Below, Zero was still maintaining the flas, while Cinder threw bursts of magic into any writhing bodies not completely consud.
Then a ripple passed through the air, a high-pitched hum, so sharp it made everyone pause. Nova hovered midair, then called out, "Sothing's coming out!"
From the portal, a large silhouette erged, tall and humanoid but wrong.
Its body was made of twisted bones and stitched flesh, armor etched with glowing runes. Its eyes glowed the sa violet hue as the portal.
Cinder imdiately flung a charged burst of energy at it. The blast hit its chest and dispersed without causing harm.
"What the hell is that thing?" she whispered.
Asher leapt down beside her, his sword already drawn.
"Not just a dungeon creature," he muttered, stepping forward as the figure raised a jagged blade made of bone. "It's a construct. A gate guardian."
The thing lunged, unnaturally fast. Asher barely blocked the strike, the force sending him skidding back, sparks flying from the clash.
Nova landed behind it and fired an arrow at its head, but the construct twisted impossibly fast, catching the arrow mid-air and crushing it.
"Okay, that's new," Nova muttered, as she leaped back.
Tay landed beside her, blade drawn. "Tag team?"
She nodded, and together they rushed the creature.
The battle intensified. Cinder and Zero provided support from the flanks, bombarding it with fire while Tay and Nova kept it physically engaged.
Asher waited, watching its movents, looking for a weakness.
Then he saw it, the glowing cracks along its chest. With a sharp gesture, he vanished in shadows and reappeared behind it, driving his blade into the crack.
The construct shrieked, its form shuddering violently, but still, it fought.
Inside the dungeon, Zain reached the core, a black orb pulsing. He looked at the banished four.
"Hold the passage," he said, before firing a charged arrow into the orb. The entire dungeon trembled, walls cracking, the structure destabilizing. The creatures that remained shrieked and fell apart as the orb shattered.
Outside, the construct froze. Then it scread, a hollow, crumbling sound, before its body fractured and collapsed.
The portal flickered once, then collapsed entirely. The entire forest was silent. Only the crackle of dying flas remained.
Asher exhaled and looked around. "Status?"
"Portal gone," Nova reported, panting slightly. "No other creatures detected."
Zain erged from the treeline monts later, his bow slung across his back. "Core's destroyed. Dungeon's collapsing."
The banished four followed, silent and splattered with blood but unhard. Then they vanished after bowing before Asher.
Sinnett still watched from above, his eye-covered surroundings slowly vanishing, as the eyes—his eyes everywhere—began closing and vanishing.
Cinder leaned on her knees. "Was that... random?"
"No," Asher said, eyes narrowing toward the horizon. "That was a ssage."
Tay cracked his knuckles. "Guess we'll need to send one back."
Nova stepped beside Asher, a worried look on her face as she looked up at him. "You okay?"
He nodded faintly. "Yeah, just sore from the hit. But we'll need to move again soon. This place isn't safe."
"That's true, we're not far from the city," Nova said, pointing toward a path that led to where they spotted a blue light in the sky blinking.
"Another tower?"
"It's the wall's tower. They had to keep it for those who got lost," Nova explained and sighed. "It's been so long."
Sinnett landed behind them with a satisfied look on his face. "I'm not sure they would want a bunch of non-dragons in their city."
Cinder shook her head. "That was years ago. Before I left, I heard humans now live there with a few other races... sothing about human won now falling for our n..."
"Is that possible?" Nova whispered to her, earning a laugh and a nod. "So we dragons can breed with humans too?"
"Yes, Nova. You should know this," Cinder replied, receiving a scoff in return. "I'm not quite sure they would let... Sinnett."
"Eh?"
Sinnett exclaid, pausing and turning back when he heard what she said. "What do you an? I'm a celebrity."
"Well..." Cinder trailed off, "You're banned from the dragon cities, so..."
"I didn't do anything wrong! Why would they do that?!"
Tay chuckled quietly from where he stood and finally said, "Maybe because you're insane, and every living being—especially humans—fears you."
"That reminds ," Asher finally said, turning to Sinnett. "What exactly are you, and why do people fear you when you haven't really done anything wrong?"
Sinnett grinned. He didn't know how to put it simply, and he knew there would be a ti he'd have to explain.
He exhaled and raised a hand to his head nervously. "Well... I'm an ultra hybrid... having multiple races—dragon, incubus, and human... a few other things. Elf is one, serpent too... so yeah."
"So technically, putting all these together, I could call you a salad?" Tay asked, gaining a questionable look from everyone, including Asher, who was completely lost.
"I an, he's a walking abomination. What? I could call him a Dracovenari, or even a Draculfent... and I ca up with a race salad."
Asher tilted his head as if considering it, then nodded. "That's not bad. It's actually cool. Sinnett, the living salad race."
Sinnett pinched the bridge of his nose. "You have to be kidding ... What's wrong with an ultra hybrid?"
Nova sucked her teeth. "It's too... normal. And you're an abomination—personality and physical-wise. I don't even recognize you when you switch."
Asher turned to her. "He could switch?"
"Yeah, sotis he's a four-horned dragon, sotis a silver human, and other tis just a long shadow with a snake's tail and wings."
Asher now turned to Sinnett. "They're serious?"
Sinnett shrugged, smiling. "They're not wrong. Half right."
"Then switch so day," Asher replied, earning a glare from Sinnett. "What?"
"I just found out I've been banned. The dragons have good food, especially when I can actually eat and hit," he explained, earning irritated looks from everyone except Cinder, who just smiled, blushing.
Asher shook his head as he took Nova's hand and snapped his fingers, causing Zero to vanish. "I'll call you an Abominable Salad from now on, alright? Alright."
That said, he went into his tent with Nova, and the others separated as well, going into their respective tents, leaving Zain, who just drifted around.
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