Egan raised an arm. "Look, there's a cloud moving among the others in an unusual way!"
"Hide!" Nerea moved quickly, shifting into a small bushy patch. "That's the most dangerous general you can encounter in this world, Orf!"
"They're looking for us, but the demon can't track us, thanks to the gill's tear," Camelia concluded even without using her clairvoyance.
"He can easily scour every corner; he has many spies!" Nerea moved as soon as the cloud blended into the gray sky. "We must hurry!"
"Nerea, we can open the portal here. The two prisms will help us reach the door quickly, wherever the stone falls," Egan didn't want to stay in that place any longer.
"If the master discovers the portal, he'll close it immediately, we must find a deserted place-"
The fillian stopped instantly, and the prisms halted as if they instinctively sensed danger. A destructive wave appeared in the distance, on the surface of the ground. It raised a wall of dust that crashed down on them like a massive tsunami. Camelia shouted to Egan to throw her the stone. "Quickly!"
"What do you want to do with it?"
"Don't argue!" so Egan handed her the stone. "Nerea, behind me!" the blonde shouted, positioning herself in front.
The insect landed on her shoulder. The prism struggled, wanting to turn back, the seer stroked its neck. "Don't be afraid. Stay still!" Egan was just behind her when the stone deflected the wave, splitting it in half. It passed beyond, without causing any harm to any of them.
Egan approached the blonde and touched her to make sure she was okay. "What were you thinking!"
She smiled. "I wasn't sure, but I had to try," then she dismounted the prism, which continued to be agitated. "He's here."
When the bird tried to flee, it was pulverized after three strides of its large legs. Egan quickly dismounted his as well and embraced Camelia. The other prism suffered the same fate.
Noxfor materialized and launched another attack, Camelia raised the stone, and it defended them again.
"Well, well… you're equipped," the demon walked, fixing his furious eyes on the fillian still perched on Camelia's shoulder. "Traitors…" he had already dealt with two, now it was time for that rebellious creature of his—and for her, the punishment would be longer and more severe than death.
Camelia had noticed that the strong light of the stone had slightly weakened after blocking the demon's two attacks. It won't last long in a prolonged fight. Her face turned pale. It wasn't a weapon that could withstand. "We must leave now, there's no time," she whispered to Egan, who had moved to her side and was holding her hand.
"I'll distract him, you run!" Nerea launched herself at her master.
"No!" Camelia didn't have time to stop her. "Wait!"
The fillian approached the demon rapidly and began to flutter around him. "Master, let them go!"
"Nerea!" Noxfor gritted his teeth angrily. "You'll pay dearly for this insubordination!"
"Please, master, two humans are of no use to you, you have us fillian and all the other creatures! Let them go!" the demon blew, and the small insect was hurled into the air.
Egan took the brown vial Mirla had given him and threw it at the demon. Noxfor laughed when he saw it explode against his shoulder. "What's this, talcum powder? Nosy human!" then a feeling of weakness took over the demon's furious rage. Egan and the other two saw him collapse onto one knee.
The young man looked at Camelia, she returned the stone to him. "Throw the stone and think of home! We won't have another chance!" exclaimed the blonde.
He threw it far. "Nerea!" the blonde called the insect, and the latter joined their frantic run towards freedom.
An angry cry rose into the air. After about three minutes, the feline hunters, under Levian's command, rushed in large numbers. "Capture them! Tear them apart!" Noxfor had to lie down, feeling so weak.
The smoky passage was closing, Egan pulled Camelia's hand harder. The fillian followed them, in her original form. She was turning back from time to time, as if wanting to watch their backs. The gray, unchanging sky was vaguely annoyed by that door—with its weak but bright shimmer, standing out in the oppressive and brutal environment. An open land in the middle of the boundless moor. But the shimmer was getting fainter and fainter.
"Damn, we're so far away!" exclaimed Egan, and anxiety began to make his heart tremble.
"It should hold," the fillian looked around frantically. "Seer, you can see it, how much has our advantage narrowed?" she added.
Camelia turned back only once, the small indigo-colored insect was there. The fillian, in her current form, could fly much, much faster than them, yet she was there, and she hadn't left them. The seer smiled. She closed her eyes for a moment. "His hounds are behind us, we'll just make it in time," Camelia replied, and squeezed Egan's hand tighter.
They reached the portal as the sky began to take on a sinister purplish color. A roar was heard that could be mistaken for a powerful shout or a long, angry growl.
"Quickly!" Egan raised the hand that wasn't holding the woman he loved. "The door is half as wide as it should be, it's closing!" the smoke thickened and swallowed it. When they stopped a step away from it, the seer turned to the insect that had given them a big unexpected help—there, in the Underground territory.
"Come with us," Camelia said to the fillian. "The other half of your spirit, your amidiun, is not in this world, but in ours," the seer continued. The creature seemed both surprised and happy at that revelation.
"She's right, follow us, he'll hunt you down to punish you for helping us!" Egan insisted.
"But I… I don't know how to live outside this place."
"Have faith, it's no harder than living in the Underground territory. Your amidiun..." Camelia smiled. "I can see her; she's quite a character. She..." the seer couldn't reveal more. She bit her lips. "Come!" she insisted again.
"She, you said?" the fillian was astonished, so much so that she assumed human form without realizing it; as if that appearance helped her understand better. A smile appeared on her cobalt-colored lips.
Camelia nodded. "Yes, it's a she. Her hair is as red as burning flames and her eyes as clear as the summer sky, which you'll love to gaze at. Come!" she said again, finally.
The fillian took the seer's hand. The three crossed the passage that was closing faster than expected, crushed by an invisible and oppressive force.
The sharp-toothed felines arrived in front of an intangible smoky substance that slowly dispersed into the air. Levian assumed his human form and looked at the nothingness that remained before them, with all three of his eyes. "Too late."
Mirla watched the purple sky and smiled.