My spell was ready to go again, which surprised me. Apparently, this spell rebounded much quicker than the others.
“Now,” I whispered back to her.
I held up my fingers again, but this time, I noticed that my nails were ebony black.
And, so did Hana.
“Why are your nails black?” she asked, followed closely by, “Is this hurting you?”
I sighed.
“It’s because I’m a Goblin, inside,” I confessed.
Hana looked surprised. Apparently, my heritage hadn’t come up before in front of her.
“And, so are you,” I told her, as I reached under the water and brought her hands up.
Hana’s nails were as dark as mine.
She stared at them in surprise.
“But, I’m not a Goblin,” she insisted.
“Inside your mind, your arcane spheres are black,” I told her.
“I have no idea what that means,” she growled. “And, I’m not a Goblin.”
“Your teeth are sharp in the back of your mouth.”
She looked at me and then turned away.
“Humans have molars in the back, not two more rows of incisors.”
Hana’s hands began to tremble.
“Are you saying that my father… isn’t my father,” she barely got out.
I didn’t want to get into that aspect of her being a Goblin. If no one else in her family had issues, the biological material had to come from somewhere.
“That’s why I’m so broken, isn’t it,” she growled, louder this time. “All this time, I thought it was my fault. Now, you’re telling me that my mom got it on with a Hob.”
I could feel rage beginning to simmer through Hana’s mind.
Telling Hana her true heritage had been a mistake.
The typhoon of anger began to boil…
So, I activated my transformation spell and redirected her thoughts by touching her hair. It was a dirty blonde that looked like Mississippi mud. And it was always greasy… because she was a Goblin.
Hana had mentioned crimson.
So, I ran my fingers through it, thinking about the color of blood. Her hair began to change from the roots, flowing downward. I imagined it fuller with curls and no grease.
Hana gasped, as she saw the reflection in the mirror, as I made her hair flow longer until it rested in the middle of her back.
Then, I slipped my hand under the water and… adjusted the rest of her hair.
Hana moaned as I touched her womanhood, forgetting all about the Goblin comments. The magic was still burning strong in my fingers, so I ran them up and down her ass and legs. Fat melted off of her flesh, as her skin tightened.
My lover’s eyes grew large, as I ran my hands back up her legs and slid a finger inside of her with thoughts of increasing her libido.
“Do you like this?” she murmured, beginning to caress my manhood.
“Yes,” I growled, ready to pull her down on top of me.
Her fist came out of nowhere.
It slammed into my left eye, whipping my head back.
Then, another fist slammed into my other eye.
And… a knee came up… smashing into my erect, engorged length.
Moaning, I bent over.
A final punch lifted me up, sending my wet body out of the tub.
I slammed into the floor with my head bouncing off of the tiles. Stars filled my eyes as I fought to not pass out.
Then, the pissed-off female Goblin launched herself out of the tub and landed on my chest. The wind whooshed out of me, and I could barely breathe.
“Never. Ever. Punch me again,” she hissed. “Or, I will rip your nuts off.”
Then, Hana bit me.
With all the other injuries that she had just inflicted, I barely felt it.
Moaning, I pulled away from her, turning into a ball of misery. My nuts were throbbing, and I felt like puking all over.
But, I had seen female Goblin’s bite their lovers in the caves. It was instinctual.
The scares meant that I was hers.
And, that she would kill anyone else who touched me.
Fuck.
That was going to cause a problem with the other women.
Hana laughed.
I glance up at her, as I cradled my injured equipment.
“No matter what I do…” she decreed, “never hit me again.”
Then, Hana turned and walked out of the room.
I watched her perfect ass swaying back and forth, and stupidly, I thought about falling in love with her.
- 40 -
I was still moaning on the floor when Brynn stormed into my room.
“How dare you stand me up!” she hissed.
I turned and gave her my back, making sure my nuts were covered and pointed at the marble tub. I didn’t want to get cacked again, down there.
“Bazal,” she snapped. “Don’t turn your back on…”
Before she could say anything else, the brakes on the train began to scream.
Then… the lights flickered, and chaos took over.
The car flipped.
End over end.
I couldn’t think or even come up with a plan. Brynn and I were thrown around like children’s toys in a hurricane. Everything loose and not nailed down was launched into the air, along with all the bathwater.
The car twisted and rolled, and I lost all sense of up and down.
Suddenly, the car crashed to a sudden halt, and I heard metal screaming and ripping. Glass exploded, and furniture snapped.
My body slammed into the remains of the marble tub.
I blacked out.
--M--
My brain whispered delusions to me.
Strange visions of… huge bugs filled my mind.
Women were screaming.
Blood covered everything.
Pain.
Broken bones.
Punctures.
Death.
Awful, unrelenting pain filled my mind.
Gasping, I sat up and then promptly fell over. My head hurt. Blood was pouring down my face and gushing out of my nose.
Dirt and pieces of marble-covered most of my skin. The bathroom door was lying on my legs. Annoyed, I pushed it away and sat up.
Turning over, I threw up.
In the back of my mind, I could feel the women that I was bonded to screaming in pain and fear. Several of them had broken bones and injuries from the train wreck.
And, all of them were shrieking about bugs.
I needed to help them.
I forced myself up onto my knees, as blood and vomit trickled out of my mouth. Crawling forward, my mind twisted and reality tilted to the side as I collapsed.
My brain hurt.
The biggest headache that I had ever had throbbed in my mind. And, my vision had twisted back to black and white.
I could feel the terrible cold of the Dark surrounding the train car.
Stunned, I could barely think as dust and dirt rained down on my once clean skin. I couldn’t hear anything. A terrible ringing had begun in my ears, and my brain felt wobbly.
Every time I tried to sit up, I tipped over and collapsed again.
Frustrated, I tried to think.
Concussion, my brain whispered to my soul.
I slowly raised my hands and used my Goblin magic, hoping that my healing imperfections spell would actually heal, besides just changing flesh. I didn’t want to activate the hex marks on my skin. If I did that, I might accidentally steal the life from someone around me.
The golden glow slid into my skull, and I could feel it fixing some of the damage.
Groaning, I focused on no headaches or dizziness.
Slowly, the spell healed me enough that I could sit up without falling back over again. Debris and dirt, along with ceiling tiles and pieces of metal kept falling from the ceiling. The car had ended up on its stomach, but it felt torqued and twisted.
Looking around, I didn’t see Brynn anywhere.
And, I kept hearing the women screaming. But, not with my ears.
Shutting my eyes, I flowed down my link to Brynn or tried to. She was unconscious but alive.
I tried again, except this time, I used Hana’s link.
She was terrified. Fear was overwhelming her mind.
Hana was hogtied with her hands and legs roped together with some kind of sticky substance.
Someone who she couldn’t see slid a pole under her arms and legs.
Hana shrieked in pain, as she was lifted off the ground and yanked into the air. Her arm sockets screamed in agony, as she was dragged along.
Someone was taking my girls.
“Dagaḍa Tvacā,” I said with a gasp, turning my skin to stone, but also increasing my weight and mass. The train groaned beneath my bulk, but now I could move without piercing my unprotected feet.
I slipped into the living room of the train car.
One of Taesa’s zombies was lying on the ground, ripped in half. My hands were too big to pick up and use any of her pistols. But, an axe caught my eye. Grabbing the weapon made me feel better.
The roof of the car was ripped open, and the wall to my left was missing. The car had hit something, and the collision had torn it in half. I could see the other portion about ten feet away.
And, now, I could hear the girls screaming.... in the distance.
I stumbled forward and prepared to jump down to the ground.
From the rooftop, I heard, scritch-scratch.
Then, a triangular head looked down from above. Huge glowing eyes looked at me, from the sides of the head, while two pairs of mandibles scratched across one another, making the annoying sound.
The creature hissed and reared up.
I threw the axe.
It twirled in a tight loop, slamming into the creature’s chest. I had hoped to kill it, quietly, but all I did was wound the giant bug.
Shrieking in a high pitched trill, as blood shot out of the wound, it fell backward, but I could feel its legs thumping loudly on the metal roof.
Then, a deep vibrato quiver rolled out of the wounded creature, as it called for its hive.
- 41 -
Dammit.
I jumped down onto the ground, as the giant Cicada began to thrum like a fire siren above me. The trill became a roar, as it screamed for help.
I started to run in the direction of the girl’s screams.
Then, I skidded to a halt, as the buzzing of a thousand wings filled the air.
In front of me, the swarm lifted off, reacting to the shrieks of the wounded bug. They flew up, high into the sky… and, in their claws were Brynn, Hana, and Mary, and the rest of the crew of the train. I could see one of the nurses screaming in pain, as blood poured down her body.
Instead of attacking me, or coming to their clutch mates assistance, the bugs made another huge circle and headed into the ruins of one of man’s fallen cities.
God Dammit.
I just wanted to sleep, eat, and fuck. I didn’t want to chase after a swarm of bugs the size of an elephant.
“Bazal?”
I turned, ready to call my hellfire.
A mostly intact zombie stood behind me.
I looked closer.
It was the doctor.
“Taesa?”
The doctor laughed and then nodded.
“What happened to the dwarves?” I asked.
“One was ripped in half by the wreck,” she answered, moving closer to me. “The other was impaled and trapped on a girder. So, I ate the doctor and took his body.”
As simple as that.
I ate the doctor.
Fuck.
Not good. Not good at all.
But, right now wasn’t the time to argue with her about morals.
The bug that I had injured was starting to make a tink-tink-tonk sound as it began to bleed out.
“Why did they take the girls?” I asked. “And what happened to the train?”
Taesa the zombie shrugged.
Looking up, I watched as the Cicada swarm flew away into the burned-out remains of Columbia.
Home to the Goblins of the Fiery Tongue.
My family.
Thank you for reading Bazal’s first book! If you liked this story, please consider leaving an honest review on Amazon and Goodreads. Your support is much appreciated!
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Thanks again!
Michael
Into the Darkness Page 16