A Love In Dark Times

-What is this? -cried Luis, terrified.

“It looks like a small dead dragon. -said Francisco as he examined the corpse.

“It was one of Mother-Mount's new children, she came to help us, but those shadows are very powerful and she had to leave with her children, as she called them. -Strello coughed.

Angie, use the pendulum to find that key. -The master traitor ordered.

Wait for me, I'll try to cure this wolf, he can be useful to us and he’s about to die. -Luisa interrupted him, illuminating the beast, healing its wounds with her magic light.

Let's head west, that's what the pendulum indicates. -Angie murmurs, activating the crystal.

That way is the place where the Alpha meditated, the place of the maelstrom, in that haunted place he must have hidde her. -He must have hidden it in that haunted place,” Estrello pointed out respectfully.

The team headed towards that place, going deeper into the jungle, they walked for hours, contemplating the beautiful landscapes, a poetry for the eyes, until they reached that rare spot where a group of spectres were stabbing some trees with the aim of milking them of a milk-white sage, They did it without stopping, without answering greetings, without eating or sleeping, they took it out and poured it into huge gallons, which transformed it into drops of liquor that some o them stopped to drink, danced for a while and without stopping they continued with their task.

“This is, I don't know why the alpha liked it, this horror.

“This is, I don't know why the alpha liked it, this horror. -Francisco criticised him, contemplating the show, stretching his lips.

“We don't have time for shows, let's look for that beggar key. -Luis clapped his hands, giving him a sense of eagerness. “The pendulum points us to the largest gallon, let's go. -Angie points to the end of the road.

They try to grab it dodging the souls in pain, who with their knives only look at their victim trees, Luis tries to put his han in the gallon but when he touched that white milk he felt a heat that ran through his arm, I know the sleepy ones and Ang exclaimed:

-It can't be it turned you rubber, it's the veri-veri!

Indeed the flesh and bone of her limb turned into a hard rubber that she could not control, apart from the whimpers tha seemed to bring the gatherers out of their trance, causing them to start attacking them with their daggers, jeering: -These wretches want to rob the boss!

Guio came up with the idea of solving everything by watering the gallon, which when pushed, turned it completely into a rubber sculpture, the other warriors were filled with slashes by the spectres, for they fought like wild beasts, they were ve skilled in handling the knife.

Wait, please listen to me, how can we help you? -Francisco questioned them, without getting an answer.

“We want fame and fortune. -After a while, one of them answered and another one also mentioned.

- want to return home, but I can't go back with one hand behind and the other in front, I must bring riches to my people. “It's no wonder they are in pain, if all they worked for instead of saving it, they spent it on partying and drinking,” Luis formulated, fighting with one arm.

“It's not that, we have to produce to be able to pay for the food and lodging provided by the boss, who doesn't charge us by right, there are even times when we owe him, when he pays us with vouchers that we can only spend in his canteen. - complained another horror.

“They should resign, claim their severance pay and go home to their families. -Angie proposed, brandishing her flaming sword.

“That would be ungrateful, like the ungrateful dog that bites the hand that feeds us. -One of them slashed at her.

-And where is the boss? -Desperate, full of cuts, it occurred to him to ask Francisco.

“It's me. -answered a spectre who was no different from the others.

“It can't be you, you're a worker just like the others, don't lie to us. -replied Francisco while defending himself from the attacks.

“What happens is that I work at the same pace as them and even faster to encourage them.

“If the boss shows us the rhythm of work and shows us that we can do what he demands of us, he is an excellent person. -1 don't understand why the boss is not enjoying his wealth, apparently he also spends what he earns on liquor. -Luis deduced, shaking his rubber hook.

“1 also have bosses who demand dues from me, the ones who financed me to start this business and who are still doing s because I have not been able to pay the debts, since the interest is rising day by day and the price of the product varies, addition to other expenses and taxes, I also have to deal with the transporters, the politicians so that they give me licences, some policemen who look after my cargo and other outlaws so that they don't steal it, I don't even live on a dail basis, that's why I often pay them with vouchers, with which they can buy whatever they want in my shops.

“I've had enough of this, Ill send them to the beyond,” announced Luisa, generating a whirlwind of light, everyone stuck their knives into the ground, refusing to leave, complaining:

We can't stop working, the world needs us, we can't fail the boss.

“The world doesn’t need more rubber, this is a material that we must replace and you must work for yourselves, not for your boss. -Luis commented.

They think they are indispensable, they assume that their task is very important, to know that if they die or fall ill the company will continue to exist, demonstrating that you are just another cog in the corporate wheel that can be easily replaced. -Angie added, and she had never worked before.

That way you'll never convince them,” he crashes, “my Alpha revealed to us that you should be reduced to their level, be one of them and from there forge them to do the desirable deeds.

Then they all began to stab the trees collecting the milk, thus the wraiths, resumed their labours as if nothing happened. The warriors felt useful to do this task imagining that they would return home loaded with gifts seeing how their parents would receive them full of pride saying: “that’s my son or daughter, he or she works in a multinational’, when payday arrived the expenses reduced the salary and the invitation to break the routine sharing a moment of relaxation with som toasts that completely dried up the salary, they were even left owing.

'm leaving, I'm quitting, I feel very ill. -Luis resigned, showing him his rubberised hand.

My son, that's nothing, you can get rid of it with a couple of poultices of marigold.

“We need holidays and medical insurance" protested Francisco, raising his hand.

-Be very careful, compadre pacho, being a communist, a trade unionist is dangerous.

We're not rebels, we're just demanding what's fair.

Well, what's fair is the salary that I pay you on time, like clockwork at the end of the month.

“That's not enough, we also need a settlement, it's not fair to make money only for you. -Luisa was very angry.

Keep on being ungrateful pharisees and I'm going to liquidate all of you.

No, boss, from now on we are on strike, strike! It doesn’t matter who said it, only that chaos came second, all the spectre stabbed the boss, set fire to the shops and watered the gallons, there inside the biggest one was the mysterious golden k with a red ribbon.

This is it. -Francisco announced, tucking it into his chest.

Let's go quickly before everything goes back to normal, oon another one will emerge as a patron. -Estrello shouted, slinging Guio over his shoulder and turning him into a rubber sculpture.

Let's g0 to the barracks, to plan what we'll do. -This time it was Angie who took the initiative, creating a door of light towards that place.