Zodiac Story

Into The Murky Sea Green Depths We Dive Part 5

Khalid dove for his father before being smacked by a dark tendril into the wall. Nahla summoned water to cushion his landing. The Summoner grabbed the scorpion tail, utilising her darts to stab it. The tail twitched slightly, the darts having little to no effect on it. She instead resorted to singing, driving metal rods to her hand. The black tail swiftly retreated into the dark mist. The darkness was poised to strike again as Khalid's father groaned. Black tendrils were spreading from where the stinger stabbed him. A few men were searching mahogany cabinets, scouring for a cure to his malady. Dulce and Samir were cautiously watching from where the door used to be, and Felícia was shouting at the darkness above.

— Olhe para você se escondendo nas sombras. Você não gostaria de enfrentar alguém que fosse igual a você? – She held up three cards. – Escolha uma carta, qualquer carta. – She smirked, flicking the cards between her fingers. Is this a magic trick, Nahla wondered.

Whoever was controlling the black mist ignored her and focused their efforts on the cabinets. The ebony strands destroyed the cabinets, seizing them and shrouding the room in complete darkness. Not even Dulce's lanterns nor the Summoner's call for the light penetrated the darkness.

A hoarse voice pierced through the darkness. "Someone...who's here..."

Nahla responded, "I'm here Sidi."

"The medicine cabinet...fourth from the left...green container..."

Nahla trudged over the wall on her left, feeling the cabinets with her fingers. Instinctively, she gripped a vaguely greenish container. She conjured multiple illusions of her taking similar containers from the cabinets and set out. From the groans of pain, she found Khalid's father easily. While she couldn't see anything, she predicted that his chest must have been covered by those dark tendrils.

"How do I apply this?" she asked him.

"It's...a cream...find Hassan...he knows how to...use it."

She was closer, maybe she could use it on him? Except...he wasn't family, and that was strange, touching an unrelated man. Samir wouldn't like it either. Nahla decided to look for Hassan. She hoped he was among the living, she thought. Several lanterns shone through the darkness and Nahla finally found Hassan, bleeding out from his stomach but still aware enough for Nahla to explain everything. He sprinted to his boss' side, opening the container and applying it. Suddenly, Khalid's father's breath became less painful and more relaxed as he slowly returned to full health. Nahla looked at the label. It wasn't in Arabic or Amazigh or even French. She wondered what was in the container.

Khalid's father reached for his phone requesting backup while the Summoner stabbed the dark mist with a metal rod. Out of what Nahla supposed was sheer rage, the dark mist pushed the Summoner outside, Felícia and Dulce following after their friend. Samir grabbed Nahla's arm and together they sprinted into the hallway.

There were still surviving security guards, but most of them were preoccupied with the growing darkness hunting them. The Summoner removed at least twenty darts from inside her boots while Dulce was busy drawing multiple physical shields that surrounded herself. Samir moved to protect Nahla before one of the pools of blood grew a tendril and slammed him to the floor. She rushed to his side, brushing away the darkness and checking him over.

"Are you fine?" she asked.

"Look out!"

She ducked just in time for her to miss being hit by Felícia being restrained to the wall by crimson strands bolting across the hallway. She muttered something in Portuguese and pressed her hand firmly onto the tendrils. Within seconds, they turned into water falling away and releasing the girl with a wicked smile on her lips.