Silas gripped Sami's throat with a force that could crack rock. Thankfully, with all the training Sami had received, his throat wasn't instantly crushed. Still, Sami was on the verge of passing out from the pressure.
Silas grabbed Sami's right hand as he saw a faint flicker on his palm. Pushing some energy into Sami's arm, he broke the illusion, and a purple light briefly glowed.
From Sami's elbow to his hand, a swirling pattern resembling tendrils wrapped around his arm. The obsidian eye on his palm that connected to the tendrils. Silas flipped over Sami's hand, inspecting the mark.
"Boy, I'll ask you this one time," warned Silas. "Tell me your connection to Lamia, and I'll allow you to walk away with your companions in peace."
"G-g-go to hell!" Sami stammered, trying to speak through the pain.
"I see," Silas growled.
BANG!
He slammed Sami on the ground, making Sami spit blood. He began to repeatedly stomp on Sami, who cried out in pain. Poke and Lyra couldn't help but look on in horror, still unable to move.
Akio, seeing this, slowly got to her feet, limping from the damage as she made her way toward Silas.
"Stop!" Akio said weakly as she tried to reach Silas, but was grabbed by Cassian.
Cassian held Akio by the back of her shirt, firmly stopping her from getting closer to the scene. The twins wanted to look away but held firm, so as not to show weakness in front of their master. Silas's kicks began to slow as he heard Akio say "Stop."
"Stop, you command me, Silas, to stop?" Silas muttered, loud enough for everyone to hear.
Silas slicked his hair back, attempting to rein in his temper. Turning to look at Akio, he put his smile back on his face. This time, the smile looked forced, fake enough that it just felt off.
"I'm sorry, folks," Silas stated, his voice suddenly calm as he began to approach Akio.
The back of his hand rubbed her face, and she flinched back in terror. Though her gaze never wavered from his eyes. Silas's eyes kept switching from red to black, as if he was trying to contain emotions. By looking at his face, one would think he was actually happy.
"Even now, you still don't fear me?" Silas said as he looked at Akio.
"Let them go, and I promise I'll give you what you came for," Akio bargained.
"Old lady, don't give in to his demands!" Sami cried out as he tried to stand.
"Ants shouldn't argue when in the presence of a god," Silas mocked. He waved his hand, causing wind blades to form, attacking Sami from multiple angles.
Sami cried out in pain as the wind blades cut him deep all over his body. He instantly fell back to the ground, his blood pouring onto the ground.
"Please, please just let them go, and I'll give you the book," Akio promised, even bowing as low as her body would allow.
Standing straight, Akio snapped her fingers, and a book materialized in her hands. Silas perked up as he felt the book and the magic rolling off of it.
"Generous indeed, darling," Silas cheered as he clapped his hands together in happiness. "Lenore, grab the book from her hands, if you would."
The female twin, Lenore, quickly grabbed the book before stepping back by her brother. She had a wary look on her face at everything that was going on.
"Yes, you have put me in a great mood," Silas stated with a huge smile on his face. "So I'll do you this favor: I'll allow all of you to live, including the boy. So you know I'm a charitable lord."
Silas didn't wait for a reply as he snapped his fingers, turning himself and his subordinates into a swarm of bats. They quickly flew away into the night sky, leaving only a cloud visible in the distance.
With Silas gone, his spell wore off, dropping both Poke and Lyra to the ground. Lyra quickly rushed to Sami's side, not caring that his blood got on her clothes as she knelt on the ground. Putting his head in her lap, she summoned her healing sword.
"Why isn't it healing?" whispered Lyra as she kept trying to heal, though none of the wounds would close.
"It's because he reinforced it with demon magic," Akio said from behind Lyra, causing Lyra to jump as she hadn't noticed how close Akio had gotten.
"What do I do, Mom?" Lyra cried out as she cradled Sami's body. "I don't know what to do."
Akio smiled at finally being called Mom before becoming somber due to the situation. "It's okay, child, just grab him as gently as possible and follow me to a safe place."
While they were busy with Sami, Poke ran into the building to look for Kim. Thankfully, he didn't have to look far, as Kim was riding on the back of a demonic-looking ram, running out of the building. In Kim's hand was a book, but that wasn't important to Poke as he ran up to the ram.
"Kim!" yelled Poke as he waved at her. "Are you okay?"
"I could be better," she answered as she stopped the ram in front of Poke, climbing down from its back. She stumbled a little bit before being steadied by him.
"I'm glad you're okay," Poke admitted as he looked her over.
"Me too. That guy was freakishly strong. If it wasn't for me summoning my ram in time, I would've been squished by the building collapsing on top of me," Kim expressed.
"Yeah, that guy could've killed all of us," he admitted. "Come, follow me back to the others. We can grab our stuff later; right now, we need to get to a safe location."
Kim nodded in response as she climbed back on her ram before following behind Poke. Poke quickly explained the situation to them before stopping as they saw Lyra and Akio walking towards them. In Lyra's arms lay Sami, his chest barely breathing, as blood dripped to the ground.
Kim couldn't help but gasp at the scene as she realized how much worse her injuries could've been.