But that seemed to be the enemy’s plan.
Kanade felt a sudden chill and looked down to find Kyoko in her ice armor. It was much more fragile looking now that she too was weakening. But before she could worry about anyone being hurt Floa screamed “Portals are opening!”
Circular flat windows opened to show a different scene than charred grasslands. One after another appeared as if someone turned a TV on out of thin air. Twelve, seven foot tall portals surrounded the group. Through each one’s background showed some kind of freighter out at sea, but on deck were hundreds and hundreds of suits of stone-shaped men. They all had the same basic shape, were roughly cut and not very artistic, but their purpose clearly was for function.
Then the stone creatures began to move.
In great lumbering strides they charged trough the twelve portals surrounding. The ground shook like a battle cry though the constructs had no voice. Stone joints grated loudly, but despite their size and weight they were fast, going from standstill to a twenty mile an hour wrecking ball in just three strides.
Surrounded and outnumbered Ethan said “Floa, get us out of here!”
The Pixie brought her hands together and clapped.
Nothing happened and the stone beings got closer, now within a hundred feet. She yelled “I’m jammed!”
With a mighty roar Ethan dropped down in front of the thickest flowing charge, his hooves crushing two into the ground with his landing. It was clear there was only one alternative.
Fight.
A roar ripped from his chest as his muscles tightened in readiness to fight. The challenging roar was answered by a stony fist to a knee, but a flexible tail snaked around it and flipped it over, crashing it into one of its buddies. His wings buffeted two at the same time he brought a fist down. The knuckle spikes on his gauntlet bored holes, but otherwise did minimal damage. Silvery fire surrounded him in attempt to not only blind them, but melt. Had he been at full strength they would have been turned into molten puddles, but now would require minutes at full blast.
Fire was proven a disadvantage as these things didn’t need to see when he felt a staggering blow connect with his hip. Hooves dug deep and miraculously kept him up. For once he realized how great they were. So he killed the blinding fire since he wasn’t the only target and though his fire was easy to keep from harming the others, heated rock, if loosed on another, would be impossibly hot to deal with.
Then he tried searching for a mind. None were found, but he couldn’t figure out how they were controlled.
Looking at the four attacking, two he had initially landed on, he found themselves piecing themselves back together.
Reconstructing themselves.
But then he wasn’t alone. Two male Sirens stood just outside his reach, opened their mouths to take a deep breath and screamed. Screams were high pitched, took several seconds though, but the frequency was such that the stone soldiers exploded in a cloud of dust.
Ethan made up his mind and fought to keep the attackers off his backup so they could scream and destroy the enemy.
Krav Maga pounded into his mind and body everyday for months took over and his fists came up. With a single focus, his path was clear. He had to kill these things by holding them off.
Blademaster Blake’s long katanas burned with a blue-white sheen as he waded into battle. He flowed like a snake and sliced through stone like butter. He took it all in and flowed. He spun, cut off legs to trip up those running up from behind another portal. He was too fast and the enemy too slow and dumb.
Beside was Reevy, her long daggers humming with power so as to pierce stone without being deflected or having the metal be dulled. Where Blake sliced and hacked, she stabbed and cut. She looked for weaknesses to exploit. Hoping for the power source so she could destroy it.
At another portal charged Vitalli and Ellen, using their new armor to full effect. A shimmer surrounded them and they ran flat out with their large claymores slicing heads in their passing of those not caught directly in their path. Spells in the full body Centaur armor created an inverted wedge that knocked anyone in front down so their magically powered hooves could stomp. Both Centaurs had eight inch spikes glowing out beneath their front and back hooves, perfect for piercing anything beneath like butter.
Magnus swung Zaxis and the metal club always connected, blowing chunks of stone far and wide. Fighting at his back was a merrily whistling Baldr having the time of his life smashing things with his shield and hacking with his sword.
Dileep opened his fanged maw and bit down on one large one that broke through his surrounding minions, lifted his head up and spun, knocking the creature off balance and crushing it under his hooves. Water started building in his mouth and thick jaw muscles constricted. A pressurized jet of water shot out his mouth and he cut a dozen in half. His four other Kelpie Minions spat jets too, but took down only one or two at a time. They didn’t have his power. A Siren on the Demon Lord’s back screamed, destroying another his hooves double kicked.
Kyoko held a hand out and frigid air slowed down thirty from two portals. Dallare and the Lamia Shaman swiftly cast concussive spells to shatter the quickly freezing runners. The little Elf was swift to dodge while simultaneously casting, but she watched the half woman and snake coil around one like a boa constrictor, crushing it, but another came up from behind to bash her skull in. Dallare though blew the joint swinging the arm away. The Lamia thanked her with a glance, uncoiled and got back in position in front of Kyoko.
Nell had to keep saying spells of piercing into each arrow she shot at Kira and Kanade’s side. All she could do was slow them down or aim at joints. Kira had fired all her needles and bombs, but couldn’t cast their replacements fast enough so she instead fell back on basic ones. She made a harsh motion and cut all the grass that remained around them that hadn’t been burned and enhanced them with cutting and reinforcement before firing thousands of grass blades through multiple opponents. Rendering them to crumble to pieces.
Kanade couldn’t use certain lethal spells, but what she could use she did to full effect. The creatures had already proven to pass her barrier, but couldn’t do so on a few spells Ethan had placed inside her gold and red sundress. Still, she deftly made them turn around during an attack thereby striking an ally or opening holes in the ground and dropping a dozen in a pit.
Nell was down to her last three arrows when Floa reappeared in the turmoil yelling “Slipper! These are products of a Slipper.”
The Nymph had known that Floa went through one of the open portals at great risk. Portals were two way, but no one other than she could have gotten through the still coming onslaught. Being tiny had advantages, but she could have gotten crushed. Nell yelled over the explosions from the two Shaman, her husband’s yell as Zaxis blew apart yet another enemy, Ethan’s unsettling roars of wrath, screaming Sirens or the howling wind generated by Kyoko’s powers over cold. “WHERE! TELL…”
A pissed roar came as Panther returned and constructs fell by the dozens all around. He was nothing more than a sleek black blur of fury. Bodies were cut in half in pieces from his swipes. But more than a thousand still stood and more were still coming through the twelve portals without any sign of ending.
Floa landed on her shoulder so she could hear. The Pixie’s hands grabbed hold of Nell’s pointed ear to say “He’s looking out of the bridge window. Second window on our right.”
Nell spun and climbed Kanade’s wings. A simple look back is all that kept Kanade from throwing her off. Kanade had the best vantage and Nell looked at all twelve portals and chose the largest one. The one Ethan furiously defended since they were coming now two at a time. With her target reached she dropped down behind Kanade and drew her remaining arrows. She knew she’d only get one shot because she wouldn’t be able to reload and loose another before her target took cover. Nymphs, being the most excellent archers of any race with a soul also had excellent eyesight and depth perception. She laid down flat on the ground for a reason. She wa
s too far and the top of the portal was too short to reach standing. So she did the only reasonable thing possible. She laid and aimed awkwardly, but accurately . In the time it took her to draw the bowstring to her cheek she judged distance to the bridge window, found the target Floa discovered, located a flag whipping up on the freighter’s roof to take wind direction and speed into consideration, adjusted accordingly, waited for Ethan’s snapped out wing to retract for another hit and spoke her spell activation sequence. The arrow took on a faint yellow and blue hue a fraction of a second before releasing the tension.
Ethan noticed the zip of an arrow pass not an inch past the edge of his wing, between the armpit of one stone man, past the head of another within an inch and right through the open portal. But he kept fighting, not losing the sharp focus needed to allow the Sirens still on his six to keep at it without being harmed.
Nell watched the arrow fly true. It arched perfectly to the right and the wind carried it perfectly to its destination.
The Slipper didn’t see it till it was too late. The arrow shot through reinforced glass and drove home straight through his right eye and the cursed Spirit Energy let loose. Killing its incorporeal form. It simply vanished without a body or a scream.
With its death the stone attackers immediately were cut now that the puppeteer’s strings were severed.
Immediate threat gone, Ethan roared “Bring em down!” he tore through the distance of the still open portal, Panther appearing at his side the moment his hoof got off charred ground to land on a ship’s deck with piles of stone from more that had yet to come through. From other portals on either side appeared Blake and Reevy who had taken another one. Vitalli and Ellen came out another with the slower Baldr and Magnus pounding their feet as hard as possible. Two Kelpie galloped out of another ahead of a murderous looking Dileep.
Towards the back of the huge ship Ethan saw three more enemy Kelpie jump overboard. Dileep looked to Ethan who nodded and the Demon Lord and his aquatic minions jumped off and into the sea too.
“Blake! Reevy! Clean out the cargo hold! Baldr! Magnus! Disable the ship. Ellen! Shoot the helmsman in the shoulder. Vitalli, with us!”
The command wasn’t even considered to be disobeyed. Ethan was selected as a team leader for a reason. He knew how best to deploy resources and take initiative. Blake and Reevy instantly diverted to the nearest stairwell and disappeared, blades drawn and ready to slice and dice. Ellen, an excellent archer herself drew her bow, fitted an arrow, aimed and a man howled in pain from being shot in the shoulder as glass peppered his face in the wake of the arrow through said window.
A half dozen in heavy clothes were spotted gathering around a smaller individual, but before they could possibly vanish they were hit by a silver wave of fire that ignited their clothes and melted their skin. They screamed in pain, unable to focus as Ethan dropped down heavily. Panther’s claws cut off legs he cauterized and then ripped clothes off as soon as Ethan stopped the flames.
Writhing with third degree burns were two human Wizards, three grey skinned and hunched Ghouls and a female Elf. Seeing the Elf Ethan said “Make sure she doesn’t manage to leave.”
“She will not thwart me again.” Panther said and buried one long claw in her charred abdomen and held his power ready to unleash at the first sign of clear thinking.
Vitalli held both claymores at the Wizards and gruffly said “Ethan, I recognize these two.”
“Do tell!” he said and watched Ellen dragging her prisoner unconsciously by the ankle.
The stallion responded “They are Necromancers who defected with Michael Zing and were presumed dead after your involvement. This one branded the dead during the battle.” Pointing a blade at the whimpering man’s throat. “And this one supplied the energy to move the corpses. I should have known. I’ve seen that bomb they used before about forty years ago. Probably used others to increase the impact. Two class fourteen Wizards couldn’t have created the impact of that magnitude and remain conscious.”
Panther yowled. “They used the ghouls as extra power. Ghouls and Necromancers often coincide. Ghouls feed on corpses and the dying and Necromancers make excellent allies. This Elf helped them go beyond my grasp. I was late in returning, Master.”
“You couldn’t have known. Are these…”
“Yes. I had their scent and was about to run all over this world to hunt them down for this act. My search wasn’t long. The way I like it.” His tongue licked his snout as his eyes looked hungrily down at the Elf.
A rattling boom came from the bridge along with smoke as Baldr and Magnus came running out. The former laughed. “The ship’s disabled!”
Magnus smacked his partner upside the head. “You didn’t have to break the damn thing. I shut the engine down and took the keys.”
“Disable means ‘break shit’ to me.”
“Shut it!” Said Ethan and the smile melted off Baldr’s mug. There was a time and place. This wasn’t it.
Reevy appeared with blood on her knives saying “Lower deck secure. Had to kill a couple grimy Goblins guarding twelve crystals likely keeping the portals open. Blake is guarding them and wants to know if we should destroy them.”
Ethan sent his mind out and connected with his martial arts instructor. “Hold position and don’t touch them. Kanade, Kira or Dallare need to have a look. I’m sending Reevy to bring them down to you and see if it is safe. For all we know, any tampering could cause another explosion. How they targeted us so specifically needs to be found. Any explosives?”
“Negative. I do not think they expected us to board and overtake them. And understood. Holding position.” Reevy was already on the way.
A whinny off the port side had Ethan hurrying over to find Dileep holding a corpse of a Kelpie he had tracked down. A gash on the shoulder bled black blood and a second minion held a companion who was badly beaten, showing they had a hard battle beneath the surface.
“Hold on.” He called down and the fist hid most of his fingers to hide the fact of doing magic, but he created a netting spell that came up beneath the Demon Lord. A rope appeared in his hands and he pulled. It wasn’t a comfortable hoist, but Ethan pulled up the three horses with some effort. As soon as he got them up the net vanished.
Dileep spat out the one in his mouth, fangs stained black. “Two got away, Young Master. Lost them in a field of kelp a mile from here. They put up a fight I hadn’t expected. Please see to my…”
“This is going to hurt.” Ethan said as he knelt at the heavily wounded Kelpie after looking at just how bad the wounds are. “Ellen, the artery in his neck is cut. Sew it up while I cauterize the rest.” He said after an examination. “This is for the best.” And elbowed the horse in the back of the head to render him unconscious. It was quick and effective.
She clearly didn’t want to, but she had her orders and none of them could do what Dileep and his minions did underwater. Ellen whipped her tail and plucked a strong, long strand of pure white, pulled a needle from a pouch in her wrist and got down on her knees. She began closing the gushing artery, getting blackness everywhere.
Panther, Magnus, Baldr and Vitalli had control of the situation.
Burned flesh permeated the air as Ethan stopped all the bleeding. Ellen still worked by the time he got through and stood in front of Dileep. “It’s too deep for stitches. Bite down on my wrist.” Dileep closed his mouth over Ethan’s gauntlet, bit down hard and tensed as fire filled the gash in the shoulder. It was over quickly and the heat burned the nerves so the pain felt cooling. Dileep let go and said “Find anything out?”
“Not yet. We’re still securing the area.” He admitted as Kira and Dallare followed Reevy down after Kanade admitted the stairs were too narrow for her to fit down. Dileep’s Lamia slithered quickly with the rest of the group who were left behind. Nell had retrieved a few arrows and was quickly scanning the skies with Floa still standing on her shoulder. “Baldr, take Nell and secure the high ground. You scan the water while she does the sky.” H
e nodded and ran off.
“I think we are secure now, Young Master.” Dileep said as soon as the pair got up on the roof. “We must begin interrogation.”
“Who wants the honors?” he asked the crowd the moment he opened his mind and let Kanade back in to find she was unharmed and alright all the while helping Kira and Dallare figure out the crystals Blake guarded. He loved a woman who could multitask in troubling times.
Ellen finished staunching the artery and Ethan sealed the wound without saying anything. The patient didn’t flinch.
“Allow me, Master. It’s been a very long time since I’ve had the pleasure.” Purred Panther, loving the smell of fear the legless captives gave off.
“Ethan-sama, please I need you.” Kyoko admitted breathlessly. Demons can’t make energy. They take and store. Weakened already, Kyoko’s use of her powers diminished faster than she would admit.
Kanade scooped her lover up, walked away with Ethan and privately he let her feed from him. She kissed Kanade full on the lips as a ‘thank you’ and fed from him greedily.
Meanwhile, Panther twisted his imbedded claw and made the Elf scream louder. “You dared to harm my prince. Know this. All of you will die for it. How quickly the pain will end is all up to you. The Necromancers and Ghouls will share your punishment, but they aren’t smart enough to lay such a well timed trap. Elves are cunning… mostly.” He purred while others watched an ancient master. “It was you I saw gathering them not once, but twice. You clearly have some rank over these lesser ones. Tell me, who gave the order to make the attack?” She bit her bottom lip so hard she bled. “No? Fine by me then.” He twisted her insides with the same claw and she screamed. “Care to try again? No? My, you’ve got some strength. Too bad you will break from mine.”
She screamed and Panther was overcome with excitement. A cat with a mouse.
About the same time Kyoko regained her strength to what it was before the attack Panther was finished and Dileep allowed the two Kelpie who raced at his side and into battle to have the Necromancer’s souls. One was devoured and the other saved till the heavily wounded one regained consciousness. With permission, Magnus told Dileep Ethan said ‘Have at it.’ Those two souls were irredeemable.
03 Atavism of the Ifrit Page 24
