A pitch-black curtain spread over the village. The darkest night the inhabitants ever experienced, without the comfort of a single star, trapped them in, in the middle of the day.

Without the warmth of the Sun, the air turned colder; it was like winter decided to return and killed all the flourishing life brought by spring. An uncontrollable shiver crept up Flora's back, she wanted to believe that the source of that debilitating sensation came from the drop in  temperature and not from the horrors that awaited them.

Words stopped flowing, the only sound left was the agitated and deep breath of those present. Time froze, imprisoning the young woman's conscience. No thoughts passed through her mind, emptiness filled her existence.

Steps broke the enchantment thrown over the multitude, they arrived from all directions. The unknown noise woke the people from their slumber, one by one they lit their lanterns hanging on their necks.

Light conquered a small part of the battleground, enough for its bearers to spot the surroundings. Everyone remained isolated by their own bubble of visibility.

A storm of screams emerged from the void, cries for help fought to reach the ears of the saviors. The muscles of Flora's legs twitched, her heart begged her to run in the direction of the victims, to free the innocent from the claws of the demons, but she knew better. She had to stay in position, no matter how devastating it could be for her.

"And the time has come," said Clio from behind her. "Don't you dare to die, or I'll call your spirit every day so you can't rest."

"Same goes to you, I know someone who can contact spirits," answered Flora.

The roar of a tiger leaked through the sound of clashes, the young woman turned her head in its direction. The predator stood over the body of a man, barely visible between the faint glare.

"Is that our old friend?" Asked the redhead.

"I think it is, its master must be here. Maybe we should say hello,"  commented the blonde.

Enraged, as a beast defending its territory, the animal advanced. No finesse accompanied the movements, there was no need for the tiger to stalk its prey. In its wake, people fell victim to its heavy claws and sharp teeth. Some didn't even see it come from inside the darkness, once they saw it, it was already late.

Behind the predator, hidden from the lanterns, stood a familiar figure. For a second, light found its way to the demon's face and Flora recognized that wicked smile and those hazel, wise eyes.  Their gazes crossed, then the monster lifted her arm pointing toward the two friends, and with a hand gesture indicated them to come to her.

A look towards Clio was all she needed to accept the invitation. The redhead led the way, her muscular body created the perfect barrier for Flora, behind her all she had to worry about were the lateral attacks.

A song of explosions, war cries, pleads, and clashes set the procession. The young woman shut up to the voice that reminded her that she wasn't prepared for war. She suppressed the urge to vomit when the dismembered bodies appeared in her field of vision.

Their parade was stopped by a statue flying towards them from the left.  Flora raised both of her hands and moved the branches of the closest three to avoid the impact.

"Good to see you again," said the demon responsible for the ambush. "We have some unfinished business."

"Bring it on," answered the journalist as she lowered the statue to the ground.

The ground beside the two friends started to break, and pieces of land and rocks spun in their direction. Flora unfurled her vine barrier creating a dome just in time to avoid the strike.

"Hey, stay with your human. I want to have fun with mine before I erase it." Another voice came from outside, followed by a tiger's roar.

"Ok, I got it," said the first demon. "Flower girl! Can you let your friend come out so she can play with my friend? I promise I won't throw anything at you in the meantime."

The blonde searched for any indication on Clio's face, she took out her twin swords and gave her a nod.

With a simple movement of the hand she opened a hole in the side of the dome. The redhead got out, then he blew her a kiss.

"Remember you're not allowed to die before me!" Flora yelled at her, receiving a thumbs-up as an answer.

The rest of the barrier went down after that. The young woman despised the idea of looking like a coward in front of the demon. Her focus was centered on her enemy. The rest of the battle kept its course around them, the noise was still there but she preferred to ignore it.

A circle made of flying knives surrounded the monster, she looked down at Flora and winked her right eye, then all the weapons pounced on the young woman. Once again, the vines grew.

"Let's see how much you can hide behind your flowers. You can't use your special trick today, at least you want to send a big percentage of your people to sleep in a place packed with demons."

"I'll stop hiding if you weren't always attacking from a distance like a coward."

"I'm not scared of a little girl. I can destroy you even up close."

The wall went down, the objects stopped flying. For an instant their eyes met, fire against fire, their conviction was more than clear. The demon picked up two swords from the ground, Flora took two spears.

They crushed against each other, the weapons received the hit. They entered into a deadly dance. Their strikes failed to find the body of their opponent, a few scratches were made in an oversight. The first flying rock came toward the journalist after the original tactic failed, she stopped her just before it hit the back of his head using a branch.

One simple action changed the direction of the fight. Their magical powers made a comeback,  objects, and plants defied the rules of gravity. The demon was stronger than the young woman remembered, still Flora had been practicing since their first encounter.

Another set of knives came floating towards her, she materialized her usual wall; only this time she left a hole in the lower part, and from there he made a pointed branch grow that stuck in the abdomen of his enemy. A furious scream made it to her ears, then part of the ground around her, inside the dome, rose and attacked her. Flora intercepted some of them, but one hit her on her left arm, breaking the bone. Burning pain took control of her mind for an instant, a scream escaped from her mouth. She couldn't let the wound obstruct her so she improvised a sling with her vines.

Flora retracted the dome, relief filled her once her eyes found the demon who was hunched to the side, her left hand holding the place of her injury, blood ran down her stomach. She had a chance to take her down. Lifting her functioning arm she sent an arsenal of branches and thorny vines against her opponent. The monster became prey, enclosed by plants, one of them went through her right shoulder, another pierced the left side of her chest.

"Seems like you're not as tough as you think," said the member of the Protectors.

Slowly she closed the distance between them, the time for the last strike had come. Her hand was up once again. Then a wave hit her from her right, the force of the impact dragged her some meters away and she fell to the ground. The coldness of the water and the pain of her broken arm prevented her from standing up. Six demons walked toward her from different directions.

"This is it," she thought. "My end is here."

Flora closed her eyes, waiting for the death she'll accept without regrets. The blow never came, instead, she felt herself being lifted from the floor. She blinked and her gaze recognized the space between her and the ground, wind was carrying her to a safer place. Taking her place was Zygmunt, the old man gave her a smile before he talked.

"I was happy as your friend."

"Get out of there!" Noah screamed.

The redhead began to run towards Mr. Cheaney, yet a wall of wind stopped him. Bullets, daggers, and knives found their way to the man's body. He fell to the ground, the smile on his face never vanished. With his last force, he created a big hurricane and sent it towards the demons, who went flying far away from their location.

In the end, the wind under Flora disappeared, her feet touched the floor. She ran as fast as she could to reach Zygmunt. The body of the man had lost his soul. The young woman threw herself against him and she embraced him for one last time. A heartbroken sob arose from her, the pain inside her was too much to handle.

"Stupid old man," complained Noah once he made it to their side.

Flora looked up at his face, some tears were present on the redhead's cheeks.

"Let's go," he said. "It's not safe to stay here, the battle doesn't look like it's going to end anytime soon."

She wished to stay next to his friend, but Noah was right, and she didn't want to waste her life after what Zygmunt did for her. The young woman stood up and threw some seeds next to the old man, with her power she made the yellow tulips grow, making a coffin with her favorite flowers over his body.

"Until next time, my friend," she said before joining the fight once again.