The place is filled with a curtain of dust, and only the sounds of stones falling and the groans of some students can be heard—some hurt by the explosion, others simply resting from the exhaustion of their magical capacity.
The dust keeps me from seeing the state of Phylicia, Patrick, and Talrico. I can barely make out the silhouettes of the few students still on their feet, helping the others escape the place.
After a few moments, I realize I'm also bleeding from my head—struck by a falling stone. The pain doesn't register now, dulled by adrenaline. Even the burning in my arm has faded to something almost insignificant.
"Dion!!" —a voice shouts from far away.
I'm not well right now. My body doesn't respond. I sit slumped on the ground, one of the fallen rocks propping me up. Truthfully, I feel like I could lose consciousness at any moment.
Part of me feels calmer knowing that not only did the blast hit the cyclops directly, but a large part of the rocks fell on top of him as well.
"Dion, hey, answer me—don't close your eyes, I'm here!" Turning slightly to my left, I manage to see Patrick, covered in dust and a bit battered, making his way to me.
"Relax… I'm fine…"
"Phylicia, quick, I need help—he needs healing right away, he's lost too much blood!" Patrick shouts desperately.
"We don't have much magic left… We'll need at least two more people if we want this to work." Phylicia replies.
"Where's Talrico?" Patrick's voice cracks with even more desperation.
"He went to look for the others near the blast of the spell." Phylicia answers.
"Damn it. Dion, don't close your eyes, hold on—I'll get help, I'll find potions if I have to search the place top to bottom!" Patrick says, sprinting off.
The atmosphere feels strangely calm now. Phylicia is still trembling. For a moment, I thought she wouldn't react when I told her to shield herself or attack with us. She was so lost in her thoughts and fears that she couldn't move or respond.
I suppose it's overwhelming—seeing a creature that size for the first time, when you're still just a child without enough power to fight back. She must have been terrified.
"Relax… we did it. We're still alive."
Phylicia, who had been watching the other students run toward the exit with the injured, turns to me, her eyes full of fear.
"I'm sorry… I couldn't help… my hands wouldn't move, I was so afraid I hid as soon as the cyclops appeared… I couldn't do anything, just like that other time… I couldn't…" she breaks down into tears, suddenly and uncontrollably.
Summoning every ounce of strength I have left, I move my hand to take hers, hoping to calm her.
"Guys!! I found them—and I found some potions too!" Patrick shouts, running excitedly toward us with Aelric and Nyxithra.
It looks like they're all really okay. I had feared the worst. Patrick, exhausted both magically and physically, stumbles clumsily as he runs, crashing to the ground and dropping the potions he had found.
Aelric and Nyxithra help him up, while Patrick stares in dismay at the shattered remains of the bottles.
"It doesn't matter, come on, quick!" Phylicia says, still wiping away the tears and snot from her face.
"Let's go," Nyxithra says.
The four of them gather around me, channeling what little magic they have left. I feel my wound slowly closing. Nyxithra collapses, exhausted, before the healing can be completed.
"Sorry… that's my limit…" Nyxithra mutters, curled up on the ground in front of me.
Little by little, I regain movement in my body. But at the same time, the gem flares with an even more intense pain, glowing so brightly it feels like it could explode. In fact… it feels exactly like that. I sense the magic building inside it, swelling with dangerous intensity.
"Quick—get away, now!"
"What are you talking about? We're almost done!" Aelric protests.
"Guys… what's that shining on his arm?" Phylicia asks.
"That's not normal," Patrick mutters.
"Move, now!"
Before they can react, a wave of energy blasts all four of them backward.
"What was that?" I hear Patrick's voice faintly, as my consciousness begins to slip away.
"Dion! Don't close your eyes, stay with us!" Phylicia screams.
I don't know what's happening. Their voices vanish suddenly. I don't feel tired anymore. Instead… it feels like I'm running. Sprinting through the dungeon on all fours.
I know I'm still in the same dungeon, but it looks different—everything seems larger. I see the same places we passed, even the massive pile of rocks that blocked the path, but I'm passing straight through it. I see many students outside the giant door where Seraphis and Estrella were.
I can see them, but I know I'm not really there. I'm still running through them. The students look gigantic. They see me and recoil in fear, stepping out of my way. How can I be moving so fast, seeing all this, without actually feeling my body move?
"Dion!! React—we have to go, this is bad!!" Phylicia's desperate scream snaps me back to reality.
They're all trying to drag my body frantically. I still don't understand why they're so desperate, but then I hear the rocks tumbling again. The pile covering the cyclops begins to collapse, and a massive hand pushes through the rubble.
The cyclops is still alive. Slowly, it emerges, its torso burned, flesh charred, and one arm missing. The blast had been strong enough to weaken it—but not kill it.
"We have to fight," Talrico says.
"Are you crazy? We don't have any magic left—fighting now is suicide, we need to get out of here, now that everyone else has escaped!" Aelric insists.
"Aelric's right. We need to leave and get Dion out of here." Phylicia adds.
"We should leave him. If he's not moving, that means he's already dead." Talrico blurts out hysterically.
"What the hell are you saying? He's unconscious, not dead!" Patrick lunges at him, punching him square in the face.
"This isn't the time to fight—look, that thing is watching us!" Nyxithra warns.
"I don't care. I'll face it myself," Talrico says, his voice trembling even as he pretends to be confident, convinced he can take advantage of the cyclops's weakened state.
My vision clears more as I force my eyes open, and I see wolf-like creatures crawling out of the cracks in the ground caused by the blast. Then, the cyclops lets out a deafening roar, so piercing that the others instinctively let go of me to cover their ears in pain.
"You think you can beat that?" Patrick says sarcastically, helping Phylicia back to her feet and grabbing hold of me again to lift me.
The monster, aware that we can't fight back right now, charges toward us.
"Wait!!" Nyxithra shouts. "What are you doing?!"
Looking toward the door, I see the remaining students—those still strong enough, despite their fear—joining forces to shut the massive doors, trapping the four of us inside.
"No!!!" Patrick yells.
"I told you, we have to fight!" Talrico insists, though his voice trembles with fear—he knows what awaits us is certain death.
"We can't use magic! What are we supposed to fight with, our fists?" Nyxithra snaps sarcastically.
The creature limps closer and closer to us. Talrico, arms shaking, takes up a fighter's stance, like a boxer.
"You've got to be kidding me," Aelric mutters.
"We won't make it to the door before it closes. No matter how fast we run—it's impossible," Patrick says. "If we have no choice, then I won't go down easy." He shifts into the same stance as Talrico.
"This is ridiculous," Nyxithra says, but he too takes up a position in front of the beasts.
"It's been a pleasure knowing you all… I never thought I'd die like this." Aelric adds, taking his place alongside them, ready to face the wounded cyclops and the two wolves with razor-sharp fangs.