"Danger" the voice said.

Just then, a figure rose from the pool. Everyone turned, frightened, and prepared to defend themselves. However, the figure did not move for a while. It was not very visible from where they were; its dark color mimicked the general lack of light.

Erica decided to move forward a few steps to get a better look and then some more. Her friends followed closely behind her, tense. The figure in the pool, in turn, came out of the hole and began to walk towards them, slowly, as if he were an old man. Then they could see it: it was a humanoid being, covered in black. It didn't have eyes. Its body was so thin that the joints of its bones and ribs were visible, so much so that it did not seem to have an ounce of muscle. It had sharp claws that could rip through skin and bone, black like the rest of its body. Perhaps the most striking thing about it was the glass plate that covered his eyes and forehead. It had no nose and it snout was an amalgamation of sharp fangs.

It was an unpleasant creature to look at: too familiar a thing to be a beast, but too different to look as a person. Yet it was nothing more than a pile of bones and skin. It looked so frail that it seemed that a breath of wind could topple it. This calmed them down for a moment.

—Well, I doubt this thing is one of those territi— Erica commented.

Arturo and Liliana nodded.

—I don't see how it can move with such skinny legs— commented the boy.

—Poor thing, I feel sorry for it— admitted Liliana— maybe it's a very ugly monster that got lost around here.

That's what they said, but even if it wasn't a big threat, they didn't want to get too close either. It was horrible to look at, it was even soaked in that black liquid, who knows what kind of gunk it was covered in. But despite its fragile appearance, Erica's inner voice kept kicking and screaming. Something truly threatening was very close and her inner voice was pointing her towards the bony monster.

It approached them slowly, step by step, like someone who hasn't used their legs in a long time. The creature staggered back and forth and gasped with each step. It looked like it was going to collapse at any moment, but suddenly stopped. The beast raised its head to sniff the air. Then surveyed the area, back and forth and noticed Erica. Something about her really appealed to it, so much so that it couldn't stop looking at her, if it had eyes behind the plate glass on its face.

Suddenly, the monster bolted straight for her. It crouched down and used its front paws to move faster, like a bear. Its speed surprised the teens', but it was unenviable for a monster of its size. It leapt towards Erica, opened its mouth wide and aimed straight for her neck.

"RUN!" said someone nearby.

—It's not so terrible— she calmed him down.

Maybe the monster could have scared an animal or a normal person, but she saw it coming from far away and could block it with no problem. She simply raised her arm to put it in the monster's path, then covered it with timitio to protect herself from its fangs. As soon as it bit her, she could take it off with one good swipe, or so she hoped.

Unfortunately, that was not what happened. The monster bit her arm, its fangs piercing through the timitio like butter and penetrating her skin with such force that it reached the bone and made her scream.

Erica had to grit her teeth. She was sure she had protected herself with her timitio, the same one that protected her from the sharpest razors. It was virtually impossible for the fangs of a malnourished monster to get past her defenses. Not only that, but it kept biting and clawing. The blood jumped, with every second Erica felt herself losing more and more of her arm. If it continued like this, soon the monster would tear it off. At the same time, the voice inside her started screaming in horror. That fear was not because of her wound or her pain, something about that monster terrified her like a childhood trauma.

Panicked, with one hand she tried to push it away, but the monster stayed in place, resisting her strength.

—How can it...?— pleaded the brika, but this was no time for that.

He was beginning to despair. The intense pain, the piercing screams of the voice inside her and the lack of cooperation from her timitio were not helping at all. She tried to punch the monster in the ribs, but its body was harder than metal. After a couple of punches her knuckles began to bleed.

Then she noticed that the monster's feet were rising, imprisoned by masses of earth and rock. Arturo was trying with all his might to separate it from Erica. At the same time, Liliana appeared from the side with Brontes in hand, but when she attacked the beast, the blade of the munima bounced off. She tried a couple more times, but to no avail.

Erica elbowed the glass plate to separate it a little from herself. Her blow, capable of demolishing a wall, caused a small break in the glass of the monster's face. The monster jumped backwards. backing up a couple of meters, frightened. Erica immediately grabbed its arm with her other hand and took a quick look at it to examine it. It was bleeding copiously and no doubt the bone was broken, but it didn't look like she was going to lose it, not yet. Still, the pain was so intense that she felt like she would collapse right there and writhe for half an hour. The voice inside her had quieted for the moment, but it remained frightened, anguished.

—Shit!— exclaimed Arturo.

Then the brika looked up, only to find more of those beasts. Among the trees, the holes in the ground, the houses and the debris; at least thirty monsters similar to the first one came out of their hiding places and approached them, surrounding them. There was no longer any doubt, those were the territi. Beings that could pass through timitio and resist blows that would kill creatures dozens of times bigger than them. At that moment, Erica realized that the voice inside her that had been claiming and screaming all that time had been her timitio. Fear came over her.

—Run— she muttered.

Her friends turned to her, they had not heard her well.

—RUN!— she shouted.

There was no time to think, they all turned around and took off at top speed. The territi chased them. They screamed with voices of terror, as if they were the victims in this situation. Running on all fours, they soon caught up with them.

—They're quick!— Liliana announced, terrified.

Erica also looked back. She seriously contemplated stopping and blocking the territi to give her friends a better chance, but before she could muster the courage to do so, Arturo came out with a proposal.

—I have an idea!— he asserted, and didn't wait for the girls to turn to hear him— All of you, stop now!

To make sure they did, he grabbed Lorina and Erica's shoulders tightly. Liliana stopped next to him.

—What's wrong with you, they'll catch up with us!— Lorina warned.

—Gather around, I need to concentrate— said the boy.

The girls looked back and noticed that the territi had only a few seconds left to catch up with them. There was no way to run, they could only rely on Arturo.

Suddenly, the ground they were standing on began to move. First it concentrated on itself, compacting into a rocky surface. Then it rose up, the whole ground within a radius of a meter and a little more, with a depth of about fifty centimeters.

—What is this?!— cried Liliana.

—Hold on!— the mage ordered.

Then the platform swooped down the road, swift as a bird. In a few seconds it accelerated and reached dizzying speeds. They flew through the streets faster than a racing dog, slowly moving away from their pursuers. For a moment they thought they were free from the threat of the monsters, but soon they noticed that more of them were rising up from the sides of the road and the roofs of the houses, and were rushing towards them with shrieks and paws. Arturo dodged them as best he could, but between this, keeping the platform raised and avoiding obstacles in his path, he calculated that he could not hold out for long.

—We need a place to hide— he indicated to the rest— Lorina, can you think of anything?

She almost shrieked with fright when she heard her name. She was not a warrior, so much danger in a single day had her on the verge of hysteria.

—What?!— she asked.

—A hideout! Do you know where there is one?

Lorina nodded. Whether they survived or not depended on her answer, so she concentrated and tried to think of the closest thing there was to a hiding place.

—That's it! The mansion in the center of town! It's the sturdiest building there is!

—In the center of town?— repeated Arturo.

—Yes, that way!— Lorina pointed up the hill— Go all the way up! It's at the top!

Arturo nodded and immediately directed the platform to where he was told to go. Up and up they went, at full speed as they dodged the territi that rushed at them. At the end of the road they spotted a large house in the distance; that was the mansion, built on the highest point of the village. They quickly approached it and stopped at the side. Then they stepped off the rock platform, walked to the front door and entered, one by one. Finally Erica closed behind them. Even though it was dark, they grabbed all the furniture nearby and used it to block the entrance.

Only then did they take a moment to breathe.

—Do you think they will follow us?— Lorina asked.

Arturo headed towards a lined window. Through the darkness he caught a glimpse of the outside, but detected no movement. If the territi were still pursuing them, they were a few minutes behind.

—We have to think of an escape plan— he mentioned.

—First we have to heal Erica's arm— Liliana reminded him.

Arturo turned around, somewhat guiltily. He had been so focused on the territi that he had forgotten about her.

—That's right, let me see.

The mage approached the brika to examine her arm, but as he did so he noticed that it was covered in timitio.

—Ah, how clever. You used your timitio to bandage it— he observed.

—Hehe, isn't it useful? I can also use it to remove the dirt that got into the wound.

Then Arturo looked up, surprised.

—I saw you use it to protect yourself from that territi— he said— What happened?

—I'm not sure, but I think... my timitio got frightened.

—He chickened out?— Liliana and Arturo wondered. Lorina listened in silence, since she knew almost nothing about the subject.

—The territi didn't go through him or break him in any way— explained the forteme— as soon as that monster's teeth touched my arm, my timitio retracted and went back inside me— she raised her wounded hand, trembling— I think... he's afraid of the territi, for some reason. He hasn't stopped whimpering since we entered the village. I'm having a hard enough time putting up with it.

Liliana and Arturo looked at each other, worried. They clearly lacked the preparation to face that town full of territi, moreover, there was no way Lorina's father was still alive at that point. No one could survive alone for more than a few hours, much less a few days. There was no other option, they could only flee.

However, they were not the only ones who thought this. Lorina, distraught, put a hand to her mouth to keep from sobbing. The children turned to her, but could say nothing to encourage her.

—If even the three of you can't fight them...— she mused— then father...

Liliana stretched out her hands to her, empathetic.

—I am so sorry. We failed you, but now we have to get you to safety.

—Unfortunately, we have no choice— Arturo assured her.

Lorina gritted her teeth and bowed her head as her eyes watered.

—But father...— she sobbed— What about father!

Liliana and Arturo fell silent. What had become of that man was not difficult to guess. Those territi were ferocious monsters, there were hundreds of them, maybe thousands roaming the town. At that moment, Erica extended a hand toward Lorina. For a second her friends feared she would grab her by the collar of her clothes and shake her hard to bring her to her senses, but instead, Erica's hand rested on Lorina's shoulder and squeezed gently to let her know she understood. Erica also looked distressed, frustrated that she couldn't do more for her.

—Don't give up— she asked, surprising them all.

—Ah?

—Don't give up— she repeated— it's very possible that your father is dead... but you won't know until you see him yourself. Don't give up, keep asking for help from strong people, from the government, from everyone. Look for a way to rescue your dad, even if everyone tells you it can't be done, even if you yourself think it's impossible... because if you give up, he will already be lost, do you understand?

These words penetrated Lorina deeply and made her shed tears. Moved, she embraced Erica and began to cry.

—I will not give up!— she asserted.

Liliana and Arturo were surprised, but at the same time happy to note that Erica could also be empathetic with strangers from time to time.

They took a few seconds for Lorina to calm down. Then they got to thinking about how they could get out of there, assuming there was an army of territi looking for them around the mansion.

—This building was the town hall, although it was originally built as a fort in case the town was overrun by monsters— Lorina indicated— there might be a ship ready on the roof, if someone hadn't already used it.

From the outside they had seen that the fort had three floors, nothing more. They were practically next to their escape route.

—Excellent! Lead the way!— Erica commanded.