The roaring wave of black smoke and crow feathers skims my left shoulder, and I drop to the ground, biting down into my lower lip until I taste blood to restrain a sob of pain. My shoulder is quaking with an ache unlike anything I have ever suffered, it feels frigid, like hypothermia, as if an invisible force is eating my flesh from the inside while weighing my limb down.

I cradle it, pressing it to my soaked shirt. Sniffling, I anxiously scope the darkened hallway, ignoring the blood that drips slowly from my nose onto my curled up thighs.

Tears blur my vision severely, but I spot an open doorway. I hastily crawl to it, and my heart pounds louder every time my belt clings on the hard flooring. Please... Do not let them hear it, do not...

My left arm drags, numb and paralyzed, against my body, however I manage to jerk my body inside the archway. I slip silently up the wall, using it to prop myself back into a standing position. My legs are shaking and my breaths are heaving. Every uneven exhale ejects more warm blood from my injured nostril, sending the drops on my exposed feet.

The distant slamming of a door ignites a shiver in my full body and instantly causes bile to form on the roof of my mouth.

Blinking my tears away frantically, I shove my right palm over the lower half of my face, preventing any harmonious breathing, although my goal is to muffle any audible breathing. Please, don't hear me, please don't hear me, please...

ONE HOUR EARLIER

Striding energetically ahead of my friends, I glance through the glass walls to our right. I would estimate five hundred people are lined up or clustered on the eastern side of the building, approximately seventy feet underneath the corridor we are passing through. The majority of them display extravagant cosplay of their favorite Crusade of Wonders character and the frenzied crowd of fans is tumultuous enough to be heard up here, through the translucent panels. The booming music, which is transmitted by speakers scattered around the building and concealed inside shells painted like wooden lutes, adds to the rackety cacophony that stifles the regular clicking of my heels on the sleek gray tiles. I keep telling my friends about today's unprecedented event, pivoting halfway to look at them while keeping an eye on our trajectory.

"I can't believe it's only been nine months since the exposition in Japan..!" I sigh in exhilaration. "But with the sort of revenue we've been making with the Wondrous Inception project, it was only a matter of time for us to reach this level. Are you still excited?"

Briana merely smirks at my teasing, whilst Elsie predictably takes the bait.

"Are you kidding, Candy?! This is probably the most thrilling day of my LIFE! I won't ever quit thanking you for this!" She enthusiastically asserts, pushing her cat-eye glasses up her nose.

The not-quite-legal woman is almost skipping as she scans our surroundings with insatiable curiosity; her effervescence nearly surpasses the guests' combined anticipation.

My best friend chuckles, telling her, "You're right, Clouds, we're lucky to know someone who can give us privileged access."

The buff young adult winks at me, and my heart leaps in my rib cage. I can only hope that I am not blushing, as I grin at her and keep raving about the benefits of Revelling Inc's innovation.

"I checked this morning and our stock's at $371.44. If we keep going like this, you might end up knowing someone who can give you privileged access AND works for one of the richest corporations in America!"

My two childhood friends are unequivocally lucky to have me as their guide. As a seasoned and invaluable member of Revelling Inc's staff, my keycard grants me the passage to any restricted or exclusive areas of the venue. That is much more than any of the sweaty people in the overwhelming crowd downstairs can dream of.

It will soon have been five years since I was first hired as an irrelevant summer intern by this company I have always admired. I have coveted this position as a financial analyst for Revelling Inc since the exact day I submitted my application for advanced math classes, back at my crummy neighborhood high school.

Briana speeds up to trot by my right, allowing me to behold her Crusade of Wonders merch hoodie in all its "glory"... Tied roughly around her waist. The emblem of The Black Ram is more or less perceptible, misshaped by the folds in the white fabric. Unsurprisingly, my best friend has decided to walk around in her oversized dark gray T-shirt despite the chilly autumn weather. In her defense, we are indoors, and I too share her endurance for cold environments.

I forcefully stop thinking about her chiselled abs to listen to her question, lifting my focus from her sturdy hips to her blue eyes.

"Now, you're a thousand percent sure that you can't even give us a tiny hint about the big reveal?"

"You realize that, thanks to me, we'll be in the first row, right? Doesn't get any better than that, Brawler."

"I still think you could give us a clue or something..! I can't believe you've resisted telling us about it for weeks!"

The brunette woman smiles irresistibly, and I give a nod of agreement, laughing. How did I muster enough self-control to omit information from them, from my best friends of about twenty years, for so long? And especially from her. There are not many secrets in this world I could contrive to keep from her. We are inextricably close.

I taunt her, "I can't believe it, either. Still, it'd be a shame to spoil the surprise so close to the finish line."

"What's the harm in letting us know what to expect? We're gonna start to think you don't even know what they're going to show, right, Elsie?"

Our younger friend visibly was not listening to a word either of us has spoken; the nineteen-year-old is typing away on her laptop, which she is balancing against her left forearm. Dozens of colorful or iridescent stickers adorn the otherwise simple shell of her computer. Ninety percent of those are Crusade of Wonders stickers, and at least half of Elsie's sticker collection represent her favorite creatures of the card game. Her obsession with the game and its lore is widespread, but she has a definite preference for a specie called Werelions. Simply put, according to the game's storytelling, they are Rogue Elves whose ancestors were cursed by The White Wolf millennia ago and given the ability to transform into lions.

The blonde blinks at us, seemingly in the process of returning her thoughts back to Earth.

"Whatever it is, Briana, it is going to be AMAZING!" She suddenly exclaims, and her laptop swerves precariously as she excitedly hops to reach my left side. "Anything Revelling made for the new Season has to be ground-breaking."

She makes an excellent argument, and not only from a fan's viewpoint.

Nine months ago, the creators of the Wonderworld unveiled their long-term revolutionary advancement to the public: real-life, living versions of creatures from the Crusade of Wonders cards. Project Wondrous Inception has been in development under wraps for two years, which followed three years of meticulous research and planning. Today, Revelling Inc is the only known enterprise on our planet to possess a powerful machine that can make its cards' entities become real or living.

These beasts' purpose is solely to entertain, of course, none of their magical abilities function in our world, the real world.

I would enjoy being privy to everything there is to know about this presumably mystical invention, however my expertise is finance. Therefore, all I know about The Inceptor is knowledge that my superiors deemed was absolutely necessary for me to grasp in order to present reliable financial advice.

The incredible festivities, fairs and numerous displays that have taken place this weekend are a trifling taste of what is to come... Indeed, my ambitious employers plan to dazzle the entirety of the human race with this new Season's showcase.

I am leading my friends inside a web of corridors that are constructed above the main rooms of the building, which serves both as a restricted passageway for any event organizers and their staff as well as a network of elegant emergency exits. Currently, they are permitting us to avoid the turbulent crowds below to reach our front row seats for the live premiere.

Through the glass end of the one-sided mirrors on our left, we can glimpse at the various exhibit rooms that were devised for this weekend's promotional extravaganza.

The room Revelling Inc rented for the activities themed around Egnoor, The Farmer of Gluttons, still contains an enclosure of Blurkeys. These fowls are essentially blue turkeys that come from the imaginary Ceruleand. Inside a large atrium that was perfect to house the Black Ram convention, a pair of Mist Crows are pecking at the mound of grain they were given for their cage.

From the very start, Revelling Inc's wildly successful trading card franchise was more than a fun and immersive role playing game for us. Our Crusade of Wonders adventures and even the earliest of our matches were far more meaningful than we could have guessed.

The card game sparked Briana's heroic nature. It allowed our soft-hearted and creative Elsie to redirect her obsessive behavior into a fun, fascinating and fictional world.

Crusade of Wonders allowed all of us to escape a reality that was significantly harsher to us than we deserved. At a young age, even if we were beaten down by the world, it got us to believe in a different narrative for our future lives.

*-*

The door we have just crossed closes automatically behind us, and we begin threading through the scarcer crowd that is admitted to the first rows in front of the massive stage. I glance back at my friends to ascertain that they are still following me closely.

Obviously, I bump into someone the second I look away. And step on their feet with my high heels.

I revolve swiftly, smiling properly as I apologize, "My bad."

My purposeful and endearing widened gaze does not warrant much of a reaction from the man, who is accompanied by five similar specimens. They seem older than twenty-five years old, perhaps one or two years above my age, but younger than thirty. They are all clad in identical black suits with crisp white ties, making them stand out against the crowd of convention goers and the fantasy backdrops.

"Sorry."

His laconic response is mostly surprising because it reveals his British accent. Then again, I am aware that fans worldwide have flown in to attend the live announcement of Revelling Inc's newest Crusade of Wonders Season, motivated by the exuberant publicity surrounding this event.

Elsie watches intentionally as the pack of formally dressed men hurriedly distance themselves from us.

Our little trio sits on chairs decorated with colorful plastic ivy, our aforementioned front row seats. A robotic voice cuts through the adventurous music to announce:

"Ten minutes until live premiere."

Briana and I's excitable friend half-squeals, giggling and clapping her hands. Her outburst is drowned by the blaring tavern ambience soundtrack, namely, and by the ecstatic crowd's equivalent reaction, mingled with hollering reporters and the loud voices of security guards as they bicker with unhinged guests to keep them in line.

As the minutes until the grand reveal tick away, even the displayed creatures seem to be affected by the augmenting commotion. They are acting up inside their compartments, suspended against the partitions of the hall or from the ceiling. I confess that I can barely contain my anticipation, as well.

I instinctively pull my cellphone out of my back pocket, loading the website which features all the information about Revelling Inc's stock. The price-per-share appears on my screen in vivid green. My heartbeat speeds up and I grin, beaming with pride. $379.99.

I put my device away, leaning in to my left.

"Briana? You ready?" I raise my voice over the growing noise, which presently includes the whistling of Owl Headed Vipers.

She nods, grabbing my left knee inside her right palm. "Hell, yes! And you?"

She has brought her face closer to assure I'll hear her, and I feel her thumb tracing a circle against the outer side of my leg. My heart rate skyrockets, a thousand times faster than any stock appreciation could make it throb.

I wanna rip my dress pants off.

I tear my gaze away from hers, remembering that I should be watching the stage right now. Paired with the rising cheering of the crowd, the thick black velvet curtains are mechanically pulled away.

This is it... Now, the whole world is going to see how far we have come.

A woodland habitat is revealed, glimmering underneath the spotlights behind an encompassing wall of bulletproof glass.

Except no one is looking at the decor, no matter how intricate or gorgeous it is.

All eyes are on the bemused and beautiful Elf at the center of the glorified vivarium.