“Shit, run fast!” Mike shouted while Dave followed behind him, still half stunned by what he had seen.
“What was that red liquid?
Is it blood?
But why did it come out like that?” Everything was confusing in Dave’s mind.
He hadn’t seen something like this in his world.
He had seen people lose limbs and worse things, but never something like this.
“Are you listening to me, Dave?!” Mike shouted while Dave ran like a robot.
In the same way, Mike was thinking the same, but it wasn’t time to reflect.
Behind them followed werewolves and deformed monsters.
It wasn’t known if to call them monsters or demons.
They kept running without direction.
If they went back to the inn, they ran the risk that Zak and Anna would end up in the same situation, especially Zak, who was still sleeping.
They reached the central plaza, but they were half lost and decided to keep running not knowing where to go.
Before they could advance further, in front of them appeared a group of adventurers and guards who were running toward the monsters.
“Get out of the way!” a guard ordered while gripping his sword.
Mike was getting out of the way, but when he noticed Dave paralyzed in the middle of the battle that was about to begin, he ran toward him, pushed him and went with him.
While he was getting up, swords clashing and magical explosions began to sound in the middle of the plaza.
Mike turned while dragging an unconscious Dave from the push and the horrible situation.
A muscular adventurer gripped his sword and ran toward one of the monsters.
In a quick movement, he swung his sword, producing a dry sound as it clashed against the monster’s claws, which it had used as defense.
On the other hand, a mage skillfully used his magical staff, making it spin with precision to build momentum.
In a jump, he hit one of the mutant wolves with the staff, releasing a red explosion that threw it against the pond, defeated.
“Let’s go, Dave!
Wake up, bad time to faint!” Mike grunted carrying unconscious Dave on his shoulders.
Before they could keep advancing, he felt a shiver run down his spine.
He quickly threw Dave to the side and, on instinct, grabbed his axe to block a surprise attack from behind by one of the monsters.
Despite the defense, he was thrown backward by his inexperience and the force of the blow.
He crashed against a pile of wooden barrels.
The pain was instant and he spat blood from the impact.
But…
he immediately was left in shock upon seeing the blood.
“Why did it come out?
Did the impact affect something?” It wasn’t time to ask questions.
He moved quickly to the side.
The monster came like lightning, impacting right where Mike had been before.
“Shit, that was close!” he thought.
He got up again gripping his axe.
His legs trembled with fear and sweat bathed his forehead.
They had never trained him or prepared him for this.
“Let’s see how the English classes serve me now,” he thought.
The important thing was to survive until a stronger adventurer arrived.
Steps began to sound in the distance while a young voice shouted: “Move!” he ordered.
Mike, without turning around, threw himself in a jump to the side while a ray of energy passed right through where his head had been.
He turned his gaze toward the monster, which had exploded into pieces from the magical attack.
“Damn, it really blew it to pieces!” he thought.
Mike got up and ran toward Dave, who was still unconscious, and carried him again.
In the background more steps could be heard, probably reinforcements to deal with the monsters.
He didn’t turn to check and simply kept advancing.
After a while, he finally reached the inn, which was empty.
Mike left Dave sitting in a chair and looked at his hands, now safer, wondering why blood had come out.
Before he could keep questioning himself, Anna came down gripping her same wooden stick, which she dropped immediately upon seeing them.
“What the hell happened to you?!
I told you not to get into trouble!” she asked angrily while looking at Mike, who had blood on his hands.
“Why the hell do you have blood on your hands?” Anna asked, slightly stunned.
“I don’t know… it just came out when I crashed against the barrels… My back hurts” he answered.
Anna kept looking at him a moment before growling bitterly.
“Zak didn’t tell me everything… damn it,” she thought.
“There’s no time to waste” Anna ordered.
Without waiting for an answer, she positioned herself behind Mike, hugged him by the arms and, in a quick movement, made his bones crack while he grunted in pain.
She let him fall while he got up again.
“Oh!
My back is better now” he said gratefully.
“Good.
Let’s go upstairs, it’s not safe here” she ordered.
They went up to the second floor.
Upon reaching the room, Mike left Dave carefully on the floor.
“Now there’s a full-on battle happening outside” Anna commented.
“Yeah… Dave and I were coming from a blacksmith and it just happened” Mike answered.
“Blacksmith?
And for what?
If you don’t even have money” she replied.
“It’s a long story, but here” he handed her the sword they had bought an hour ago.
“Who knows when we’ll need it, besides if we’re going to be traveling between dimensions.” “Seems fine to me” Anna answered while gripping the light and colorful sword.
“You think Zak is better already?
So he can explain to us about…” she paused to look at her hand.
“I doubt it.
A while ago he tried to get up, but he fell asleep again” she answered.
“Then…” “We just have to have patience and be ready in case something happens” Anna completed.
Anna sat to the side of the bed in case Zak woke up or suffered pain.
Mike sat next to Dave and sighed while he arranged him so he could rest.
The night passed between explosions and the sound of metal.
“Mmm…” Zak made a groan while getting up.
He noticed that Anna was leaning against the headboard of the bed with her head down, still asleep.
Mike slept in a corner and Dave seemed stiff, but you could tell he was still breathing.
Zak got up from the bed and adjusted his robe properly.
“Zak” a voice called.
“Uhm?” he turned confused and saw Anna with a serious look from the bed, arms crossed.
“Zak, you’re going to tell me everything.
But if I say everything, it’s everything.
Okay?” she ordered.
“Like what?” Zak murmured.
“Why the hell did Mike bleed?” she asked.
“It was… I suppose from a bad hit, right?” “I don’t know exactly, but I want you to tell me the truth.
I know you know something.” “What does she have?
Has she never seen blood?
Wait… in that dimension where Anna and the others come from it seemed like blood didn’t flow as such… Thanks to that I was saved from not dying from bleeding… They didn’t know how blood really worked in that dimension… Shit,” he thought while sighing.
“Okay… You want the truth, I’ll tell you” Zak commented.
Anna sat better on the bed to listen to the explanation.
“Start” she ordered.
After a moment… Anna was clearly irritated while breathing in and out.
“Okay… Then this will be harder, but not impossible” she commented.
“Take it as raising the difficulty of something” Zak added trying to calm the situation.
“I’m not playing games, Zak.
The possibility that we end up dead from bleeding is high, more so if we’re not alert.
Why didn’t you say it before?
Do you realize we could have died for not knowing that?” Anna replied.
“Yes… sorry.” “Don’t forgive yourself, it just already happened… Well, I suppose it’s time to move forward.” “Right.” Anna got up and woke the other young people.
“It’s time” she commented.
“Already?
Well, it was about time” Mike said.
“I don’t know what to think… ” Dave commented, still half stunned by last night’s incident.
“I’ll explain later, guys, but now we must advance” Anna explained.
Without more, Anna turned her gaze toward Zak, giving him the signal without needing to say a word.
The young people took their weapons while Mike tried to calm Dave, who was still pale.
Zak positioned himself straight, looked toward a wall and closed his eyes to concentrate.
“Get me out of here…