World of Karik: A Game of Villains 93 Old Friend

"Nomenos wanted to use the Sphere to turn the Abyss against his enemies. In the end, he turned it against his own people," the demoness peacefully finished. "If you don't want to die completely and irrevocably, stop those who are coming here. And remember: your immortality is our gift, we can take it back at any time."

Having dumped all of this information on us, Dorea simply disappeared. We were left alone to digest her words.

"What did she mean?" Lena was confused. "Our ability to resurrect after death can be taken away?"

"It seems so."

"Cat, what should we do then?" she said, starting to panic. "If she cannot protect the Sphere herself, what does she expect from us?"

"Maybe she wants us to distract the intruders," I muttered, thinking. "She'll hide the Sphere or... I don't know what she'll do, but her story seems quite plausible. That means that we really have to help her."

What did she really expect, sending us against Osipov?

"Do you think that she was telling the truth?" the girl asked. She was obviously struggling to believe all of this.

"As you can see, she didn't kill me. Unlike Cyril," I said with a sad smile. "My answer to her riddle was nonsense... She doesn't have a reason to lie."

"What should we do?" Lena whined again, starting to annoy me.

Glancing around furtively, I took a couple of steps toward the Sphere and tried to touch it. It was clearly hiding a tremendous force within itself. If other people planned to use it for personal purposes, then why couldn't I try and do the same?

You will die if you take another step! Dorea's voice hissed in my mind. She wasn't gone. She was watching us. A shame. If it wasn't for her, the Sphere could have already been mine.

"Let's go back," with the anger of failure in my voice, I finally answered the girl's question, "and meet those who decided to join us."

Turning around abruptly, I walked toward the corridor. It was still glowing red, scaring away the Shadows. However, we had to go through the gloomy tunnel with live tentacles again. I wondered if we would manage to pass through it again.

The writhing creatures were where we had left them, but they were anxiously pressed against the walls, forming a narrow passage. Something had happened to them. If someone had already been here, they must've been a strong opponent, considering that they managed to scare the creatures.

"Vasily?" A familiar voice made me shudder in surprise.
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"Vlada!" Lena squeaked. "Vlada, we're here!"

"Shut up!" I hissed, grinding my teeth in anger. "Shut your mouth!"

"Lena, you survived too?" Vlada responded with obvious fake joy.

The next moment, I saw her silhouette standing between the tentacles at the end of the passage.

"Cat and I are alive," the silly girl chirped again.

"What are you doing?" My voice was barely audible.

"Calm down, I know what I'm doing," Lena whispered. "She doesn't suspect anything. Vlada, where are the others?"

"They're coming. Petrovich is very pleased with you, Cat. You did the right thing, killing Igor and me. If it wasn't for you, something really awful could have happened."

"You're welcome," I muttered. "Go back, there's nothing here but these tentacles."

"Really?" Vlada laughed. "Do you think that I'll believe you?

I really thought so; or rather, I hoped so. Vlada took a step forth and the living forest of tentacles practically dove into the stone. She was the one scaring them. It also seemed that she didn't appear in the passage just now but had been standing there for a while.

"What did you find there, Cat?" she asked. "You're gonna tell me, right?" She took another step.

"I will tell only Petrovich about it," I strictly said. "He's the leader."

"I thought we trusted each other," she said, pretending to be offended. "I told you what happened to me here."

I could barely distinguish her silhouette in the darkness. However, the sound of blades being drawn from the scabbard couldn't be confused with anything else. Vlada was getting ready to strike. Or rather, whatever was possessing her was. This manner of speech was unlike her.

Lena and I couldn't do anything. Before this, I could've confidently said that I could easily cope with Vlada on my own. However, something told me that a much stronger opponent was in front of us now.

Something suddenly whistled above us. Vlada gasped but then got herself together and laughed.

"Cat, run!" Lena shouted. "I can't hold her back for a long time, run!"

Turns out that my last surviving companion was brave but not very smart after all. She threw her lasso, capturing Vlada in order to hold her and give me some time to leave. Vlada wouldn't try to follow me. She had no reason to do so. She would walk down the corridor full of tentacles and take the Sphere. Lena's sacrifice would be in vain. Freed from the fetters, the swordswoman shredded the girl in a heartbeat. All Lena could do was scream.

"Cat, I hope that you will be more accommodating than this girl," Vlada softly said and made another step in my direction.

"Which one of us?" I heard another voice that seemed vaguely familiar.

Vlada froze. Horrified, I realized whose voice it was. How did she end up here?

A bright beam of light illuminated Vlada's silhouette, revealing her bewildered face for a second. I prepared for the worst, expecting an attack from the Shadows, but they had already covered their victim. The swordswoman deafeningly screamed. The next moment, the corridor was plunged into darkness yet again.

"What are you waiting for?" Fox irritably asked. "Get out now!"

Vlada fell onto the stone floor; convulsing, she continued to scream hysterically. Fox firmly grabbed my arm, snatching me out of the stupor, and dragged me toward the exit.

Chapter end