Gleam eyes swings it's axe, as it fiercely cuts through the air, throwing us back.

"Three minutes to go! We have to do something" Anderson cries out while casting fireballs at the monster. But that might not have even caused a trickle. Matthew and Sarah dash towards it while Shu and I attack from the rear.

Gleam Eyes blocks Matthew with it's axe while Sarah jumps from above, slicing it's eye. They immediately step back, as we watch it roar, smashing the wall furiously. It's other eye starts to glow deep red as the monster rages on. With it's one eye focussed on us, Gleam eyes charges, tearing the walls apart with it's axe. I switch my ammo with a fully loaded barrel of stun bullets and trigger gleam eyes, while Matthew clashes his sword with it's axe. Metal against metal, it's now a battle of strength. Gleam Eyes forces its weight onto the axe, pushing Matthew to his knees.

Anderson steps forward . "I still have one trump card left. But that..." clenches his Firestone tightly "It might draw away the last ounce of magic that's left in me"

And then, he shouts "Inferno!" The Firestone glows brighter and brighter and then finally cracks, summoning a huge tower with a magnifying glass at its pinnacle. It wasn't just any ordinary glass, It starts to emit a thick red beam, sucking away Gleam eyes' energy.

Snitching back the stage, Matthew pushes the monster with brute force as Sarah strikes once more with her thunderous power. And soon enough, gleam eyes drops dead by her magnificent skill.

Having only a minute in hand, we run as fast as we can but not in the slightest chance that we can make it. Come on.... There has to be a way!

"Nuke, you have to think through this calmly!" I murmer to myself, yet contradicting to my actions. Suddenly, my vision starts to turn all fuzzy as a dark vortex warps my mind, tearing my soul apart. No... Not again!

An electric jolt, followed by a sudden push, I get thrown back into my body. Uhh it isn't my body... I open my eyes to gaze at my stunning new appearance that definitely isn't mine. A bigger chest, soft hands and black silky hair flowing down my shoulders... I realize I've been switched to Ashlee's body again!

I turn around to notice a wooden floor under me and a small gathering few inches away, with a bed in the centre that's illuminated by the light seeping from the tall window panes. Thelma, Vivien and few others surround the bed, as they caress someone who's been covered in sheets from head to toe. Could it be Amber? But this isn't the time to be dazed! I have to act fast or...
I slip out of the red dragon's mansion and make my move to the teleport point.

"Where do you think you're going?" Audrey stands in my way with her eyebrow raised. "Nuke"

"Hu... how did you get to know that Ashlee and I've been switched again?" I ask her, bewildered.

"Ever since you started to act suspicious and tried slipping out of the house" She sighs "I know that the Black Knights are in trouble. But, have you thought of any way to save them?"

I shake my head. "But I can think of one on my way. If I don't save them now, it would be the end of my team!" I take a deep breath before I speak again, "Anderson's already used the last drop of magic that was left in him. The others are exhausted too, and the dungeons are packed with murderous beasts that intend to kill anyone in its way"

"Firstly..." Audrey pulls me by the uniform "calm down!" She barks, summersaulting me with my face onto the ground. Ouchh...

"Wouldn't it be much easier if we all sat together and thought of a strategy?" She says questioningly, while dusting off her hands and shoulders "Did you think that all of us are just going to turn our back and walk away when our friends are in danger?"

I get back up and shake my head once more, guiltily. All this time, I've always been acting so foolishly. I need to sit and calmly think of a solution. Also, this isn't the time to make reckless decisions that may cause further trouble.

I walk back to the house, along with Audrey. While sitting on a couch and playing with the knob of the lamp beside me, I think of every possible method to save them.. could there a be a secret passage, or a trap door perhaps? Or there's something that we haven't ben paying attention to...

"Ash, stop playing with lamp. It isn't ours" Brandon cautions.

Suddenly, the lamp blasts and falls to the ground, leaving the room pitch back. Oops! Brandon stares at me with disdain. And theen, the bulb within my mind flashes.. there's one way we can save them!

The doors open in the dark and shuts in the light.... Does it necessarily have to be the day and night? I explain this to the others and then we rush towards the teleport point once more, leaving some behind to take care of Amber. All we need is a dark magic user who can let their magic loose and trap their surroundings in darkness. And once the door opens, Sonic and I can search for the survivors. It's just a hunch, but there's nothing wrong in trying it out!

After reaching the teleport point, we jump to the dungeons map in one push. The gatekeeper blocks the path as he says, "The dungeons are shut in the light and open in the dark, do you still wish to enter?"

"Yes!" I say eagerly, as we spring back to the forest. And then, I notice something that I hadn't before. Though the canopy blocked all the sunlight entering the area, there was light entering from an unknown source, falling on to the stone that blocked the dungeon's entrance. All we have to do is disrupt the light by either blocking its source or trap the surroundings in darkness!

Zack drops his cigar and crushes it under his foot as he says, "Step back folks! It's time to go wild" Dark matter rushes out from his body as he lets his mana loose. The darkness starts to intensify and soon indeed, turns all his surroundings to night. The stone turns over, as the cave opens once more. "It worked!" Ashley exclaims.

Lucas pulls out a womion from his bag and sets it free "Womions detect supersonic sounds, so it would be easier to find them with this little guy"

With the womion and sonic in the lead, Lucas, Brandon, Ryan, Jovi, Audrey and I leap forth to save our friends. Whereas the others stay back at the entrance, guarding Zack who's exposed to monsters in his current situation.

Our first encounter isn't a pleasant one either. A green troll with the size of a mammoth and a pendulous stomach stands on our way. In its giant, greasy hand is a huge, wooden and wormy baseball bat, soaked in blood.

The troll roars and swings it's weapon at Ryan who dodges immediately on activating his string gear. Audrey shoots it's head, sending it to rest forever. But a number of obstacles keep appearing on and on. After several turns of left and right, the dungeon starts to widen. The stench of blood fills the air as we keep running.

"Smells like rotten fish" Audrey says, blocking her nose. A red aura starts to emit everywhere in the dungeon as it finally opens into a large misty cave with a stinging blood red atmosphere. We step forward cautiously.

I use the ocular power of my eyes to increase my visual acuity. But soon indeed, we get separated from each other without realising. And then, I find corpses lying on the floor. Could this stench be because of that? I check them out.

Five bodies stacked one on another... And the first.... "Mat..." I scream with dreaded eyes. "No... It cannot be.." with my hands on my knees and teary eyes, I lie there, staring at the corpses of my teammates. Only if I had arrived here early... I hug them tightly never letting go, "I'm sorry..." I keep saying to my self, regretfully. Suddenly, they start to melt away in my arms. Wax?

Fallen for the trick, I gape as my friends in wax melt away slowly, one by one. And what's worse? The wax solidifies all over my body, gluing me to the ground.

"That was a trap!" I hear Brandon shout.

"Guys, I sense something above us!" Lucas calls in. With my ocular powers in handy, I turn my head towards the roof to find a giant, centipede like creature crawling on the ceiling. I slice the wax immediately and dodge the centipedes attack as it pounces on me. A centipede that can capture one's emotions and turn them to wax? Once anyone's captured in that wax, death's nearly inevitable!

"Centablur" I recall its name as it shows up on its head. With its metal razors, it tries striking me again. Ryan appears, slicing one of its many legs. It screeches and bashes Ryan, throwing him onto a wall.

Now's my turn! While Brandon, Jovi and Audrey shoot it down, I leap forth and tear through centablur's scales, exposing it's neck. Ryan gets back onto his feet and swings at centablur, tearing it's long exposed neck. As it head rolls in one direction, it's body falls and keeps wriggling. Brandon shoots it once more, and it breaks into a million pixels. "Disgusting" he snarls.

The mist clears and the other end's visible. We get back onto our journey until we hear voices "Matthew, you're holding us back... walk faster!" I hear a familiar voice say.

"Hey! I'm carrying Andy too, so stop that already" Matthew growls. On hearing the voices, I immediately sprint forward as fast as I can. The womion starts to screech as soon as we spot the team.

I jump in the air and tackle hug my body who's guarding the rear. And then, I feel a sudden pull as my soul is transferred back to my body. I fall, throwing Shu down along with me.

"Get off me!" Shu cries out, as I pull myself up. I turn back to find Ashlee hiding behind Audrey.

"You scared her out by pushing so hard" Audrey smugs.

"But she was the one who pushed us!" Shu retaliates. Jovi helps Matthew hold Anderson who's energy was drained out completely from the last battle against the gleam eyes. On seeing Lucas, Sarah turns hostile and hides behind Matthew. Lucas turns his back towards her, afraid of taking another wrong step.

"How's Amber?" Shu asks Brandon.

"For now, she's stable and is being attended by Thelma and the others. But I don't think she would wake up for a while now" Brandon answers.

"I see..." Shu gazes at the ground, depressed.

I pat his back as we start to walk back to the entrance. At the entrance awaits Zack, Preston, Tristan, Joyce and Varel. Zack falls back, exhausted as the dungeons close once again.

"How did you open the door?" Matthew asks curiously.

"The secret lies in the riddle the gatekeeper told us- the gates opens in that dark and shuts in the light. We figured that the trigger is darkness and Zack did the rest." Audrey says, stealing the praise. I stamp her foot, as she scowls.

After that, we walk back to the red dragon's estate where the other teams were stationed and amber was hospitalised. The others greet us with a big, welcoming smile and hearty hug while we walk in and freshen up. Amber was shifted to another room, leaving the hall all messy with sheets and syringes lying everywhere. After entering her room, Shu sits beside amber and clenches her hand tightly, with tears dripping from his eyes, "Thank you" I hear him mutter under his heavy breaths.

A few minutes of silence and then the Black Knights are called to the hall, to explain the whole story. While Amber being unconscious and Shu being by her side, and Anderson lying down in another room, his energy being replenished, Matthew, Sarah and I are the only members left to explain the incident. Matthew narrates everything from finding the treasury until the end where we slay Dracula and get trapped by the gleam eyes. I add in any information Matthew's left in between and we finally complete the story.

And then, I listen to Matthew as he fills the part after my body was switched, "As soon as we defeated the gleam eyes, we made a run for it. Unfortunately, the dungeons shut before we could reach. With Anderson on my back and everyone exhausted, all we could do was keep escaping than fight back. Everytime we stop, a monster showed up so we couldn't rest at all. But the biggest task"

Matthew sighs, "was being chased by centablur where in we had no choice but to use the last of our resources and energy to flee from the battle. And that's when Brandon, Lucas and the others showed up to rescue us."

Ashley pats Matthew and then commences, "Well, atleast none actually died this time and everyone are back home safely. So.."

"So?" Brandon asks, rather annoyed by her last absurd statement.

"Let's have a slumber party on Halloween! We can celebrate all the victories we had in one night. Ofcourse, there would be a ball, drinks and unlimited food!"

"Didn't we have a party just the other day?" Matthew reckons. But his question remains unheeded.

After hearing about the party, everyone's mood lightens up. A party would do the trick to keep boost everyone's hopes until we get rid of this wretched game. I walk away from the commotion and exit the house, to take a long stride. But just as I open the door, I find Ashlee going on a walk too.

"Do you mind if I tag along with you?" I ask her before we walk together. She shakes her head, beckoning me to follow. We walk around the huge gardens that surrounds the red dragon's mansion. Unlike the black Knights, the red dragon's estate was twice as big and surrounded with gardens planted with various kinds of flowers.

We look up at the setting sun as it sinks beyond the horizon. The violets still blooming, enhance the nature's beauty that enveloped my thoughts.

"Peaceful ain't it?" I break the silence.

"Ye.. yeah" Ashlee says, her cheeks turning pink. I stare at her as the sunlight dances on her face, giving orangish appearance. I turn away with my face hidden in my arms as wild thoughts strike my brain. Cute!

I build up my courage and turn back to find her staring at me, curiously. "There's something I want to ask you"

"Mm.. Me too! But you may go first" Ashlee says, curling her hair with her fingers.

"Okay..." I take a deep breath "Can I be your partner for the ball?"

She looks at me, as she starts to turn red. "I wanted to ask you the same" she squeaks, with her face hidden in her palms. And then, she runs away as the sun finally hides it's light.

After a couple of minutes of walking under the moonlit sky, I go back to find the house lively once again. Few sleep, while the others fool around, pricking on people and such. Thick smoke followed by a horrid smell errupts from the kitchen as I assume somebody has burnt the food.

An hour later, I finally hear Ashley shouting from the kitchen, "Supper's ready!" Apart from Amber, Shu, Anderson and a few others, all of us sit down at the table and wait for the food to arrive. Ashlee, Thelma, Ashley and Sarah carry trays from the kitchen and place the dishes at the table randomly.

Matthew greedily pulls open the cloche by his side to find grilled chicken steak. But in here, 'burnt to ashes' would be the most appropriate word to use. "This one's definitely cooked by Ashley" he says, as he forces the chicken into his mouth.

"Tasty..."

"Shut up!" Ashley squeals.

"Who makes cookies for supper?" Milan groans as he unviels the dish on his end. I turn back to find Ashlee burying her face in her tray. It's definitely her! I chuckle.

Lucas opens the tray on his front to find a black pudding. "Is that chocolate?" Joyce asks with longing eyes.

"Nope, I bet it's coffee" Lucas says laughing as he looks at Sarah. And the best comes for the last... The last dish that could probably be Thelma's... I open the cloche to find a whole roasted chicken with a rich aroma of herbs and garlic arising from it. As soon as the scent spreads all around the room, the whole crowd pounces upon it, licking the plate clean. I step back from the fight and sit beside Ashlee. I pick up a cookie and nibble on it. "It's delicious" I say as I take another. Her ears turn red as she whispers, "Th.. thank you"

And then, I go for the coffee pudding and help Matthew finish Ashley's hazardous cooking. Later, we throw up and lie on the bed, 'food poisoned!' Ashley pouts as she stuffs the medicine in our mouth and walks away.

Once my stomach's settled, I walk over to Amber's room. I open the door slowly to find Shu lying by the bed, on the cold wooden floor while holding Amber's palm. I leave the leftover food by the table and slowly close the door, to find Audrey leaning against the wall and thinking deeply.

She notices me stepping out as she says fiercely, "I cannot watch anyone else suffer anymore. Let's finish this as soon as we can and make my brother pay for what he has done."

"Yes, I know. And to get Shu involved in this... I'm ready to search every corner of the world and annihilate the entire organisation behind this game." I growl, with my fists clenched tightly.
Audrey walks away as I fix my gaze on to the empty space where she once stood. All we need is an opening. A way to fight back the war without our hands being tied. I walk over to the balcony and stare at the bright moon lit sky. While drowning in my deep vexed thoughts, I feel a pair of cold, soft hands embracing me from the back and whisper "Don't take all the burden by yourself... We can fight our way through this 'together'" I hold her hand and grin with a display of confidence in my face, "Together"