"No, I usually see what I draw, even if it's blurry, but I can't see that picture in any way!"
"I understand, well then can you see the carpet on the wall?"
Nafız took the picture into her interspatial ring and asked a question about the large carpet she turned her gaze to.
"I see it crystal clear, but I don't want to look!"
"Why?"
The answer made Jashua join the conversation; the Young Count was running his hands over the carpet, looking for an oddity.
"I don't want to look at the depicted scene; I don't like that cruel dragon being about to bite the tiger's throat at all!"
The girl with the strange haircut did not turn her head to the wall; her discomfort was evident from her every state. The two people in the room, however, seemed determined to pursue this anomaly; Nafız joined Jashua and set about examining the carpet.
The carpet was hung horizontally on the wall; the tassels at its ends were looking at the ground with their necks bent. It had a tight weave, but when it came to colors, the carpet was split right down the middle. The part close to the ground was shining as if newly manufactured; contrary to that, shapes on the upper part could only be distinguished thanks to the shades of gray.
The dragon's curved neck and the tiger's body were on the lower side along with the cracked earth they fought on; the scars of the wounds on their bodies were as vivid as if they had just happened. On the upper part, the heads of the two creatures and the volcano, the source of life in the Hell Realm, stood out in the background.
The rivers flowing from the mountain's mouth, the clouds scattered in the air, and the dragon's head about to bite the opponent's neck were all gray. It was as if time had frozen while passing halfway through the carpet, and thousands of centuries had passed since this event.
"How can this be? How can there be such a difference between the bottom and top of a carpet hanging in the same place?"
While Jashua went back and forth examining it from different angles, Nafız stood at the point she started.
"Jashua, while paying so much attention to colors, is the only thing you can see that one side is colorful and the other side is gray?"
The Young Count immediately moved behind the Blood God and started examining from where she was looking, but even though five minutes passed, he couldn't produce a satisfactory answer. His silent state allowed Lareina, who hadn't spoken for a while, to enter the conversation.
"What disturbs me is that the dragon is about to kill the Blood Tiger, and that dragon feels to me as if it doesn't belong to this world!"
Nafız turned her head and looked at the strange girl; she was thinking exactly the same things as her. Then she took a few steps and started touching the carpet; she paused specifically on the Blood Tiger for a few minutes.
"Lareina, I have an idea, but I need your help too. If I am wrong, you will lose a little bit of blood, but if I am right, an incredible path will open before us!"
After finishing her words, Nafız made a cut on her left wrist with the dagger coming out of her right wristband and flung the flowing blood towards the gray side of the carpet. When red blood dripped drop by drop onto the pale drawings, Lareina bowed her head; although it couldn't be easily understood since her face wasn't visible, her body language made it clear she was thinking about something.
"Okay, but don't let it hurt too much, okay?"
Smiling slightly, Nafız cut the strange girl's right wrist with the same Blood Dagger; although a deep moan was heard, Lareina held herself back.
Nafız started collecting the flowing blood in her palm; the small hollow filled rapidly for a few breaths, and then she flung it to the pale part of the carpet next to the other blood.
At that moment, the moment Lareina's blood came onto the blood Nafız scattered, a roar spread from the carpet. This was the roar of a tiger; it repeated successively as the blood spread loop by loop to the gray part. The gray part started to color from the very top downwards; the blood red of the rivers flowing from the mountain, the half-white half-black color of the clouds in the air, and the bright blue scales of the dragon about to bite the Blood Tiger were regaining their colors.
"No!"
Lareina suddenly shouted in fear because the head of the dragon, regaining its color along with the rivers of blood starting to flow and the moving clouds, was slowly advancing.
"I don't think so!"
Nafız waved her hand once more, and a few more drops of blood trickled from her wound that was almost starting to close and reached the bent head of the Blood Tiger.
A breath later, the dragon's jaw closed in a way to take its large and sharp teeth inside, but the enemy's neck was not in its mouth. The Blood Tiger saved itself by jumping back at the last moment; it was watching its enemy with its red eyes.
"Just like that, no matter what happens, you must never submit!"
When Lareina shouted with joy, the Blood Tiger roared as if wanting to answer her; this time all the items inside the room were shaking.
Then the Blood Tiger started to grow, reaching the dimensions of the dragon opposite it. Within a few breaths, its claws, body, nails, head, and teeth grew at least a few times larger; the blood-red stripes on its pelt were now much more eye-catching.
"Attack, Blood Tiger!"
Lareina lost herself; extending her right hand forward, she practically gave an order to the Blood Tiger. She lunged forward with it, following the tiger attacking on four legs with her swaying body. Nafız and Jashua turned to each other; their astonishment could be read from their faces.
The three people were no longer looking at the carpet; it was as if they had entered inside it and could see the war happening right before their eyes. They felt the majesty of the volcano seen from afar, the dragon flames whose heat they felt, and the tiger's roars shaking the earth and sky in every cell of their bodies.
The dragon responded to the attack with flames spewing from its huge mouth; the tiger, jumping sideways using its hind legs on the ground, continued to advance without losing any speed, but the dragon was also hurling fireballs ceaselessly.
The Blood Tiger was not affected by these attacks; it was almost arriving at its target, that is, next to the dragon that was subduing it, but the creature with blue scales swung its long neck forward rapidly. The Blood Tiger did not pause; jumping into the air, it rose above the enemy's attack.
The moment the two creatures met each other, the world was covered with a bright light; Nafız and Jashua were forced to close their eyes. When they opened their eyes a breath later, they were in Lareina's bedroom again, in front of the carpet hanging on the wall.
"Just like that!"
The girl whose face was invisible shouted with joy, but the duo beside her were tongue-tied. How could they not be; the pattern of the carpet had completely changed, and the Blood Tiger, which was about to die before, was crushing the dragon's head on the ground with its front paws.
"I guessed something would happen, but even I didn't expect this much!"
Nafız started stroking the strange girl's head; Lareina made no sound, seemingly quite pleased with this situation.
"Sir, look here!"
When the two girls turned to each other, Jashua shouted in panic. At the place he was looking, right in the middle of the carpet, a slowly growing vortex was forming. The three people watched the vortex forming just a few steps in front of them complete itself and turn into a transparent surface like a mirror.
What they saw was that there was another room on the other side. Although a limited area was visible, there was no doubt, this was another place.
"What do you say, shall we go?"
Nafız showed her excitement by clapping her two hands together; Jashua was going to join her too.
"What do you mean shall we go; did we do all these things for nothing!"
The Young Count was eager since yesterday; there was no trace of fear or anxiety in his words. The only uneasy person in the environment was Lareina; the strange girl was silent. Nafız waited for her for a while, but when no reaction came even though almost half a minute passed, she had to speak.
"What do you say?"
Swallowing a few times, the girl answered with difficulty.
"I want to, but when Uncle Atractivo was leaving, he strictly warned me not to leave this place!"
Nafız calmed down after what she heard. With the dignified attitude assumed by people who learn something they didn't know and understand what is happening, she put her hand on Lareina's shoulder right next to her.
"Don't start with your Uncle Atractivo's wine bowl!"
Letting out a huge laughter, she grabbed the strange girl by her collar and hurled her through the transparent passage into the other room.