I blinked once, then twice, then thrice. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. That’s him, right? The Golden Sun?

My mind tried to make sense of what was happening, but to no avail. It felt like my brain had rusted and wouldn’t function properly. Suddenly, another sharp pain erupted from my side. It felt hot, burning. My gaze shifted towards Golden Sun only to find him still unconsciously sprawled on the ground.

“Ugh!” I groaned. Just then, another wave of warm energy surged to my body, soothing my agony.

“Don’t push yourself too much, Kaito,” said a female voice from the air. “Light magic effects aren’t that easy to deal with. Especially strong ones.”

My eyes instinctively scanned the air looking where it was coming from, then it landed on a bird in the midst of landing. But before it did, it glowed bright black and expanded. It literally expanded. Its gray wings grew wide and smooth. The feathers shrunk, revealing a ghastly pale skin. The beak retracted into a mouth, and the feathers on its nape thinned and grew into silver locks of hair.

“I apologize for being late, Kaito,” Bria said as she inspected the unconscious Golden Sun. “Drink this.”

A potion accurately landed on my weak hands. With the little strength I had regained, I tilted the vial on my lips, pouring the liquid down my throat. “Is he dead? What happened?”

“He’s not. He’s just unconscious, a side effect of my sealing spell. But he should wake up soon.”

I repeatedly clenched and unclenched my fist, checking how much strength I had regained. Not much.

I shifted my gaze downwards. The limp Golden Sun grunted. Is he awake?

I looked at Bria in hopes of finding some sort of clue. She met my gaze and heaved. Composing herself, she strode towards me. “Don’t worry, Kaito. He won’t be breaking my spell.”

“Spell?” I echoed despite hearing it the moment she first said it.

“Yes. A sealing spell, and a strong one at that,” she replied, tilting her head upwards.

My brows furrowed. “You managed to do that after you arrived?”

“Arrived? No, I’ve been hiding myself while setting it up.” This time, her voice was calmer and less bragging.

“Setting it up? Since when have you been here?” I asked, failing to hide the surprise in my voice. The more she answered, the more my confusion grew.

“Since you shook hands with him.” She gestured towards the grunting Golden Sun.

I frowned. “Since then?! Why didn’t you help me?”

Bria was about to respond when a shout came from the distance. Although the distance weakened it, the echo was distinguishable enough.

“Retreat! The light is gone! Retreat!” it said repeatedly like a broken player.

I looked up and had only noticed that the light had already dissipated. Only the very slight moonlight lit the camp.

“We have to go now,” Bria egged as her hand moved in circles conjuring a portal.

With the light gone, Rihoku, no longer weakened, found his way towards me, and I mounted him with a bit of Shiki's help. With a gentle pat, Rihoku howled, signaling our retreat, then we jumped into the swirling vortex.

Walls of mist-like aura kept swirling around us. Looking at it made my head spin, so I shut my eyes to save myself from suffering visual dysphoria. When I opened it again, what greeted me was the familiar brick wall of our home. I strugglingly alighted Rihoku, then propped myself on my chair, heaving and grunting all throughout. The burning pain had subsided, but it was still there, constantly chewing at my skin. It felt like my skin was being scraped raw. Even Bria’s potion didn’t do much help. Soon enough, the pain and fatigue were too much to bear, and my consciousness faded.

***

“F*ck you, you dirty pig!” The Golden Sun hissed, his glare boring holes to my skull.

I bit my lip, my heartbeat racing from his words. My gaze wandered on red shackles on his wrists and ankles, glowing with Bria’s inscriptions. Even though he’s bound and all, I was still certain of his strength. It was like keeping a wild lion on a leash. “Are you sure he’s harmless?” I asked Bria, a bit suspicious.

“Don’t worry, Kaito. He’s not going anywhere. Only his words can hurt you now,” Bria explained, chuckling. Despite the shackled, but looming danger, she was still calm enough to mock my nervousness.

I veered my attention off the chuckles and focused on her assurance. I took a deep breath. Okay, good.

Golden Sun, which sounded ironic now, kept throwing curse after curse. His provocations varied from sucking balls to tasteless “your mama” hits, plastering his image of a gamer back in our world. Not just any ordinary gamer, though. He’s a trashtalker.

I shifted my gaze on Bria, whose eyes were gleaming with what seemed like curiosity. Is she finding his trashtalking fascinating?

But after a few more curses, she furrowed her brows and an unfascinated scowl crept to her face. She looked at me, eyebrows raised. “Does he have an endless repertoire of nonsensical things to say?” she asked.

The seriousness in her voice almost made me chuckle, but I stopped myself. After all, I hadn’t really seen Bria become angry yet, and I didn’t plan on witnessing it anytime soon. After a few more moments of silence, Shiki’s husky, metallic voice came from behind. “What shall we do with him, my liege? Shall I end his life?”

I whipped my head towards Shiki. A misty black aura had already enveloped his glove, and Kiriwan was halfway solid.

“No! Don’t! Please don’t kill me!” Golden Sun pleaded. The arrogance and confidence in his voice were gone. “Hey, hey. Kaito, right? I remember that’s what this chick called you.”

I looked at him, but didn’t say anything, letting him continue what he had to say.

“Come on, don’t be like this. We’re both from Earth, right? Don’t kill me. I promise I won’t attack you again.” He tried pulling a smile, but only a terrified expression surfaced.

I sighed, gesturing to Shiki to put Kiriwan away. I did that not because he begged, but because I wasn’t a murderer. At least, I had no plans of killing someone from my own world. “Nobody’s dying.”

“Really?! Thank you! Thank you, Kaito! I owe you my life, literally!” Golden Sun bombarded me with thanks and praise like I was a god.

I stared at him to shut his endless ramblings, but it did no good. His ramblings made me more annoyed than flattered.

“Then, what shall we do with him?” this time, it was Bria who asked.

“We’ll bring him to Lureschka. She should know what to do with him.”

That finally shut him up. When I snuck a peak, a contorted, confused face met my eyes.

“Lureschka? Who’s Lureschka?” he asked, calmer than his previous fit of rage.

Before I could answer, Bria interjected. “You’ll find out soon enough.”

She rubbed her hands together, then blew on it. A cloud of glittery white dust flew towards Golden Sun’s face, and his body once again limped.

I looked at Bria, eyebrows furrowed. “What’s that?”

“A sleeping spell. He’s knocked out for the next hour or so,” Bria explained, dusting what remained of the mist.

I nodded.

“Are we going back to our Lord’s chamber now?” Bria asked, her hands prancing in anticipation.

“No. Not yet.”

Bria’s face twisted, confusion painted all over her face. Still, she remained quiet and stopped moving her fingers.

Seeing her, I continued, “We’ll go tonight. I-- I just need to talk to him for a bit.”

Shiki and Bria nodded. Before they left, Bria did another spell to bind him to the wall. For assurance, Bria claimed. I nodded and let her be. I sat on my chair, thinking of what might come next. We had subdued the Golden Sun, but the feeling of dread hadn’t left me. My gut screamed at me, telling me that the peaceful days were over. Something was about to happen, and it wasn’t something nice.