs in the corridor and ran to their friends as soon as they showed up.

- So? Did it work out? – Sam shouted out impatiently.

- Yes, it did. – Deas nodded emotionlessly.

- This necromancer lives at Terra Silvis. And that is where he creates his monsters. – explained the witch.

- Then we must go there now and bring him to the council before my grandmother does something horrible! – Ada exclaimed.

- If we bring your breathless body to your grandmother, she will definitely do something horrible. – huffed D and pushed the girl aside – I will deal with this hellkite.

- We are both emaciated by dark magic now. Deas, give us few hours to rest and we will go together. – El grabbed the necromancer’s shoulder.

- I will go as well. – Arcada stepped forward.

- No. You will stay here and maintain a shield above my Terra. – The Monster above all monsters looked the wizard closely in his eyes – Somebody must protect my people when I am not there.

- And we will help you to disguise your magic! – Nick came closer to the old teacher.

- El… Be careful… - Arcada patted his ward and sighed.

The whole group walked to the main parlor where Tarnan had already prepared something he considered to be food. The kids had so many questions about dark magic, but Nick clearly hinted, that they better wait.

- What was there in the darkness? – Deas whispered to El.

- I don’t know. I just… Maybe I have heard something. A familiar voice calling me… But I am not sure… - the redhead shrugged.

- Hmm… Maybe it was just a side effect of dark magic… - the young man replied thoughtfully.

- Maybe.