Mason didn't know what a Giras was, but if his guess was right–which it always is, what they referred to as a Giras in this world was called a portal in his.
And judging by what he had observed, he and his cohorts are somewhere medievalistic, and their captors could speak human language–though they don't understand certain words like blank-out.
By the way the bat-people glowered and hated them without having seen them before showed they were familiar with the humans–or perhaps were hurt by them. Repeating what his party had told them earlier might do nothing but lead them to their deaths.
"Mike!" Mason announced. "I know him!"
That raised plenty eyebrows. At least it was better than saying something that would end his and his friends's lives immediately.
Mike was the only person he could think of. If the formidable bat-man is really one of them, no doubt they'd know him.
Mason heard an indistinct mumbling, probably Nat grumbling to herself. She probably was annoyed by being captured.
"He knows the Jyuran?" the chubby bat-woman wondered. Cat's eyes narrowed as she scanned Mason's face as though she was a deception detector.
"How do you know the Protector?" she quizzed.
Protector?That explains how he was indestructible. But he said he's human, did he lie? Mason thought. "I owe him my life. However, we met someone very powerful who somehow did something to us."
"The same reply again!" a bat-woman sitting down shouted in dissatisfaction.
"Can't you just believe us!" Nathalie shouted as she stood up. She was free, and her eyes were glowing. That explained her earlier mumblings. "I've run out of my patience you goddamn bats!"
Mason wanted to stop her, but it was too late now; she'd already got on the bat-people's bad side. And trying to stop her would only inflict pain on her. He would do no such thing as rendering her immobile.
Cat curled her pale lips in a disdainful grin and she nodded to the guards behind the humans. One of them charged but Nathalie threw him away with little more than a wave of a hand.
"She's a witch!" one of the bat-people shouted. Mason didn't know who and didn't care to know.
Suddenly, all of the bat-people have formed a defensive formation. The guards trained their weapons at Nathalie, and the bodies of the remaining bat-people began to glow the color of their sky.
The humans were dumbfounded at the sight of the bioluminescent creatures. One of the guards hurled his pike, but when it neared Nathalie, it froze in the air. The succubus made a subtle gesture and the pike turned its head back to the guard who threw it.
Seeing the impending doom Mason forced himself up. "Don't hurt them, Netusizah!" he shouted.
"I must, else they'll kill us all!" Nathalie replied. She flipped her hand downward and the pike shot forth at the guard.
"I said stop!" Mason shouted and he felt his eyes burn with inner fire.
Nathalie's body collapsed to the floor and her body began to contort. "My Lord!" she screamed in horror.
"You can't harm them," Mason said, his anger dissipating, and so was Nathalie's pain.
The succubus stood up, stretching her body to recover but she was seized and tied. This time the guards made sure to gag her. It wasn't surprising, though; they knew what a witch was and how they worked. So were demons–they needed their hands and mouth unhindered to utilize their magic.
The bat-people's glowing body had receded and Cat stared at Mason with expressionless eyes before signaling to the guards, who approached and dragged them off.
When they got out of the hall Mason realized the hall was a palace of some sort, built on a high mountain overseeing hundreds of houses. Each of the four guards grabbed the humans and lifted them up effortlessly before unfurling their wings and leaping off the edge of the mountain.
The party remained silent as the guards began to dive to the left side of the palace. As they descended they saw a large iron door in front of them. Two bat-men are guarding the door, their eyes are as hard as a diamond.
The guards opened the door Mason and his cohorts were taken inside. They were taken deep into a corridor, where they encountered several rooms that must have served as prisons for lawbreakers.
One of them opened the door of one of the prisons and threw the party inside.
"Have fun with your fellow monsters," one of them said and locked the door. "Feel free to release your witch. I'd love to see you escape."
The prison cell was spacious and dimly lit. It has no window of such that would allow the skylight to pour in. However, the air that blew was fresh and cool. The source of light seemed to come from everywhere. However, there were dark corners in the room hidden from plain sight.
With their backs turned against each other and their hands working out on their bondage, Nana and Raymond were the first to break free. And they released Mason and Nathalie.
"We could've escaped, my Lord," Nathalie said after she was ungagged, choosing her words carefully. "They're dangerous, now they'll kill us all."
"They're only scared," Mason explained. "They saw us only as a threat, which is normal considering we breached their space. But you wanted to murder them because they're cautious?"
"But we didn't mean to breach in there," Raymond said.
"That's why we should've done everything to explain and make them believe us," Mason said.
"I don't think that's the only reason," Nathalie muttered. "Our bond made me feel like there's still more than meets the eye."
"You're right," Mason admitted reluctantly. "It's because of their protector, Mike. He was a formidable entity to have as an enemy. You should've seen him quickly healed when he was stabbed by my pursuers last night."
"Perhaps you've forgotten how powerful I also am," Nathalie reminded him.
"You don't understand. He fought with invisible enemies, and he vanquished them like they were nothing more than mere nuisance flies," Mason replied. "I owe him my life."
"What would you do if you learned someone whose life you saved attacked your people and murdered them?"
"I think I can relate," Nana replied. "We're still alive thanks to your revelation of knowing their protector."
"Whatever, we need to leave as soon as possible," Nathalie said. "This place disgusts me." She raised her hand up and muttered something Mason assumed to be some sort of abyssal language.
"What the hell is wrong? Why's my power not working?" she whispered.
Alarmed, Mason and the rest of the party turned to her, curious.
"Is something wrong?" Raymond asked.
"Something is repelling my power," Nat responded. "Aghak la'daeh!" She waved her hand and then everything revealed itself around the room.
"Oh My God!" Nana exclaimed.
"Hope it's not what I'm thinking?" Raymond whispered to no one in particular.
"It is," Mason said.
"A magical prison!?"
"Magical barrier, maybe."
"No, this is no magical barrier," Nat replied. "Any magic can be dispelled by a stronger one. But this case is different."
"How so?"
"This was created by something immune to magic," Nat explained. "I've never encountered something like this in my entire 252 years of existence. Even Earth's priests don't have something as strong as this."
"Something magic cannot penetrate?"
"Yes, my Lord. I think we're in trouble."
"I'm still trying to understand if you're just drunk or you're all crazy," a weak voice came from a dark corner of the room.
"I believe it's neither," another voice replied. "Didn't you see what that witch did to our ship a few days ago?"
"Magic really exists. Mr. John believed so," a raspy voice said.
"Was that why he built the jammer to stop the witch from seizing control of our ship?"
"Perhaps. He only believed what he wanted. Now he has abandoned us to save his ass."
"He'll come back."
"Maybe after we're all dead in here."
"You really don't–"
"Shut up and show yourselves!" Nathalie shouted, disrupting the ongoing conversation. "Who the hell are you?"
Just then six men stepped out of the dark, wearing uniforms like the police with the standard of APA written boldly on their front and back.
"We're from the same planet as you," one of the men said. "We're humans too."
"What!?"
"I think we're really in trouble," Nana whispered.
"And I think we're done for," Nathalie added.
"It's the same thing, dumbass."
"It's not. When you're in trouble there's always a solution. But when you're done for…Ugh, I couldn't start to think about it."