When they rounded the corner out of our sight, I let out a breath. “Snapping gators. I did not expect that to work.” In the distance, Chad let out an ear-piercing scream.
Lyric cleared her throat. “Should we…be concerned about him at all?”
“Absolutely not.” Alexis stated matter-of-factly.
“Yeah alright. So long as we’re all on the same page.” She replied, donning her shoes.
Down the hall toward the potion room, I heard Becca shout. The brunette ducked her head out of a room and held a green vial up high. “I found the antidote!” She yelled with a smile. The surrounding women all made shushing noises, and she put a hand to her mouth. “Oh, sorry.” She whispered. “I found the antidote.” She repeated in a much quieter tone.
“Thank goodness.” Usha said. She emerged from the same room, holding more vials. She walked over and handed one to me. I pocketed it and gave her my thanks. The pirate captain searched the ceiling for more vines, then pointed down the staircase where the ghoul had come from. “Looks like we’re headed deeper into the beast.” She held her head up high and scanned the group. “Y’all ready?”
No.
The ground shook with a bang, sending me and most of the other women to the ground. Thunder boomed so loud I felt its vibrations in the stones. I struggled to my feet, then grabbed hold of the wall when the ground shook once more. “What the hell is that?” I asked.
“That,” Usha began, holding her head. “Would be our rescue party. I’m guessing a sneak approach was no longer an option. Alright ladies, our time is up, we gotta move and we gotta move now.”
Quickly, well, as quickly as a shaking building would allow, we chased the vines down the spiral staircase and through a grand hall until they disappeared behind gold plated double doors. Usha tried tugging them open, but they wouldn’t budge. “Where is everyone?” Harmony asked.
“I imagine it’s all hands on deck upstairs.” I replied.
“Or not.” Alexis chirped.
I turned to ask her what she meant, but my questions were answered when the doors were finally pried open. Rows of red cloaked men kneeled in front of a large pool of water in the center of the courtroom. Their heads bowed in prayer while they raised their clasped hands in front of them. Pulsing vines crept up the walls and onto the floor, running in between each praying man until they sank into trunks at each end of the water. Round, egg-like protrusions decorated the trunks. Each pulsed with the same lime green glow from before.
Gross. So gross.
Heads turned to face us, and the mumble of prayer broke. At the front of the group, one man rose up to reassure the others. “Keep praying, my children. Your brothers will need all the magic they can get if we are to repel the scourge on our doorstep.” he said, in a soft reassuring voice. He wore the same cloak as the others. The only difference he sported was a long beaded necklace with a pendant shaped like some kind of tail.
“But Father Dave-” A man began to stand, then froze when Dave held up his hand.
“I will speak to our guests. Focus on your task.”
“Guests?” Usha growled. Her fists clenched. Disdain radiated off her voice like a bull staring down a red cape. “You strung us up and sapped us dry to fuel your weird pool.”
Father Dave closed his eyes and held up a hand to her. “Please. Calm yourself.” His words did not calm her. If anything, Usha’s rage escalated from a bull stomping a hoof to a mama bear baring her teeth in preparation to fuck up everything in the vicinity. The cult leader smiled and cast her a pitying glance. “I assure you, your sacrifices will not be in vain. All my children and I are trying to do is make the world a better place for all mankind.”
“Oh, thank goodness!” Alexis let out a loud sigh. “I gotta be honest with ya, Big Daddy Dave. At first I was like, ‘Damn, this group looks like they jack off on crystals and kick puppies’ and then I saw y’all praying to a glowing puddle. That’s when I knew everything was gonna be okay.”
His calm demeanor shifted once he realized the origin of the voice. Father Dave sneered at the sword in my hand. A deep red vein popped up on his forehead. “You see?” He shouted. “You’ve already brought cursed demon magic among us.”
“Hey you’re no prize either buddy.” Alexis snapped.
“This is unacceptable.” He thrashed his arms in our direction and his hood fell back, revealing bloodshot eyes and what was left of a gray head of hair. “Ever since the goddess Myva was destroyed, filthy demons have been pouring into our homes as if they have a right to walk among us. We cannot let this go on. That is why we, the chosen Order of The Claw, will restore order even better than it was before. We won’t make the same mistakes that weak goddess made. Under the rule of a true GOD WE WILL-”
An ax flew past my head and landed in Father Dave’s shoulder with a sickening thwack. He went down hard, blood spraying from the wound. My mouth fell open, and I looked back to see Becca, with her arm still outstretched.
She looked back at me and shrugged. “What? I saw an opening.”
The cult leader writhed on the floor, screaming at his congregants. “Seize them! I want every last drop of magic drained from their bodies!” The surrounding men scrambled to their feet at his words and charged.
Usha stepped in front of me and held her knife at the ready. “Everyone, block Brie and give her an opening to get at those trunks. Our best bet is to destroy the magic at its source.”
Oh shit. Why did I have to be the one holding the damn sword?
Harmony and Lyric charged past me. Lyric grabbed the arm of a cultist as he tried to swing and her sister buried her hair pin in his eye. Another man in red went to grab Harmony, but was thwarted by Becca. The stout woman planted her feet and hoisted the man over her shoulder like she was throwing a sack of potatoes.
“Fuck!” Serena’s voice came out as a terrified squeak. Yet the woman charged forward all the same.
