Thanks to our expeditions through the portals in Gerês’ abandoned camp, we have already found the lair of four of the Witches of the Night. Unfortunately, that didn’t take us closer to stopping them or even understanding what their goals were. The only thing we knew was that they didn’t want to involve us or for us to involve ourselves.720Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGVTMint4RU
720Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQKrRvMeBcq
However, we still needed to find the fifth witch, so there was still a chance of getting the answers we were searching for, even though we were getting to the last portals in the abandoned camp.720Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡludjE4vu4r
720Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8ZYDnZVsJG
Eventually, we got lucky, if that word can be used to describe what happened next.720Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtRMFPnn7sw
720Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlBtTyfkE5E
Like many other times before, we crossed one of the portals and, in an instant, found ourselves in a completely different place. We were among the ruins of what looked like a castle, on top of a small plateau. A low wall, which had clearly been reduced over the years, surrounded the large space where we were standing, which was littered with what was left of the foundations of long-vanished buildings. I immediately recognized that that was Castro Laboreiro’s castle, as I had already visited it several times.720Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4mEr0KNS7v
720Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoYfJN6whVf
As always, we immediately began to investigate the site, looking for any sign of the Witches of the Night or their servants.720Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVjrCNAtvi8
720Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAXLsP32H7Z
About five minutes after our arrival, suddenly, we heard a thunder-like crash at a distance. However, the sky was clear, so we immediately ruled out the possibility of a thunderstorm.720Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsndRnZ7gGy
720Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡE4fQMoGr2l
Then, a shout from one of the soldiers who had accompanied us alerted us to an approaching point in the sky. This quickly transformed into five black hooded figures.720Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0s0FZDKSJK
720Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5e94uUgIIX
At an order from Almeida, the soldiers pointed their rifles at them, but that didn’t make much difference. Before they came within gun range, each Witch of the Night launched a high-speed ball of flame at us. We barely had time to crouch behind the crumbling ramparts and walls before they reached the plateau.720Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSJikfQeE4y
720Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvhZ3Sm5Sw4
Explosions erupted around us, spewing flames and hurling dirt and rocks in all directions. Some soldiers fell, either consumed by fire or hit by shrapnel. And the bombardment continued, with the Witches of the Night unleashing an overwhelming torrent of explosive spells, giving the soldiers no chance to respond. There was only one thing Almeida could do:720Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡK2zq86wctL
720Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFC3mTF40XZ
“Retreat!” he shouted.720Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ92NUkNmP7J
720Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJdAbsyckFy
Doing our best to avoid the explosions around us, Almeida, I, and the surviving soldiers ran towards the portal, hoping it was still there. Such was the intensity of the bombardment, that we had no chance of retrieving the wounded, and whoever tried immediately fell.720Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1VBNJ1AYMv
720Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhs8oJyYizz
With great relief, I managed to reach the portal unharmed and instantly found myself in the abandoned camp, far from what had clearly been a trap from the Witches of the Night. Almeida appeared soon after, limping, probably hit by shrapnel.720Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIisCVGQJSl
720Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡosnuzUQj8z
Of the fifteen soldiers who had accompanied us, only two returned. Unfortunately, they didn’t cross the portal alone. On their heels, one by one, appeared the Witches of the Night.720Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmB16sfJ5bd
720Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKhmIiB1tCW
They immediately rose above the Organization’s men guarding and studying the abandoned camp and began shooting their fireballs again. The soldiers responded with their automatic rifles, but the creatures were flying too high and too fast for any bullet to hit them.720Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡExDICgluLs
720Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdcznkAxT5A
Men and equipment were engulfed and destroyed by flaming explosions.720Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYW43InNfCL
720Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9yPWPlCQIp
Unable to do anything else, I took cover behind the tree with the widest trunk I could find and desperately hoped I wouldn’t get hit.720Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBRGQPFmvu7
720Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaoVPyotaxQ
Although it seemed longer, my watch showed that the attack didn’t even last ten minutes. When it was over, all of the Organization’s infrastructure — tents, computers, vehicles, etc. — had been destroyed, and more than two-thirds of its troops lay dead.720Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxAIlH9RQvz
720Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPsVIU2HNmD
Almeida had survived, although one of his arms was severely burned. Only me and two other people were lucky enough to escape unscathed.720Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMJioWhEV1k
720Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuwFJsPPdXp
After their intensive raid, the Witches of the Night had disappeared through the portal, and no one had dared to pursue them. It was obvious that this attack had been a response to our meddling in their affairs.720Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4uZgEuFSDa
720Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLDBSkKCrMR
Almeida, despite his injuries, immediately began to restore order. He called in helicopters to evacuate the wounded and then one to take me back to Braga.720Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4Jawx2qm3U
720Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyYZ42p0dlC
I spent the trip thinking about what that attack meant for the Organization’s investigation of the Witches of the Night. Almeida didn’t comment on the matter and, given the situation, I didn’t ask him. I also doubt he had an answer for me then and there. Only time would bring it.720Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNh20xlDDF2
1234 copyright protection716ＰＥＮＡＮＡEeWO0T5Nev 尼

216.73.217.22