Chapter 78:

Chapter 78: Shriekers of the Lower Levels

Beyond The Stars

Daykona finds herself having more on her plate than she expected!

Daykona walks down a flight of stairs, her expression tightening with irritation.

“This makes no sense,” she says to herself. “The daughter of the Dark Goddess has allied herself with the son of the Light Goddess. Why? I must know!” Her irritation grows as she continues. “And worse is that I’m getting reports from my henchmen that there are other intruders in the mansion. Who are they? And how did they get in undetected? These are questions I must answer! I can’t lose control of the situation!”

She enters a secret room designed for rituals. At the center of the room sits a chair. The angel the heroes are searching for, Clora, is magically chained to it. She has medium-length brown hair, blue irises, white angel wings, and wears white angelic clothes. She appears to be a young woman.

“Hehehe. Hello angel,” Daykona says, her irritation vanishing just enough to smile wickedly.

“I told you my name is Clora!” Clora snaps back.

“And I don’t care,” Daykona replies.

Her eyes sharpen as her tone turns more serious. “What I do care about is knowing why the daughter of the Dark Goddess is working with the Light Goddess’s son.”

“Isn’t it obvious?” Clora replies.

“I should have figured you would leave out some details from our last talk,” Daykona says coldly before Clora finishes.

“She doesn’t side with the Dark Goddess.”

“I see. This revelation about Sasha is certainly a curveball, but it won’t help you.”

“Harmona’s son will bring judgment upon you!”

Daykona turns and begins walking away, laughing wickedly. “Hehehe. Oh? We’ll see about that, but I have some other rats I need to sniff out right now.”

***

Meanwhile, with Zeth.

Zeth continues to make his way through the lower levels of the mansion, running from room to room in his quest to find Sasha.

“Sasha!!” he shouts with increasing nerves.

Something watches him from the shadows as he moves.

“Where are you, Sasha!?”

He bursts into another room. This one is filled with children’s toys scattered across the floor. Hanging from the ceiling are a lot of purple, bat-like creatures, each about three feet tall.

Bat Creatures of the Mansion – Shriekers.

Zeth looks up, his fear increasing once he spots them.

Gulp. “Maybe they are friendly?”

The Shriekers’ eyes open, filled with bloodlust.

“Aaahhh!!!!!” Zeth screams in terror.

The Shriekers swoop down at him as he tries to run through the room.

“Bats! I hate bats! Leave me alone!”

They emit ear-piercing shrieks as they chase him. Zeth trips over some toys and falls, narrowly avoiding a Shrieker as several of them fly over him.

“I absolutely hate bats and anything like them! They terrify me! After that one encounter with bats I had as a kid…”

Not all of the Shriekers pass him. Several dive straight down toward where he lies on the floor.

“I said to leave me alone!!”

Zeth forms and releases a Star Shine Blast at them. The Shriekers release a shriek in response, and while the blast still hits, its impact and damage are significantly reduced.

“It wasn’t strong enough?!”

One Shrieker surprisingly speaks. “Our shriek waves have the ability to soften the impacts of attacks, and since you can’t see them, there is nothing you can do! That is why we are called Shriekers!”

“Then my only option is to run!!”

Zeth dashes forward, but the Shriekers quickly overtake him. Several slam into him, knocking him hard to the ground.

“Damn…”

Suddenly, the door he had been trying to reach bursts open, and Sasha rushes in. The main parts of her eyes have returned to white.

“Zeth!” she screams.

“Sasha! How did you find me?”

“I was unconscious, but your scream woke me up and I immediately came here.”

“So, my fear of bats saved me?”

“What?”

“Never mind. These things are called Shriekers, and their shrieks can reduce the effectiveness of your attacks.”

“Let me give it a shot.” Sasha says as she steps forward with a confident smile.

Sasha has arrived to help Zeth! What will she do to fight the Shriekers?!