by Jamie Hawke
To make it even weirder, there were two witches with her as she squatted, giving birth to a golden egg. Is that called ‘giving birth?’ Either way, the egg was coming out of her in a very enticing display.
“What the fuck are you looking at?” the Golden Goose demanded, and the two witches turned in confusion.
“Hekate?” one said, now even more confused. The confusion became even more a moment later, when Hekate stepped in and thrust a glowing white dagger into her throat. No blood came out, only red ichor that Hekate absorbed with a giddy chuckle.
I stepped in to deal with the next witch, sword absorbing her spell and then throwing that magic right back at her the moment I made impact. Black smoke swirled around her, making her rapidly decay until she was dust floating around the ball of ichor that merged with me.
“Oh, fuck,” the Golden Goose said, standing there in shock. Her eyes went to each of us, then landed on me. “A bunch of witches and their perverted friend.”
“What?” I asked, at first confused about the witch’s comment, realizing the illusion was back on. “I wasn’t the only one looking, right? Was I?”
It didn’t matter, because a swooshing sounded behind us and we spun to see that gods were lining up. Three of them arrived first in golden beams, turning on us for the attack. Seeing Persephone there, I had a feeling this wasn’t going to go well.
65
The first wave of gods to attack must have been some sort of enforcers, standing their ground instead of advancing, and throwing up energy shields straight out of a science fiction flick. A god who I guessed to have been Norse based on his long beard and the axe he was wielding started tracing runes in the sky—runes that in turn started creating floating plates of energy that were forming a prison around us. Another appeared behind him, menacing, and carrying a broadsword.
“Heimdall,” Elisa shouted at the one with the sword, and then cursed, pushing back along with Hekate.
I didn’t know what the hell was going on, but understood that my power was rune based as well, so I figured maybe I could do some damage that way. Sword drawn, I charged the fast forming prison and started attacking it, so that on my third swing the first of the energy plates broke and caused their spell-caster to stumble back.
It was enough to allow Hekate to get in a blast that sent this Heimdall character staggering back.
“Close them off,” the Golden Goose shouted, indicating one of the many screens in this place.
“What?” I shouted, but Goldi was already on it, logging in entering commands, so that as Hekate sent a blast through, the door we’d opened earlier slid shut, cutting us off from the attacking gods.
“Holy balls,” Goldi said, still at the screen. “What is this place?”
“What do you mean?” Elisa asked, stepping up next to her.
“I thought it was a prison or something, but—”
“It’s so much more,” the Golden Goose said. “It’s… like a control room.”
“No shit,” Goldi replied, swiping her hand and then moving back. A full, three-dimensional display shot out in front of her. It showed the pyramid, levels with various blips moving about—most of them gold, and then the room we were in with the red dots that I took to symbolize us. “This is… amazing. It looks like, based on the commands I’m seeing… I can do all sorts of crazy shit.”
The Golden Goose took a cautious step toward her. “Be careful, they’re not the most forgiving.”
Goldi turned to her in shock, seemingly having forgotten she was even there. “Right, yes. And you… You’re really here. We need to get you out of this place.”
“Please. If you know a way.”
Goldi nodded, turning back to the screen. “I’m about to find out. First, to deal with these pests.”
The display zoomed in on the area outside our little room, showing the gold of the gods waiting there, as they took on the forms of men and women. With a swipe of her hand, what looked like a laser beam appeared, cutting across the room. She giggled as shrieks sounded from the other side of the door. They might be gods out there but apparently they were being subjected to incredible pain.
She then started rearranging the pyramid as she saw fit, moving traps and changing even the layout of the floors. Our own rumbled as it started to lower, then moved inward and up.
“What’re you doing?” I asked.
“Confusing them as much as I can,” she replied, and gave me a shrug. “Hell if I know.”
Finally she stopped, and then slid open the door as Elisa told us to make a run for it, guiding the Golden Goose as she ran behind.
We were charging out of there and past the maimed bodies of gods. Arms on the floor, one body cleaved in half, and it all smelled of burnt hair and flesh. Halfway back through, going the new route Goldi had cleared for us, we were almost to the center when the lights started appearing again. The gods we’d left behind were upon us.
Heimdall was pulling himself together, healing himself with bursts of light, as he lunged for me with his sword. In his weakened state and me in full health and strength, I was able to parry the strike with my own sword, though his power sent a shock wave through me.
We cleared the first route and started following the Golden Goose until she fell back, screaming, and a new line of gods appeared, unleashing Shades at us. I stepped up, with one hand swinging to take out a shade, with the other calling upon Roar. He burst out and went straight for the gods, while I spun and began hacking away at more Shades. Soon prana was flowing my way again and then a ball of red ichor as Roar tore off one of the gods heads. We were all fighting like trapped animals, but soon Hekate had taken out another of the gods and we at last had a clear path to make it into the next room where we could shut the door, leaving us with only a handful of Shades and one more god to deal with.
We tore through them, my sword ripping the god into three pieces that faded out. More prana and ichor flowed into me as we ran into the next passage, then we found a room.
“Get out of here!” I shouted, Roar and I working to push the door into place.
“I’ll get us a portal,” Hekate said, moving her hands in a circle to create the portal as I dismissed Roar. We all waited, explosions and shouts sounding like they were coming closer and closer. Only, nothing ever came.
“Hekate!” Elisa shouted, eyes moving to the door.
“It’s not working,” Hekate cried.
“We need to get off this pyramid, now” the Golden Goose begged. “I’m not going back to them.”
With that being said, I pointed to the opening below, past the many ledges leading to open air.
“We jump.”
Hekate shook her head. “We need to move faster. I’ll make a portal in the air… as long as everyone stays tight, it should work.”
“Fuck it,” Elisa said with a laugh. “Let them never say I wasn’t in for some adventure.”
“How far is the center?” Goldi asked.
The Golden Goose cocked her head in thought, then said, “I’m thinking it’s right on the other side of these walls. No other reason they haven’t come in from that direction yet.”
“Let’s go for it,” I said, and they nodded, all of us up and running, charging through the first door that, indeed, led to the ledge at the center with the massive drop off through the middle of the pyramid.
Elisa was the first up on the ledge, the Golden Goose following right behind with a flap of her wings to get herself into position—and let me say, a nude form crouching like that, ass toward me… not the worst sight in the world. Hekate gave me a nod, but as we made for the ledge, Goldi took a step back.
“Maybe I take my chance with the gods,” she said.
“We don’t have time for this!” Hekate said, reaching.
“I can fly, but not… like that.” Goldi pulled back. “Go to hell. I’m not jumping.”
“Your bears are down there,” I reminded her, trying to hit that nerve that I knew would do the trick with me. “Th
ey’ll be waiting for you.”
She clenched her jaw, then ran and jumped, straight up to the ledge and over. We all went after her, me letting out an excited yell as the air took me. We passed by explosions and shots from the gods, past balcony’s with more of them and their confused faces and even Shades that were starting to charge, to jump after us.
Hekate signaled, and then made her portal directly below Goldi. A split second later, Goldi was gone. We all redirected to the portal, with me being the last. Only, as I passed through it something tugged at my foot and as I adjusted I saw a bright form of purple at my side, coming through with me. I had no idea what or who it was as the light took me, but knew I’d soon find out.
66
Emerging from the portal and into the main room of the mansion, I stumbled at the sight of Persephone on all fours, shaking her head clear. Apparently, she’d been what had latched onto me.
“Oh, shit,” Chris said, and I turned to see him and the others charging in. They formed a semi-circle around the room, with me, Elisa, Hekate, and the Golden Goose taking up the defensive and starting to move toward them.
“Anyone but her,” Sharon muttered, coming up alongside me and helping me stand. “Wh—what happened?”
“She grabbed hold, but Hekate—”
Hekate was holding her bloodied arm, but shook her head. “We can deal with me after… this.”
“You won’t be dealing with me,” Persephone said, finally pushing herself up to stand. She turned to take in her surroundings, then scoffed. “I should’ve known this would be the place. Ironic, isn’t it, that this would be the sight of the final showdown.”
“Fuck,” Elisa said. “Kill her!”
“It’s too late,” Persephone said, throwing her arms out to create a shield as attacks came from Red and Hekate simultaneously. “The signal has been sent. Ra and the others will descend on us in no time. And all for what?” She turned to the Golden Goose, scoffing. “Didn’t you tell them, you can’t make them more powerful?”
“It’s not for us,” Red said, who was now recovering from being knocked on her ass by Persephone’s shield.
“No?” Persephone’s eyes landed first on Elisa, then scanned again, slowly narrowing. “Her brothers, but…. There’s someone else, isn’t there?”
“You’ll find out soon enough,” Sekhmet said, and she stepped in with Bastet. Gods, was I glad to see them.
At the sight of the two, Persephone stepped back, shield faltering, and she seemed to be preparing to go on the offensive.
“What Persephone is slowly realizing,” Sekhmet continued, “is that she’s fucked. Isn’t that right?”
“The attack is coming,” Persephone protested. “I don’t have to win, just survive long enough until they get here. Then I’ll stand over your corpse and laugh.”
“Except that we won’t be here,” Elisa said.
Sekhmet chuckled. “One thing their kind never understood—a house is just an object. A valuable one in this case, but… it’s still just that, not worth protecting if it means any sort of added risk to anyone on our side.”
“What are you saying?”
“The portal,” Sekhmet said, nodding to Hekate. “Can you get us to a location if I focus on it?” At Hekate’s nod, she added, “Do it. All of us.”
Sekhmet then lunged for Persephone, Bastet coming around behind her so that when the attack came to fend her off, Bastet was moving in, too. Before she could get involved, though, the Golden Goose spun sweeping a wing out so that one of her feathers flew and brushed against Bastet.
In an instant, the cat was gone, the goddess Bastet stood in her place. Like her sister, she was feline from the neck up, though her gorgeous, nude body was much darker—almost as dark as it could get. Watching her move was paralyzing. At one moment she was amazed to be out of her cat form, the next she was returning to a solid fighting stance, breasts swaying with the movement. Her magic pushed Persephone forward and countered her spell. Sekhmet spun and grabbed her, thrusting her into Hekate’s new portal as we all went through.
We emerged on the side of a hill, tall eucalyptus trees surrounding us and a city visible in the distance. Also, I detected a movement of something like a shadow, but in the air.
“This is the spot,” Sekhmet said, pinning Persephone down with one hand, her other taking one of her layers of dress from her shoulders and tossing it to her sister.
“Thank you,” Bastet said. It was a regal expression, one directed at all of us, though her eyes finally landed on the Golden Goose, and she gave a nod.
“Well, Golden Goose,” Elisa said. “Are you ready?”
“Please, call me, Huera,” the Golden Goose replied.
Elisa nodded, and Huera stepped forward, ready to go through the portal. Taking my eyes from the now covered form of Bastet, who was openly eyeing me, making my staring very awkward, I first let them roam back over Huera, then quickly remembered myself and stared at the ground. Fuck, with all these beautiful women around, and especially when there was nudity involved, I might as well have gotten a blindfold.
Before anyone had a chance to comment, though, if they had noticed, Persephone roared, struggling to break free. She almost made it, lunging away from Sekhmet, when Sharon was there with a good kick in the face.
“You’re not winning this time,” Sharon said, and transformed into her large wolf form, leaping to tackle the goddess, both rolling down the hill to slam into a tree. As the rest of us started to react, Sharon shouted, “She’s mine!”
And we all backed off, though my hand didn’t leave Excalibur. If there was even a chance Sharon would get critically hurt in this fight, I planned on intervening before that happened—her request be damned.
The two circled, Persephone doing her own transformation now. One moment she was a tall, slender woman, the next swirling black smoke took her leaving a demonic being in her place. She still had a womanly feel to her, but was twice as tall, with purple and blue flames coming from her eyes and hands, shadow forming black armor and long claws. They met in a blast of energy and raw power, neither falling back but the rest of us being pushed away, having to throw up shields and defenses to keep from being harmed.
A side of Sharon I’d never seen was coming out, and it was much more than simply being the large wolf I knew she could be. When her attacks hit, it was with a force of shadow magic, a blast that exploded on impact. Each hit served as a reminder that Persephone and the other so-called gods were indeed nothing more than very powerful fairy tales. That, or Sharon was more godly than we expected, because she was kicking the other woman’s ass.
Blood sprayed when Sharon tore out a chunk of Persephone’s bicep, but then the weirdest thing happened—the blood flowed back into the woman. Triggered, the goddess’s eyes lit up and the fire struck Sharon, so that the wolf fell back, whimpering and rolling.
“Enough,” I growled, charging forward.
Red caught me, shaking her head and pointing. Sure enough, Sharon was back up and on Persephone, the flames turning a dark, almost purple shade. The Big Bad Wolf looked like a hell hound, and now the flames actually seemed to be hurting the goddess.
I stepped back, lowering my sword and watching with amazement. Persephone started darting about in jolting teleportation spells, it seemed, but she couldn’t shake Sharon off. At last she reached out and summoned a sort of fiery spear, which she managed to use to whack the wolf aside. She held it high and charged, but just before contact Sharon returned to human form and rolled out of the way, then turned back into a wolf as she lunged, catching the demon goddess by the arm and, this time, tearing it completely off.
“Your wolf’s a badass,” Chris said at my side.
I grinned, then gave him a nod. “All of these ladies are.”
“Fucking right,” he said, holding out a fist for me to pound while Sharon tore into Persephone, teeth ripping flesh, and blood spraying everywhere. Fuck it, I pounded his fist again with a chuckle. As gruesome as the sight was
, I felt relieved to see the so-called goddess bled like the rest of us.
Finally, Persephone went limp and Sharon had her jaws open around the woman’s head when Red shouted, “That’s enough!”
Sharon turned on her, snarling.
Red took a step toward them, careful not to slip on the hillside. Hand out, she said, “Sharon, you do this, there’s no coming back. Remember, you’re on the side of right now.”
“Come on,” Pucky interjected, holding out a hand. “Get back over here, we’ll take care of the rest.”
Sharon still didn’t look convinced, long teeth exposed and saliva dripping down onto the tattered goddess. After a moment of this, though, her eyes met mine. I nodded, offering a smile.
That’s all it took, apparently, to tip the scales. A moment later she was walking toward me with clothes hanging, torn from her transformation, blood along her chin. It was disturbing… and kind of hot.
Meanwhile, Sekhmet and Bastet moved in, working their magic to bind the goddess.
“Hurry,” Red said, ushering us on. “We’ll keep her in check.”
Elisa nodded, motioning me to come along, the Golden Goose in tow, and a moment later we were crossing into the shadow to go back to the Fae world.
As soon as we were through, one of Elisa’s brothers was signaling the others. They sprung up from their camp, Arthur, Nivian, and a moment later the fairy queen with them.
Eyes moving to Huera, all stared in awe.
“This is… her?” Elisa’s oldest brother asked.
Huera nodded, giving them a bow.
“We can find clothes,” Arthur said, looking around as if he expected to spot extras right there.
“Don’t be ridiculous,” Huera said, and laughed. “I have no use for such frivolities. Now, who here is in need of my services?”
“All of us,” Arthur said.
“And… quicker is better,” Elisa noted, glancing back at the portal.