However, such victories are short-lived in battle. This Glasse soldier they ganged up on is not alone as the other two soldiers beside him, moves to his defense.

Caught off guard from celebrating too much, Gray couldn't react. His back turned towards a soldier, giving the enemy an opening. The opponent’s sword cleaved his back, from his tail bone to his shoulder blade.

His breath escapes him, he feels warm liquid pooling the back of his throat, coughing vehemently. His strength escapes him. No longer could he support his weight, his sight became hazy as he feels the world turn sideways.

"Gray!" Truscott screams from where she is hiding right as Gray falls to his side into the waters.

Truscott leaves Monica, unsheathing a rapier from her person. Seeing red as she strikes at the person who cut Gray down.

The soldier sees her coming, parries the attack and counters against it. He carved a deep wound from her clavicle to her sternum. She feels her flesh cleaved and torn apart as she falls sideways, right at the edge of the stone floor of the cave.

The water caressed her face before she falls submerged underneath. Blood from both Gray and Truscott paints the clear blue sea red.

Monica watches, barely breathing; the events turned serious around her when she thought she was merely having fun, conversing with new characters.

This is fine! It’s only the climax of the dream.

Her thoughts a complete opposite to her actions. Wrists red to the point of bleeding just to free herself from the ropes, to do something. Imagine anything else!

Go back! Go back!

Back to the lull she took for granted.

The third soldier walks over to Monica with the other two soldiers remained occupied with Leopold and Feravis. Though one is already heavily wounded, the pain didn’t shock him the way it did Gray and Truscott.

In fact, that wounded managed to move through the pain, callously swinging his sword yet his grip made a difference.

Leopold doesn’t pride himself with his fighting skills. His past never really dealt with fighting as much as it dealt with transporting. Yet he’s good enough to defend himself.

Training as a soldier of the Glasse Duchy have shown him that he is but a fool who wields a sword. So when that wounded soldier tore through his leather armor the same way he did, he didn’t have the strength to continue standing.

The pain was far too much to remain conscious.

Feravis, the only one standing amongst his friends, sees everyone fall unconscious. Points his crossbow at Sunniva, yelling. "Everybody, stop moving or I'll shoot!"

The soldiers in the cave stopped, even the one that was rushing to Sunniva stopped.

"Lower all your weapons! And you," he addresses a soldier nearest where he saw Gray fall. "Go back in the water and grab my friend. If he starts dying faster, I'm shooting her. I'm crazy, you hear me!"

The soldiers all lowered their weapons, but the one Feravis addressed moved at glacial phase to fish out his friend.

Leo and Gray started coughing up more blood, the latter slowly losing air under water. However, Truscott is having the worst time as her cut is deeper than expected and she's bleeding faster than the others, her breathing growing shallower.

Monica’s wrists now bleeding at her multiple failed attempts to untie herself. Not really minding the weapon aimed at her.

Pressed on what to do, Kefrin, the soldier who cleaved Truscott, takes his helmet off, slowly walking backwards, flashing a coy smile towards Feravis.

Seeing this, Feravis shoots at the side of Monica, his arrow embedding on the rock again. “Stop moving!”

Kefrin chuckles to himself, "I bet you never faced a pack of wolves before, pup."

“I mean, I have.” Feravis replies without missing a beat. “They didn’t have swords then.”

"Let's put you back in your place.” He takes out a dagger, twirling it before burying it on Leopold’s thighs. "Put the crossbow down or your friend meets the whispered one."

It was a standoff.

Monica’s head whips to the arrow stuck on the wall, quickly pulling it out to use the sharp edges to fray the ropes.

"Everybody, hold the fuck up!" They hear the thunderous voice of Sunniva.

Soldiers straightened their posture to attention only to find their Lady rush towards the fallen kidnapper.

"Oh, god. Oh, fuck. Oh, no." She gently picks Truscott up, supporting her back, and having her lean on the stalagmite behind her. Her hands tremble as she sees blood pouring down her chest. "This didn't happen. You didn't get hurt. Damn it!"

Monica closes her eyes shut, repeating those words hoping she'd start believing it's true.

In every dream of hers something bad happens that she always wishes she could unwind, most notably her phone breaking and every time it does, she would spend the entire dream imagining fantastic ways to unbreak her phone so she can use it again.

It never failed her.

Her phone always gets fixed.

As she stares at the growing pool of blood surrounding Truscott, Monica wonders why it's not working anymore.