It was with great shame and fear that I screamed out, "Help! HELP! Somebody! Anybody!" This only motivated the creature more. The creature pulled back a great distance. This was my moment to relax, but that was short-lived, as the creature opened its mouth and appeared to gather red, energy-like balls. This bastard was charging up an energy bomb. As the bomb became bigger, it slowly began to collapse on itself. I didn't need a Ph.D. in nuclear physics to know that was going to remove my existence from this world. Holding on to the pendant and begging for any help, I cried, "Please help me! I don't want to die!" Those were my biological reset phrases. I really didn't want to die again.
Suddenly, the sphere also began to charge up with blue energy toward my face. It looked as though the pendant heard my cries. Could this be enough to stop the incoming ball of destruction?
With great speed, the shadow creature released the bomb. It traveled as fast as any fighter jet could dream, carrying with it a massive impact force. The sphere, on the other hand, shot a beam of blue energy laser light at the center of the basketball-looking missile, and a great explosion happened, causing a thick screen of smoke. Coughing, as the impact seemed to have twisted my leg, the blue energy began to heal it slowly, restoring it to its normal state. But there was one problem: there wasn't a sphere barrier anymore.
"What? The barrier is gone?" I could hear the monstrous scream, as it appeared it wasn't dead.
As the smoke screen began to clear, I could see the monster from a distance now. The monster was slowly healing up. "Have you not done enough, you bastard!" And then a sharp voice reminded me of my stupidity. "Run, Astraga, run!" the voice said, signaling it couldn't protect me any longer. As I began to run faster and faster, I thought to myself, "What great distance can a 4-year-old child run?" Then, in a stroke of luck, light was visible down the cave. "I must run towards that light; I will find help there," I thought, subconsciously delusional.
On getting towards the end of the tunnel, a Gate became visible before me, giving off an appearance of benevolence.
Its surface was not the rough-hewn stone of a fortress, but the smooth, pearlescent material of a tomb. The doors themselves were a single, colossal slab, carved with intricate, twisting patterns that seemed to shift in the light like liquid silver. But it was the guardians that drew the eye, two towering statues, each a knight in a suit of gleaming white armor, their faces hidden behind sharp, featureless helms. They stood sentinel, their colossal swords driven into the ground, a silent challenge to any who would dare approach.
A strong sense of relief came over me, as I was sure that this place would help me through anything I couldn't solve myself. I was now bathed in the light at the end of this hideous tunnel that had haunted me, with the shadow still recovering from the damage. Between them, towering statues, I stood a lone figure, dwarfed by the sheer scale of the entrance. The monster was getting closer. I instinctively reacted, as if moving closer would get me to safety. I stepped a bit closer. Then, with a thunderous voice that caused a tremor in its surroundings, I heard and felt a sense of dread once more: "One more step, cursed child, and I will not hesitate to send you to the Shadow Realm."
What was this clear-cut threat? I slowly raised my head from my feet, flexing my neck to its fullest capacity to gaze upon the statue. I then realized the seriousness of the warning, as the knight on the left had already pulled out his colossal sword from its guard, ready to erase my existence. "How? Why couldn't I hear a single sound of the sword or it leaving the ground?" My body froze. "Why does this world hate me so much, damn it?"
As my head still tried to wrap around the whole situation, I heard a screeching sound that irritated my ears, as every fiber of my being was caught between two deaths: a death with a choice or a forced death. I tried pleading, as it was clear that at least these beings had better communication skills than the manic creature. "Please, I just need a place to hide from that..." Before I could finish, the shadow had appeared but was not yet willing to step into the light, as it gazed at me from afar with thick, moist smoke coming from its mouth. The statue on the right then replied, "Does one deserve sympathy when he brings dirt into someone's home? We don't welcome any such desecration. Go back from where you came from, child." The left statue, seeming to be the aggressor, replied, "Why do you speak to it, brother? Let me wipe him out already. Adjudicator Azazel won't be pleased." As if to make things worse, the shadowy figure began to regurgitate..no, to be more accurate, to disgorge black slime from its jaws, seemingly targeting me. It missed, absolutely. What terrible aim. The creature was already destructive but also unable to aim. It was then that the sword of the right knight moved. "What? I haven't taken a step!" I raised my hands to miserably cover my face, as one does when caught in a position with no say in the outcome. It was then that I realized the shadow's plan: the right knight now used his sword as a shovel, removing the earth where the slime had covered, as the slime was now beyond my position. As the knight lifted the earth, any slime ahead of me was disintegrated into nothingness. The realization sank in: "This bastard..." was gauging the kill zone of the knights.
And then it prepared to launch at me, as it seemed to have measured the distance well enough. "What will I do now? Crap," I thought, clinching my fist. Although it was a stupid idea, I undoubtedly sensed it was better to die at the hands of these knights than that monstrosity. As the shadow's hand lunged towards my direction, I simultaneously closed my eyes and jumped into the kill zone. Closing my eyes, hoping for the worst, I heard a massive thud behind me, as the gust of air breezed past me. Opening my eyes, I saw the left knight's massive sword behind me. Almost like... no, not almost. It had indeed defended me from the shadow.
"Huh? Why am I not dead?" I asked.
The left knight replied, "Back off, Filth, this is my kill!" he said, as he lifted the sword, showing the shadow who had lost half of its body shape. "One kill at a time. Wait your turn," he said.
As the shadow was now in the kill zone, it disregarded the knights and came for me over and over from all sides in a circular motion. This feeling was unreal, as something this massive was fast enough to react. With lightning-fast reflexes, it shielded me from the attacks. I got too comfortable for a split moment, as the shadow figure, finally due to its flexible construct, was able to fire a slime-like liquid through the constant shield of the left knight's sword. It was now beyond the reach of the left knight, as the seemingly hot liquid headed towards my face. Another massive sword, now shifting in size to accommodate my size, shielded me from the incoming danger. Tiny amounts of slime grazed my side cheeks, and for the first time, small amounts of blood flowed down.
Dread crept in. "How persistent can this thing be?"
The right knight said with a thunderous voice towards the left knight, "Brother... let loose!"