Page 77 of Hooked on a Witch
Chapter Eighteen
Merck tied the boat to the closest piling and hopped off, but paused, detecting a disturbance in the water. Water bubbled on either side of the dock.
A green ichthyocentaur rose from the water as if propelled from a cannon to land on the dock. Seconds later a blue ichthyocentaur alighted next to him. Both transformed to human form immediately prior to landing, clad in leather battle gear.
“Bythos?” Merck asked of the used-to-be green ichthyocentaur.
“This is Aphros. My brother.” Bythos waved at the other guy who towered above them both by at least a foot or more.
“Are you guys here to help or dissuade me?” Merck asked.
“You think we’d miss out on a chance to kill some Athena underlings? We’ll even settle for a decent fight, which we haven’t had in ages.” Bythos tossed his huge sword from hand to hand.
“Good enough. Try not to scare the straights too much, though. There’s bound to be a few druids around,” Merck said.
“All right.” Bythos stretched while Aphros gazed toward the forested area ahead.
“I’ll get to Shannon.” Merck palmed his knife.
Bythos grinned. “You like her. That’s progress.”
“You’re a real pain in the ass,” Merck mumbled.
A deep sound rumbled from Aphros’s belly and erupted into a laugh. “I like this kid. He’s a hoot.” He leaned down from his ultra-tall height to ruffle Merck’s hair.
Merck rolled his eyes and pulled his head away from the hair ruffling. “We’re in a bit of a hurry here.”
“Are you going into battle with that toy?” Aphros nodded to Merck’s knife.
“It’ll get the job done.”
Aphros pointed at Merck’s face. “That’s why you got those from them in the past. These things must be fought at a distance.” He handed Merck a huge sword off his back. Merck accepted the blade, expecting it to weigh too much to be useful, but it felt no heavier than his knife. Magic.
“Do us proud and you can keep her.”
“Thank you.”I’m better with a knife. But one didn’t scoff a god’s gift.
Mercksprinted in the direction of the house. No noise other than the impact of his tennis shoes breaking sticks echoed around him as he tore through the forest. Eerie. Not even a bird or the wind. Not a peep from the now-absent Ichthyocentaurs. He’d lost sight of the two during his dash and didn’t see them anywhere.
He pulled up at the tree line and viewed the chaos. Ericthonians and snakes were everywhere. Six or seven druids were fighting on the porch of the house and around the lawn. There was a lot of blood, but he couldn’t tell whose. Two druids were down, possibly dead, but neither was Brian Randolph or Eli. More than twenty dead snake men littered the lawn. Kudos for the druids.
Weapons were up and firing round after round into snakes and snake men in a snowstorm of bullets. Bullets didn’t kill these guys, although it might slow them down. These things only stopped when they bled out, but there’d be more. It was an endless army. Getting rid of them required giving Athena what she wanted.
He sighted Shannon at the far edge of the porch using her preternatural skills to keep the creatures off her, pushing them away with wind. Pride filled him as he watched her manipulate the air like a pro. Powerful, directed, and effective. No hesitation. No doubt. God, she was spectacular. Her face showed strain though.
His senses worked as fast as possible while he ran toward her, but he felt as if he were underwater. He dodged free-flying bullets, his movements so quick that the bullets appeared to move at a snail’s pace, as if they were hovering mosquitoes. He leapt, hurtling over the bodies of dead snakes and a few live ones, to strike the snake creature threatening Shannon. With a whirl, he sliced off the head of a lunging snake. The borrowed blade’s sharpness impressed him.
The creature fell. A second snake man sprang at him. He was too close for a sword swing. He rammed it as hard as he could. It rocked back, but not very far. Damn these things were strong. It swiped at him with its ultra-sharp nails, nearly tagging his shoulder.
“Behind you!” he yelled at Shannon. She spun, but too late. A snake creature swiped Shannon’s side. Direct hit. She had an hour or so before the change to snake creature started and one to two hours before the change was permanent. This entire shitfest needed to end so he could get her the antidote.
She dodged another strike, whirled, and lodged a small blade into the snake man’s neck. Good for her.
It got her again as it went down. Shit and super shit.
He threw himself back at the creature leaping for him. It ripped down his chest with its nails and jumped out of range of his sword. He gasped, his gaze lifting to the sky. The Ericthonian was coming at him again. No time to dwell on pain. He lunged forward, his blade striking its target in the neck this time. The snake man hissed in pain, gripped its neck, and struck out again, but missed. Finally, blood loss too great, it collapsed.
It wouldn’t be down long. Snake creatures resurrected themselves after about ten minutes, like a hydra with its many regenerative heads. Bleeding out paused them for much longer than hacking them to bits, but nothing killed them since they were the creatures of Athena. The druids couldn’t defeat an immortal army.
