Chapter 60: It's a Nightmare

In the tall grass, Aquila was still searching for shells. Suddenly, he exclaimed enthusiastically:

— Another one!

He picked up a shell and examined it closely, his face twisting into a grimace of disappointment.

— Pfff, another useless one!

Then he thought about Salomé, and doubts clouded his mind. Salomé might not actually be mean. I pulled her out of horrors, but she didn't take it badly or to heart. On the contrary, she even laughed... What if everything I was told about them wasn't true? Could it be that Salomé and her family are completely normal? And am I overreacting for nothing?

Aquila sat down for a moment, lost in thought, and looked at the sky. Then he sighed deeply and closed his eyes as if trying to dispel his worries.

— Pffff, yeah right... That's probably how they trick people into hurting them later, he murmured to himself.

On the other side, Salomé was also sitting, searching through the tall grass. She had taken off her sweater due to the heat and tied it around her waist, leaving her in a pink tank top that revealed her tanned arms.

— Alright, where haven't I looked yet? she wondered aloud.

She scanned the surroundings and noticed the tall grass moving, which caught her attention. A furtive movement, almost imperceptible but enough to pique her curiosity.

— What is that? she said in surprise.

A dog poked its head out from the area, and Salomé couldn't hold back a cry of surprise.

— Wow, a dog! It's so cute! A German Shepherd type, she said, her eyes sparkling with wonder.

The dog emerged from the tall grass and approached Salomé, its tail wagging joyfully. It jumped on her and licked her all over as if playing with her.

— Calm down, boy. You don't have a collar; are you a stray dog? I thought there weren't any left since they were all captured, she remarked with a smile.

Salomé looked into the dog's eyes and noticed something strange. Its pupils seemed to have disappeared, replaced by magical circles spinning slowly. Blood was dripping from its eyes as if something dark and mysterious lurked behind them.

— What is this? she exclaimed in surprise and worry.

Suddenly, she felt disconnected from reality. The magical circles appeared in Salomé's eyes as well. She let go of the dog and fell backward abruptly but caught herself with one hand as if clinging to reality.

— Damn it! What was that? she exclaimed, her face pale and worried.

She covered her face with her left hand and felt a slight headache as if her mind was caught in an inner storm. Removing her hand, she scanned the area; the dog had vanished, leaving behind an eerie silence.

— What the hell is going on? she shouted in frustration and fear.

She stood up but still felt her head throbbing painfully as if every step was a struggle against an invisible force. She held her face with her left hand again, trying to calm herself.

— Damn it!!! she screamed as her body trembled from the pain.

She nearly fell to the ground again as if her legs refused to support her weight.

However, there was something Salomé hadn't noticed. In the sea, a strange faceless creature with no ears and an oddly humanoid body emerged partially above the surface. It bore strange markings on its body resembling carvings made by divine hands. The faceless creature's head opened bizarrely where its mouth should have been. It concentrated energy at its center until it formed an orb charged with powerful lightning capable of destroying everything in its path.

Salomé continued walking clumsily along the shore with her aching head, unaware of the strange phenomenon happening offshore. Lost in thought, she tried to make sense of what had just occurred.

— Damn it, my head hurts. I'll tell Aquila we're stopping for today—I want to go home, she said wearily.

Then a blinding light appeared for an instant, startling both Salomé and Aquila from their respective locations. The light was so intense that it seemed to illuminate the entire horizon, leaving behind a shadow of fear.

The strange creature unleashed its destructive orb that split the sea in two and quickly dried up the wet seabed. Salomé saw this and widened her eyes in shock; so did Aquila, who panicked at the sight of this mysterious orb—a force of nature capable of annihilating everything in its path.

An immense explosion followed on the beach's shore; it seemed to ravage everything around it, creating a giant mushroom cloud in the sky. The shockwave devastated everything nearby, leaving behind a desolate landscape. But not all hope was lost; Salomé emerged from this massive cloud of smoke flying through the air while holding Aquila in her hands.

— Aquila!!!! cried Salomé amidst the explosion's deafening noise.

Aquila appeared unconscious; he slowly opened his eyes and realized he was high above ground with almost a global view beneath him—a breathtaking sight that gave him vertigo as though suspended in emptiness.

— Aaaaaaaaaahhhhh! he screamed in fear as his body trembled from vertigo.

Salomé smiled reassuringly:

— Phew! You scared me there for a second—I thought you were dead!

Aquila clung tightly to Salomé while trembling:

— Please Salomé... descend! I don't know how you can fly but please—I'm terrified of heights!

Salomé responded calmly:

— I'd like to descend too but first we need to locate where that explosion came from—it could be dangerous landing too quickly without planning ahead!

Still terrified by their altitude above ground level Aquila pleaded once more:

— Yes... yes... I get it... but seriously this height... it's unbearable for me... Salome please hurry before fear kills me!

Salomé sighed, trying to find a compromise.

— Alright, we'll descend but just to a certain level.

Salomé scanned below and looked at the massive explosion, trying to understand what was happening.

— Let's go, she said.

She took flight again and lost altitude. Aquila screamed.

— Not so fast, I'm going to vomit!

Salomé replied with a smile:

— Ho... Aquila, you're heavy there!

Aquila, panicked, shouted:

— Watch out!

A gigantic hand was about to crush Salomé and Aquila. The creature with this hand was strange, gigantic, faceless, and white, resembling the substance of clouds but with devastating force.

— This thing is surely the source of... began Aquila, his voice filled with fear.

Salomé nodded.

— It's surely the source of this massive explosion.

Salomé looked at the creature and wondered. How long has this creature been here? What does it want from them? Could it be a giant mutant?

The feet of this giant humanoid mutant were submerged in the deep waters of the sea, yet its body remained imposing. It was so tall that it reached the clouds; the deep waters of the sea barely touched its knees. Its presence seemed to distort space itself.

Its terrifying hand was closing in on Salomé and Aquila, about to crush them. Salomé knew she had to act fast.

— Well... I should be able to dodge it from here at the speed of light; it'll be a piece of cake, she said confidently.

Then Salomé remembered something.

— No, Aquila won't survive such speed. His body is too fragile to withstand it unless I cover him with even more protective energy than what I have now.

The gigantic hand reached them, and an even larger explosion created a cone of destructive energy that pulverized everything and even evaporated the sea, separating the clouds in the sky. The explosion was so powerful that it seemed to distort reality itself.

Salomé fell from the heights, her hands empty and injured. She had lost Aquila in the chaos of the explosion.

— I'm too weak for this creature. At least, I managed to protect Aquila with a shield before letting him fall. The worst part is I can only protect one person with my shield, she murmured, her body weak and injured.

Salomé was drowsy and losing consciousness. She felt her body becoming heavier as if she was sinking into a bottomless abyss.

— I'm sleepy... I don't feel my body anymore. The rescuers will find Aquila and help him. He'll tell them what he saw... she whispered, her voice growing weaker.

Then everything went black, and Salomé fell into unconsciousness, leaving behind a devastated world and a mystery yet to be solved.