章節 72: ‘The second stage’

Meanwhile, the troops of Edward and Swein were attacking dinosaurs. The soldiers were fighting desperately and soon it became clear that the united army was winning.

"Thank God! Thank God!" Angelica was whispering.

The bastards tried to break out of the valley but apparently, something was holding them. They were lashing among the rocks, jumping over the ravines but could not leave the territory, surrounded by the mountains. Suddenly something happened...

There was a buzz, and the earth shook. Immediately after that, a few monsters escaped of the valley on the road leading to the Ghosts' fields.

"The barrier, they have unlocked the barrier!" Lica shouted from the top.

Nobody heard her, but without this warning, Prince Night and the Goblins' King had already known that the first step was done and now nothing held the predators in the valley.

"It means that Margo and Huron were able to trick the spiders and got to the right place in the caves," Angelica said to herself. "They must have already started the ritual."

The troops of people and goblins regrouped. Now they had to move beyond the valley to prevent the predators of getting into the Night Kingdom from the side of the mountains. Archers were climbing on the huge boulders and with their sharp arrows getting the fastest monsters.

Suddenly, the ground beneath the feet of the soldiers shook again. Some of them even could not keep on their feet and fell down. Here and there through the cracks in the earth more and more monster were coming outside. Some were worse than others. Making a terrible roar they as mad pounced on the people and goblins. Huge spiders went out of the cave stabbing their jaws into the soldiers' bodies and sucked their blood. The army was suffering heavily and they had to retreat.

Lica was terribly nervous. She tried to see Swein or Edward but couldn't find them in the crowd.

There were more and more monsters. Angelica looked with horror at what was happening. She looked back at the army of vampires behind and couldn't understand why they were standing still. The mountains were shaking. Large stones and boulders were rolling down. A huge crack ran from the cave to the deep abyss. In a moment all monsters were frozen and then howled terribly.

The Earth shrank and a thick yellow fog began to come out of the abyss.

"The second stage!" cried Lica. "This is the second stage! Go back!"

But the soldiers beneath could not hear her because of the swords clashing, howling monsters and groaning wounded warriors. The girl jumped up on a huge boulder at the very top of the mountain waving her arms and shouting:

"Go back! Retreat immediately!"

Having realized that they didn't hear her, Angelica ran down the mountain to the army of vampires. She was running down the hill and shouting with all her voice:

"Hurry up! The second stage! Arthur, it's the second stage!"

The Prince of Vampires noticed coming down girl and instantly understood what the phrase: 'The second stage!' meant.

He immediately ordered his army to attack and the vampires drew their swords and rushed into the valley.

"What have I done?" horrified Lica. "I did not say that the fog rises from the abyss! If they go directly to the cave, they may not notice it. What then?!"

Angelica ran to her horse, which was neighing and lunging on the leash. The girl untied it and climbed into the saddle. She tugged at the reins and followed the vampires.

"Arthur!" Lica cried. "Ride to the abyss! To the abyss!"

She caught up with them almost at the entrance to the valley.

"Go to the abyss!" she cried, pointing the opposite to the cave direction.

The Prince of Vampires stopped his horse and looked there.

The yellow fog was getting thicker and rising higher and higher.

"To the right flank!" Arthur briefly commanded his soldiers.

They turned their horses and rushed to the abyss. At this moment, the fog split apart and something black and dense appeared from it, it was similar to human size inkblot. Then another one and then more and more... The reptiles and creatures didn't notice the soldiers anymore, began to rush through the valley in horror. The 'blots' slowly rose. The scene was absolutely spectacular…

One of them swooped down on a lizard and in a second sucked it up. Only the skin and bones of the monster fell down on the earth. Everything was balled up.

People and goblins were mad with fear. They were running away from the cave. It was rather the flight than retreat. The men were running past Angelica, throwing swords away and screaming in terror.

Now she noticed Prince Edward and King Swein. They were trying to keep the army and give orders, but in this situation, no one listened to them. The 'blots' began to swoop down one after the other on the screaming people and goblins sucking them one by one.

"Stop!" exclaimed the Prince of Vampires. "They can feel your fear and kill those who energetically open for them!"

The Vampires came down on the 'blots' cutting them down. From the vampires' swords, they shrank and fell apart.

"They have different weapon," Angelica guessed. "They can kill not only the physical body!"

Meanwhile, the goblins and people army quickly retreated beyond the valley. The Prince Night and Swein were still among the boulders, fighting with huge lizards.

"Go back!" Lica shouted to them. "Your weapon is powerless against the monsters of the abyss!"

Suddenly they heard a whistling sound and a huge crater grew up from the yellow fog. It was rising higher and getting wider. Suddenly the translucent creatures appeared out of the crater and furiously attacked the vampires. Two riders from Arthur's army fell to the ground with a groan... and vanished.

"These things can quickly absorb our energy!" shouted the Prince of Vampires. "If the sorcerers don't hurry up with the third stage, we won't be able to hold out longer!"

"What happened to Margo and Huron?" Angelica was thinking nervously. "Why don't they start the third stage?"

A few more vampires fell down from their horses and disappeared.