Lily groaned softly and heard a pile of rocks topple over and into the darkness. She couldn’t see much of where she was or what was going on. Her cloak had wrapped around her tightly but despite that both her arm were in pain and her chest was aching. Glancing at her shoulders she realized that her geist arms were gripping her shoulders and they were heavily beat up.
Moving her legs slowly they were hovering a few inches off the ground. She had fallen and her geist did its best to catch her but the strain of holding her up and protecting her this long was taking its toll. Letting the command go through, they lowered her to the ground and she stood on the uneven ground.
Taking a slow step forward she frowned hard. “Captain Betty! Are you alright? Are you here?” she called and her voice echoed all. She frowned that no other sound came back. No response, not even movement from the ground itself or the rubble.
Just the dregs of her own echo and then silence to follow. Taking a hesitant step forward on the uneven ground her geist floated at both sides of her. She couldn’t really see more than a few steps in front of her.
Fumbling in her pocket she got her phone and the screen was cracked to the point where it barely turned on. She managed to at least get to the home screen and after a long few minute fumbling with it she got the flash light to flicker on but it struggled to show a constant stream of light.
The light managed to illuminate a wall on the other side of the room but it was still struggling to work. Like a faulty lightsaber she slashed the darkness and walked toward the bigger pile.
“Betty? Are you here? Are you alright?” she asked again clutching the cape closer and groaned.
Taking another step forward she stumbled as a wave of dizziness swept over her and she pressed a hand to her forehead. Blowing out a heavy breath she looked closer at the rubble and tried to find her. One arm grabbed a large stone and tossed it toward the wall. It clunked against it before settling down.
Turning the phone upwards she stared at the spot that they’d fallen from but there wasn’t any light coming in. A small piece of the ceiling fell and it tumbled down before cracking on the pile of rocks. “How are we even going to get out of here,” she mumbled.
The rocks under her feet rumbled and she jumped. Pointing the flickering flash light forward it pierced through the darkness and hovered over the pile. It rumbled again and Lily tensed arms darting forward with fingers ready. The rocks rumbled and exploded outwards peppering against her cloak.
When she lowered it she stared at Betty who huffed, shoulders slumping. Her geist flickered with light in certain spots but when she looked at Lily she gave a half-hearted wave. “It’s good to see you in one piece.”
“Same to you Betty. Are you alright?”
She glanced at her arms and shoulders and then down at her chest and legs but gave a short nod. “My geist protected me well enough. But this situation isn’t the greatest. How are you holding up?”
“My geist protected me as well. And no it’s not. I don’t think we’re going to make it back up there even with the help of my geist.”
“No. It would over tax it and we’re already not as strong as we could be. No, we’ll have to find another way”
She rubbed her neck slowly and touched part of her armor and it started to regenerate but it was a slow process, inching to close the gap. Craning her head around she frowned hard. Taking off her helmet she tossed it aside, the piece of her geist fading away before it hit the ground. She let her geist fade away entirely at that point and let out a breath like she had been holding it in. Lily did the same and felt her shoulder’s sag gratefully.
“Where are we?” she mumbled to herself, arms folding.
“We fell down from whatever catacombs we started in. Which means we’re even further underneath the construction site.” Lily replied. “But down here I don’t know where we are. I can’t even tell where the walls are if they’re there.”
“There’s an easy way to find that part out,” she said and bent down picking up a rock. Turning it in hand she reached back and chucked it toward a wall. It kept going and though Lily turned to face it with her flash light it disappeared into the darkness and only a minute later did they hear the soft echo of it hitting the ground.
Exchanging glances, they repeated this process, throwing rocks in the other four directions. The one to their left it hit almost immediately and with a quick shine of the light they could both see the spot. To the right it took a bit of time but it also hit the wall. When she threw one behind them and it took a very long time before it made a soft clunk.
“Well it looks like our options are either forward or backward,” Betty took a slow step forward as she kicked a few rocks over. “Are you feeling particularly lucky in picking our direction?”
She shrugged and the arms on both sides of her mimicked the action. Betty chuckled and motioned forward. Lily stumbled walking down the rubble before her feet hit a solid almost dirt like ground. Her feet sank slightly and when she shined the phone light at the ground it was soil with a few sprouts of grass.
Trying to look at the battery life on the phone, the cracked display didn’t show anything so with a sigh of frustration she just continued to walk with Betty at her side. They moved in silence for a while when Lily glanced at the captain. “What was that bow that the Wraith created?”
“It looked like a geist but it shouldn’t have been.” Lily nodded quickly. “Wraiths can’t use geist.” Betty repeated as if from a text book. “Geist protect us from them. And once we’ve been taken by them it’s the first thing purged away.”
“That’s what I read in the research but I can’t think of what else that might have been,” she shook her head. The talk of the wraiths though brought a new topic to her mind. Something that she couldn’t shake and knew she would hate the answer.
“That was really him wasn’t it?” Lily mumbled.
Betty glanced at her for a second before nodding. “Yes. That was Dick’s brother. It had to be.”
“But he’s supposed to be dead,” Lily said it as the last piece of defense to the truth. “And you felt it too right?”
“Our geist recognized him as a wraith,” Betty looked at the ground and then added, “But he had a geist.”
“It’s not possible for a wraith to have a geist.”
“No it shouldn’t.”
“Maybe his is protecting him from us. An anomaly that we hadn’t heard of. And the other one mentioned some sort of ritual,” Lily dug her fingers into her hair and wanted to pull it out. “It doesn’t make sense.”
Betty reached out and squeezed her shoulder as Lily looked at her, eyes downcast. The pair of them stopped for a moment and Betty frowned hard but motioned forward. “Things look bad. But we can’t let it get to us deeply. We’re going to stop what they’re planning. And if at all possible maybe even help Rey. But first we need to get back up there.”
Lily frowned but set her face with determination. “We can do this.”
“That’s the spirit,” Betty said putting on a smile.
Slowly the path began to slope upward and she could hear the wind blowing in the corridor. A soft howl like some animal hoarse for breath. The longer she walked the more that description seemed eerily arcuate.
Throwing her hand outward she glanced at Betty who paused staring at her. Lily kept the light ahead and listened harder. Betty tensed up glancing at her. “What is it?”
Lily shook her head hesitantly. Lowering her phone Lily strained her senses to try and focus on what she heard when suddenly the wind ceased and they were in silent dark. She started to doubt that she heard anything, assuming she was just being paranoid when suddenly her ears were assaulted by the sharpest ringing her ears had ever heard.
Stumbling backwards she narrowed her eyes and looked up. It was just in time because her geist arms manifested and shot forward, grasping at the jaws of something giant. They snapped at her and she went sliding backwards. Glowing spit splashed against her mask and what little touched her face stung.
Narrowing her eyes, she turned and the arms whipped the creature across the tunnel. It slammed into the wall and she grunted taking a step back and raised the arms again. She looked it up and down and it was perplexed. It was giant four-legged beast with snapping jaws. It could have been real except for the way that its jaw split apart into four parts and the glowing drool.
Its tail thrashed as it righted itself and its ears drew back. Lily glanced to see where Betty was but she heard the wraith dart at her. Both arms flew forward and grasped the jaws of the creature but she couldn’t turn it away. So, she dashed away as it crashed into the ground dispersing her arms.
Snapping its head back it sent both the arms flying away. Dropping both paws onto the ground it darted at her again letting out a howl. The sound made her knees buckle and she fell down. Betty darted forward her armor gleaming and she jumped punching the creature in the jaw and sending it sliding away.
Whirling to face it she raised both fists and paused. It reared its head back and howled, the shockwave from it sending both warriors stumbling backwards. It leaped toward Betty but she was ready and raised her arm. The jaws clamped down on her from both sides and she fell to her knees.
The teeth grinded into the armor, barely missing the chunks of exposed skin. Grunting she forced herself to her feet and energy exploded. She flipped backwards and planted her feet down before leaping back at it. Bringing her fist back she punched and instead of its head she hit something solid.
Jumping backwards and out of range of its snapping jaws she slid backwards. Hovering in front of the wraiths face were a trio of shields, all diamond shaped and linked together by the points. As it stood it shook its head and the shields moved with it.
“What is that?” Lily asked
“It felt like a geist,” Betty mumbled and heard the warning ringing. She let her helmet fade away and squeezed her temples trying to block the pain out. “But that’s definitely a wraith.”
“Something’s funky here,” Lily said and joined Betty’s side. “But we have to stop this thing before we can get back to the other.”
“You’re right. One problem at a time,” Betty slammed her helmet back into place and stood in front of Lily. “Let’s take this thing down.”
The wraith snarled, expanding all four parts of its jaw and smoked flowed out of its mouth as the shield rotated around its head rapidly. Bounding toward them it jumped and a wall of ice exploded in front of it. It slammed into the wall cracking it and it slumped to the ground. It whirled around and from the darkness as Samantha slid forward and jumped on top of it.
“Samantha!” Lily shouted
“Sorry I’m late showing up. We’ve got trouble beyond this thing!”
The wraith howled at her and she squinted as the air lashed at her. Shaking her head she jumped off the wraith and created a spear lance of ice. The shield floated around its head intercepting and shattering it. It snarled and lunged after her roaring.
Eyes wide she clapped her heels together creating a block of ice beneath her feet. Its jaws collapsed around it and she jumped backwards. Skidding across the ground the metallic arms of Lily’s geist grabbed her. Lily ran up to her side and Betty ran past them both. The wraith was ready though lunging its jaws closing around her.
Lily thrust her hand forward and her cloak flew to Betty’s shoulders protectively as the jaws collapsed. The cloak took the brunt and Betty punched where she could forcing its mouth back open and jumping out once she had a chance.
Samantha skated over as she landed beside her. Betty glanced at her former student and then looked back at the wraith as it shook its head. Stamping the ground a few times it barked at them with a rumbling growl, the shield rotating around faster.
“How do we take this one down?”
“Its weak inside its mouth. Its geist can’t protect it in there,” Betty said cracking her knuckles.
“It’s geist?” Samantha repeated.
“Yes, it’s a strange situation and a long story.”
Samantha nodded. “Explain later. For now we just need to get inside its mouth.”
“I can survive the trip but that was mainly due to this,” Betty motioned to Lily’s Geist then looked at Lily. “But I think you have the best chances of taking it down.”
“Then me and you will distract it,” Lily walked to Samantha’s other side as she raised the cloak and wrapped it around Samantha’s shoulders. The arms lowered themselves to her side. “Everyone ready?”
“Yeah.”
“Ready.”
Betty darted forward and the wraith charged at her. The wraith lunged and she rolled to the side avoiding it and keeping her momentum. Springing forward she punched at its feet and knees each hit making it stumble.
The head snapped at Betty but Lily’s arms grabbed pieces of the jaw and kept it from biting her. The shield spun around knocking the arms away. Samantha skated forward and raised her hand. Erecting a pillar and launched herself forward at the wraiths head. It turned to her snarling but she dove fist first into its mouth.
She sent lances of ice blasting through its throat and torso while the cloak kept her safe from whatever substance it secreted from its mouth. She burst out of the behind of the wraith and stumbled to the ground. She whirled around to look at it and watched it stumbled to the ground turning to dust. The shield above it glowed brightly and then crumbled into the same dust.
Samantha sank to her knee panting heavily and touching her now fully masked face. Hitting the ground, she got up slowly and waved to the other two women. With her head dipping low she struggled to keep breathing. She looked toward her mentor and friend but couldn’t smile. “We’ve got a problem.”
“Aside from being stuck down here?” Lily asked and then looked at closer. “Wait. Where’s Dick?”
“They took him. The rogue warriors. We fought and they took him. God knows where. I figured it was back to this place and found a sewer. And now here I am. How’d you get down here?”
“We found the wraiths behind this. Including Dick’s brother,” Betty said. “But he wasn’t the leader. There was another that seemed to be pulling the strings. It mentioned some sort of ritual before sending us tumbling down here. We were working to dig ourselves out of here when we ran into you.”
Samantha nodded and raised a shaking hand toward the path they came from. “If you follow this path you’ll come back to a sewer. But maybe I can help us get back to where you fell.”
Lily noted the way her hand wobbled and she stepped over with a shake of her hand. “You’re not okay.”
Samantha jerked her arm back and grunted with a slight stumble. “I’m fine. We have to help Dick.”
“Sam, how long has your Geist been active?”
“A few hours at this point,” Samantha replied. “But I’m fine.”
“No you aren’t. That’s far too long,” Betty reprimanded sharply. “You need to rest your geist or you’re going to seriously hurt yourself.”
She looked ready to argue but a wave of exhaustion hit her and she shut her eyes nodding. Taking a very slow breath the armor faded away into ice crystals. The moment it was gone she gasped. Her arms and feet screamed in exhaustion but she managed to stay on her feet throughout it.
“Lead the way back,” she motioned forward. “But let’s take it slow.”
Betty nodded wrapping an arm around her for her to lean on as they began to walk.
The Harlequin Library 