The Darkside

Nedezrinza

"What the hell is that?" I asked, petrified at the sight of yet another monster in my house. It wasn't the same as the one we encountered before; this one was with red skin and six deep-set navy blue eyes. It had a large mouth that extended from ear to ear, and a large head with long locks of navy blue hair.

"Octavia," said Melissa as she grabbed onto my hand. "Let's see what we can do," I said, and we put our hands out, chanting and trying to send it away; but it disappeared in front of our eyes and reappeared a few feet away. "What just happened?" I asked. "This isn't good," Aunt Cassie said. "Why?" I asked. "It's the Soragzal; a demon that can teleport. We need to subdue it first!" she replied.

We chanted the asphyxiation spell, hoping to subdue it, but it didn't work: it lunged towards us. We moved away as we continued with the spell. It teleported again, grabbing on to Anastasia by her neck. "No!" I yelled as I continued to chant the asphyxiation spell. But it didn't let go of her, and I could see Anastasia struggle to breathe as her face started to grow pale.

"Let's use the blinding spell," Aunt Cassie said, which we did. Confused at the loss of sight, the demon let go of Anastasia, dropping her to the floor. It tried to move around while we chanted the asphyxiation spell. At last, the spell worked; it fell unconscious before us. "Okay, how did this happen? How did it get here?" I asked. "It must have come through the portal," Aunt Cassie said. "But shouldn't we have seen it?" I asked. "It must have been invisible when it came through," Aunt Cassie replied. "I guess that explains it. Anyway, how do we get rid of it, and could there be any more of them lurking around?" I asked. "I'm not sure, let's check the grimoire," Aunt Cassie said. We then rushed to the grimoire and checked it for information on the monster.

"We can't get rid of it, not without the weapon," Aunt Cassie said while looking at the grimoire. "I'm sorry, what?" Anastasia asked. "Anything that comes from there can't be killed without that specific weapon," Aunt Cassie said. "Well, then, we have no choice but to go get it," I said. "Yes, but it's very dangerous. We'll have to be very cautious," Aunt Cassie said. "I know, but what other choice do we have?" I said. "Maybe we should call Brian," Aunt Cassie said. "No, we already lost Christen; we can't lose Brian too," I said. "Did you call me?" came a voice from behind us. "Brain, what are you doing here?" I asked. "You called me," he replied. "No, we didn't," I said. "Yes, you did," he said. "Fine," I said, realizing that he heard us mention him.

We then told him what transpired. "What's wrong with you? Why can't you leave things alone?" he said, before turning to Aunt Cassie. "And why didn't you stop them?" he asked, sounding annoyed. "I tried to, but I'm just an old lady; nobody listens to me," she said. "Okay, where are the monsters?" he asked. "In the cellar," I replied. We accompanied him to the cellar.

"Christ, look at the size of that thing," he said. "Now, what do we do?" he asked. "Well, we tried everything; saw it, torch it, and freeze it; nothing works. We have to go to Nedezrinza and get the weapon to kill it," I said. "Nedezrinza, is that where it came from?" he asked. "No, it's not. It's a world where the weapon is kept hidden away from the monsters," Aunt Cassie said. "I see. Then there's no choice but to seek the sword, and I'm coming with you," he replied. "No Brian, you shouldn't," I said. "And why not?" he asked. "We already lost Christen; I don't want to lose you, too," I said.

"That's sweet, but it's my job to protect you," he replied. "But I can't have another loss on my conscience," I said. "I'm coming and you can't stop me," he said. "Really, are you sure?" I asked. "Come on, Octavia, Christen's death isn't your fault; try not to blame yourself for everything that goes wrong," Brian said. "Yes, it was: he died saving me," I said. "That's because it's his job! And also because he loved you!" Brian said. "Can we change the subject, please?" I asked, feeling overwhelmed. "Sure, but you need to deal with your pain without just pushing it under," Brian said. "I know," I replied.

"We chanted the spell to enter Nedezrinza, hoping things wouldn't get worse. The gateway to it opened beneath us. Anastasia, Melissa, and I, accompanied by Brian, entered Nedezrinza. But what lay ahead of us was way worse than we expected. We were trapped with monsters that looked so vile it made my skin crawl. They turned around noticing us and lunged at us while uttering words in an unfamiliar language.