I will return

87

The moment had arrived, and the stage was set.

Flying over the town, I made sure that each inhabitant was in their place, obediently gathered in the center of the square. With one last look from above, I took flight once more and headed toward a place that no human could reach: the center of the planet. Beneath layers of rock and magma, where currents of energy moved like invisible rivers, I had built my well of souls. And, waiting for me there, was him... my uncle, Scooby.

Upon landing, my black wings folded gently and I touched the ground. I raised the Daemon Ritus with both hands, staring at the object that had been the key to my ascension. His power had been astonishing, his strength indescribable. But now, for the last time, I had to let go of him.I removed the Daemon Ritus, and as I did so, I felt the power slide out of my body. The dragon wings were the first to disappear, evaporating like black smoke. The flames that had burned in my hands were extinguished, and my muscles shrank, returning to my original body. Within seconds, I was back in my puppy form, looking down at my paws and shaking my head with a wistful smile. Once again, he was the same old Scrappy, but now with dark knowledge and contained energy, waiting.

I looked up and saw the moon align with the horizon, a sign that everything was in perfect order. It was time.

I stood at the edge of the well of souls and, in a low whisper, spoke the incantation I had prepared for so long. The archaic words echoed in space, and a current of invisible energy began to rise. In a breath, I felt the call of the souls. Not just those I had recently absorbed, but all the ones I had ever captured and had lost. Whispers, screams, echoes of past lives began to resonate in the air.

Souls came from everywhere, like a dark and thick torrent, in quantities that exceeded my expectations. They were almost four times more than the last time I attempted this ritual, and each one of them carried with it a trace of power, a fragment of memory, a spark of life. Watching the swirl of energy in the well, an indescribable emotion ran through me.

And there, among the murmur of souls, I saw my uncle Scooby slowly awaken, his eyes blinking in the gloom.

I smiled, a sharp smile full of satisfaction.

—It's time.