Novels2Search
Every Part of the Gods
Chapter 17 - Streaks of Light

Chapter 17 - Streaks of Light

Ripping through the air, the sound of thunderbolts fills everyone’s ears. Kneeling and looking to the sides of the moving cart, streaks of light move across the prairie in small, straight lines, multiple times almost reaching the cart but missing it by some meters.

Above the eyes of everyone present, there also rose a pair of bunny, white-haired ears. To Fleck’s left, there was a woman, half rabbit, white-haired, brown skin, wearing a simple brown dress adjusted at her waist and a red collar at her neck.

-”Can you hear it?”- Fleck asks.

-”All the roars have been the same until now.”- The bunny woman replies with a soft, deep voice.

-”Keep listening then. The very moment you hear one that is different, tell us.”-

She just nods.

As if they have been heard, suddenly, these streaks of light start converging into one straight line, scorching the grass at their pass. At a single sound then was made, one that Fleck and everyone besides the bunny woman’s ears couldn’t catch.

-”Now!”- She yells.

-”To the right, boss!”- Fleck yells.

Fleck sees how Masha lowers a lever he had in front of him to the right, and a mechanical sound could be heard, making the cart vibrate from under it. The streaks of light converged into line and in one move the lunged against the right side of the cart, hitting it and pushing it way off the way, making everyone in the cargo area lose their grip and fall onto the floor. Fleck particularly is thrown off, hitting his head against one of the many things Masha is moving towards New Arcadia.

As Masha brings the cart back to the road, Fleck can hear -”Are you ok?”-

Looking up, he sees that the bunny woman spoke, having already incorporated herself and tending a hand to Fleck, a look of worry reflected on her otherwise inexpressive face.

Pushing her hand aside, Fleck kneels once more and says -”Keep focused. The reinforced crimson mithril slab worked, yet you saw how much these beasts managed to still push us, even with their magic totally nullified. One small mistake and the cart will be either torn apart by the middle or turned over. Either option would spell our doom, since we can’t outrun them.”-

-”But-”- The bunny woman replies as she reaches her hand on Fleck's forehead -”You’re bleeding.”-

Catching her hand, he replies -”Don’t sweat the small stuff. Focus on the job you have been given, Deborah.”-

At the mention of that name, her collar gleams once more with a red light. Deborah groans, taking back her hand and putting both on the ground -”I, I understand!”- she exclaims.

With that, the red collar stops glowing with that red light, the pain she was feeling going away.

The streaks of light start joining once more, and Deborah hears the unique roar again, at which she says -”Now!”-

Being taken by surprise, Fleck in a hurry looks over his side of the cart to the grasslands, worried that they may once more be coming from his side, yet at the same time he looks, Hashi’s voice crosses the air yelling -”Masha, the left!”-

The slab is dropped, this time on the left side of the cart, just in time to catch up the ram of the streaks of light against the cart. The cart is again pushed way out of the road, this time even more than the first ram, enough to make Fleck vault over his side and end up outside of the cart, holding with both hands.

Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.

Looking to the sides, Fleck catches how the Arcadian Cheetahs phase through the cart in their ghostly, ethereal form, and then they regain back their physical form, the crystal they have in multiple parts of their bodies starting to shine and enveloping them in a mantle of light, almost in an instant.

As Masha brings back the cart onto the road and the cheetahs become again streaks of light, scattering around the speeding cart once more, Fleck tries to pull himself up back into the cart, but a sudden haziness makes him lose the strength in both arms.

At this, Fleck focuses on both hands, enough to at least not fall down. At this moment, looking to his left, his eye catches how a single streak of light puts itself in position and lunges towards him. He tries to take out his sword, but a leg with a red shackle suddenly appears in front of him, hitting the streak of light head-on, burying it into the ground. Then, two delicate arms grab both of his just as Deborah’s voice crosses the air yelling -”To the right, master!”-

Just as Fleck is brought up, a slab appears in front of him, having to shift to his side under the floating cart, right above the engine, using a rotational mechanism. Putting his feet on it, Fleck takes advantage of the leg up as the streaks of light once more hit the cart, sending it spinning this time in the process and hitting a tall tower.

Fleck opens both eyes only to see Deborah now on top of him, embracing him with both arms. She has many cuts and now is bleeding too.

-”What…”- Fleck starts saying, but soon he stops and then says -”Thanks. Now, get off.”- As he incorporates himself and slightly pushes Deborah away. Making her sit in the cart against the wall that divides the cargo and the driver’s section, Fleck then looks back at the grassland, seeing how the streaks of light are going around and have already started to converge.

Hmm… I think this might work…

Breathing slowly in, then slowly out, Fleck then starts chanting:

Accepting the light,

Rejecting the light,

Accepting love,

Rejecting love,

Now there’s no light or love…

Desplazamiento.

Guarding this spell on his Runic Sword, he then waits for it. If he is late even for an instant, then they all might be gone. Seeing the patterns and how they almost completely converge, all the streaks open in all directions and come back into one point. Anticipating this, Fleck fires the spell at that point where they would converge, making a hole where the earth should be, making them fall into it accompanied by a strong explosion.

Once they are in that state, they can’t turn it off until they run out of Ether…

Multiple howls can be heard in the distance. Raising his eyes, Fleck sees how multiple cheetahs appear over the horizon. Gripping his sword, he bits his lower lip as he prepares to engage, yet following the howls the sound of a big bell breaks the air, at which the cheetahs just contort on the floor and some even die there, as other scurry away.

-”You can relax the grip on your sword, Fleck.”- Fleck hears from behind. Turning, he sees Masha coming to him, also bleeding -”We have made it to the first safe point in the safe lane of Arcadia.”- He says, pointing to his back at the huge tower they just crashed against, and the huge wall that extended to both sides, far into the distance.