The Dark| Freed Justine X Reader Story

34•Déjà Vu

The sky was turning many shades lighter and the stars that dotted the midnight blue were vanishing. Neil had gotten us far away from Magnolia and I'm pretty sure we were a couple towns and villages away now- but still stuck in the forest. How he was locating the dark guild- I didn't know. Speaking of which, I just remembered that he never got to tell me the name or any other information about the guild besides their insignia. 

"Watch out," Neil pulled me back by the collar of my shirt before I could step into a pit.

"Thanks," I muttered, this time paying attention to where I walked.

The only sound I could hear was of our boots crunching dry leaves beneath our feet. I felt goosebumps crawl up my arms, giving me an eery feeling.

My gaze drifted back, as I looked over my shoulder and found nothing but shadows. It wasn't the darkness, that made me shiver, for sure. So what was it that I felt?

I looked over to Freed but he didn't seem to feel anything... off. And if he did, he didn't show it. Neil on the other hand, did look around, quite tense.

"Something isn't right," I heard him mumble and he did say some more incoherent words after that as well, which I didn't catch.

Then I heard it. A rough whisper of some sort. The green haired wizard finally payed me a glance and I stepped a bit closer to him.

"Do you feel it?" I whispered, and received a nod from him. We stayed close as we walked with Neil leading the way.

"We're nearing the guild," the crimson haired wizard stated.

However, before any of us could take another step, we heard a cackle. A far too familiar one. It was her- the guild's leader.

Freed's hand brushed against the hilt of his sword while mine remained ready to attack with my daggers.

Out of the trees walked (more like crawled) a pitch black creature wearing a malicious grin. It had holes for eyes that were dripping with some sort of dark slime. Its enormous black wings were folded behind its bony back and long arms hung loosely by its side. It didn't particularly have legs but talons. Basically, it was a really disgusting looking creature.

Neil stepped back, a shocked look upon his face. Freed glared at the grinning creature and hissed before drawing out his blade. The creature's head tilted to one side as it looked at Freed. I didn't have a good feeling about this.

"Don't do anything stupid," I warned but I doubt he heard what I said. The creature cackled again, making me wonder, 'Could the guild's leader shape shift or something?'

It was too quick for any of us to comprehend its moves. Grey smoke flooded the area, blinding us as the monster before us laughed at our miserable situation. A hand covered the lower half of my face and pulled me back. I knew it wasn't Freed- he was always gentle, even when training or in rough situations. I looked over my shoulder to see blurry red blobs every where. Neil's eyes were shut as he held me to his body. I tried looking around and standing up but the smoke was making me drowsy. 

What is this, some kind of poison? What exactly was that thing?

I heard a yell and my head shot up. It was Freed! The blurry images turned clearer and I spotted the beast flying away with the rune mage (who looked like he was on the verge of passing out) trapped in his claws. I tried running in its direction, but with all that toxic smoke I had lost most of my energy. I tripped over  a rock and landed on my stomach, sprawled on the ground like a helpless girl. I called out but it wasn't above a whisper. My cheek hit the soil and I let out a long breath. 

"This is no time for you to sleep, Y/n! Get up! We have to follow them! I think it's with the dark guild!" Neil rushed to my side and slapped me a few times for me to wake up.