The Carnival at Moonbright

1:20 AM

Feeling the intense rush of being kicked in the stomach, Lyla’s feet landed as she breathed through the vertigo. Beside her, Leaf looked around the room.

“We’re on the fifth floor. We made it back from the Astral Sea, at least!”

“Where do we go now?” Lyla asked.

Where are you? She thought to her sister. She waited a few seconds, but no answer.

“I can’t hear Myla. Leaf, why can’t I hear my sister?”

“Chances are she’s probably still in the Astral Sea.”

“What!? We need to go back.”

Lyla turned around to return to the portal, only to see a stone wall.

“The portal is gone. It seems that the defenses of the tower stop us from going back. We’ll have to figure out how to move forward, then go from there.” Leaf answered, seeing Lyla’s questions forming on her face.

Lyla looked about the room. It was a large circular space with an enormous fireplace on the western wall, accompanied by two chairs of different sizes, a small tea set, and four bookshelves that sat against the wall. Two metallic tables with bottles of various sizes, shapes, and colors are against the eastern wall. Between the tables, another shelf stood, holding rocks, powders, and jars. Across the room, a staircase led down below where she could not see.

Leaf proceeded over to the table and started to pick up the bottles on the table. Clear that he knew what he was doing, Lyla moved toward the staircase. Below, she could see a dark room.

“It seems like some of these could come in handy,” Leaf said, handing a bottle to Lyla.

“What is it?”

“It’ll help in case someone is directly attacking.”

Lyla uncorked the small bottle, watching its blue contents bubble inside as if steaming hot. It didn’t feel hot in her hand, though. Trusting Leaf, she downed the drink and set the bottle aside.

A wave of energy flowed inside Lyla, taking away her negative feelings. Her breathing slowed, and she just felt more alert and ready.

I’m on my way, Myla.

-the fuck? She heard her sister yell.

Myla!

Hearing her sister, Lyla ran down the staircase.

1:23 AM

Halfway down the staircase, Lyla felt the lurch in her gut again as she was pulled from the steps to another floor. Glancing around, she saw the void of the Astral Sea again.

What is going on?

Duck!

Lyla ducked down, seeing the glint of metal fly her way. Before thinking, she spun around, raising her foot to kick at the approaching object—her foot connected with the item, redirecting its kinetic energy towards a growling creature to her left. In the creature’s neck, Lyla saw the metal pierce into the neck of a darkling before vanishing. Looking at her sister, the dagger had already reappeared in her hand, and she readied herself to throw another one at the other darkling.

The platform they were standing on was a rough space, roughly twenty-five feet across. Two taller, elder shades stood at the opposite end, commanding the smaller darklings in a language Lyla didn’t know. She stood up and moved towards the closest one but was stopped as one of the elder darklings manifested a small black ball in between its hands, casting it out.

At first, Lyla thought she had been struck by something. Her vision faded. She blinked a few times, then realized the creature had cast a spell. She put her fists up, waiting for a sound to forewarn her of anyone nearby.