Was it just an illusion? No. It was too real. She was very tall with blood
red eyes. She had a thick, silver stripe above and underneath her eyes. Her
hair was long and perfectly straight. She had the same markings on her face
just like Nova. She wore a long black dress with a dark purple ribbon tied
around her neck that wrapped down her arm and to her hand. Her nails were
sharp and painted the same colour as her eyes. She also had a metal choker
with a red gem on that led to her dress. The staff, as described in the
story, was held in her left hand.
Sakura stepped back and hissed, "Who are you?"
"You should know," her voice was sharp and seemed to echo coldly in her mind. "I'm in your dreams, from that story, from the cards."
"Durelen?" Sakura answered.
She grinned telling her that she was correct. She raised her hand. Sakura watched, not too sure what she was doing or what she, herself, was to do. The snake came into vision. Durelen held it in her hands but it paid no attention to her, its eyes were glued on Sakura.
"Is this what you were looking for?" she asked, looking from the snake to Sakura. "Take it!"
Her hand moved off of the snake and it darted towards Sakura. She shielded herself with her arms. She felt the stinging fangs dig into her arm leaving a painful burn. It made it difficult to tell whether it was still attached or if it had let go.
She moved her arm, throwing the snake behind her and into a thorny bush. She felt her energy quickly drain. She had her staff out. She tossed it up and hit down, the bushes thrashed but instantly stopped and the card was sealed. The burning in her arm faded but the bite marks remained. The poison card flew to her hand. It had the black snake on it, its fangs died red from blood.
Sakura turned to Durelen but she was gone. She ran out to that area, finding something that was expected, but unexpected.
Ellen stood there, but the wand was gone. So was the whole costume! Ellen smiled. "It is time you found out. Yes I am her, the dragoon who will kill you, the protector of the curse cards!"
Before Sakura could say anything she ran off into nowhere.
Still with the card in her hand, Sakura's eyes darted back towards a dark cave. She pocketed the card and turned to Li who had already had his sword out.
"You sense it too, don't you?" Sakura asked still looking in the darkness of the cave.
"Yes. Should we go in? It might be dangerous and it might come to us, but if we don't, we could lose our chance of capturing it."
Sakura thought hard. He had good points, but she did not want to risk not capturing it so she started to walk towards it. Li followed and before Sakura entered she released her staff. They walked in together, Sakura with her phone in her other hand in case she had to call Kero. She turned to Li and gave him the ying-yang card.
"Why are you giving this to me?"
"Just take it. I know you will need it."
"What?"
"I don't know why, I just have a feeling."
They walked on in the ice cold cave, blinded by darkness which only got darker and darker as the moved on. Sakura pulled out the light card and hit it with her staff, ordering it to light the path. The light was dim, but bright enough for them to see. At first they had to shield their eyes from the light for they were adapted to the darkness. Sakura moved on, but heard Li stop so she did and turned to him. He was looking at the wall, for on it was a message, which Li was positive written in blood.
It read: Be aware, for you entered my nightmare!
Sakura walked up to his side and read the message. "Is that a name for this cave to warn us of danger ahead?"
Li shook his head. "I remember Kero saying after we caught the ying-yang card that there was one called the nightmare. I think this is it."
"What do you think this card can do?"
"I'm not too sure, but I think we have to play out the dream to finish it."
A cold, shrilling laugh echoed down the cave from the darkness where Sakura's light could not reach. Li turned to it in a flash and lifted his sword in front of himself as his arm guarded Sakura behind him. Sakura's light soon disappeared and slithered to its card form but floated away from her and where the laugh was.
They could see a flickering glow around them. There were torches on the walls that automatically lit. They saw what was now visible to see. A tall, walking skeleton soldier was slowly approaching them. In one hand was a long blade-like sword and in his other was the light card. He had dirty yellow bones that made crunches as he moved them. Covering some of its body was strong armour. On its head was an old battle helmet.
Its empty eye sockets turned towards Li who had his sword out. The skeleton was looking for a battle and took this as a challenge. Both Li and Sakura knew what was going to happen, but did not like how it looked. The skeleton was twice as tall as Li and had a much longer sword, curved so he would have the advantage.
Li stepped forwards, motioning Sakura to back off so she would not get hurt or involved.
"Li don't do this! You will get hurt!" Sakura cried to him, but Li did not want to listen.
Without warning the skeleton's sword came crashing down towards Li. Li rolled out of the way and lifted his sword and swung it back as it clattered to see where Li had gone. Li's sword wisped the light card from his hand and onto the floor. The skeleton turned to Li once again and swiped his sword along his side. Before it hit, Li lowered his sword in defence and stopped the hit. The swords clattered together. Li could feel the skeleton overpowering him as his own sword pushed back almost slicing himself. Li back flipped out of the skeleton's reach.
Sakura could not just watch Li get attacked like this. She pulled out the shield card and used it on him successfully. The skeleton dashed towards Li and hit his sword down trying to get past the shield. Li smiled thanks to Sakura, which luckily the skeleton had not noticed her there yet.
Just when they thought things were going their way, the skeleton opened its gloved hands and the shield pulled apart and gusted into its card form and fell to his hand. The light card flew in its spot with the shield card.
"He is stealing the cards!" Li called to Sakura in warning. "Don't release anymore!"
As he called the skeletons sword crashed hard on Li's right arm, slicing it across making a deep gash. Li held in a scream and stumbled backwards holding his wound. His back hit the cave wall as his sword slipped out of his hands and slid away. Now, the blood message was flying across it like random lights as Li's blood from his wound touched it.
"Li!" Sakura cried trying to run to him, but the skeleton whipped his sword in front of her, just close enough to stop her without hurting her. Li was his only target. The skeleton smelled the rich human blood. The killing monster craved it for many years for the nightmare card was only realized now. The skeleton slowly walked towards Li, holding his sword high and ready to crash down.
"Sakura! Try and capture it!"
Sakura nodded and raised her staff and hit it down, "Nightmare, return to your power."
The skeleton was still moving. It turned to her and without moving its jaw it managed to speak. "I am not the card, for I am only a part of it. You must live the nightmare. Feel the pain!" Its voice was so cold and harsh to the ears. It turned back to Li and raised its sword once again, but froze as a call down the cave ordered something in another language.
"That is. dragoon," Li said. "I never thought it was ever used!"
Sakura put down her staff and watched helplessly. She wondered what would happen next. The skeleton ignored its orders and went for the final blow. It stabbed Li's side and pulled its sword out again. It backed to the shadows and disappeared.
Li slid down the wall and fell limply to the ground. Sakura ran to his side and examined his wounds.
"If this is only a nightmare, does that make the wound fake?" Sakura asked trembling.
"I don't know, but it sure feels real."
Sakura ripped off her sleeve and held it to his side. Sakura pulled out the watery card but Li stopped her. "It will be stolen again."
"But water helps heal, I don't care if it is stolen, or even if this is a dream! I don't want to lose you. You have lost too much blood."
Li did not respond as Sakura used the water to wash his wounds. Like they both expected, the card returned and flew away, but Sakura had already helped Li.
"Sakura, did you hear the call that retreated the skeleton? It was the same language Durelen speaks!"
"Hey, you are right. That must mean it was a dragoon, or something that can communicate with the same speech."
As Sakura spoke something fluttered past them, extinguishing the flames. It passed by so quickly they did not get to see it in time. The cave darkened as all the torches flickered out. Li heard Sakura scream and a strange growl then a ripping sound. Li saw his sword's blade shine from the last flame down the cave. He quickly scrambled over to it and seized its hilt. He heard Sakura cry again so he threw out a fire element card and lit one of the torches.
The dim fire gave him just enough light to see around him. The fire card flickered away towards where they came from. Shaolan spun around looking for Sakura, but she and whatever attacked her were gone.
"Sakura-chan?" but there was no response, only his scared echoing voice. He did not even know how far they have traveled into the cave. The message was still flying around the walls helplessly. If it had held still he would have some sense of direction.
Li took out his Rashinban, knowing if he used it; it might be stolen like the cards. He knew well that Sakura was being hurt and could not bare it any longer. She helped him and now it was his turn.
He lifted out the board and repeated the chant, but ordered it to point in Sakura's direction. He watched it tensely as the circle moved about. The light glowed and pointed to his left dimly but flew out of his hands and away. He caught the direction and ran to it, holding his sword tightly in his hand, the torch in the other.
Li saw the light at the end of the cave after a short time of running but a sharp silhouette swooped down and started to block it. He stopped and raised his sword seeing it was not human. It was hard to tell but it looked small, about up to Li's knee in height and it had a skinny, scrawny body. It had long razor sharp talons. It had wide, thin wings that made it look even bigger than him. The creature also had a long whip-like tail with three claw-like bones that stuck what looked painfully out of the end. The eyes of the creature were glowing fire red.
Li could see a box beside it; he could sense the magic cards and his Rashinban inside.
In a flash the creature moved towards him. Li ducked but the boney claw on its tail caught him and dug into his neck and dragged him along on the creature's flight. He whipped around and out of the cave. Li still held his sword tightly in his hand but it slipped away slowly. He regripped it as the creature flew with him above the forest trees. The sky was still dark, but as the creature flew up, the sky stretched to a dark, grey storm. Li looked up and saw the creature fully for the first time. It was small but its huge wings stretched out forever. The creature had a rough black and dark grey scales as its head was covered by a skull.
Li found out that the creature had no long claws but had glove-like claws made of sharp bones, like its tail. Its wings looked like wet leather, all tattered up. He recognized it as a demon.
Li watched the stormy clouds move together, mixing frantically, covering the light of day. He knew if the demon was caught he would be affected as well.
He soon found out that it was the demon that was making the storm.
He squirmed as he felt the sharp talons dig deeper in the back of his neck as it almost dropped him. Seeing it would not work, the demon moved her bony tail around his neck. Li gripped the blood stained bones as it choked him.
Another demon's silhouette sped close to them. This one was holding Sakura by the shoulders in its claws. Instead of bones, this one had a metal helmet and claws and his tail had a blade instead of another hand.
Li saw that Sakura was hurt and struggling to stay conscious. He glared at the careless demons and wondered what they wanted from them. His eyes widened as he saw the one holding Sakura had the key of her staff clutched in its hand, almost covered by the metal glove. Li wanted to call to Sakura but suffered greatly from the tight bone claws.
With true aim, Li whipped his sword up and sliced the tail holding him and aimed to get Sakura free too, but instead of injuring the demon, he sliced off the end of its tail. It started to fall with great speed, the claw still around his neck. The demon screeched in pain as blood spilled out of its stub of a tail and went after Li as he fell, but decided not to as it knew that the fall would kill him. But Li had planned for that.
Underneath him was a wide river. He transformed his sword back to the ball and wrapped the string around his hand as he dived into the lake and was pulled away by the current. His hand caught a branch and he pulled himself onto it, drenched. He watched behind him seeing a great waterfall and was glad he just missed it.
The demons darted down seeing his plan work. The metal one whipped Sakura to the ground as they neared it. Sakura stumbled to look up as she saw them both gain on Li. She heard them hiss to each other in the dragoon language, followed by an evil laugh.
The metal demon used its blade claws and sliced at the branch that was supporting Li. Before Li fell he snatched the key out of its hand and tossed it to Sakura. Sakura caught it but froze as she watched him race towards the falls. She jumped up and threw out the fly card but the bone demon snatched it out of her hand and hit her with its massive claws, knocking her back to the ground.
The metal demon flew to help the bone demon attack Sakura as Li secretly used a water element card to push the water current the opposite way. Without realizing it, the card turned to its spirit form and flew to the metal demon's hand but it grabbed its attention.
The water pushed Li back, but he grabbed hold of a rock. It was the only thing holding him up from the deadly falls. The skull demon continued to attack Sakura as the metal one flew onto the small rock that held Li up, and stood on it. Its knife like claws dug into the top of Li's hands forcing him to slip away from his grip. With a swift movement the demon kicked him off, stabbing his arm where his wound was.
As Shaolan fell he heard Sakura's weak, distant voice call out his name and her cries of pain. Li still had the green ball wrapped around his wrist, but that could no longer save him from the fall for the cards he will use will get sucked away from him.
Li hit the water hard and fast. The massive falls pushed him lower under the surface. It was lucky for him the demons did not come looking for him to check if he was still alive or not. What hurt Li the most was that Sakura was still with them. He did not know if she was safe or not, or even if they will see each other again.
He had surfaced but was no longer conscious. When Shaolan awoke he was in a new area. He was in a room, not his. He lay in a small but comfy bed. The room was bright, with rich wood walls. Li sat up seeing his sword was gone from around his wrist. Where was he? What happened to Sakura? Where was his sword? Are they still in the card? Something interrupted his trail of thoughts. He heard a loud, but soft cry of pain outside the door to the room he was in. Li pushed the covers off and got up. He pushed the wooden door a bit and peered through the crack. Unluckily the door creaked as he did so and Li saw someone move outside.
He heard a cheery, soft voice call to him.
"Hi! Sorry if I woke you up. I burnt myself on the stove! I hope you are hungry!"
This voice was new to Li, but it seemed friendly enough. Li pushed the door fully open knowing that the voice was referring to him.
He saw a young girl, about his age but older standing over her kitchen table placing some plate down. She had long white hair that was tied up in a ponytail that reached down to her knees. Her bangs stayed out of her ponytail and reached down to her shoulders. She had weird eyes. One was a rich forest green, the other a deep sea blue. She hummed a sweet song softly to herself.
Even if she seemed nice and kind, Li still did not trust her. He knew he was still in the Nightmare card and anything can happen. She turned to Li and gave him a warm smile and invited him to, "Come sit!"
Li froze and wondered why he was even there. He took a step closer but stopped there. She looked back up to him. "Don't be frightened of me! I won't hurt you. I only want to help you."
Li sighed and slowly moved closer and sat down, his eyes not moving off her. This could be a trap to gain his trust.
"Oh, I'm sorry! I forgot to introduce myself! I'm Sola!" she laughed.
Li mumbled, "Shaolan, but you can call me Li."
Sola smiled seeing she got him to say something. She placed some food on his plate in front of him. Sola took out some fruit and bit into it to show it was not drugged. Li did not want to be rude so he took a muffin and nibbled bits of it.
"I bet you are wondering why you are here" Sola said to him putting her food down. Li nodded in response. "Not very talkative are you? You make me look like a chatter box! Any ways, you know I'm a character from the dream the nightmare card makes. I'm here to help you and bring you back to health."
Li did notice the fresh bandage around his arm and the new one around waist. He listened as she continued.
"The demons are the ones controlling the card. You must capture them together. I'm not supposed to tell you this but you seem trusting enough! You are the second ones to take in the dream so the card attacks even stronger. They were waiting for someone to come so they could use their powers after years of practising."
That made sense to him but he wondered why she was telling the secrets of the card. Was she a friend really trying to help? She continued on, "I found you caught in the branches of the tree in the lake by this cottage. My role is to take you in and give you another chance. I also found this," she pulled out the dark green ball that transforms into his sword. "Is it yours?"
Li nodded but did not know if he should tell her what it did. She passed it to him as he sighed in relief that it did not float away. "Do you know what they will do with Sakura?"
Sola smiled and looked up confused to the new unheard of name. "Who is Sakura?"
"My friend. We work together to catch the curse cards."
"I see. Where was the last place you saw her?"
"Up the falls, before I fell from them."
Sola's eyes widened at the mention of the falls. "You are lucky to be alive! That is far from here and the falls are so deadly! I will take you there to find your friend, only if you are well enough."
Li smiled at her kindness and nodded. "I am well enough."
Sola looked a little worried at her promise. "I have to tell you something.," she froze and stopped herself before she went on. She got up and opened the door. "Never mind."
Li was worried by her words. He pulled himself together and followed her out. They walked for a quite a while along the river side to keep the path clear. The sky was still stormy but no winds were blowing, not even one water droplet of rain.
The forest around them seemed so quiet and empty. No animals lurked in it, not a leaf rustle, nothing.
"Thirsty?" Sola asked breaking the silent around them. Li shrugged as she passed him a water bottle. Sola sat down on an old rotting log and turned away from him and watched the river flow. She looked worried. Li could sense that something bothered her greatly..
"Sola, what is wrong?" Li asked opening the bottle.
Sola sighed and hugged her knees. "You will see soon enough."
Li looked confused at her words. He sat on a rock near her and sipped some of the water.
"No! How could I?" Sola fumed, tightening her fists.
"How could you what?"
"Kill you!" she cried bowing her head and hiding it with her hair. "I should have just let you be! I'm not even real! You are!"
"What are you talking about?"
"The water, it is poisoned. My real job is to take you in, gain your trust! When I take you to Sakura you drink the water thinking it is fine but die in less than an hour! If I refuse to do my job then I will be killed by the demons but I'm not even real! You have a life. I don't," she cried even harder now.
"That is not true. You are real."
She shook her head. "I'm a fragment of a card!"
"You are still real. Only living things can feel pain and emotions. You feel bad for what you have done. If you were fake you could care less for me."
"That does not change the fact that you are dying."
"True but we can still save Sakura. I can't give up on her life too, and yours. You have a life."
Sola sniffed and wiped away her tears, "Sakura is lucky to have a friend like you. We don't have much time. We should hurry!" Li nodded as Sola got up but she was not moving. Something grew from her back. It was a pair of soft angel-like wings. "If the demons see my wings they will know I did something good. Flying will be faster"
Li smiled seeing that she was making a great improvement.
She flew them above the trees, but as she did the clouds turned and created a soft wind. It grew to a strong cold wind and hail streamed down. The wind whistled madly and out of control. Li could see Sola struggle as she tried to fly. They reached the falls which seemed so harmless and small from above but the roar of the waves gave no mercy.
Li sensed something as they flew closer and closer. Even Sola felt it. She swooped down to the top of the falls and placed Li down. Li walked a couple of steps ahead and searched hard through the thick forest but was not lucky at all. Li whipped out his sword knowing he would need it.
The area seemed to change from under their feet. It moved like fire as the forest wisped away and into a disserted, dead land. The sky grew pale but blew stronger at the change. Sola moved to Li's side not recognizing the land from the nightmare. She folded in her wings and clasped her hands together. Li frowned at their soundings and held up his sword. Would his element cards be any help in this world?
Li pulled out the ying-yang card and held it out. It was risky to use it not knowing how injured Sakura was. He could use it to see if she was near, if so he would feel no pain, if not he would. He knew the card would get stolen. Sakura was right, he did need it! The risks were worth it if it meant finding her.
He took his sword and hit the card with it. As he thought, a rush of cold pain crept up him. He fell to his knees and returned the card before it could do too much damage. Sola helped him up and watched the card slip away.
"Well that was worthless. I'm now weaker and we did not find Sakura!"
"Not true. If Sakura is with the demons then we are in luck!"
"Luck!?"
"The card went that way!" she pointed to where the card slithered off. Li smiled at her observation. Sola picked him up and swiftly flew in the direction of the card, and hopefully, Sakura.
Li noticed that she was moving more swiftly than before as the scenery seemed a blur. She halted to a swift, jerking stop and pushed back seeing two dark figures moving towards them. They used the same trick that Sola had used with the card. Unluckily Sakura was not with them.
They came close enough to see but stopped right in front of them. Sola landed but still held onto him. Li felt her grip tighter on him as they neared. One made a low mumbling sound as it landed and walked closer to them, its wings still stretched out. Sola stepped back but froze as the demon raised his hand and by magic stopped her.
She fought helplessly but it was no use. The skull demon grabbed Li away from her and gave a cold laugh. It turned to Sola and freed her from the spell. It hissed something which made Sola glare deeply at him. "I couldn't help it. please. spare him."
Li looked confused and pulled away from the demon that was putting no effort in holding him. The metal demon landed on Li's other side and said, "We will kill him anyways. You have never heard the end of this nightmare have you?"
Sola turned away and looked down. "I deserve it but he does not!"
"Why so? You have poisoned him and finished your job greatly; it is now only a matter of minuets before he dies."
Li stayed quiet not wanting to interfere. He knew well his death was coming but he wanted to see Sakura one last time. Even if a nightmare, it is said all wounds and battles make a difference in the real world because it may be an illusion but it is still reality.
"Where is Li's friend?" demanded Sola. "Bring her here!"
"Come this way," the demons smiled.
They jumped up to a clear flight and led the way. The skull demon's claw from her feet seized Li's shoulder this time because her tail was chopped off, and whipped him up, not letting Sola near him any longer.
Within seconds they reached a new area with a flat ground with a few huge wave shaped rocks. The demon threw Li carelessly to the ground. He slid back and hit one of the weird rocks. He looked around and noticed a tall dark tower where the demons were walking towards. Sola landed next to Li and helped him up. She watched the tower as if she had never seen it before. As they walked to it everything seemed to get darker and colder. The clouds above swirled around the tip of the tower. The demons held out their hand and the doors swung wide open.
Inside was dark and empty as it seemed. There were rows of stairs that seemed to go nowhere. It looked small from the outside but was large in the inside. Li felt like a prisoner. He felt the burning poison take place as it slowly weakened him. He felt his breathing grow heaver.
They started to climb the stairs, their footsteps echoing. When they reached near the top he saw Sakura lying motionless on the ground. He ran to reach her but the metal demon looked at him, its eyes glowing deep red. He felt himself freeze like Sola did under his powers. Li struggled to move seeing that Sakura was barely breathing. Even if he was weakened by the poison he did not give up!
The demon's eyes shined even darker fighting to hold him back. The skull demon turned to him as well and helped the other hold him back. Her eyes shined blue instead of red like his. Li was being pushed back with both of their magic and with a force of energy that backed him to the wall. But still he did not give in.
It felt like a huge force of freezing water was flooding like a jet onto him. All of a sudden he broke through their magic and ran to Sakura. The demons looked blankly as he did so. Sola sighed seeing that he overpowered them.
Li reached her side and knelt down to Sakura. "Sakura, wake up!"
But nothing happened.
"Sakura!"
The smile on Sola's face faded. The demons just watched without a fight.
"Sakura! Sakura!" Li felt himself trembling as he spoke. "Wake up." He felt a tear fall but he did not try to hide it. Her eyes opened softly and she looked up at him. Li couldn't stop himself from hugging her. Sakura smiled and hugged him back.
"Don't worry Li. I'm okay."
The demons hissed seeing that he brought her conscious again. The skull demon unfolded her wings. "If magic won't work on you then this will!"
She darted towards Li and rammed him with a horn on her skull. The force of her pushed Li far from Sakura's side and crashed him into a window, unluckily the window shattered and he fell out of it. Sola dashed after him and spread out her wings but the metal demon whipped out his hand and the wings disappeared.
Sakura ran to the shattered window opening and looked over the ledge. She saw that Li had caught the edge of the window but was only holding on with one hand. She grabbed his hand as it started to slip. Sola ran to her side and helped her. The metal demon flew above them and landed on the ledge, slicing Li's hand with its knife-like claws. It whipped its tail out and sliced his hand again making him let go. His other hand grabbed a hold of his tail and pulled him down with him but the demon flew up still with Li holding on.
"Let go!" the demon yelled.
"Ya, so I can fall to my bloody death!?" Li replied.
"You are going to die from the poison anyways!" The skull demon flew out to them, snatched his sword out of Li's hands and whipped it in the air in practise, as if it was hers.
Sakura could barely watch. Sola felt useless because they could not help. If Sakura was to use a card they would steal it. Sola's well earned wings were stolen from her as well. Sakura used windy card to catch Li but even before she could use it the demons stole it out of her hands.
Then it hit her, if she used the confuse card they would not be able to steal it because they would be too confused to do so. Maybe then they could save Li. She turned away from the window so they could not see her use it. She threw it out and ordered it to confuse the demons. The demons eyes dulled as they looked around blankly. The metal demon dropped Li from his claws and dashed away from the skull demon seeing her as something else.
"Li, use a wind element card!" Sakura called to him. All she could do was to watch him fall.
Li pulled out an element card and held it up hoping it would work without his sword. The long pause made him wonder if he had any magic or was it just his sword that held powers. "Element wind," Li called out still holding it up. A huge gust of wind breezed by and caught him just before he hit the ground.
Sakura and Sola cheered and ran down the tower's stairs and to his side. Li smiled seeing the demons chase each other helplessly in the air high above them. Li got up and put the element card back in his pocket, happy that they did not steal it.
They hid behind one of the large wave-like rocks and watched, knowing that the demons would soon overpower the confuse card.
The skull demon stopped and shook her head as her eyes became bright again. She watched the metal demon fly around blindly. She hit him with Li's sword and brought him back. "Fool, they used a card on us!"
The card pulled together and flew to her hand. She had lost track of them and was searching around. "They got away!"
The metal demon laughed. "You can run but you can not hide!"
He swooped down to the rock they were hiding behind and landed on the top of it. The skull landed beside him. Unluckily they could both sense their powers. Li leaned onto the rock and panted softly. Sakura looked over at him as she slipped along it down to the ground. "Li, are you okay?"
Li nodded a bit as Sola looked away saying, "I'm so sorry."
Sakura looked at her and asked, "What are you talking about?"
Before Sola could reply the demons landed next to them, but they did not attack they just watched them with evil grins.
Sakura knelt next to Li, who was now trembling with his eyes squeezed shut in pain. "What is going on?" Sakura felt panic strike her like thunder.
Sola was going to answer but chose not to. She knew it would hurt her even more. "Sakura," Li managed to say, "Just keep in mind that this is. only. only a.nightmare."
He took his last breath and everything fell silent. The demon's distant laughter echoed as though it was a mile away.
Sakura stepped back and hissed, "Who are you?"
"You should know," her voice was sharp and seemed to echo coldly in her mind. "I'm in your dreams, from that story, from the cards."
"Durelen?" Sakura answered.
She grinned telling her that she was correct. She raised her hand. Sakura watched, not too sure what she was doing or what she, herself, was to do. The snake came into vision. Durelen held it in her hands but it paid no attention to her, its eyes were glued on Sakura.
"Is this what you were looking for?" she asked, looking from the snake to Sakura. "Take it!"
Her hand moved off of the snake and it darted towards Sakura. She shielded herself with her arms. She felt the stinging fangs dig into her arm leaving a painful burn. It made it difficult to tell whether it was still attached or if it had let go.
She moved her arm, throwing the snake behind her and into a thorny bush. She felt her energy quickly drain. She had her staff out. She tossed it up and hit down, the bushes thrashed but instantly stopped and the card was sealed. The burning in her arm faded but the bite marks remained. The poison card flew to her hand. It had the black snake on it, its fangs died red from blood.
Sakura turned to Durelen but she was gone. She ran out to that area, finding something that was expected, but unexpected.
Ellen stood there, but the wand was gone. So was the whole costume! Ellen smiled. "It is time you found out. Yes I am her, the dragoon who will kill you, the protector of the curse cards!"
Before Sakura could say anything she ran off into nowhere.
Still with the card in her hand, Sakura's eyes darted back towards a dark cave. She pocketed the card and turned to Li who had already had his sword out.
"You sense it too, don't you?" Sakura asked still looking in the darkness of the cave.
"Yes. Should we go in? It might be dangerous and it might come to us, but if we don't, we could lose our chance of capturing it."
Sakura thought hard. He had good points, but she did not want to risk not capturing it so she started to walk towards it. Li followed and before Sakura entered she released her staff. They walked in together, Sakura with her phone in her other hand in case she had to call Kero. She turned to Li and gave him the ying-yang card.
"Why are you giving this to me?"
"Just take it. I know you will need it."
"What?"
"I don't know why, I just have a feeling."
They walked on in the ice cold cave, blinded by darkness which only got darker and darker as the moved on. Sakura pulled out the light card and hit it with her staff, ordering it to light the path. The light was dim, but bright enough for them to see. At first they had to shield their eyes from the light for they were adapted to the darkness. Sakura moved on, but heard Li stop so she did and turned to him. He was looking at the wall, for on it was a message, which Li was positive written in blood.
It read: Be aware, for you entered my nightmare!
Sakura walked up to his side and read the message. "Is that a name for this cave to warn us of danger ahead?"
Li shook his head. "I remember Kero saying after we caught the ying-yang card that there was one called the nightmare. I think this is it."
"What do you think this card can do?"
"I'm not too sure, but I think we have to play out the dream to finish it."
A cold, shrilling laugh echoed down the cave from the darkness where Sakura's light could not reach. Li turned to it in a flash and lifted his sword in front of himself as his arm guarded Sakura behind him. Sakura's light soon disappeared and slithered to its card form but floated away from her and where the laugh was.
They could see a flickering glow around them. There were torches on the walls that automatically lit. They saw what was now visible to see. A tall, walking skeleton soldier was slowly approaching them. In one hand was a long blade-like sword and in his other was the light card. He had dirty yellow bones that made crunches as he moved them. Covering some of its body was strong armour. On its head was an old battle helmet.
Its empty eye sockets turned towards Li who had his sword out. The skeleton was looking for a battle and took this as a challenge. Both Li and Sakura knew what was going to happen, but did not like how it looked. The skeleton was twice as tall as Li and had a much longer sword, curved so he would have the advantage.
Li stepped forwards, motioning Sakura to back off so she would not get hurt or involved.
"Li don't do this! You will get hurt!" Sakura cried to him, but Li did not want to listen.
Without warning the skeleton's sword came crashing down towards Li. Li rolled out of the way and lifted his sword and swung it back as it clattered to see where Li had gone. Li's sword wisped the light card from his hand and onto the floor. The skeleton turned to Li once again and swiped his sword along his side. Before it hit, Li lowered his sword in defence and stopped the hit. The swords clattered together. Li could feel the skeleton overpowering him as his own sword pushed back almost slicing himself. Li back flipped out of the skeleton's reach.
Sakura could not just watch Li get attacked like this. She pulled out the shield card and used it on him successfully. The skeleton dashed towards Li and hit his sword down trying to get past the shield. Li smiled thanks to Sakura, which luckily the skeleton had not noticed her there yet.
Just when they thought things were going their way, the skeleton opened its gloved hands and the shield pulled apart and gusted into its card form and fell to his hand. The light card flew in its spot with the shield card.
"He is stealing the cards!" Li called to Sakura in warning. "Don't release anymore!"
As he called the skeletons sword crashed hard on Li's right arm, slicing it across making a deep gash. Li held in a scream and stumbled backwards holding his wound. His back hit the cave wall as his sword slipped out of his hands and slid away. Now, the blood message was flying across it like random lights as Li's blood from his wound touched it.
"Li!" Sakura cried trying to run to him, but the skeleton whipped his sword in front of her, just close enough to stop her without hurting her. Li was his only target. The skeleton smelled the rich human blood. The killing monster craved it for many years for the nightmare card was only realized now. The skeleton slowly walked towards Li, holding his sword high and ready to crash down.
"Sakura! Try and capture it!"
Sakura nodded and raised her staff and hit it down, "Nightmare, return to your power."
The skeleton was still moving. It turned to her and without moving its jaw it managed to speak. "I am not the card, for I am only a part of it. You must live the nightmare. Feel the pain!" Its voice was so cold and harsh to the ears. It turned back to Li and raised its sword once again, but froze as a call down the cave ordered something in another language.
"That is. dragoon," Li said. "I never thought it was ever used!"
Sakura put down her staff and watched helplessly. She wondered what would happen next. The skeleton ignored its orders and went for the final blow. It stabbed Li's side and pulled its sword out again. It backed to the shadows and disappeared.
Li slid down the wall and fell limply to the ground. Sakura ran to his side and examined his wounds.
"If this is only a nightmare, does that make the wound fake?" Sakura asked trembling.
"I don't know, but it sure feels real."
Sakura ripped off her sleeve and held it to his side. Sakura pulled out the watery card but Li stopped her. "It will be stolen again."
"But water helps heal, I don't care if it is stolen, or even if this is a dream! I don't want to lose you. You have lost too much blood."
Li did not respond as Sakura used the water to wash his wounds. Like they both expected, the card returned and flew away, but Sakura had already helped Li.
"Sakura, did you hear the call that retreated the skeleton? It was the same language Durelen speaks!"
"Hey, you are right. That must mean it was a dragoon, or something that can communicate with the same speech."
As Sakura spoke something fluttered past them, extinguishing the flames. It passed by so quickly they did not get to see it in time. The cave darkened as all the torches flickered out. Li heard Sakura scream and a strange growl then a ripping sound. Li saw his sword's blade shine from the last flame down the cave. He quickly scrambled over to it and seized its hilt. He heard Sakura cry again so he threw out a fire element card and lit one of the torches.
The dim fire gave him just enough light to see around him. The fire card flickered away towards where they came from. Shaolan spun around looking for Sakura, but she and whatever attacked her were gone.
"Sakura-chan?" but there was no response, only his scared echoing voice. He did not even know how far they have traveled into the cave. The message was still flying around the walls helplessly. If it had held still he would have some sense of direction.
Li took out his Rashinban, knowing if he used it; it might be stolen like the cards. He knew well that Sakura was being hurt and could not bare it any longer. She helped him and now it was his turn.
He lifted out the board and repeated the chant, but ordered it to point in Sakura's direction. He watched it tensely as the circle moved about. The light glowed and pointed to his left dimly but flew out of his hands and away. He caught the direction and ran to it, holding his sword tightly in his hand, the torch in the other.
Li saw the light at the end of the cave after a short time of running but a sharp silhouette swooped down and started to block it. He stopped and raised his sword seeing it was not human. It was hard to tell but it looked small, about up to Li's knee in height and it had a skinny, scrawny body. It had long razor sharp talons. It had wide, thin wings that made it look even bigger than him. The creature also had a long whip-like tail with three claw-like bones that stuck what looked painfully out of the end. The eyes of the creature were glowing fire red.
Li could see a box beside it; he could sense the magic cards and his Rashinban inside.
In a flash the creature moved towards him. Li ducked but the boney claw on its tail caught him and dug into his neck and dragged him along on the creature's flight. He whipped around and out of the cave. Li still held his sword tightly in his hand but it slipped away slowly. He regripped it as the creature flew with him above the forest trees. The sky was still dark, but as the creature flew up, the sky stretched to a dark, grey storm. Li looked up and saw the creature fully for the first time. It was small but its huge wings stretched out forever. The creature had a rough black and dark grey scales as its head was covered by a skull.
Li found out that the creature had no long claws but had glove-like claws made of sharp bones, like its tail. Its wings looked like wet leather, all tattered up. He recognized it as a demon.
Li watched the stormy clouds move together, mixing frantically, covering the light of day. He knew if the demon was caught he would be affected as well.
He soon found out that it was the demon that was making the storm.
He squirmed as he felt the sharp talons dig deeper in the back of his neck as it almost dropped him. Seeing it would not work, the demon moved her bony tail around his neck. Li gripped the blood stained bones as it choked him.
Another demon's silhouette sped close to them. This one was holding Sakura by the shoulders in its claws. Instead of bones, this one had a metal helmet and claws and his tail had a blade instead of another hand.
Li saw that Sakura was hurt and struggling to stay conscious. He glared at the careless demons and wondered what they wanted from them. His eyes widened as he saw the one holding Sakura had the key of her staff clutched in its hand, almost covered by the metal glove. Li wanted to call to Sakura but suffered greatly from the tight bone claws.
With true aim, Li whipped his sword up and sliced the tail holding him and aimed to get Sakura free too, but instead of injuring the demon, he sliced off the end of its tail. It started to fall with great speed, the claw still around his neck. The demon screeched in pain as blood spilled out of its stub of a tail and went after Li as he fell, but decided not to as it knew that the fall would kill him. But Li had planned for that.
Underneath him was a wide river. He transformed his sword back to the ball and wrapped the string around his hand as he dived into the lake and was pulled away by the current. His hand caught a branch and he pulled himself onto it, drenched. He watched behind him seeing a great waterfall and was glad he just missed it.
The demons darted down seeing his plan work. The metal one whipped Sakura to the ground as they neared it. Sakura stumbled to look up as she saw them both gain on Li. She heard them hiss to each other in the dragoon language, followed by an evil laugh.
The metal demon used its blade claws and sliced at the branch that was supporting Li. Before Li fell he snatched the key out of its hand and tossed it to Sakura. Sakura caught it but froze as she watched him race towards the falls. She jumped up and threw out the fly card but the bone demon snatched it out of her hand and hit her with its massive claws, knocking her back to the ground.
The metal demon flew to help the bone demon attack Sakura as Li secretly used a water element card to push the water current the opposite way. Without realizing it, the card turned to its spirit form and flew to the metal demon's hand but it grabbed its attention.
The water pushed Li back, but he grabbed hold of a rock. It was the only thing holding him up from the deadly falls. The skull demon continued to attack Sakura as the metal one flew onto the small rock that held Li up, and stood on it. Its knife like claws dug into the top of Li's hands forcing him to slip away from his grip. With a swift movement the demon kicked him off, stabbing his arm where his wound was.
As Shaolan fell he heard Sakura's weak, distant voice call out his name and her cries of pain. Li still had the green ball wrapped around his wrist, but that could no longer save him from the fall for the cards he will use will get sucked away from him.
Li hit the water hard and fast. The massive falls pushed him lower under the surface. It was lucky for him the demons did not come looking for him to check if he was still alive or not. What hurt Li the most was that Sakura was still with them. He did not know if she was safe or not, or even if they will see each other again.
He had surfaced but was no longer conscious. When Shaolan awoke he was in a new area. He was in a room, not his. He lay in a small but comfy bed. The room was bright, with rich wood walls. Li sat up seeing his sword was gone from around his wrist. Where was he? What happened to Sakura? Where was his sword? Are they still in the card? Something interrupted his trail of thoughts. He heard a loud, but soft cry of pain outside the door to the room he was in. Li pushed the covers off and got up. He pushed the wooden door a bit and peered through the crack. Unluckily the door creaked as he did so and Li saw someone move outside.
He heard a cheery, soft voice call to him.
"Hi! Sorry if I woke you up. I burnt myself on the stove! I hope you are hungry!"
This voice was new to Li, but it seemed friendly enough. Li pushed the door fully open knowing that the voice was referring to him.
He saw a young girl, about his age but older standing over her kitchen table placing some plate down. She had long white hair that was tied up in a ponytail that reached down to her knees. Her bangs stayed out of her ponytail and reached down to her shoulders. She had weird eyes. One was a rich forest green, the other a deep sea blue. She hummed a sweet song softly to herself.
Even if she seemed nice and kind, Li still did not trust her. He knew he was still in the Nightmare card and anything can happen. She turned to Li and gave him a warm smile and invited him to, "Come sit!"
Li froze and wondered why he was even there. He took a step closer but stopped there. She looked back up to him. "Don't be frightened of me! I won't hurt you. I only want to help you."
Li sighed and slowly moved closer and sat down, his eyes not moving off her. This could be a trap to gain his trust.
"Oh, I'm sorry! I forgot to introduce myself! I'm Sola!" she laughed.
Li mumbled, "Shaolan, but you can call me Li."
Sola smiled seeing she got him to say something. She placed some food on his plate in front of him. Sola took out some fruit and bit into it to show it was not drugged. Li did not want to be rude so he took a muffin and nibbled bits of it.
"I bet you are wondering why you are here" Sola said to him putting her food down. Li nodded in response. "Not very talkative are you? You make me look like a chatter box! Any ways, you know I'm a character from the dream the nightmare card makes. I'm here to help you and bring you back to health."
Li did notice the fresh bandage around his arm and the new one around waist. He listened as she continued.
"The demons are the ones controlling the card. You must capture them together. I'm not supposed to tell you this but you seem trusting enough! You are the second ones to take in the dream so the card attacks even stronger. They were waiting for someone to come so they could use their powers after years of practising."
That made sense to him but he wondered why she was telling the secrets of the card. Was she a friend really trying to help? She continued on, "I found you caught in the branches of the tree in the lake by this cottage. My role is to take you in and give you another chance. I also found this," she pulled out the dark green ball that transforms into his sword. "Is it yours?"
Li nodded but did not know if he should tell her what it did. She passed it to him as he sighed in relief that it did not float away. "Do you know what they will do with Sakura?"
Sola smiled and looked up confused to the new unheard of name. "Who is Sakura?"
"My friend. We work together to catch the curse cards."
"I see. Where was the last place you saw her?"
"Up the falls, before I fell from them."
Sola's eyes widened at the mention of the falls. "You are lucky to be alive! That is far from here and the falls are so deadly! I will take you there to find your friend, only if you are well enough."
Li smiled at her kindness and nodded. "I am well enough."
Sola looked a little worried at her promise. "I have to tell you something.," she froze and stopped herself before she went on. She got up and opened the door. "Never mind."
Li was worried by her words. He pulled himself together and followed her out. They walked for a quite a while along the river side to keep the path clear. The sky was still stormy but no winds were blowing, not even one water droplet of rain.
The forest around them seemed so quiet and empty. No animals lurked in it, not a leaf rustle, nothing.
"Thirsty?" Sola asked breaking the silent around them. Li shrugged as she passed him a water bottle. Sola sat down on an old rotting log and turned away from him and watched the river flow. She looked worried. Li could sense that something bothered her greatly..
"Sola, what is wrong?" Li asked opening the bottle.
Sola sighed and hugged her knees. "You will see soon enough."
Li looked confused at her words. He sat on a rock near her and sipped some of the water.
"No! How could I?" Sola fumed, tightening her fists.
"How could you what?"
"Kill you!" she cried bowing her head and hiding it with her hair. "I should have just let you be! I'm not even real! You are!"
"What are you talking about?"
"The water, it is poisoned. My real job is to take you in, gain your trust! When I take you to Sakura you drink the water thinking it is fine but die in less than an hour! If I refuse to do my job then I will be killed by the demons but I'm not even real! You have a life. I don't," she cried even harder now.
"That is not true. You are real."
She shook her head. "I'm a fragment of a card!"
"You are still real. Only living things can feel pain and emotions. You feel bad for what you have done. If you were fake you could care less for me."
"That does not change the fact that you are dying."
"True but we can still save Sakura. I can't give up on her life too, and yours. You have a life."
Sola sniffed and wiped away her tears, "Sakura is lucky to have a friend like you. We don't have much time. We should hurry!" Li nodded as Sola got up but she was not moving. Something grew from her back. It was a pair of soft angel-like wings. "If the demons see my wings they will know I did something good. Flying will be faster"
Li smiled seeing that she was making a great improvement.
She flew them above the trees, but as she did the clouds turned and created a soft wind. It grew to a strong cold wind and hail streamed down. The wind whistled madly and out of control. Li could see Sola struggle as she tried to fly. They reached the falls which seemed so harmless and small from above but the roar of the waves gave no mercy.
Li sensed something as they flew closer and closer. Even Sola felt it. She swooped down to the top of the falls and placed Li down. Li walked a couple of steps ahead and searched hard through the thick forest but was not lucky at all. Li whipped out his sword knowing he would need it.
The area seemed to change from under their feet. It moved like fire as the forest wisped away and into a disserted, dead land. The sky grew pale but blew stronger at the change. Sola moved to Li's side not recognizing the land from the nightmare. She folded in her wings and clasped her hands together. Li frowned at their soundings and held up his sword. Would his element cards be any help in this world?
Li pulled out the ying-yang card and held it out. It was risky to use it not knowing how injured Sakura was. He could use it to see if she was near, if so he would feel no pain, if not he would. He knew the card would get stolen. Sakura was right, he did need it! The risks were worth it if it meant finding her.
He took his sword and hit the card with it. As he thought, a rush of cold pain crept up him. He fell to his knees and returned the card before it could do too much damage. Sola helped him up and watched the card slip away.
"Well that was worthless. I'm now weaker and we did not find Sakura!"
"Not true. If Sakura is with the demons then we are in luck!"
"Luck!?"
"The card went that way!" she pointed to where the card slithered off. Li smiled at her observation. Sola picked him up and swiftly flew in the direction of the card, and hopefully, Sakura.
Li noticed that she was moving more swiftly than before as the scenery seemed a blur. She halted to a swift, jerking stop and pushed back seeing two dark figures moving towards them. They used the same trick that Sola had used with the card. Unluckily Sakura was not with them.
They came close enough to see but stopped right in front of them. Sola landed but still held onto him. Li felt her grip tighter on him as they neared. One made a low mumbling sound as it landed and walked closer to them, its wings still stretched out. Sola stepped back but froze as the demon raised his hand and by magic stopped her.
She fought helplessly but it was no use. The skull demon grabbed Li away from her and gave a cold laugh. It turned to Sola and freed her from the spell. It hissed something which made Sola glare deeply at him. "I couldn't help it. please. spare him."
Li looked confused and pulled away from the demon that was putting no effort in holding him. The metal demon landed on Li's other side and said, "We will kill him anyways. You have never heard the end of this nightmare have you?"
Sola turned away and looked down. "I deserve it but he does not!"
"Why so? You have poisoned him and finished your job greatly; it is now only a matter of minuets before he dies."
Li stayed quiet not wanting to interfere. He knew well his death was coming but he wanted to see Sakura one last time. Even if a nightmare, it is said all wounds and battles make a difference in the real world because it may be an illusion but it is still reality.
"Where is Li's friend?" demanded Sola. "Bring her here!"
"Come this way," the demons smiled.
They jumped up to a clear flight and led the way. The skull demon's claw from her feet seized Li's shoulder this time because her tail was chopped off, and whipped him up, not letting Sola near him any longer.
Within seconds they reached a new area with a flat ground with a few huge wave shaped rocks. The demon threw Li carelessly to the ground. He slid back and hit one of the weird rocks. He looked around and noticed a tall dark tower where the demons were walking towards. Sola landed next to Li and helped him up. She watched the tower as if she had never seen it before. As they walked to it everything seemed to get darker and colder. The clouds above swirled around the tip of the tower. The demons held out their hand and the doors swung wide open.
Inside was dark and empty as it seemed. There were rows of stairs that seemed to go nowhere. It looked small from the outside but was large in the inside. Li felt like a prisoner. He felt the burning poison take place as it slowly weakened him. He felt his breathing grow heaver.
They started to climb the stairs, their footsteps echoing. When they reached near the top he saw Sakura lying motionless on the ground. He ran to reach her but the metal demon looked at him, its eyes glowing deep red. He felt himself freeze like Sola did under his powers. Li struggled to move seeing that Sakura was barely breathing. Even if he was weakened by the poison he did not give up!
The demon's eyes shined even darker fighting to hold him back. The skull demon turned to him as well and helped the other hold him back. Her eyes shined blue instead of red like his. Li was being pushed back with both of their magic and with a force of energy that backed him to the wall. But still he did not give in.
It felt like a huge force of freezing water was flooding like a jet onto him. All of a sudden he broke through their magic and ran to Sakura. The demons looked blankly as he did so. Sola sighed seeing that he overpowered them.
Li reached her side and knelt down to Sakura. "Sakura, wake up!"
But nothing happened.
"Sakura!"
The smile on Sola's face faded. The demons just watched without a fight.
"Sakura! Sakura!" Li felt himself trembling as he spoke. "Wake up." He felt a tear fall but he did not try to hide it. Her eyes opened softly and she looked up at him. Li couldn't stop himself from hugging her. Sakura smiled and hugged him back.
"Don't worry Li. I'm okay."
The demons hissed seeing that he brought her conscious again. The skull demon unfolded her wings. "If magic won't work on you then this will!"
She darted towards Li and rammed him with a horn on her skull. The force of her pushed Li far from Sakura's side and crashed him into a window, unluckily the window shattered and he fell out of it. Sola dashed after him and spread out her wings but the metal demon whipped out his hand and the wings disappeared.
Sakura ran to the shattered window opening and looked over the ledge. She saw that Li had caught the edge of the window but was only holding on with one hand. She grabbed his hand as it started to slip. Sola ran to her side and helped her. The metal demon flew above them and landed on the ledge, slicing Li's hand with its knife-like claws. It whipped its tail out and sliced his hand again making him let go. His other hand grabbed a hold of his tail and pulled him down with him but the demon flew up still with Li holding on.
"Let go!" the demon yelled.
"Ya, so I can fall to my bloody death!?" Li replied.
"You are going to die from the poison anyways!" The skull demon flew out to them, snatched his sword out of Li's hands and whipped it in the air in practise, as if it was hers.
Sakura could barely watch. Sola felt useless because they could not help. If Sakura was to use a card they would steal it. Sola's well earned wings were stolen from her as well. Sakura used windy card to catch Li but even before she could use it the demons stole it out of her hands.
Then it hit her, if she used the confuse card they would not be able to steal it because they would be too confused to do so. Maybe then they could save Li. She turned away from the window so they could not see her use it. She threw it out and ordered it to confuse the demons. The demons eyes dulled as they looked around blankly. The metal demon dropped Li from his claws and dashed away from the skull demon seeing her as something else.
"Li, use a wind element card!" Sakura called to him. All she could do was to watch him fall.
Li pulled out an element card and held it up hoping it would work without his sword. The long pause made him wonder if he had any magic or was it just his sword that held powers. "Element wind," Li called out still holding it up. A huge gust of wind breezed by and caught him just before he hit the ground.
Sakura and Sola cheered and ran down the tower's stairs and to his side. Li smiled seeing the demons chase each other helplessly in the air high above them. Li got up and put the element card back in his pocket, happy that they did not steal it.
They hid behind one of the large wave-like rocks and watched, knowing that the demons would soon overpower the confuse card.
The skull demon stopped and shook her head as her eyes became bright again. She watched the metal demon fly around blindly. She hit him with Li's sword and brought him back. "Fool, they used a card on us!"
The card pulled together and flew to her hand. She had lost track of them and was searching around. "They got away!"
The metal demon laughed. "You can run but you can not hide!"
He swooped down to the rock they were hiding behind and landed on the top of it. The skull landed beside him. Unluckily they could both sense their powers. Li leaned onto the rock and panted softly. Sakura looked over at him as she slipped along it down to the ground. "Li, are you okay?"
Li nodded a bit as Sola looked away saying, "I'm so sorry."
Sakura looked at her and asked, "What are you talking about?"
Before Sola could reply the demons landed next to them, but they did not attack they just watched them with evil grins.
Sakura knelt next to Li, who was now trembling with his eyes squeezed shut in pain. "What is going on?" Sakura felt panic strike her like thunder.
Sola was going to answer but chose not to. She knew it would hurt her even more. "Sakura," Li managed to say, "Just keep in mind that this is. only. only a.nightmare."
He took his last breath and everything fell silent. The demon's distant laughter echoed as though it was a mile away.