"So you have no problem with this now. Right?" I asked the blonde goddess. 

Breta looked at me and reluctantly nodded. Letting out a sigh, the goddess spoke, "So, how do you want to do this?" 

Hearing her question, I scratched my head when trying to come up with a method that would work well in our favor, "Well, in theory. You are supposed to punch a hole through space, momentarily breaking the veil covering the astral plane. I'll try to use that opportunity to establish a link to the cosmic mana which in turn will teleport us away from here. Simple enough, right?" 

"When you put it that way, I guess?" Breta hesitantly agreed before continuing, but let's do it away from my home in case anything goes wrong." 

"Oh, come on don't jinx it like that!" I clicked my tongue in annoyance, which earned me a glare from the goddess. Rolling my eyes, I followed after her as we left the tall mountain behind and took to the skies, venturing further east. 

Our flight was short, however, as we quickly found ourselves standing in a large colorful meadow that reminded me of the land of the Gods. "Here is good," Said the goddess while glancing around with a satisfied expression. 

"If you say so," I answered with a shrug. 

Not wasting any time, Breta's spear suddenly materialized in her hand. Not stopping there, a white shining set of armor appeared around her body, followed by a helmet that only showed her eyes. 

A dangerous aura began to emit from her body as her mana gathered at the tip of her spear. The amount of mana gathering kept increasing by a ridiculous amount, yet the goddess continued to condense it in size, turning it into a small ball that emitted a chilling aura. 

"Get ready, Aether," Her voice was cold and devoid of emotions. 

Nodding, I quickly reached out to the cosmic mana inside my body and waited patiently. As I watched the blonde goddess, her aura kept climbing as her body began to glow brightly making it hard to look at her directly. Still, I subconsciously knew she was about to make her move.  

Her grip tightened around her spear, as her hand moved almost instantly. The entire mana concentrated at the tip lunged outwards as the goddess thrust her spear forward. Her aura lashed out like a predator at its prey. 

Cracks suddenly appeared in the space before her, as the surroundings suddenly seemed to lose all color. Amidst the tears, a small opening appeared. Just as I was about to send my cosmic mana thread, a sudden feeling made my scales tingle and my heart thump loudly in my chest. 

Without thinking, I lunged towards Breta and unleashed a dragon breath backed by the entirety of my power. A hairy, obsidian humanoid arm, was trying to force itself through the space tear. 

My sudden attack must have taken it by surprise, as the arm was quickly pushed back to whatever hell it crawled out from. The space tear was almost immediately mended, reverting everything to normal. 

Almost everything...The ground below the spot where the space tear was opened, was now completely barren. I heaved a long sigh of relief before turning my gaze towards Breta who was gasping for air on her knees. 

The shining armor that surrounded her was gone, her spear was also gone. Her golden hair was stuck to her forehead, as drops of sweat dripped from it. She weakly turned her eyes to me and cursed, "Was that fucking Shade?" 

Hearing her question, I slowly nodded. The unpleasant feeling beneath my scales. The aura, everything indicated that that thing was a Shade. And a damn strong one at that too. "Are you okay?" I asked. 

"Yes, I just need to catch my breath. I'm drained," Breta answered with a nod, whilst still gasping for air. 

"Come to think of it, there are no Shades in the Astral plane either?" 

Laying with her back to the grass. Breta took deep breaths while staring at the sky before replying, "Not that I know of, no." 

"And just our luck to stumble on one, while trying to teleport out of here," I clicked my tongue in annoyance before glaring at her, "I told you not to jinx it." 

"Ah, fuck off. I gave you the opportunity you were looking for, and what? You cowered," She sharply retorted. 

"Cowered? I saved your ass you mean! Don't tell me you didn't feel that aura!" 

"You could have teleported us immediately!"

"And risk that bastard messing with the teleportation? No thank you, I'll pass." 

"Tsk," Clicking her tongue, Breta stumbled to her feet and glared at me before speaking, "Carry me back." 

"Huh?" 

"I said carry me back home, I can't move yet. All my mana was depleted, space is harder to break here in the astral plane." 

Staring at her, Breta's forehead was covered in sweat, her face was pale and she was barely standing up. A sigh escaped my mouth as I lowered my claw motioning for her to get on. After the goddess was finally settled and in place, I shot to the sky and made my wa back to her mountain. 

It didn't take long before I landed with a loud thud in front of the small cabin. Breta wobbled down and made her way inside without saying a word, closing the door behind her. Shaking my head, I walked towards the edge, feeling the breeze against my scales. 

Closing my eyes, my mind began to drift to my siblings. I found myself wondering how they were doing. Did Sidus and Immy go back yet? What about Ynos, did he make up with the fairies? Did little Essie finally pass her rite of passage? And what about Ayona, I wondered how she was feeling with her master off the plane. 

Shaking my head, I pushed such thoughts to the back of my mind and laid my body next to the edge of the mountain, overlooking the horizon. The first attempt was a failure due to an uninvited guest. Still, I didn't lose hope, we just had to try again. 

With Breta's current condition, it might take a few days before she can get back to full strength. My concern, however, was on the Shade. I didn't know if the bastard's sudden intrusion was a coincidence or not.  

'Let's think positive.'