Zee looked around. The house he was in was a copy of his grandmother's house. An entrance hall with many shelves where countless souvenirs from travel were stored. A huge mirror that allowed you to evaluate your appearance before going outside. A wide corridor would lead him to the main room, kitchen or second floor staircase.
He looked at himself in the mirror and discovered that his face was missing. One could only make out a malicious grin, cut through a red slit. Zee reached out and touched his face, causing a wave of ripples to pass across the surface of the mirror.

Doppelganger step away, and run, disappearing beyond the boundaries of visible space. A wave of goosebumps ran through the magician’s body; he tried to change his viewing angle and saw the double running away towards the stairs.

Looking around again, he discovered that the front door was missing, turning into a solid wall. The lights were turned off; there weren't even any light bulbs in them. But a soft, dim light spread throughout the entire space of the house. Deciding that there was no point in staying where he was, he carefully walked deeper into the house.

Slowly opening the door, Zee entered the kitchen. The windows disappeared, as did all the furniture. Now there were only busts protruding from the walls. Asura's face froze in a grimace of horror. Some figures screamed, others stretched out their arms as if trying to escape their captivity. Zee backed away, but ran into a closed door. There was a crashing sound. One of the faces turned to him and extended his hand. The lips moved soundlessly.

For a few moments, a crashing was heard from all sides. The statues came to life, the walls began to show deep cracks , releasing them. Concrete crumbs fell on Zee's head as stone hands grabbed his head and he screamed at the top of his lungs, pounding on the door with his hands. It’s gave in and he ran out of the kitchen. Turning around, he saw rows of motionless statues, frozen in the same poses that he had seen for the first time.

- “Fuck, fuck! What the hell is this?!” - Cursing, he tried to calm down. What happened was like another nightmare. But strikingly different from what the Goddess of Dreams created.

He tried to call to her, but nothing happened. A dull echo became his answer.

Then he headed into the hall and opened the door. Except for the lack of windows, everything was the same here. The creator of the nightmare even recreated the TV, now broadcasting only interference.

Something weakly pulled him by the leg towards the bed. A narrow gap hidden by darkness. An invisible force knocked him off his feet and slowly dragged him inside. The voice disappeared completely. The pupils dilated and the mouth opened, without making a single sound.

A dream from the depths of childhood was repeated with precision down to the smallest detail. But this time, he retained the ability to act. A stream of flame flew from the palm, engulfing the bed. The light of the fire illuminated the gap, revealing the face of a monster he had seen in one of the horror films. A disproportionate body, with long twisted limbs and snow-white skin, looked at him, slowly trying to get out of the narrow space. A wide palm fell to the floor next to him, grabbed the carpet and pulled the monster along with it.
The monster was a parody of a man, with a cut off nose, a grin on his mouth without lips. Dozens of times he dragged Zee into his lair or strangled him with his long arms in his childhood dreams. Now it was more than real.

Zee jumped up and ran to the second floor. Having knocked down one of the doors, he found himself in an empty room. The stairs creaked. The monster climbed up it. Slowly. Step by step the nightmare was approaching. Cold sweat flowed down the magician's face. Unable to control the surge of terror, he turned around and struck the wall with pure magical energy. Stones fell.

The city appeared before his eyes. He stood on the second floor of one of the wooden houses.

There was a knock on the door behind him, and Zee jumped into the alley.

From hitting the ground, his legs gave way and he fell to his knees.

The pain brought him back to reality, quickly turning around, he collected mana to attack the monster. But the hole disappeared. Moonlight illuminated rows of old boards, corroded by time.

- “Hey, is anyone here?” – A voice was heard.

Not eager, he nevertheless stood up and listened.

- “I’m here, help, whoever! I hear you there! “- The voice came from an old tree that, unknown how, ended up between the houses in a narrow alley.

Zee , went up to him and examined. An ordinary tree. Thick trunk, fallen leaves in the area. He clenched his fist and knock.

- “Who are you?” – He asked incredulously. In theory, it could be one of the soldiers that went missing earlier. He really wanted to believe this.

- “Zee? It's you? I recognized your voice! It's me, Bor. Damn city, something pushed me here. I can’t get out, I can’t even turn around. Help me, buddy!” – There were notes of joy and relief in the voice – “Let’s hurry up, otherwise I’ll wet my pants, I’ve been sitting in this box for several hours!”

Remembering El's lessons, he concentrated so as not to injure his comrade, control of magic was required. Pour in just a little force, gradually destroying the old wood.

- “Yes I see you! Almost done, keep going!” – the voice became more joyful and insistent.

Zee raised his hand to widen the hole when a pale hand grabbed his wrist.

The claws dug into the skin, leaving deep marks from which streams of blood flowed.

- “Fuck! “ - He screamed and pulled his hand towards himself as hard as he could. The blood caused the hand to slip.

More and more limbs appeared from the hole, long and pale. Hands waved around chaotically, trying to find the victim.

- “Where are you? I cannot find you!”

- “Help me!”

- “Do not leave me!”

- “Zee, it's me! HELP!”

- “HELP ME, HELP ME!”

A dozen voices grew louder. They began to shout, demanding help, to free them.

Archmage rushed away. Everything around was a trap. An endless labyrinth of nightmares.

Running out onto a spacious street, he continued on his way without slowing down. The acceleration worked as it should, after a minute, he was more than a kilometer away from the tree, and now he was trying to figure out where he was.

The square was very close. It seemed that in a few minutes he would reach the fountain. But everything was repeated and no matter how much he moved, the path did not become shorter. The melody sounded several times, interrupting as unexpectedly as it began.

Apart from it, the city was still just as deserted and abandoned. He only heard the beating of his heart, as if trying to escape from his chest and get out of here. Overall, this desire was extremely attractive.

At some point, he stopped. Goosebumps ran down his spine again. A feeling on the edge of consciousness, intuition told him that something was about to happen. Something not good. What if he turns around? It will happen even faster.

A voice in my head said that he needed to look back. Something behind him. It's coming.

Gathering all his will, he turned sharply and saw a pale creature at the end of the street. It ran towards him on all fours. The creature's head hung limply, hanging on its long neck and hitting the ground with each jerk.

Zee tried to run, but remained in place as it approached. Now they were separated by only a few tens of meters. The creature's voice was heard.

It tried to roar, but only a thin wheeze came from its throat.

Streams of flame surrounded the magician. If you can’t escape from the enemy, attack, don’t think! He remembered the teacher's words. And gathering all his strength, he released a thin stream of flame, which immediately went out. Now the fear gave way to shock. The magic failed.

The creature flew into the air, extending its arms towards Zia in a leap.

 

At that moment, the neighboring house exploded.

The air was filled with streams of boards and wood chips. The roar, in this quiet place, practically tore his eardrums.

Against the background of the moon, a silhouette of a Saint appeared, holding in her hands a flaming hammer woven from light. She was surrounded by the scattered remains of strange creatures that looked like something between a pretty fairy and an old witch living in a swamp.

The entire mass of holy energy descended on the creature, breaking its bones, while still in flight. When the blow hit the ground, the wave threw the magician several meters away. And the creature disappeared in a cloud of dust. It’s severed palm crashed into Zee's head and bounced off, rolling down the slope.

- “Burn in hell, you fucking creatures! Who else? Who else wants my wrath!” - The saint stood with her prosthesis resting on the hammer and screamed at the whole street. Her face was covered in a layer of blood and thick dark liquid. Her flaming gaze darted to the side and stopped at the lying mage.

- “Teacher! “- He screamed and rushed towards her. Never in his life had he been so happy to see someone.

Her fist slammed into his face, sending him to the ground again.

- “Where the hell have you gone? Where are the others?” - She asked demandingly.

- “I don’t know... When I turned on the light, you all disappeared...” - Rubbing his broken nose, he answered.

- “And what have you been doing all this time?!”

- “Fleeing from monsters. Thank you for saving me...”

- “A week?! You've only been fighting monsters for a week?! Something doesn't look like it. You couldn't even defeat this bastard!” - She nodded her head towards the gap that had formed, where the creature’s crushed body lay - “When we get out, intensive training awaits you! I don't raise brats like you! You are not a magician, but the greatest shame of this world!”

- “Wait... A week? Only an hour has passed. Maybe a little more” - Interrupting the flow of abuse, Zee said.

- “Damn...” - The saint clicked her tongue, sat down on the steps and, fishing out a piece of cloth, began to wipe her face – “Apparently time flows differently here. It’s clear why the previous squad couldn’t get out”

- “We need to find Zwei and Bor”

- “When were you made commander?” - She asked displeased - “They can take care of themselves. The faster we destroy the center of this magic, the faster we will get out”

- “But…”

- “Shut up! I'm completely in no mood to argue. Now tense up that ass that you have instead of a head and think about how we can get to the city center!!!”

There was silence. Occasionally interrupted by El's curses.

- “I have an idea. I'm not sure if it will work, but maybe...”

- “Spit it out. Any idea is better than the situation we are in now. Each fucking house is a portal to its own nightmare. The streets are endless. Even if you offer to roll towards the square, naked, I will consider the offer. And only then I'll break your arms and legs!”

- “I thought…”

- “I didn’t know you can! Continue”

- “What if we use one of the higher spells? You said that magicians in battles should not be too close to each other, otherwise it will disrupt the flow of mana and the consequences will be unpredictable. And if we are in a huge barrier, this can disrupt its integrity. But my magic doesn't work here, that's the main problem. But with holy magic everything is in order”

- “Great! Even you can come up with something worthwhile” - She jumped to her feet, loudly clicking her metal prosthesis – “Since you have a huge supply of mana, then direct it at me. Serve as a battery, and I will cast a spell!”

The saint stood in the middle of the street and pointed her staff towards the square.

- “Come on!”

- “I've never done this...”

- “Idiot...” - El sighed – “Put your hands on my back and imagine that mana flows into my body. Keep the flow steady, just like when controlling the power of a spell. Come on, we don't have time to train”

Zee placed his shaking hands on the saint's back. Touching her warm body, he realized how small and fragile she was. Like a child. He closed his eyes and focused on mana . He imagined it like a river, slow and calm, directing it towards his hands, forming small streams.

A sigh escaped from El's chest.

- “I had no idea how much you have. Be careful, reduce the flow or I will be torn apart” – Her hands began to glow, forming a disk of light – “When I say, direct everything you can at once. Mana will be converted in the process”

Minutes passed, the disk grew to the size of a person and continued to grow. The saint's lips moved, silently pronouncing a complex spell.

- “Do it!” – She commanded and Zee directed the flow.

Her head began to spin. An immense ocean of power surged over her, threatening to swallow her in its depths. But the spell was released and the disk began to absorb mana at an insane rate.

A beam of blinding light cut through the space, rushing into the center of the city. Suddenly, he crashed into an invisible wall. Thousands of luminous shards, like shooting stars, scattered from the sky.

Even with his eyes closed, Zee felt pain from the brightness of the light, trying to close his eyes even tighter.

- “Do not stop! Almost done!” – Light was her element; it’s could not blind the holy eyes. The space was cracking. Fragments of reality fell down, revealing the true city – “Run!”

The beam disappeared, leaving behind a bright trace that gradually faded away.

Zee opened his eyes. The world around was like a broken mirror. The fragments stopped in the air, with frozen images of a nightmare city.

Weakness enveloped him. The legs did not want to move, but the saint’s palm grabbed the sleeve and pulled him forward.

Her second hand casually pushed aside the fragments of reality, which flew to the side with a sharp and drawn-out ringing sound.

He saw their target. The beam pierced the wall, creating a wide gap in it. Still the same fountain, but now surrounded by darkness. The true world, not illuminated by the light of the fake moon. Their salvation is possible.

The barrier was beginning to recover. The fragments returned to their place, recreating a closed world.

One last jerk and they slipped through a tiny hole, which immediately closed.

They failed to break out of the spell, but managed to take the first step.

The magician and the saint sank heavily to their knees and tried to catch their breath, looking at the staircase leading to the castle.