Geist Warriors 2: Chapter 8

“So you had a run in with the rogue warriors,” Betty said looking at the trio of warriors.

Samantha nodded. “It wasn’t pleasant.”

“How is your hand?” Lily asked.

Rubbing her hand slowly she groaned. “It’s just sore now.”

“Good. Though the fact that his weapon managed to harm your hand through your gauntlet is a startling.”

“Yes it is,” Samantha repeated. “Though I’m more concerned about the hole that he was digging.”

“You didn’t have a chance to investigate it?”

“No,” she said. “But he complained about the work he was doing. That the wraiths were slave drivers in a lot of ways.”

Betty paced around her hotel room her arms folded. “It doesn’t make sense. I’ve never heard of wraiths that would willingly cooperate with warriors. Let alone plot something together. Whatever is in that hole has to be something special. And not good for the rest of us.”

“Not good at all,” Lily sat up. “That construction site. During the day there has to be regular workers doing business, right? They shouldn’t be able to do their operation at the same time? It would cause too much trouble. Attract too much attention.”

“Or,” Dick suggested. “That they’re all working with them.”

The room grew quiet at that idea. “A typical construction job is at least a dozen people. Probably two dozen. Would all of them be rogues?”

Betty waved her hand. “No. If there were that many other warriors in the city we’d know it. I think this operation is small. They’re doing their best to remain hidden for the time being.”

“What about the guy from the other day. That attacked Dick on the bus?” Lily asked. “That wasn’t exactly conspicuous.”

“No it wasn’t,” Samantha thought, holding her hand to her lip for a moment. “Wait wait. The other guy. The one in the hole. He mentioned another, named Hunter. Talked like he was an impulsive guy. Called him annoying.”

Dick’s hands fidgeted as he remembered the encounter. “When I was fighting the guy, he said he understood why I was called one of the kings. Him going after me probably wasn’t a part of the plan.”

“So, we know there’s at least two of them.” Betty said. “No idea how many wraiths are with them.”

“Tres.”

The women all looked toward him. “Three?” Betty repeated.

Looking at the two of his friends Dick finally turned and glanced at Betty. “Yesterday I met mi hermano.”

“Your brother? The one who’s supposed to be dead?” Betty repeated with her eyebrow raised.

“Si. And I didn’t tell you two the full story. Just most of it.”

Lily and Samantha looked at him closer and Dick sighed holding the pendant tighter. “When I met my brother, he saved me. I was fighting a wraith and it got the better of me. And suddenly my brother was there. He had a geist and he took it down in one hit.”

No one spoke in the room or even moved. Dick leaned clasping his hands together. “He said he wanted to see me. Told me and tio to leave the city. And then he just vanished.”

“So your brother came back from the dead as a geist warrior,” Betty said processing it slowly. “And you think he may be working with the wraiths? What got you to that conclusion?”

“Me and mi hermanos names, Richard and Rey, both mean King. No one would know that other than us because it’s a nickname that mi mama gave me and mi hermano.”

“Dick,” Samantha reached toward him touching his arm lightly and he shook his head. “Alright. So there’s three warriors and we don’t know how many Wraiths there are.”

“So what’s our plan then?” Lily asked.

“We investigate the hole. See where it goes. Maybe we can discover what they’ve been digging towards. And then take the wraiths down and fill the hole.” Betty suggested. “And we do so carefully. We don’t know what we’re up against.”

“I agree,” Samantha said glancing at them. “If all four of us commit to this hole and it turns out to be a trap no one will be able to protect the city.”

“So, what do you suggest?” Betty asked folding her arms and leaning against the corner of the wall.

“That we take a smaller group to investigate the hole. Maybe just two of us. And the other two stay behind to keep watch over the city. We check in at regular intervals to make sure everyone is safe. If one group doesn’t check in we abandon our mission and go to try and help the other. If that works?” she asked glancing at Betty.

“Don’t look at me,” she smiled. “You’re coming up with a good plan so far. So how do you want to break up the teams?”

She nodded surprised by the praise and allowed herself a smile before glancing around. “You and Lily will work together. You both have defensive geist and since you’re going into the unknown as well as not focusing on fighting it’ll be okay. Me and Dick will keep watch over the city and try not to engage in anything more than normal wraiths if we find them. If we find any of the Rogue’s we’ll notify you.”

They nodded one by one and Samantha took a deep breath. “Alright. Let’s move then.”

Betty stood up and glanced at Lily who was already up and taking a breath. “You said it was on Jefferson, right?” Lily asked and she gave a nod. “Alright I can lead the way.”

Before she got too far Dick reached out to grasp her hand. She looked at him and tried to smile. “It’ll be fine Dick. Me and Betty got this and if we’re lucky it’ll end up being nothing.”

Dick still wasn’t entirely convinced but gave a slow nod at her. “Ten cuidado.”

“Same to you.”

Lily and Betty left the hotel going toward the train station. Lily stood, holding onto one of the railings and looked toward Betty. “Dick’s brother was killed. Eaten by the wraith. But Dick said he saw him yesterday. Flesh and blood. How is that possible?”

“That I don’t have an answer for. I believe what Dick said but maybe what he saw wasn’t right. Something wrong. A trick from the wraiths maybe.”

“For his sake. I hope it’s a trick. I don’t want to have to force him to fight his own brother.”

“If we come to that bridge, we’ll help him cross it.”

Lily made a face but gave a short nod. They road the train for a few minutes but stood and braced for when the train eventually stopped. Even from where they were she could see the construction. When they hit the ground level the streets weren’t as loud as they normally were.

A few cars in the distance and a police siren but no sound of machines working or people shouting. As they approached the site properly, Lily looked and saw that the entire place had been roped off by yellow tape. Then she saw the destruction of one of the vehicles and the supports of the other buildings.

“It seems Samantha and her opponent caused quite the commotion,” Betty said stepping under the tape.

“I didn’t think it had been this bad,” Lily mumbled following behind her. “Then again if she hurt her geist the fight must have gotten out of hand.”

“Indeed.”

Betty walked down the path of the site and noted the overturned vehicle. It was heavily dented near the driver’s side door. Much of the ground had been kicked up from their battle. Some spots had been frozen over and she was certain that was the remains of Samantha’s ice.

Turning she walked to the hole in the ground that had started all the commotion. Lily stood beside her and both tried to peer into the darkness but neither of them could see much down there. The lights that were hanging within weren’t on but they could see them at least hanging from within. The hole went down about a dozen feet and there was a rope ladder setup for someone to climb down.

“Do you want to go first?” Lily asked nervously.

Betty chuckled. “Expecting something to be down there waiting for us?”

 “Kinda.”

Betty smiled and went to the ladder. “If something does come and attack me I hope you’ll give me a hand.”

“Of course. Wait a second,” Lily pulled out her phone and quickly opened up the group chat.

            Lily:                 We’re at the tunnel. Checking in like supposed to.

            Samantha:      Me and Dick are hanging around downtown.

                        Samantha:      Keeping an eye out just in case some wraiths show up to cause 

                                                trouble.

                        Dick:                Be careful.

                        Lily:                 You too.

Lily nodded quickly and looked back at Betty. “Alright. Let’s do this.”

Betty lowered herself into the hole grasping the rungs of the ladder and began to descend. As she went she felt the opposite side of the wall against her back. There was maybe half a foot of distance away from her back and other side of the hole and she wasn’t a fan of that.

When her feet finally hit the ground she turned and sure enough there was a tunnel awaiting her. It was about six and a half feet high so she had to crouch slightly to avoid the ceiling. “Come on Lily. So far so good!”

Climbing down the ladder slowly it jostled under the new weight and she let out a small shout but kept herself under control. Gripping the ladder tighter she took another breath and went down steadily before landing on the stone ground. It was surprisingly solid. She stamped it a few times then turned to face the hole before them.

It was the dark abyss forward that sent a shudder down her spine. She couldn’t see more than a few feet forward and even of that it was like the darkness was latching onto everything trying to expand forward. A chill crept down her spine and it felt like she was facing down a wraith but there was nothing to see.

Lily took a step back and Betty stepped in front of her, “I can feel it too. Something’s wrong in there.”

“And normal people can’t even sense this,” Lily mumbled fighting the urge to take another step back.

“Indeed. It’s just us,” she said softly. “No point in going in carelessly.”

Her geist manifested around her, the armor clicking into place quickly. Once the helmet covered her face she shook her shoulders and stepped forward. Lily followed suit and let her geist form. The cloak and mask wrapped around her comfortably and the floating claws on either side of her were reassuring.

“Ready?”

“Ready.”

Betty took priority as they walked through the tunnel. She kept her head down but eyes up so she walked in an awkward crouch. Lily was directly behind her in the same way keeping pace. The hands from her geist rested at her shoulders almost overlaying her own. She could wear them if she wanted to but she wanted the arms ready.

The path had been hacked out by something crude and blunt, the walls roughly cleaved and broken apart. No smooth passage from the front down. There were rocks spilling out onto the ground and the path sloped downwards in random places and jerked upwards in others.

They walked for several long minutes but the path continued to be straight. No turns or curves, just a man beating his hammer through the tunnel itself. The longer they walked the darker the tunnel became.

“Should I try and give us a bit of light?”

“I think that’s a capital idea.”

Lily got out her phone, dialing through the settings before turning on the flashlight. The beam sliced through the darkness and showed that it wasn’t going to be just an empty tunnel for long. There was an end and it was still barely carved out, a new hole in the wall opening into something else.

Betty and Lily exchanged a glance before quickening their pace, stumbling over rocks. When they finally reached the end, both stopped just a few feet away. Lily tried to take a step forward but an unease gripped her heart. Like a hand of something squeezing on her throat.

Betty forced herself forward, one step at a time until she hit the lip of the tunnel. It was cold with an ominous pressure like a weight on her shoulders and ankles. There were markings along the walls, almost like symbols. Could they have been words? Looking back she saw that they weren’t there before.

 Glancing back at Lily she noticed that she hadn’t moved that much closer to the wall. She was stuck in the spot, almost frozen. Whatever the pressure from this tunnel was, Lily was not at all prepared to deal with it.

“Are you alright Lily?”

She shook her head. “I don’t know. I feel like I can’t move.”

“Like something’s weighing you down?” Betty asked gritting her teeth.

“Exactly like that.”

“Breathe and take it one step at a time. One foot in front of the other. I’m going to need you up here.”

Lily gave a short nod and made her way over. It was a slow trudge forward but she got there. Staring at the empty darkness that the tunnel transitioned into she felt a cold shiver down her spine. Just staring at the symbols on them she reached toward one and her hand flinched away.

“I can see the etchings but I don’t understand or recognize the language.”

“Neither do I,” Betty replied.

“It’s not entirely dug out either,” Lily rubbed her jaw. “Did they start doing this and suddenly stop?”

Betty turned around a whine echoing in her ears. At the head of the tunnel a glowing orb flew at them on a metal chain. Her eyes widened and stepped forward spreading her arms. “Lily get behind me!”

She tried to catch it, grasping for it but the point of the weapon slipped past her fingers and struck her chest. The following explosion sent her flying backwards. Lily’s arms tried to catch her but she slammed into her and they blown, through the tunnel and into the darkness.

Kicking up a cloud of dust they both got to their feet. They were in a crypt, shelves of stone going upward around them with a sturdy metal boxes resting on them. The air was cold and smelled ancient. Before they could investigate it, a noise caught their attention at the entrance.

“Is it a wraith?” Lily asked squinting through the noise in her ears.

A shape stood in front of the tunnel both hands in their pocket. “I had a hunch that you may have tried to explore this location. My caution is paying off.”

“So Dick was right,” Betty narrowed her eyes staring at the spitting image of Dick and she felt her heart ache for the boy. “You’re Rey aren’t you?”

“Hm. So you know his brother,” a new voice said the sound soft and cold. “But that familiarity isn’t going to spare you here. And this place is very much not welcoming to newcomers.”

Betty shuddered within her armor and raised her arm. “Lily stay close to me.”

“Yes captain,” she moved closer the arms flexing around her. She kept her eye on Rey despite how looking at him made her think of her best friend every time. On top of that the new voice sent chills down her spine.

Betty watched the darkness, her eyes straining before finally seeing the creature slink forward. It walked on two legs, dusting its hands together. Its hair was long and eyes sharp but skin was a deep black. A thin line sliced across as its mouth, showing the flames within. Its eyes were shut but it was wearing what she could barely call a suit and tie, with nice slacks. Hands clasped in front of its chest it smiled. It almost looked human save for the ringing in her ears.

“We appreciate your sacrifice warriors and we will gladly accept it.” The wraith surged forward flames tracing behind its feet. Betty jerked her arm upward and caught its fist. The palms glowed and suddenly she was launched backwards through the crypt. Slamming into the wall she narrowed her eyes then jumped to the ground as a pillar of flame exploded where she had been.

Landing in a crouch she ran at the wraith as the flames flew at her again. Absorbing them through her armor she kept pushing through it with gritted teeth. The wraiths thin smile quirked down in frustration but returned as it brought an arm back and a silver bow formed.

“Captain move!” Lily shouted seeing the full weapon be drawn back.

“You misunderstand,” The wraith’s flames ceased and it turned, pulling back the bow and aiming it squarely at Lily. Letting loose the arrow it spiraled through the air and Lily’s cloak swept around her.

It punctured the cloak but got stuck, embedded into it. Skidding across the dusty ground she coughed feeling a throbbing sensation from where the arrow struck. When she looked up she saw the tip of a whip fly toward her. Wrapping the cloak tight around her it exploded on contact dropping her to her knees.

“Lily are you okay!” Betty shouted but the wraith turned its gaze upon her. The arrows fired in a quick volley and Betty swung her arms deflecting each of them as best she could feeling the energy coursing through her gauntlets. She was going to have to let it loose soon.

Digging her boot into the ground she darted forward when another shape eclipsed her gaze and dropped into the ground beside her. The whip soared at her and she tried to jump above it but the tip veered at her. It tapped her armor and exploded, sending her flying back toward the walls. Flipping in the air she planted both feet against the wall then launched forward.

Flying past Rey, she went for the wraith thrusting her fist forward. The wraith raised its hand catching the blow and blast of energy exploded sending it sliding backwards. Grunting and almost losing its grip on the bow it held Betty aloft by her fist and then turned throwing her toward the opposite wall.

Betty flipped bouncing off the wall and landed on her feet raising her fist. “Didn’t like that too much did you?”

“No. As a sacrifice you may not be worth the trouble,” The wraith said scowling. Flexing its arm it drew the bow back and held it for a moment, one of the arrows growing in size. Betty narrowed her eyes crossing her arms in front of her chest preemptively.

Before the wraith could launch the arrow, it was struck in the back and then had its legs swept from under it and the arrow flew wide exploding against the ceiling. Both of the claws dove down and stabbed into it chest eliciting an inhuman cry. Lily hopped down to the ground and with the cloak around her she dashed to Betty’s side standing in front of her and keeping the cloak raised. Both claws flew to her side hovering at her shoulders.

Rey stepped forward snapping the whip taut in both hands. “Shall I finish them off?”

“No. We both need to be here to begin the ritual and as much fun as dealing with them would be time is of the essence. Take the ground from under them. Let the hound enjoy a meal.”

Rey nodded and raised the whip above his head. Jerking his hand forward he snapped the whip with a crack like thunder. The weapon flashed toward them like it would strike one of them. Lily took a step back sweeping the cloak around them protectively, ducking low.

Betty watched as Rey used his free hand to wrap around the cord of the whip and tug. The tip suddenly dropped low, flying toward the ground. She lunged forward grabbing Lily before it exploded. There was silence and then sharp cracks echoed in the crypt. Betty glanced at the ground before noise exploded around them and they sank.