As Wren ran, he saw the figure of the second castle in the distance. From where he stood, he saw towers and pieces of the castle that crumbled and fell apart. He needed to run, even though he trusted the girls and hoped they were okay. The man felt that if there was anyone in that second castle, the person who fought might need his help. Especially now that the castle was falling apart. Would the whole structure collapse? Whoever had fought there had a big fight.

  "The disciple at this castle must be strong," Wren spoke to himself.

  As he got inside the castle, the man found a pile of debris that partially covered the main hall. At first sight, he didn't see anyone there, but as he looked closely, Wren found May lying unconscious on the ground.

  "Hey, May! Are you alright?" Wren shook his friend's body. He infused some of his magical power into the girl, and it made her magical power respond and react. May opened her eyes slowly.

  "Wren! What are you doing here? Were you able to cross the first castle? Or am I in the afterlife having visions?"

  "I'm pretty much alive in front of you, May." Wren smiled. "You had quite a fight here, huh? Was the disciple strong?"

  "Pretty much. I never thought I would have to fight this much hand-to-hand. I guess all the training with you and Karina paid off."

  "I'm grateful you're alive. And to think you were able to defeat one of the disciples, too. But enough of talking, let me help heal you, so we can go help Karina."

  "You're right, Wren. But considering the damage, I guess it will take us some minutes, maybe hours. Shouldn't you leave me here and go after K?"

  "I don't think so. We need all the strength possible. And I guess we can trust her, like we defeated the disciples. And like you're always saying, she's strong."

  "Yeah, you're right."

  May sat and adjusted herself. She looked around the destroyed castle and contemplated the mission for a moment. Something strange, she felt, although she couldn't say what it was. It felt like missing pieces in a puzzle; in a moment, you can almost see the image. But there are these open spots, and you think that they may hide something that you're ignoring.

  Wren was immersed in thoughts, too. This mission was different from everything he had ever done. And the power of the disciples... If the others were like the first, he was sure they would be facing death in each fight.

  "Hey, May... I guess you're thinking the same as me. This mission, it seems bigger than what we had thought."

  "Yeah, it feels like we might have underestimated it. Even after we saw the power of those two back in the hotel. But now, there's nothing we can do besides fighting."

  "Thinking about it all. It's a lot of responsibility."

  But May didn't answer. The girl looked ahead, in the direction Karina ran, to the third castle.

  ***

  Karina touched the castle's door and pushed it. She felt the different energies inside, although she couldn't distinguish them. Inside the castle, the structure looked similar to the ones before. But the decoration was different. The walls were covered in various tapestries. The long windows were adorned with red curtains. The floor had a big, fancy rug.

  In the middle of the main room stood a throne, like in the first castle, and the disciple waited there. But she was completely alone.

  The disciple wore a long and blue dress, draped with stars, it was like she wore the very night. Her skin was pale, and her long hair so black it almost absorbed the light.

  She looked at Karina, and from her hands, a serpent appeared. It slid down her arm and disappeared below the throne. The woman smiled at the girl, but her smile was as cold as the night. Her eyes, black and icy, inspected the blonde girl.

  "So one of you got here... That Bertram, he is lazy and useless. I'm tired of telling the master to get rid of him."

  "Who are you?"

  "I'm Gisela Nachtnebel. The guardian of this castle, the castle of Balaam the witty." The woman got up, and Karina noticed how tall she was, taller than most men the girl had ever known.

  "This will be fruitless, like the other castles. But hey, I just want to get to the other side, I don't want to fight..."

  Gisela laughed,and her laugh echoed through the walls. When she looked again at Karina, she was serious.

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  "It's hard to believe you three went all the way down here, and thought that we would just welcome you and say go ahead. Please, be serious. We're defendants, we have a role to fill here. We defend our master. There's no way you're going to cross here alive. And don't mistake me for the others, I won't underestimate you."

  Karina was about to burst ahead and punch the woman. But somehow, she found herself stuck to the ground. From the woman's sleeve, chains flowed to the ground and in the direction of the girl. And they trapped Karina in place, making it impossible to move.

  "Don't you think I'm dumb like the two you met before. I'm careful." Gisela said, and the chains moved like snakes as they surrounded the girl, suffocating her.

  Karina tried to break free, but the chains seemed to get stronger. She felt like she couldn't breathe, and it was hard to stay concentrated. But she needed to focus; Karina wouldn't be defeated that easily. Not after her friends had trusted her to go ahead. They believed she was strong, so she would be strong, at least for them.

  The hunter concentrated most of her magical energy in a single point inside of her. Then she relaxed, and in a single movement, she jumped out of the chains. But like beasts that pursued their prey, the chains followed her in the air. Karina spun and kicked the chains back to the ground.

  Gisela hadn't even moved from her stance in front of the throne. Karina couldn't help but notice how regal the woman looked, even if it was in an evil way.

  As soon as she landed on the ground, Karina jumped in the direction of the disciple. But the chains appeared once again and blocked her path. The girl tried to dodge them, but was almost captured again.

  "You're fast, like I imagined, but speed won't take you anywhere here. When you refine your magical control, the much that I did, speed is the least of your worries." Gisela sat on her throne once again. "In fact, according to my calculations, staying in my throne is the right answer to this unnecessary fight." The woman yawned.

  Karina felt angry, but she let the feeling fuel her powers. She used it to make her magical energy flow with more intensity inside her body. The girl needed to focus, and as she focused, she sensed the small threads of the hunting. The path she needed to follow to make a strike. So she jumped and concentrated the magic in her fists and in her feet. She dodged the chains once again, and she charged straight for the disciple. She changed direction at the last minute, even before the chains appeared as a shield in front of the woman. Karina punched the ground and jumped. She spun in the air, ready to strike a kick at Gisela.

  "Got you!" Karina screamed.

  But the chains grabbed the girl's wrist. They used her own momentum against her, and they launched Karina full force against the other side of the room. As she collided with a pillar, the girl felt all the air being expelled from her lungs.

  "You're something. Did you think a small trick like this would be enough to get to me? You're a good fighter, but I'm smarter than that." At this point, Gisela didn't even look at Karina.

  The girl crawled through the floor and tried to get back on her feet. Her hands reached for her pistols. Should she use them? If she didn't hit Gisela with the bullet, she would be in deep trouble. Not only would she have wasted ammo, but the woman would also gain knowledge about her pistols' power. Karina tried to think of what May would do in her situation. Her friend was the one who dealt better with this kind of enemy.

  "Shit. I can't lose here, at least not that easily. If I'm going to lose to you, I will make sure you'll be very injured at the end of the battle."

  "Still an arrogant little girl. Didn't you learn your lesson?"

  Once again, the chains rushed in the direction of Karina. She barely dodged them while she got up. The girl knew the only way to have a chance at this was to get close to the disciple. But if only she knew how to do it.

  Karina jumped as the chains pursued her ferociously. Some of the attacks destroyed part of the ceiling. And the hunter didn't want to discover what would happen if an attack like that hit her.

  "No, I shouldn't be afraid. That's not like me. That's not the one they trusted." Karina muttered to herself.

  Once again, the girl ran, while in her head she traced plans and strategies. There had to be something that she could do. At least to take the disciple off the throne.

  The chains went in the direction of Karina. She dodged them, but this time, she had an idea, a plan she wanted to try. The girl kept dodging the chains, and she observed its movements cautiously. How they moved straight and the angles they moved when they changed directions. The hunter instinct took over Karina's mind, and she started to see herself in a different position against those chains. It wasn't them chasing Karina; now it was the girl who would chase the chains. She took notice of their speed and force, their extension and reach. Every little thing was stored in her mind, analyzed over and over. Inside her brain, she gauged her own movements. In hunting, it was all about timing, neither strength nor speed. But timing, the moment you moved, and everything would be decided. Karina needed to be precise and in the right timing.

  Combining everything she had noticed and calibrating her own movements, the girl waited for the chains to try to reach her. But this time, when she dodged, she grabbed them with her hands. The risk she took paid off, as she noticed the chains weren't protected against an enemy that tried to grab them.

  Against her palms, the chains moved like snakes. They tried to get free and to make the girl their prey. But Karina was stronger, and so she pulled and jumped, and brought the chains closer to herself. The girl concentrated most of her magical power in her hands and in her legs. She jumped far and pulled the chains. For the first time in the battle, she noticed Gisela was frustrated. The woman had gotten up from the throne and tried to pull back her weapon. So Karina used all her power to pull them, and broke the chains in their weakest link: the spot closest to the throne.

  Now, disconnected from their source of power and magic, the chains lay immobile on the ground. Karina used the moment to move ahead and reach the disciple. As she got closer, Gisela was surprised, but only for a mere second. The disciple jumped back and dodged the punch, which destroyed a portion of the throne.

  "Guess you were able to make me move, Karina. But that is the furthest you will go. In fact, may I tell you, you would find a better death being strangled by my chains than what you're about to face."

  "Don't get me wrong, but you disciples... You're all talking. I'm stronger than that. You will see."

  "I wouldn't be so confident. Don't forget where you are. This is our terrain, our place." Gisela smirked and threw her hair back.

  Karina ran and jumped for an attack. She wanted to defeat the disciple before her friends reached her. As she was sure, soon they would be here with her.