The place is filled with a curtain of dust, I can only hear different noises of falling stones, and moans of some students who were suddenly affected by the explosion or who are just resting due to the exhaustion of their magical capacity.
The dust does not allow me to see the state of Phylicia, Patrick, and Talrico; I barely manage to visualize those students still standing, helping the others to leave the place.
As a few moments pass and I realize that I was also bleeding in my head due to a stone hitting me, I am aware that the pain is not present now because of the adrenaline, even the burning in my arm, I have stopped feeling it significantly.
"Dion!"- a voice is heard in the distance.
Right now, I don't feel well, my body doesn't react, and I find myself sitting on the ground with one of the rocks that fell supporting my body. To tell the truth, I feel like I could lose consciousness at any moment.
A part of me feels calmer when I see that, apart from the fact that the hit went straight to the Cyclops, a big part of the rocks fell on him.
"Dion, hey buddy, respond, don't close your eyes, I'm here."- Looking a little to my left managed to see how Patrick came to me covered in dust and a little beat up.
"Easy... I'm fine..."
"Phylicia, quick, I need help touch heal him as soon as possible, he has lost a lot of blood,"- Patrick says to Phylicia in a desperate voice.
"We don't have much magic; we need two more people if we want him to function," says Phylicia.
"Where is Talrico?" The desperation in Patrick's voice becomes more present.
"He went to look for the others who were near the exploding spell," replies Phylicia.
"Shit, Dion, don't close your eyes, hold on a moment, I'll bring help, I'll look for positions around the place if necessary"- Patrick says as he takes off running.
The atmosphere is a bit quiet. Phylicia is still shaking, for a moment I thought she wasn't going to react when I asked her to take cover or attack with us, she was so deep in her thoughts and fears that she couldn't move or react.
I guess it's strong to see for the first time a creature of that size being just a child without enough power to attack; she must have been very afraid.
"Relax... we made it, we are still alive."
Phylicia, who was looking around us, seeing how all the other students were running to the exit with the wounded, turned to me, scared.
"I'm sorry, I couldn't help you... My hands didn't react, I was afraid, and I hid as soon as the Cyclops appeared, I... I couldn't, like that time I couldn't do anything"- says Phylicia while she breaks into tears unexpectedly.
With my best effort, I do my best to move my hand and take hers to calm her down.
"Guys!!! I found you, I found a position too!"- Patrick says as he excitedly runs towards us along with Aelric and Nyxithra.
Apparently, everyone is fine, really. I was afraid that something worse had happened. Patrick, due to his speed and his clumsy steps that he makes due to the exhaustion of magic and physical capacity, falls to the ground, dropping the potions he found.
Aelric and Nyxithra help him to his feet while Patrick looks on in bewilderment as the potions are destroyed.
"Never mind, come quick, guys,"- says Phylicia as she wipes the snot still coming out of her nose from crying a moment ago.
"Let's go," says Nyxithra
As the 4 of them are around me, casting a spell with the last of the magic they have left, I feel how the wound is closing little by little. Nyxithra falls down exhausted before the healing is finished.
"I'm sorry, it's my limit,"- Nyxithra says, rolling up on the ground in front of me.
Little by little, I also feel how I can move my body more freely, and in the same way, I feel how the gemstone hurts intensely again, this time shining in an intense way almost as if it wanted to explode. In fact... it seems as if it did, I feel how the magic is intensely accumulating in it.
"Quickly get away, now!"
"What are you talking about? We're almost done,"- says Aelric.
"Guys... what's that glowing on your forearm?" asks Phylicia.
"That's not common," assures Patrick
"Move fast!"
Without giving them time to react, a kind of shockwave throws all 4 of them backwards.
"What was that?"- I hear Patrick's voice in the distance as I slowly lose consciousness.
"Dion, don't close your eyes, wait!" shouts Phylicia.
I don't know what's going on, their voices suddenly disappeared, I don't feel tired, right now, I feel like I'm running, running fast through the dungeon on all fours, I know I'm in the same dungeon, although it's different from what I ran through with the group, now everything is bigger, I see the same places we passed through, even the huge amount of rocks that closed the path, I can see how I passed through it and I also see how many students are outside the giant door where Seraphis and Star were.
I can see them, but I know I'm not there. I keep running through them, the students look giant, when they see me, they get scared and move out of my way. How can I run so fast and see all this if I don't feel like I'm moving?
"Dion!!!, react, we have to go, this is bad!!!"- Phylicia's desperate scream brings me back to reality.
Everyone is desperately trying to pull my body. I still don't know why they are so desperate. I hear how the rocks fall back to the ground, I see where the cyclops had been buried begins to collapse, and a giant hand comes out of the rocks.
The cyclops is still alive, little by little he comes out and we can see how his body is burned on his torso, his burned flesh and the absence of an arm make us see that the impact was strong enough to weaken him, but not to kill him.
"We must fight,"- says Talrico
"You're crazy, we have no more magic power, that would be a judgment we must get out of here now, they're all out,"- says Aelric.
"Aelric is right, we should leave and get Dion out of here now,"- says Phylicia.
"We should leave him, if he's not moving, it's because he's dead already,"- says Talrico euphorically.
"What are you saying, he's unconscious, not dead!" Patrick lunges at him to throw a direct punch in his face.
"This is no time to fight; that thing is watching us," says Nyxithra.
"Who cares, I'll take on that thing,"- says Talrico, confident that he can beat the Cyclops, taking advantage of the fact that he is weakened.
My sight becomes clearer and clearer as I open my eyes wider, and I can see how some kind of wolves come out of some cracks that opened due to the impact caused in the dungeon. In addition, the heartbreaking scream of the cyclops makes the guys instinctively let go of me and cover their ears due to the intense pain generated by the cyclops' scream.
"Do you think you can beat that?"- Patrick tells him sarcastically while helping Phylicia to stand up and grabbing me again to lift me up.
The monster, aware that we can't attack right now, decides to rush towards us again.
"Wait!!!"- shouted Nyxithra-" what are you doing?!"
Looking towards the door, the other students who still have a bit of strength, due to the fact that they are still dead from fear, join forces to close the giant door and leave the 4 of us locked in this place.
"NO!!!" - shouts Patrick
"I told them we have to fight,"- stresses Talrico with more fear in his voice, being aware that the only thing that awaits us is certain death.
"We can't use magic, what are we going to fight with fists?"- asks Nyxithra sarcastically.
The creature stumbled and got closer and closer to us. On the other hand, Talrico, with trembling arms, positions himself in fighting form like a boxer.
"You've got to be kidding me," says Aelric.
"We won't make it to the door before they close it, no matter how much we run, it's impossible," -says Patrick- "if we have no other choice, I won't die easily."- While taking the same position as Talrico.
"This is ridiculous,"- says Nyxithra while positioning herself in the same way in front of the beasts.
"It was a pleasure to have met them, I never thought of dying this way,"- says Aelric in the same way, positioning himself next to them, ready to fight against the wounded cyclops and two wolves with sharp fangs.