The twin Draugen rushed me and I pulled my hand backward. The table levitating behind the Necro shot forward and slammed into his back. Then I raised my other hand and summoned forth my power. Channelled it into a Telekinetic binding. One of the Draugen slammed to a halt and thrashed about snarling. The other one barrelled right through my binding and straight for me.
I released the table covering the Necro and slammed my left hand outwards, the Draugen took the brunt of the Telekinetic blast and was sent reeling backwards to slam into a wall. But within second’s it was back on its feet and stomping towards me.
The Necromancer on the other hand scrambled to sit up and wipe the foul blood off his face. His own eyes were now a sunken black void. His skin far paler than it had been.
I needed to keep the Necromancer out of this fight so he couldn’t control his minions more fully.
I summoned forth my power again, and felt it sluggishly obey. Then I shot my arm out and raised it quickly into the air. The Necro shot into the ceiling and went limp as he fell. Then the Draugen I had managed to bind was free and racing at me. Its twin not far between behind it.
I flung both of my arms out as if to part the twins and they stumbled off balance. The second one tumbling across the floor. The ceiling buckled and a bloody spear point punched through the wood. I took the opportunity and to snap my hand out, summoned power, and blasted a Draugen into the ceiling using Levitation. Except my power’s did nothing more than rock the Draugen still on its feet back a step.
“What the hell. I’m out of juice already?” I gasped and shot a quick look down at my arms as I summoned my power. The starry-purple aura that usually accompanied the bearing of my ability, was minimal. Barely a layer of power flowed an inch above my arms.
The Draugen reached me and lashed out for my neck. I leaned away and dove to my right as its nails suddenly extended four inches in length and almost sliced open my face. I hit the ground and rolled. My ankle crunched and I panicked as the second Draugen caught a hold of my leg.
Then the undead fiend swung me off my feet and slammed me into a wall.
I coughed as my head swam, my chest compressed, and my ribs ground together irritably.
“H-holy…fuck!” I wheezed, stumbling onto my hands and knees. I summoned power an instant before the lead Draugen leapt into the air to pin and crush me. I blasted the ground beneath me with Telekinesis and shot off the ground into a spin.
As my vision swam I snapped my left hand out and pushed out against the wall to shoot across the room. The second Draugen jumped and intercepted me.
We crashed in a tumble of limbs as I punched out with my fists and caught it twice in the face. Its own hands lashed out with their elongated nails slicing across my chest as the other dung deeply, penetrating into my shoulder.
I screamed in agony and slammed both of my hands flat against it head. The twin Telekinetic forces twisted the Draugen head and squished it into a disgusting ‘S-like’ shape.
Not even that stopped it. It thrashed backward, its nails withdrew painfully from my shoulder sliced down on the inside of my right arm.
“Just fucking die!” I yelled into its contorted face, and summoned everything I could as I slammed my left fist into the centre of its chest.
There was a concussive blast, that pushed me backwards skidding across the room. The Draugen slammed into the ceiling, shot through the second floor, to smash into the roof. A seven-foot hole blasted through the floor above following the Draugen’s wake.
Through the debris raining down I saw that Karen, and Patricia had been facing off against another Draugen and a man whose head was made of fire.
“I thought that the ASP were anti-super’s!” I shouted up at the girls. The other Draugen I’d been fighting. Was crouched beside its masters limp body.
“Karen!” I shouted in alarm. As the Draugen picked up the unconscious Necromancer. I summoned my sluggish power but all I could manage to do was the hold the door long enough to inconvenience the Draugen. It kicked the door off its hinges a second after the petite blonde dropped through the hole in the ceiling.
“Eli?” she called out with worry upon seeing me.
“Don’t worry about me,” I assured her, seeing that Patricia was still contending with the flame head above. “Stop the Draugen that just left. It was carrying the Necromancer.”
The blonde Stormcaster nodded firmly and shot out through a busted window, her lightning spear Braken leading in front of her. I ignored the afterimage of her round pert ass in her armoured shorts and stumbled to my feet.
“Come on, come on,” I hissed as I summoned power’s yet again. This time it came a little easier, and I shot my hand out. A black glassy knife slapped into the palm of my hand and I frowned, recognising it as belonging to the Necro.
A part of me recoiled at the prospect of using the tainted man’s weapon. Likely used for sacrificial offerings, or something else just as sinister.
I ran in a mad-dash for the stairs and half-stumbled up them. When I made it to the room Patricia was fighting in I had to stop and gawk at the sight.
Patricia was in an armoured tightfitting combat suit. The shiny metallic black and pale red scheme looked menacing and feminine. The small twin thrusters on her back and beneath her feet kept her mobile, making it easier to dodge the whipping chain of ethereal ghostly fire.
The head inside the flame on top of the man’s body, was a ghastly black skull with horns protruding from atop it. The skull laughed maddeningly and spun about its chain. The blocky weight at the end of the metallic links carried its strikes more forcefully.
Patricia hadn’t been idly dodging the man’s attacks either. Her own plasma blasts were proving ineffective against the spinning chain, yet a few had found their marks. Singed holes and burning blast zones pocked the flame-skulls body. But it seemed to largely shrugged off the blasts with no concern.
I needed to help.
I held out my hand up palm flat. The Necromancer’s glassy dagger lay across my palm. I summoned my power and it came readily, surrounding the blade. Then I twisted my hand and outstretched, the dagger falling and levitating in my Telekinetic Grip.
Just as the Flame-skulls weighted chain snapped out taut for Patricia armoured head. I intercepted the strike by shooting the dagger out and driving the weight off course.
Patricia head snapped around and saw me. She gave me a nod of thanks and snapped her arm forward, aiming at flame-skull. Instead of a plasma burst shooting from the palm of her hand. A small dock extended out from atop her wrist and seven tiny missile-like darts shot rapidly out to spiral around the room.
Flame-skull grunted, his maddening laugh cut off as a few of the tiny missiles impacted. He managed to strike a few out of the air. Resulting in small concussive implosion’s.
I whipped the Necro’s dagger around the room and shot it straight for the centre of the horned skulls head. The dagger punched through straight on target. Patricia wasted no time in jumping at the enemy, her thrusters boosting her leap. She kicked out and struck her foot into the pommel of the dagger.
The flames around the skull buffed out and extinguished. The body flopped backwards, and the horned skull toppled away and rocked on the floor.
“Holy…shit,” the Technomancer laughed breathily, as her armoured helmet receded back towards her jawline to revealed her face. “That was fucking intense. Thanks for the save there, purple.”
“Save the thanks for later,” I panted. “One of the Draugen grabbed the Necromancer and made a run for it. Karen’s in pursuit.”
The raven-haired woman nodded gravely and looked about herself before quickly scooping up the horned skull.
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“Trophy?” I asked her inquisitively.
“Something like that,” she mumbled as her helmet flowed back up around her head. “Let’s go, help Karen. One Draugen was a pain in the ass enough, without this assholes support.” She tapped the skull and dropped through the hole in the second floor.
I dropped also, but quickly managed to catch myself by pushing Telekinetically against the floor below. Essentially slowing my descend. I raced after the Technomancer as she burst out of the house with thruster boosted speed. I panted as I ran down street of my neighbourhood, far lagging behind the raven-haired woman.
I saw that Karen was fighting with two Draugen, and the Necromancer was slowly becoming conscious one again, from where he lay prone on the road.
One of the Draugen’s fighting the Stormcaster had a distortedly squished head in two place. “How the fuck to you kill these things?” I shouted ahead of me.
Patricia skidded to a halt and spun around to throw the horned skull at me. I caught the skeletal head in my Telekinetic grip and kept it aloft.
“You either kill the Necromancer. Or electrocute the holy hell out of them. It stuns them for a rather long period,” she told me, and I watched as she brought both of her hands and concentrated.
“That’s it?” I asked in disbelief.
“It’s all we can do. These fuckers aren’t even meant to be here anymore. Now shut up!” she snapped at me, as she concentrated. She brought her palms apart and I saw electricity dancing back and forth between her hands. “Karen!” the Technomancer shouted and the blonde whipped about to plant the butt of her spear into road. A flash of lightning shot down from the rather clear skies overhead and struck her spear.
Then the blonde acrobatically spun her lightning charged spear and blasted it forward in a thrust as she leapt at a Draugen. Patricia suddenly cried out and pushed her palms out toward the Draugen with the squished head. A lance of electricity shot from her hands and arched towards it.
The electrical light played across its ashen body and halted its advance. It spasmed rigidly. The Draugen Karen was facing, collapsed a moment later. A charred smoking whole in the centre of its chest. Her spear sailed through the air and rocketing back into the blondes hands.
“What is happening…?” mumbled the Necro and I summoned my power. With a casual raise of my hand I caught the Necro with a Telekinetic Choke.
The Necromancer sunken void black eyes widened as he began to panic and flail in my grasp. I pressed harder and more intently, feeling my anger burning hotly.
“Elias,” Patricia said gently but firmly to me. Her hand placed atop of my outstretched one. “We need him alive.”
“Alive. These fuckers have my mom,” I spat looking at her with my white burning gaze.
“Maybe,” she partially agreed. “But…this,” she waved to towards th struggling Necromancer as I choked him. “Is bigger than that. Necromancers aren’t supposed to exist here. At least not anymore there not.”
I looked at her, searching her striking face as she stared intently back at me. Finally I sighed and nodded. I released my hold on the Necro and he slumped to the ground weakly.
“You,” he gasped. “Won’t,” he gasped again. “Get away from us, this time.”
“Oh, shut up!” Karen huffed and smacked the butt of Braken against the Necromancer’s forehead knocking him out flat.
“We need to move now. Our display of power and with so many signatures in one place. The SPBI Locator is bound to pick this reading up. In fact, I bet the Locator in Ziila is picking this up also,” the Technomancer snorted derisively.
I took a deep calming breath and threw my will into changing back into my human guise. A few short second later, my slightly tanned skin was all I saw through my torn-up shirt.
“I didn’t even get a chance to pick up some of my clothes,” I huffed annoyed, and glanced back up the street towards the dark shadow of my home.
~*~*~*~
With the ASP Necromancer slung over Karen’s shoulder, and the extinguished flame-skull in my care. Still with the Necro’s glassy black dagger planted firmly through its thick head. We ran back to the Technomancer’s car.
Patricia reached it ahead of us and quickly opened the back doors through which the Stormcaster threw the Necromancer within and hopped in afterwards. I climbed into the front passenger seat. Patricia sat down, her combat armour receded back across her body and retreated in a series of bands about her person.
Then, as calmly as possible we sped out of there. My home and neighbourhood quickly left behind. For some reason, I felt a strange sweeping feel of melancholy overcome me. I suspect that it’ll be a while until I’ll see home once again. Even then it would matter very little if my mom wasn’t there to greet me.
I looked back over my shoulder. Karen sat opposite me, directly behind Patricia who was focused on her driving. The Stormcaster had her Braken had the ready, the spears point resting against the Necromancers neck should he wake and try something.
Then something else caught my eye, movement encroaching behind us out the rear window. The damned Draugen with the squished head was chasing after our vehicle. Small currents of electricity still arch across its body.
“Ah shit,” I muttered and placed the extinguished flame-skull between my feet as I wound down the passenger window.
“What’re you doing?” the Technomancer snapped at me, as she drove weaving around passing cars.
“Don’t you see the obedient idiot running after us,” I called as I stuck my torso out of the window. I focused on maintaining my human guise and supplanted that thought firmly at the back of my mind.
Then I summoned my power. The aura of Telekinesis swarmed around my outstretched arm, as I focused intently on the Draugen chasing us.
“Want me to take care of it?” Karen asked me, but I ignored her and Patricia’s cursing. The Draugen chased us like an obedient hound running to its master. Who was blissfully unconscious at the tip of Karen’s spear. It was strange seeing my power run over my human appearing arm.
It was like the inverse of light and colour. My arm appeared a stark white within the starry-purple void. I focused intently and pressed my power to follow my will, drawing a bubble of Telekinetic force into my hand. I pressed on my power even more.
Hardening the surface of the force bubble, condensed it down, shrinking the hardened bubble as far as it could go. I couldn’t exactly see my power’s in action. But I knew my Telekinesis followed my will and intent as far as I could my imagination and mind allowed it.
Then, as we rode around a corner breaking sight of the Draugen I finished gathering power, and waited exhaustedly for it to reappear. The second its squished head broke around the bend at a run. I released my bullet of force. The two cars of which the bullet passed by veered off to the side as their glass windows were cracked or shattered. Then the Telekinetic force bullet slammed into the Draugen’s chest, its lower half flopped to the ground and skidded roughly eight-feet before stopping.
It’s entire upper half had been pulverised into dust. I sank back down into my seat and sighed tiredly as I wiped the sweat from my face with my ruined shirt.
“Well, that was informative,” I muttered.
“Really?” Patricia asked dryly.
“Yes. That’s three things that can kill a Draugen now.” I looked into the sideview mirror and saw people exiting their car and calling to each other. One, a woman even approached the severed lower half the Draugen. Then she started to scream.
“Poor bastards,” I shook my head. “We taking this asshole back to our base then?”
“Our…base?” Karen spoke up curiously.
“I doubt I’ll be going anywhere soon,” I sighed again.
“Ophelia will love that,” the blonde murmured.
“As if you don’t as well,” Patricia snorted from beside me. “To answer your question, Eli. Yes. I have a box we can him in. It’ll keep him in stasis until I can build something to contain an actually prisoner.”
“As long as we find out where these assholes have taken my mom, I don’t care where we put him,” I blinked and rubbed my temples. An headache forming behind my eyes. “Why the fuck were supers working with a bunch of ASP society members. And a bloody Necromancer...”
“We’ll discuss it when we get back and can update Ophelia. Having a Healer with us when we eventually interrogate him, will be handy.” The Technomancer reached over, and patted my thigh. A little too close to my groin for comfort.
We arrived back at the Witching Cove, an hour or two later. I didn’t know what time it was as I slept most of the way there.
My mind proved far more exhausted than my body.
The three of us and guest, stumbled into the bar and was greeted by Ophelia immediately. She looked overly concerned and threated about everything as she saw us.
“Whose this then?” she asked curiously and peer at the unconscious form on the floor.
“Necromancer,” Karen sighed as her spear flashed a brilliant blue light and shrank into her palm. Then the blonde attached it to her choker. Her outfit returned to her casual clothing as well.
Patricia on the other hand, was detaching bands from various places around body. She placed them down on the bar and turned to the angelic-woman.
Ophelia’s face stricken with horror.
“But- I thought we dealt with them long ago. Necromancer’s are Gifted… not Super’s…” the angelic woman said horrified, and seemed to place a special emphasis on the term ‘Gifted.’
“They are,” Patricia agreed. “Which is why this worries me. Not to mentioned the fact that he was working with the ASP members at the house next to Eli’s.”
“It doesn’t make any sense,” I grumbled tiredly and rubbed my eyes as I leaned on the extinguished flame-skull.
“And…that?” Ophelia asked me hesitantly gesturing at the black skull.
“Was flaming skull.”
“Oh-kay,” the angelic woman nodded and walked behind the bar. Her wings fluttering agitatedly as she began preparing drinks.
“Quick question?” I asked. “What’s so strange about Necromancers anyway. I know there’s been a few before and they supposedly caused quite a horrific mess.”
“It’s not Necromancer’s specifically,” the Technomancer replied cautiously. Her eyes darted to the other women quickly. “It’s the… classes they advance into. Lich, and then Arch-Lich that are the major problems.”
“Why?”
“Because each class, weakens the base Necromancers mind. And his constraint.”
“When they advance into a Lich,” Ophelia picked up, unexpectedly. “They begin the advance archetype of making Thralls, and seeded Necromancers. Not true Necro’s, but a portion of the Liches power made manifest. From there the seeded Necromancer’s begin making Draugen. Eventually, if left alone. Legions of Draugen, Seeded Necromancers, and other vile undead are an army.”
“And the Lich is now an Arch-Lich,” Karen finished.
“How do we know if this Necromancer is… seeded… as you put it?”
“We won’t until we question him. But either way his involvement with the ASP is definitely more worrying. As well as Flame-skull there,” Patricia nodded to the skull I rested on. I had thought to pull the dagger out, but determined that it was likely the skull would reignite if I did so.
“Can you built a container for it as well?” I asked the dark-haired woman as she accepted a drink from Ophelia.
“Of course. For now, we’ll tuck both away in stasis coffins until we’re ready. So hopefully tomorrow night we’ll interrogate the Necromancer and find out about your mother.”
This novel is the work of Rhys Thomas. If you are reading this and it has not been published by Rhys Thomas, then this work has been stolen. Please report this to Amazon and me at email: [email protected]