She followed the arm up to the hulking brute of a demon. If his arms were the size of her body, a single tooth was the size of her head. And he had a lot of teeth. Thorns and spikes protruded from his dark skin at various, asymmetrical points.
Shalise gaped, open-mouthed.
Shalise didn’t argue with Prax. She tore her shirt even further trying to get the scraps out of the way without dropping Juliana.
“I’m not a doll,” she protested as fast as her mouth would move.
A steady, deep tone came from the back of his throat for a few seconds.
It stopped as his hand swung backwards, knocking an approaching doll all the way back to the mouth of one of the hallways.
“You are a coward. Fight with your familiar or pre–”
Whatever he was going to say got cut off as his head slid from his neck.
A pair of leather boots stood on one of his shoulders. Some specks of black blood clung to the blade in the doll’s hand.
Again, that disappointed frown flittered onto her face.
As the behemoth sank into a void in the ground, the doll thrust her sword out towards Shalise.
Shalise flinched backwards.
When she opened her eyes, she was still in one piece. The doll had disappeared, leaving a splattering of black blood on the ground in front of Shalise.
Not wasting her good fortune, Shalise stepped over the line of blood, closing the distance between herself and the cylindrical building. After taking a short breather at the building’s wall, she edged around towards the entrance.
A few combatants noticed Shalise as she slunk around. None of the demons were in much of a position to approach. The dolls were doing a good job of keeping them away.
The few dolls that glanced her way unnerved her far more than any demon. They either turned back to their fight or worse, offered a small smile.
“Are they intending to help me? The sword one could have killed me again and passed it up. There’s no way she didn’t see the mark on my chest.”
Shalise waited a moment in silence, but Prax said nothing.
Shaking her head, Shalise slipped through the red barrier. “Where to now–oh.”
That had to be it.
Shalise stared into the pitch black crystal floating above them. Jagged tendrils poked out at various points.
It was transparent.
At least, it felt transparent. Shalise couldn’t see through to the other side. There was nothing but darkness contained within. Her gaze stretched off into the infinite distance despite it being only a few feet away. Like the horizon of the ocean stretching around her, about to swallow her whole.
Shalise shook her head, but her eyes followed the crystal. It was so difficult to turn away.
Blinking at the noise, Shalise looked down at the ground.
“W-what is that?”
“Juliana first,” Shalise mumbled. Especially if it could help her wake up.
Keeping her head off of the crystal as much as possible, Shalise lifted up Juliana’s hand and placed it against one of the crystal tendrils.
Juliana gasped, coughed twice, and slumped back over Shalise’s shoulder, breathing normally.
“What was that? W-was that supposed to happen?”
Shalise bit her lip.
Squeezing her eyes shut so as to not become enraptured with the crystal again, Shalise stretched her hand out.
And froze an inch away.
Cold metal touched against her neck, just under her chin.
Shalise only moved her eyes.
The sword-doll stood to Shalise’s side with her sword out.
She looked… sad.
“The crystal,” she said, “you must not touch it.”
Her voice came out with such intensity that Shalise started shaking against her will. At the same time, it was soft-spoken–barely above a whisper. That the doll’s lips were all but touching her ear didn’t help calm her down.
Slowly, the doll leaned back. Her metallic eyes meeting Shalise’s own.
They stood, staring at one another. Shalise tried to remain entirely unmoving, not wanting to give any reason for the doll to strike. At the same time, her legs were trembling in fear, trying to run out from under her.
Her eyes flicked away to a wall behind Shalise.
The wall exploded inwards an instant later.
The doll whirled, her sword vanishing from beneath Shalise’s chin.
Maoa’s outstretched gauntlet stopped in its tracks as the blade made contact. She screamed out in fury and frustration at failing to reach the crystal.
Before any fight could break out, the ground shook.
