G.H.O.S.T. Teams: Book 1 - Magic (31 page)

Dancing around the Servant and his box were the two naked priest ladies. They looked identical in every way. They stood just under six-feet tall with athletic frames and copper skin. Their heads and bodies were completely devoid of hair allowing the light to shimmer across their attractive forms. There was a writhing to their movements that was giving off a strong sexual vibe. From their firm nipples to their gyrating hips, I got the impression that they were enjoying the ritual just a bit too much. I didn’t appreciate the distraction of sexy dancing women right before our battle.
 

“Well that’s just not fair,” I sighed.

Visine again rewarded me with a comedic snort before continuing his path towards the circle. Unfortunately for our stealthy approach there was a wide clearing around the henge. We would have to cross at least fifty feet of open ground before we reached the rocks. Years of crazy ninja training meant that I could make it unnoticed, but it would take time. Even if Visine could follow my ninja lead, time was not something that we had. So unless we wanted to bet on the fact that they were so involved in their ritual that they wouldn’t notice us, we had to make a decision. Visine’s solution was to draw his pistol and take aim.

It was a good plan. Taking the Servant out now should halt the ritual and save the world. At least that was our hope. There was an eerie silence to the forest as the sound of their chanting was being contained within the light dome. I heard nothing else but the distant chirping of crickets as Visine pulled the hammer back on his gun. He took a deep breath and after he exhaled he fired.

Unfortunately we will never know if his aim was true. The bullet ricocheted off of the wall of light as if it was a force field. Kara had mentioned that a summoning circle would provide protection but I didn’t realize that this was quite what she meant. At this point our only option was to hope that the force field only worked against inanimate objects. If people couldn’t pass through then we were really screwed. But since the rules of magic as Kara had explained them did seem to differentiate between living and non-living, I figured we had a chance.

The bad guys didn’t even flinch as the shot rang out. The Servant continued his grand arm movements and chanting, his head constantly falling back as he appeared to yell at the sky. The ladies however now seemed very much aware of our presence. Their dance didn’t stop as much as it slowed to a crawl before they each turned our way. They glided up towards the rocks immediately facing us, their movements eerie and almost mechanical. Unblinking black eyes, and I mean completely black, watched us as they moved. Their heads tilted side to side like an insect, which made it just a bit easier to ignore the fact that they were naked.
 

They each grabbed hold of a different stone and started to squirm against them. Jokes flooded my thoughts and before I could decide which insinuation about rock hard men would be the funniest, the stones started to glow. It was a gray light, almost like a midnight reflection of the moon off of a lake. As it grew brighter it took on an even more pronounced silver quality. Visine gave his review of the light show by firing three more shots. Since stealth was no longer an option we had both started hurrying towards the circle.

I hurled a blade to confirm that it wasn’t a bullet only force field. Visine emptied his pistol and reloaded to fire again. His bullets continued to rebound off of the shield, as did my blade. It was pretty clear that our only hope was that living beings could pass through the barrier. We quickened our pace and I hurled one more knife just to be sure. This one however didn’t just glance off of the shell but rather altered its flight path and stuck to one of the silver glowing rocks. The blade was on its side and attached to the rock as if it was magnetic. The silver glow started to intensify in step with the girls squirming and the tug on my weapons confirmed it.

“Ah crap, magnetic rocks,” I grumbled.

It was a small pull at first but I could feel it intensifying. Every metal object that I was carrying was being drawn towards the rocks. We were about a dozen feet from the stones when Visine released the grip on his gun. The pistol flew through the air and stuck to the side of the rock just as my blade had. If we didn’t act fast our own weapons were going to pin us to those rocks. So we stopped and started a rapid disarm.

I pulled blades out as fast as my hands could move, the magnetic force claiming them as soon as I released them. As the rocks collected more and more of our weapons it started to look like an interesting piece of modern art. Before I was able to remove my last two blades, the pull of the magnetic force tore the sheath right off of my arm. Visine had just managed to remove all of his guns from their holsters and his belt before the metal buckle on his sling was torn off. As the fabric ripped free and his injured arm flopped down to his side he let out a shallow grunt of pain.

The gazes of the black-eyed women were locked onto us as they wiggled their bodies against the rocks. Then, once they stopped their stone-love, the glow of the rocks diminished slightly. It didn’t vanish completely and it was clear from our weapons still sticking there that the magnetic effect remained in place. But apparently it no longer required their immediate attention to maintain. At that point they each stepped around their respective stone and exited the circle. There was a small shimmering halo effect that surrounded them as they broke the field.

I considered this a very good sign. By leaving the protection of the circle they were basically confirming that we were a threat. Whether because we could actually walk through the barrier or because we could somehow disrupt the ritual from out here, I couldn’t be sure. But one way or the other, we mattered. I let a thin smile cross my face as the girls stalked forward.

They moved in perfect harmony and the creepy inhuman nature of their gait was enhanced by their coordination. In a pose worthy of Wolverine they flung their hands out to their sides and six-inch claws sprang forth from the tips of their fingers. Their jaws opened farther than should be possible and revealed shark like rows of sharp pointy teeth. Their copper skin split right down the center of their bodies before being ripped off as if being pulled from behind. The discarded skin flopped to the ground with a sound like a wet towel.

In the world of small favors two shapely naked women no longer distracted me. Instead we now faced very dangerous looking alien bug ladies. Their bodies were covered in shimmering green scales that reminded me of the skin of a snake. Solid black eyes were now twice as big and curved up into the fold of their triangular foreheads. Jaws wide enough to swallow a football hung open to reveal rows and rows of sharp pointy teeth. It was like looking into the mouth of a great white shark. They had no ears and their noses had been replaced by gill like slits. Their body proportions were also off. Although they still stood about the same height, their arms and legs were now longer and thinner.

Continuing their stalk forward, still in unison, they glided across the ground towards us. With each step their movements became more and more alien. I didn’t know what they were, but one thing was for sure, I had never seen a human move like that. Our bones would never allow it. They stepped with a fluidity that made me question whether they even had a skeleton under all that lean muscle. Since Visine had been around much longer than me I wondered if he had encountered this creature before.

“Any idea what those are?” I asked.

“Yeah. Obstacles,” he replied sharply.

That got me to laugh. We had both started slowly stepping offline in order to create more space between us. While I don’t mind fighting in close proximity to an ally, the ladies were displaying enough synchronicity to make us want to keep them apart. I’d fought assassin teams in the past that worked in unison. Years of practice let their moves flow around each other in perfect harmony. It was a scary thing to witness and a pain to fight. And if the linked movements of the ladies were any indication this could be much worse. So we tried to remove any advantage that we could, especially since Visine’s arm was badly injured and I hurt all over.

My bug-lady glided to my left and then charged right at me. Her dark lidless eyes were almost more disturbing than her gaping mouth. Spinning like a demonic ballerina she swung her clawed hands at me. Her speed was such that I couldn’t even consider striking her back each time that it was presented to me. All I could do was continue to shift backwards and kept just out of range. I avoided dozens of attacks before I noticed a pattern that I thought might be helpful. She was varying the angles of her attacks and when she brought an uppercut of claws at my chin I moved. A backhand spring is probably far down on the list of things that a person should do in a fight, but here it was anyway.

My flip had created enough separation that she had to charge again. In an effort to be unpredictable I burst forward to meet her. She was fast, but so was I. Stepping my leg forward I just managed to drive the ball of my foot into her chest. The force of my kick drove her back far enough that her claws only caught my forearms. I cursed and continued forward, hoping to seize the tiny advantage that I had created.

She immediately sprang back at me, both arms swinging inward. I stepped in-between her arms and drove my forearms into her wrists in order to keep the claws at bay. Her flexible arms allowed her to slice my arms a bit but not before I drove my head forward. Being a hair taller than her meant that I was able to avoid her toothy bite as my forehead found hers. The impact caused her to hesitate for just a millisecond but it was all that I needed.

My hands were already inside of her guard so I drove them down with as much force as I could muster. It meant that her arms were free to attack, but I figured it was a fair trade off. The bottoms of my fists found her eyes and something akin to a yelp of pain escaped her mouth. Her claws slashed across my back halfheartedly as my attack must have stunned her. I continued to press forward, driving her backwards, and focusing my strikes on her head.

I threw punches, elbows, palms, and everything else that was available. Her leathery skin seemed to be absorbing the brunt of my attacks but I was still keeping her disoriented. Her claws slashed about wildly cutting me in dozens of places. After a nasty gash across my left thigh I knew I wasn’t going to win this war of attrition. It was time for a new plan.

An elbow strike gave my hand a good angle to grab the back of her head and pull down. My body had already jumped up before I even completed the hold. Yanking her head forward I positioned it in such a way as to say hello to my flying knee. She had closed her mouth enough that I hit her teeth head-on. It sounded like breaking glass as a shower of fangs rained down towards the ground. The impact stunned her for long enough that I could step around and pin her right arm to her back. Her skeletal system might be flexible but I doubted that it was unbreakable. I lifted with all of my might and finally found an odd angle that allowed me to snap the limb. She screamed in agony and her left arm shot back.

She managed to strike back with her left hand in such a way to make us even. Her claws tore into the front of my left shoulder and poked out the backside. The pain was immense and I couldn’t help but scream as my left arm went numb. At that point my instincts took over.

I reached my right hand across her face and felt her busted teeth sink into my forearm. Pain surged through my body as I snapped her head around and pulled my arm free of her bite. Pushing my chest against her back in order to keep her from turning with it, I twisted with every ounce of strength in my body. I spun her head around until her eyes were looking straight into mine. There was a series of pops and cracks as I turned her head past the breaking point. I was breathing through gritted teeth as the life faded from her eyes.

Ignoring the pain, I managed to pull her claws out of my shoulder. She dropped to the ground like a pile of squishy leather. A hissing sound preceded her body transforming into gray goo. The hissing intensified as the goo evaporated into a noxious smelling gas. After a few moments the cloud of vapor had all but vanished. I turned my battered body towards Visine just as he flung his opponent’s corpse to the ground. The same hissing sound accompanied his victory.

Visine and I were in rough shape, shuffling ourselves forward as quickly as we could. The orbus was flashing so fast at this point that it was almost a solid color. Something deep down in my gut told me that when it was solid red we were too late. Adrenaline and stubbornness allowed me to temporarily ignore the millions of pains across my body and sprint towards the Servant. Visine and I reached the perimeter of the rocks at about the same time. Neither of us hesitated as we plunged into the wall of light.

It felt like my entire body had just been flash burned. Thousands of invisible needles were stabbing me from every direction. The smell of burning flesh greeting my nostrils as my body locked up from the shock. My momentum carried me forward and past the burning shield, my body falling about ten feet short of the orbus. As the tingling started to fade I lifted my head enough to see the Servant. I caught a glimpse of the deep red color of my skin as I forced my arms under me and pushed against the ground in an attempt to stand.

Every movement was a fight. I half crawled, half stumbled forward reaching for the orbus. I just wanted to grab hold of one of those struts and pull. If I could break it or even shift its position it might be enough to interrupt the spell. My hand was just inches away when the flashing ceased and the sphere shined a solid red. There was a bright flash of crimson as a thunderous beam of energy exploded up into the sky.

A shock wave of force erupted from the orbus and flung me onto my back. I had a great vantage point to look up and see the beam coalesce into the image of a woman. She was over a hundred feet tall and radiating power. Her body was semi-translucent and wavering like she was a spirit. She tilted her head and stretched out her arms as if she was waking from a good night’s sleep. Her image became more solid and it was harder and harder to see the night sky behind her. At that point my attention was drawn to an evil cackle coming from the direction of the Servant.