Enthralled: Book 2: Picking Up the Pieces

by Prax Venter

  The giant naga tapped the gem at her forehead, and her Star Scale Mail grew to cover her whole body. Mark watched as the small plates of metal enveloped the ring under a slightly raised lump.

  Roo held out her hand and targeted the Prime Study, within the Georath stronghold.

  She pulled open the door, and Ahnix stalked out, scouting the area first. She came back a few moments later and nodded, indicating the coast was clear and Oris was alone. Mark turned to Vale and focused on her Charm ability. He imagined her beautiful, melodic voice commanding him to pleasure her and tried to embolden her dominating will. It took him a moment as she admittedly leaned to the submissive side, but that started to change as of late. He noticed she wasn't calling him 'master' as much anymore. He suddenly felt a lock and channeled a strong enhancement into her new ability, drawing on strength from his rage at Oris for jerking them around and putting them through hell.

  A thick golden ring materialized around Vale's neck. She shuddered as power and ecstasy filled her. She steadied herself and swayed her snake half in a weaving pattern as she quickly made a beeline for the crystal elf, lost in the runes on his desk. Per the plan, Mark was going to follow her out while Ahnix and Roo held the door open and kept an eye out for interruptions.

  Oris stood when he saw her, but Vale had already begun singing. She had a stunningly pleasant voice, and Mark found himself staring at her, doe-eyed, as the most alluring melody he had ever heard came from his fully-armored naga.

  Oris had risen a slate-gray hand in protest, but now it dropped to his side, and a radiant, pink glow haloed his crystalline head. He walked forward, never taking his eyes off of Vale.

  They were committed now, and Vale didn't hesitate. She spoke the command they had agreed was the best option.

  “Permanently destroy the dome in the swamp.”

  Oris bowed his head slightly and then went to the machine where he had placed the Inception Orb. The Georath plucked it out of the mysterious device and slowly walked to the purple fountain of energy in the center of the chamber. Mark had a bad feeling about what would come next, so he grabbed Vale's hand, pulling her back to the escape route. Evoker Oris casually tossed the glowing orb in like he was throwing away a piece of trash, and a silent explosion flashed into existence. Before it reached the docile Georath, the energy and the entire fountain collapsed to a single pinpoint.

  “Come on, let's go!” Mark said, pulling Vale away.

  “I'm sorry!” Vale shouted over her shoulder, as they retreated through the doorway back home. Mark was the last one through and slammed it closed behind him. The wooden door dissipated into fine, black dust as soon as it was shut.

  Roo immediately held out her hand again, summoning another doorway. When it had fully risen out of the floor, the velvet-girl pulled it open, and Vale charged out.

  Mark could feel the nauseating, white swirl of chaos and corruption buzzing just outside, and his heart sank when he saw the size of this tear.

  It was roughly half the size of the dome that had covered it, and a horribly wrong, glitchy mess filled his vision. Above the static Mark could see the tops of tall, dark-leaved trees, like the tear was wrapped around a forest.

  His brow furrowed. He was able to sense the physical extent of a tear like it was a part of himself- more accurately, it felt like a polar opposite of something inside him. A negative discordance to his positive resonance. The sense he was getting is that this enormous tear was more donut shaped. He thought it might have something to do with the heart piece resting, presumably, at its center. Even if it was nothing but a giant ring, it was many miles in diameter, and this was still going to be the toughest tear they attempted to close. Mark took a deep breath and looked at his girls.

  Roo was craning her neck, looking at the trees poking out above the corruption. Vale was determined and focused on the task at hand. Ahnix was looking at him, her hand reaching out to his.

  Getting lost in her large, dark eyes, he gave her a warm smile and took her hand. They were in this together, and the only way they would move forward was together. Mark could feel his bond to each of his girls like a tether of flowing energy that connected them no matter where they were.

  He reached out with his other hand and put it on Vale's armored hip. Turning around, she saw them holding hands and pressed her lips together in a tight smile. She reached down and took Mark's other hand in hers. Unexpectedly, her armor retracted around her fingers as they laced through his. Vale seemed surprised too, looking down at her bare hand with one raised eyebrow.

  Something flickered in his mind, an instinct, a shadow of knowledge, he wasn't sure- but he knew they all needed to hold hands and walk into the corruption together.

  He caught Vale's eye and nodded towards Roo. The naga reached her other hand over and tapped the distracted velvet-girl on the shoulder. She spun, her lilac hair flipping outward. Her head tilted when he saw everyone holding hands and took the armored hand offered by Vale. Just like before, the dark scale plates covering her fingers retracted just enough for her charcoal gray skin to connect with Roo's fabric skin.

  As soon as they all linked hands, he felt their bond solidify to an almost tangible state. Mark faced the unfathomably wide tear in front of them and closed his eyes. His enhancing ability ticked over into the ready state, and he smiled, a feeling of calm washed over him. He concentrated on the bond he shared with his Enthralled. Mark poured his boundless passion, and appreciation for them into expanding and reinforcing their intimate link.

  Each of their eyes began to glow a soft white, and Mark's neck prickled with goosebumps as unseen, crackling power filled the space around them. It was as if they shared one mind, joined together as one being. They were literally stronger together, and as one, they all stepped forward into the corrupt, swirling abyss.

  - 10 -

  The instant the barrier was crossed, a blinding cascade of light spread across the corruption, erasing it and restoring the swamp below. As the swirling chaos parted before his eyes, Mark saw what looked like an overgrown modern city. Towering, solid stone rectangles, covered in vivid, green vines stood in a perfectly aligned grid. Some of the buildings were half-crumbled while others seemed intact. The wave of searing light he and his girls created continued to eat up the ring of visual white-noise like a flame consuming a fast burning wick.

  All of them suddenly became aware of a dark shadowy threat from above, and Ahnix shouted, “Incoming!”

  A buzzing noise increased to deafening levels as a giant insect came down on top of them. Dropping hands, everyone but Vale scattered, and Mark realized that if they hadn't been all connected to Ahnix and her keen senses they could have all been squashed.

  Vale's armor instantly covered her hands, but she didn't have time to draw her shield from its secure place on her back before the black spear of a mouth hit her crossed arms.

  Mark scrambled to his feet after rolling away and got a good look at their attacker. It was a black mosquito the size of a helicopter. Two of its long, dangling legs hooked themselves onto Vale's armor while the back two pressed into the soft ground as it tried to penetrate her.

  The giant naga's armored fists clamped onto the sharp, needle-like proboscis of the monster, barely keeping it from puncturing her exposed face.

  Ahnix acted first and teleported midair to the giant insect's side and yelled, “Doom Kick!”

  A black streak of void traced after her foot as she executed a backflip kick near where its head connected to the rest of its disgusting, pulsating body. A crack echoed off the trees and buildings in front of them, and the giant insect's head was severed.

  A flutter of essence transferred into Mark as Vale threw the insect's head to the ground. The creature's body collapsed and rolled over, its long, thin legs involuntarily spasming in the air.

  “Good job, Ahnix,” Mark said, looking up at the sky for more threats.

  “Guess we know why there was a dome over the tear,” Vale said, with a sigh. “Now that it'
s down these things are going to be all over the place.”

  Mark put his hand on her armored hip again.

  “We'll try and kill every one of these we find. Remember, we're here to get the Crystal Heart fragment and heal the world. We might make a mess now and then, but it's a fucked up place already.”

  Vale gave him a weak smile and nodded.

  They regrouped and moved forward. As they moved into the overgrown Georath metropolis, Mark pulled out his magic compass and noted that it pointed straight ahead.

  The grid of stone rectangles spread out before them and looked like a city of identical skyscrapers. Twisting, green vines crawled up their smooth, windowless sides, and Mark noticed that each of the towering buildings encased the trunks of enormous, evenly spaced trees. He thought it was a bizarre combination of classic, fantasy elf tree-houses and the cold, ordered logic of the Georath.

  Moving among the buildings and observing them from different sides, he could see that some had lost the base of their structure to time and the patient, destructive force of nature. The stone shells were being supported by their tree's thick branches as they forced their way out through the crumbling walls. Lush, leafy tops pushed out far above the structures, and in the still, stagnant air from the swamp, not a single leaf was disturbed. The towering stillness filled Mark with a quiet unease.

  The ground within the city was mostly solid and covered in sparse clumps of tall grass. There were about twenty yards between buildings, and as they passed under the shadow of the closest one, Mark felt his uneasiness grow.

  Ahnix tensed next to him as something caught her eye in a patch of grass ahead. He followed her gaze and saw what looked like a quivering cube of liquid glass.

  “Heads-up,” he said, pointing to the strange substance.

  It undulated more violently and then launched into the air a little and came back down with a wet slapping noise a few feet closer. This thing seemed to be alive and moving toward them. Now that it was closer, Mark could make out rocks and what looked like a few animal skulls floating around inside.

  Roo held out her hand and fired a needle at the strange, translucent cube. The sharp shaft of metal slowed as it passed through the creature and then exited the other side. It didn't seem to have any effect. It jumped a bit closer, and Mark and Roo took a step backward. Ahnix's tail started to flick around behind her, and she walked up to the creature. She stood close, observing it. The cat-girl was shorter, but the gelatinous cube came up to her waist.

  She experimented by swiping it with her claws. She instantly withdrew her hand with a sharp hiss and danced backward as the cube jumped again, landing where she had been.

  “You okay?” Mark asked, concerned. He felt a slight burning in his own right hand.

  “Not really.” She held out her claw, and Mark saw some terrible oozing holes in Ahnix's black fur. It looked as if she stuck her hand in acid. He quickly targeted her with a heal, and the wounds closed up. The creature jumped closer, and they all took another step back.

  Roo held out her hand again, but this time took a moment to concentrate. Then to Mark's surprise, a metal disk shot from her hand and sliced off a corner of the cube.

  The bit fell onto the ground sizzled into smoke while the damaged section started to grow back slowly.

  “Enough of this,” Mark said, shooting his crossbow right into the cube's center. The explosion sent bits of goo everywhere, and one of the animal skulls that had been suspended inside hovered in the air for a moment before a dark, purple smoke rose out of it.

  The smoke dissipated upwards with a horrible screeching sound and then everything was quiet.

  “That might have been its weak point,” Vale said

  “Here's our chance to test that theory,” Roo said, pointing a soft hand into the shadows of the building next to her where four more cubes were coming at them.

  “Over here, too,” Ahnix said. Mark looked over on her side and saw a single gelatinous cube that was at least three times the size of the others. It launched itself into the air and landed with a solid slap on the broken stones littering the ground. Multiple objects spun around inside as it moved.

  Roo stepped to the other side of Vale, putting the giant naga between her and the group of smaller ones. She concentrated on the large cube of clear jelly and sent one of her velvet hands into the air and yelled, “Horrible hooks.”

  Large metal hooks attached to chains shot out of the ground and slurped into the side of the cube. One hook attached to an animal skull and another found purchase on a tree branch, while the other two missed latching onto anything. All of the chains pulled tight, and when the tree branch was yanked out of the cube the same purple wisp of smoke dissipated from it with a screech. Without the branch, the larger cube of goo melted to the ground.

  “Behind us!” Vale shouted as five more four-foot cubes moved in from another side. They were starting to get surrounded.

  “This way,” Mark commanded, leading them into the shadows of the building where the bigger cube had died. One whole wall was missing, and they retreated to the only place they could.

  Mark launched magic bolt at a cube, taking it out, but others had come to join them from every side. There was over a dozen now, all following them with wet, slapping leaps into the crumbling stone building.

  Rays of weak yellow sunlight shone through the leaves and holes in the stone structure above them. There might have been rooms and hallways at some point in the past, but now most of the bottom floor was nothing but rubble.

  He could see an intact floor a few hundred feet up and was about to suggest that Ahnix teleport them all up and out of danger when Vale beat him to it.

  “Mark, enhance my Hateful Sting. I think I know what to do.”

  He wouldn't be able to enhance Ahnix for a teleport if her plan didn't work, and he almost asked her if she was sure. He shook his head and concentrated on her ability. He would trust her tactics over his any day.

  He lifted his ring to help him focus and harnessed his faith in her to lead them to victory and blasted her with a powerful wave of blissful energy.

  The usual rings appeared, but this time golden lighting struck her body as they spun around her throat and head. Vale put one hand on her chest and another on her abdomen as her pleasure center lit up with ecstasy.

  After it was over, she shook it off and lifted both hands, palms out, like she was offering a challenge to the foes before her and began to sing a pleasant melody. All two dozen, hopping creatures began to glow a faint red. Then her voice tightened, causing the notes to turn sour, and by the end, the song devolved into a fearsome, screeching wail. The red glow outlining the gelatinous cubes intensified, and they all started frantically hopping right at Vale.

  The giant naga pulled the massive slab of metal she called her shield from her back and held it out, ready for them. As the first ones approached, she sent them back a few yards with her shield.

  Roo stepped to the side of Vale and launched a spinning, pointed star into one of the cubes. It hit a rock inside, forcing the object out the other side. It must have been the wrong object because the cube continued to hop forward without it. Mark joined her with his crossbow and popped another one, but there were too many, and both he and Roo took a few steps backward.

  Vale was starting to get surrounded by the cubes, and for a tense moment Mark thought she was going to get seriously hurt, but her Star Scale Mail seemed to be protecting her from their slimy acid.

  She used her tail to knock one backward and her free hand slapped another out of the air, sending it to the back of the line like she was a goalie swatting a ball away.

  Roo's primary attack had cooled down, and this time she launched a spherical metal ball into the one she had targeted earlier and hit the only remaining object. Like a cue ball striking an eight ball, the rock was ejected from the cube, bouncing into the grass outside the building where it expired with a wail and a wisp of smoke.

  Then, all of the cubes started
to undulate violently before bursting spectacularly. A chorus of screeching wails and purple smoke rose from every last slimy cube, the red glow fading as they expired.

  “Holy shit. What Just happened?” Mark said looking down at the river of slime washing around the giant naga.

  “Regenerative amorphous constructs with spirit cores are weak against damage-over-time abilities. I noticed when they-” She was interrupted by a loud buzzing growing in volume outside. They couldn't see it yet, but they all knew what was waiting up in the air.

  Ahnix said, “Excuse me” and strode forward, towards the daylight. They all watched as she peeked upwards and then vanished. They heard a distant, “Doom kick!” and then she reappeared exactly where she was, utilizing her new Retract ability. The cat-girl's insanely beautiful, half-lidded eyes radiated calm as she sauntered back to the group.

  Outside the building behind her, the massive body of a giant mosquito hit the ground and started twitching.

  “You were saying?” She said, turning her dark eyes up to the giant naga.

  “Uh, yes. I was saying, Mark's powerful enhancement allowed me to target them all with a powerful Hex. They're weak to Hex magic and can't regenerate past lingering damage abilities like Hateful Sting.”

  Vale turned her violet eyes to Mark, holding her hand low on her stomach. “That was an amazing enhancement, by the way.”

  “I think our bond is growing stronger,” he said, with a smile and a shrug. He pulled the Heart piece compass out of his silk pants and pointed out their direction.

  Mark and his girls went back outside, stepping around the huge insect and continued to make their way through the Georath city.

  As the vine-covered, stone boxes passed by, Mark thought about how each of them was growing stronger. Roo was starting to experiment with the shape of her projectiles and even the material when necessary. His mind replayed the last few moments in the sea cave, and he was so glad he chose to enhance Roo. He had no idea she was able to alter the type metal she summoned into existence. A crazy notion slammed into his head so hard he stopped walking, his mouth hanging open.