<h4>Chapter 31: A Dark Shadow</h4>


    I stared into the glowing purple eyes before being lifted up and mmed into the ground. He gagged me just in time to muffle my scared and shocked scream. I felt his w-like nails dig into my skin.


    "Can you at least try to not do something stupid every single damned day?" He whispered with his cracked voice. I looked at him wide-eyed. What was he talking about? Delthur just sighed and continued. "Don''t say a word about me being here, or I''ll kill them." He tilted his head down, to where Rina and Alex were. "Understand?"


    I nodded. He grinned. "Good." He let go of me. I pushed myself to a sitting position. My back ached from being mmed into the rocks like that. "Try not to get yourself killed here." He said before flying off.


    It made no sense. Why did he save me?


    "Kai!" Alex''s shout pulled me back to the present. "I''m fine." I shouted back. "Hang on, I''ll try to find a proper ce to tie this thing to."


    A short while – and a quick Souls'' Respite –ter, the others had climbed up. "How did you even climb up after your weapon fell?" Alex asked me. "I thought you''d fall for sure."


    I nervouslyughed. "I was lucky. Very lucky." I avoided meeting her gaze and helped Rina up. "Are you ok?" I asked her. She was out of breath – her avatar was a lot weaker than ours. It wasn''t made for heavy physical activity.


    "I''m... ok." She said, panting. I shook my head, she was exhausted.


    "Let''s rest here for a bit." Alex said and she sat on a boulder. Rina almost immediately copsed on the ground while I also folded my legs.


    "Oh." Alex suddenly said. My scythe appeared in her hands. "I caught it before it fell down." She handed it to me. "It''s a beautiful weapon. Why are you using the sword instead of this?"


    I hesitated. "I''ve never wielded a scythe in my life. I''d be useless with it."


    "What, you wielded a sword before?" She said with a grin.


    "Yeah." I said as if it were nothing. "I know how to use a sword. I can be useful with it."


    Her smile disappeared. She seemed hesitant for a moment.


    "I''m not some soldier or anything." I said, slightly confused. "I''m a martial artist. In training," I added as I thought about the beating I received the day before I logged into the game.


    "Oh, I see." Alex mumbled. She seemed somewhat lost in thought.


    "We should keep going." Rina said quietly. "It''s almost midnight."


    "Before that," I interrupted her. "Do you mind telling me how you''ve levelled up so fast now?"


    She smiled. "At night, monsters gain power. Whatever curse lingers on them only activates then. You can get twice, maybe even thrice the amount of experience." She hesitated. "It''s risky though. These birds aren''t very strong but there are some creatures that could wipe us out in an instant."


    I nodded, it made sense. "Thanks for telling me."


    With that, I rose back up to my feet. Rina and Alex also stood up. We looked up and ahead. "We''re almost there." Alex said. I nodded again. I could see the greenery that decorated the summit. "Let''s go."


    Despite having put most of the way behind us, the unstable, rocky surface proved a challenge to climb. By the time we arrived at the summit, Rina wasn''t the only one exhausted.


    "Damn," Alex mumbled as we finally stepped on the grass. "Whichever mage made this ce; I want to kill him."


    "Same here." Rina whispered. "But we made it. Now we just have to find itsir and kill it."


    I hesitated. "How do we kill it?"


    "Well," Alex said. "You need a darkmetal de or equivalent to be able to pierce a Cursed Monster''s skin." She showed her weapon. It was a shortsword made from a lightly coloured metal. Nothing about it seemed ''dark'', but she seemed sure enough of herself. I decided not to question it too much.


    "This is powerful enough; Rina has a couple of spells that''ll do the trick and you''ve got the scythe."


    "Right, the scythe." I mumbled as I put my sword away and took the scythe. The dark metal shaft was cool to the touch.


    We moved through the greenery, towards the centre of the summit. I could already see remnants of buildings ahead. Soon, we arrived at what seemed like a small castle, touched by time. Nature had already taken over this ce as overgrown nts covered most of the ruins.


    "There." Rina pointed at what used to be the main gate. Now, it was just arge, dark hole in a wall. "I''ll prepare the spell, you two go ahead. Alex nodded. We approached the hole, taking care not to step on any dry leaves or broken branches. Despite her height and several meters long tail, Alex was just as quiet, if not more so, as me.


    The quiet night didn''t remain quiet for much longer. As soon as we were close enough to touch the stone surface of what was left of the building, a loud, ear piercing screech sounded from inside. I heard the sound of pping wings as wind burst out from the dark entrance, knocking me off my feet and causing Alex to lose her footing for a moment.


    She easily regained her bnce, mostly thanks to her tail acting as a support. I sprung back on my feet too and just in time to greet the resident big bird.


    It was massive. About the size of that horned lion, in fact. It had mustard feathers and glowing, golden eyes. I could see the curse seeping out of it. It was like a mist surrounding the creature. All in all, it looked like an oversized eagle. With two pairs of wings. And three eyes.


    My mind seemed to have trouble processing it.


    "Now!" Alex shouted as she jumped in front of it. "Don''t let it fly!" She struck the creature with her shortsword. Despite her height, she barely reached the lower part of its body. I heard Rina''s humming from behind us. Was she chanting something?


    The oversized eagle screeched again and stepped out of the buildingpletely. Alex tried to stop it but had to back off to avoid being crushed under those sharp talons.


    "It''s going to fly!" She shouted. At the same time, the creature spread its wings wide. Gathering my courage, I sprinted to the side, used Fallen Grace, and leapt high into the air, towards the creatures left wing. Leaving a trail of ck mes behind me thanks to Death''s Scythe, Inded on the creature''s wing. Without skipping a beat, I shed the area where its wing connected with its body.


    An ear-piercing scream sounded as it tried to shake me off. Almost as if they were responding to it, several smaller birds appeared in the night sky.


    "Look out!" Alex''s voice sounded as the oversized eagle tried to shake me off. Holding the shaft of the scythe with one hand, I desperately hung on to its feathers. Looking up, the sky was covered in feathers and stretched talons aiming for me.


    "Get down!" Rina''s voice sounded as I heard a loud thunder. I pressed my body against the giant eagle''s feathers. I felt something brush against my back as the defensive enchantment on my clothes depleted. Momentster, a bright light shed above me as Rina''s powerful magic sent shivers down my spine.


    The momentary silence was followed by a bunch of muffled thuds. Unfortunately, I had no time to see what was going on as the oversized eagle decided it was a good time to fly.


    "Oh no." I said as I threw myself towards its neck. I had to stop it somehow. It stretched its wings and with a loud, pained screech, threw itself into the air.


    "Kai!" I heard Rina and Alex''s shouts. I lifted my head to try and see why their voices were so far away.


    The summit we spent so long to climb looked like a small hill from this height. As the icy wind numbed my face and hands, my breath got stuck in my throat. I could even see the vige from here.


    The creature screeched and made a sudden turn. Its body shook unnaturally as I noticed its left wing move slower and more ungracefully with each p. It took me a moment to notice what was actually happening.


    We were falling.