Circle of feast

It had been a while since Estheria hurriedly left.

Strixx was calming down now. I still held her close, just like I had when she was wincing in pain earlier--tense, struggling to stay conscious.

Then she stirred slightly in my arms, her breathing slower, more steady.
“Strixx head doesn’t hurt anymore Luca.”
I looked down at her, a wave of relief washing over me. The tight knot in my chest loosened.

“Thank God,” I murmured, barely above a breath. “I’m glad you’re okay.”
I didn’t let go.

And ever since Estheria left, the voice--screaming for help--had vanished too.
Everything felt… off. Too quiet.

Not a single voice echoed in the air.
It was dark outside. The only light came from the faint moonlight that spilled across the ground and the small bonfire flickering at the edge of the cave.

The silence was unsettling.
Then, suddenly, Strixx stood up.

Her voice trembled.
“Demons.”

I turned to her, confused.
“What? Strixx, what do you mean?”

Her eyes were wide, her voice still shaking.
“Strixx don’t sense just one demon… There are many. Way too many demons. All around the forest”

She looked at me, fear in her eyes.
“Estheria might be in danger.”

I looked at her, trying to keep my voice calm even though I was scared.
“Strixx… let’s go look for her.”

She turned to me sharply. Her eyes were wide--filled with fear, trembling with emotion.

“No, Luca. No… not anymore.”
Her voice cracked.
“Strixx doesn’t want Luca to get hurt again. Strixx… Strixx will stay here. Protect Luca. Stay with Luca.”

I held her gaze, steady and quiet.
“Strixx… it’s Estheria. We hardly know anything about her, but--she’s the one who saved us when we were completely lost. If she hadn’t shown up… I don’t even know if I’d still be standing here.

My throat tightened. I looked down, then back up into her eyes.
“If I was never found by her… I don’t think I would’ve ever seen you again. But she saved us. And now, here we are. Together.”

I reached for her hand again, gently.
“So I want to help her too. Even if I’m weak, even if I can’t do much--I want to do whatever I can.”

“Strixx…” I said softly, “let’s go.”

She hesitated. Her hand trembled in mine.
“Promise…” she whispered, eyes still filled with fear. “Promise Strixx… Luca will stay right next to Strixx. All the time. If we go…”
She swallowed hard.

“Luca has to promise. Luca has to hold Strixx’s hand… and never let go.”
I looked into her eyes, serious.
“I promise. I’ll do my best not to get in the way. I’ll stay with you. I won’t cause trouble, Strixx.”

She hesitated for one more heartbeat… and then slowly gave me her hand.
Still afraid. Still unsure. But trusting.

“Luca better keep that promise,” she murmured.

I squeezed her hand gently. Then, without another word, I grabbed a burning piece of wood from the bonfire, the flame crackling against the silence.

And we ran.
Into the dark. Into the unknown. Her senses guiding us, demons hidden all around, but we didn’t stop.

We ran with only each other, the fire, and the pounding of our hearts.

Then--Strixx stopped.
I looked at her.

“What is it?”

She turned toward the shadows, her expression alert.
“Luca… Estheria is nearby.”
My breath caught.

“How do you know that, Strixx?”
She didn’t take her eyes off the darkness ahead. Her voice was soft, almost like a child recalling a dream.

“When Strixx saw Estheria for the first time… Estheria had…”
She paused, struggling to find the words.
“Something… strong. Not scary. Just… something big. Something warm and strange. Like… light coming out of her. But it wasn’t light. Strixx don’t know how to say..but
She placed her hand over her chest.
“Strixx feels it again. It’s close.”

And so we kept running--blind, guided only by Strixx’s instinct, the pull of something unseen but undeniable.
Through the trees. Over stone. Shadows shifting around us like whispers.
But we didn’t stop.

Because Estheria was waiting.
And we had to find her.

As Strixx and I kept running, the rustling around us grew louder--sharper. We could hear movement on all sides. It was clear now: we were surrounded.

Then, without warning, Strixx stopped.
She gripped my hand tightly, as if letting go wasn’t an option--not now, not ever. Her voice was steady, but I could feel the urgency behind it.

“Demons,” she said. “We’re surrounded. Luca, don’t let go of Strixx hand.”

Before I could speak, she pulled me close and lifted me off the ground. In one powerful motion, she jumped--
Just then, three massive beasts tore through the trees behind us, their claws shredding the spot we’d been standing moments before.

Strixx didn’t stop. Carrying me with ease, she leapt from branch to branch, weaving through the trees as the demon beasts crashed after us through the darkness, faster than anything I’d ever seen.

The beasts were fast--blindingly fast--but Strixx, even while carrying me, moved like lightning. She leapt from branch to branch, high above the forest floor, outrunning the monstrous howls behind us. One misstep, and we’d be dead--but she didn’t falter.

Then we burst into a clearing.

The forest opened suddenly into a vast, circular space under the pale, cold light of the moon. The trees encircled it like ancient sentinels, their shadows long and watching. The clearing was quiet--eerily so--but it was far from empty.

In the middle of it stood Estheria, down on her knees… but not at the center. No--she was a good distance away, kneeling close to the edge of the clearing. And across from her, much farther ahead, stood a lone little girl.

The distance between them was wide--too wide to reach in seconds. The kind of space that made your heart pound just from knowing you couldn’t cross it in time if something went wrong.

The girl stood silently, her long, dark hair hiding her face. She didn’t speak, didn’t move. She was like a statue--fragile, misplaced, and hauntingly still. Surrounding her were demon beasts--far more than we had seen before. Dozens. They encircled her in a wide ring, silent and tense, like they were waiting for something.

We broke through the trees and landed in a wide, moonlit clearing. The forest fell quiet around us, like the world had paused.
Then something strange happened.

The demon beasts that had been chasing us--so close we could feel their breath--suddenly jumped right past us. Not a single one attacked. They didn’t even look at us. They just ran forward and joined the others, forming a wide circle around the little girl.
It was like they weren’t trying to catch us at all.

They were herding us here.
Strixx slowly set me down, her body tense, eyes locked on the clearing ahead. I could feel her confusion--her fear. And mine was no less.

They wanted us here.
We hadn’t escaped anything. We’d been led straight to this moment--like pieces moved across a board. This whole time, we were never running away. We were being brought in.

The last few demons took their places, and the whole clearing went still. Dead quiet.
Estheria hadn’t moved. Still on her knees. Still staring at the girl across the open space--a long distance between them. Too far to help. Too close to look away.

And now… we were part of it.
Whatever it was.

Estheria’s hand trembled as she reached forward, but she didn’t stand. She couldn’t. Because the moment she so much as shifted, the beasts responded.

They didn’t lunge at her--they turned on the girl.
Every movement Estheria made,  triggered a reaction. The demons would lash out at the girl, not to kill her, but to hurt her--just enough to punish Estheria.
To make her watch.

From this distance, all Estheria could do was cry without a sound. Her lips moved, maybe whispering the girl’s name, maybe begging the monsters to stop. But no matter what she did, she couldn’t reach her.

She was too far.
And that was the cruelest part.

We moved carefully, one step at a time, eyes on the demon beasts. Each step felt like walking through glass. 

We remembered how they’d reacted to Estheria--how just one small motion from her made them lash out at the girl.

But as we walked, nothing happened.
The beasts didn’t even look at us. No growls, no tension. It was like we weren’t even there. Their focus was completely locked on Estheria.

I looked at Strixx. She looked back.
With a quiet nod, we moved together toward her.

Estheria stayed on her knees, frozen in place. Her body didn’t shift, not even the slightest twitch. Not because she was afraid--because she couldn’t. Whatever force controlled the beasts had locked her down completely. The only thing that moved was her mouth.

When we reached her we knelt beside her.

I leaned close and asked gently, “Estheria… what is this? What’s happening?”
Her voice came out broken, trembling, barely a whisper.

“Luca I… I don’t know… I can’t move. Not even a little. Every time I try… they hurt her…”
Strixx and I exchanged a glance--no words, just quiet understanding.

I placed a hand on Estheria’s shoulder, careful not to startle her. “It’s alright. We’re here now. They’re not reacting to us. We can do something.”

Strixx stood, calm and focused. “Strixx will go save the girl.”

Estheria’s eyes widened. She couldn’t turn to look, but her voice cracked.
“You two… please…”

I turned to Strixx. My chest felt heavy, but I trusted her.
“Strixx… be careful.”

Estheria still didn’t move. She couldn’t. But her voice came again, soft and scared:
“Is she going to be okay…?”

I gave a small, honest smile.
“I’ve known Strixx for a while now… but honestly, I still don’t really understand her completely. There’s so much about her I don’t know.”

I looked ahead as Strixx stepped forward, her figure small but steady in the moonlight.
“But somehow… I just know she’ll be okay. She’s stronger than she looks. Every time things have gone wrong, she’s been there. She’s saved me more times than I can count. And no matter how bad it got… she always made things okay in the end.”

I let out a breath.
“She’s going to do it again. I believe in her.”

And then Strixx took her first step toward the girl.

As Strixx stepped forward, she moved slow and steady, eyes locked on the girl ahead. The demon beasts around the girl continued circling, growling low, but they didn’t react to her approach. It was like they didn’t even notice her.

She was halfway there. Just a few more steps, and she’d reach the girl.

That’s when it happened.

A sudden rustling burst from the trees behind us--and in an instant, more demon beasts leapt out, surrounding Estheria and me. Dozens of them, snarling, jaws open, eyes glowing with that same eerie hunger.

Before I could react, one of them grabbed my clothes with its teeth and yanked me away from Estheria. I shouted, struggling, but they didn’t hurt me--they just dragged me across the clearing, a few distance away, and formed a tight circle around me.

Just like the ones around the girl.

Estheria’s eyes widened in horror. I saw her flinch, try to move--just a little, just enough to reach toward me--but the moment she did, the beasts around the little girl snapped forward, tearing into her.

The girl let out a scream of pain.
Estheria froze, her body trembling. Tears streamed silently down her face, helpless and full of guilt. She looked at me, desperate.

 But she knew. She knew if she moved again, the girl would suffer even more.

Strixx stopped walking.
She turned, eyes falling on me--now surrounded, just like the girl.

The moment she saw me being dragged away, her whole body went stiff. Then, without thinking, she sprinted forward--straight at the demons that surrounded me.

Her eyes were burning. Sharp. Wild.
Then--something shifted.

From the trees behind the surrounding a figure slowly stepped out.
His voice was slow, sharp, and irritating.
“You’re not very smart, little girl.”
Strixx froze.

“You get the picture now, don’t you?” he said.
“Moving is a bad idea… especially when someone you care about is already caught in the Circle of Feast.”

He paused. His tone turned colder.
“ since you moved This… is the price of your carelessness.”

Moonlight revealed him fully. His skin was pale white. His hair the same ghostly shade. But his eyes--twisted. Black where white should be, with a narrow pale pupil like a crack in the dark.

A demon.

His long black cloak moved with the wind like shadows stretching behind him.

Then he raised a hand.

The demon beasts around me lunged.
Their teeth sank into my arms. My legs. Pain shot through me. I screamed.

Strixx’s voice broke through it all.
“Don’t hurt Luca!”

She tried to move.
But the demon stepped forward slightly, smirking.

“Oh? You still want to move?”
“By the time you reach him, there might not be anything left to save. You okay with that?”
His eyes glowed as he mocked her.

“Go ahead, then. Run. Try to save him.”

He laughed--a cruel, echoing sound that cut through the night.
I looked at her--Strixx.

Blood dripped from my wounds. My body was shaking.

And she--stood frozen.
Too scared to take even one step.

For the next few moments…
Not Strixx.
Not Estheria.
No one moved.

The forest went still, except for the low growls in the dark.