Spectrum of Magic Complete Series - Spell Breaker - Fate Shifter - Cursed Stone - Magic Unborn - Libra

by D. N. Leo

  Mori stood up and swung the sword like Roy. She wasn’t as fast, but no bird was able to attack her. Roy and Mori circled around Irish and the baby. Sam and the shaman stayed outside the circle because with them inside, the circle became too large and Roy and Mori couldn’t have covered them all.

  Sam pulled out his gun and shot one bird at a time.

  The shaman just had to face the attack. Roy knew this wasn’t going to work. He concentrated and switched on his silver blood. He didn’t have it on normally because if he was injured when it was on, and if he got hit at his weak point, it was lethal.

  With the silver blood on, each swing of his sword became a gigantic fan of wind and energy, coming with explosions at the finishing points. It was like he was shooting out a range of cannon balls from his hands.

  The birds exploded in flocks, falling out of the sky.

  Roy had his back to the shaman and didn’t see a flock of ravens flying at the old man. Hundreds of vicious talons clawed at his body. He heard Mori shout. When he turned around, the old man was left as a pile of torn flesh and bones.

  He swung his sword toward that direction. It was the last flock of birds he killed, but it was too late for the shaman.

  Sam stood in shock. Irish cuddled the baby, nursing him as he started to make growling noise.

  “I’m sorry,” Roy muttered at the remains of the old man.

  Mori placed a hand on his arm. “We have to get going,” Mori said quietly, pulling out the map. She unfolded it. They were, indeed, very close to the temple.

  Although he deserved better, they dug the shaman a shallow grave. They bowed their head and said a prayer. Then they walked through the night.

  The sun broke dawn at the horizon, they saw the magnificent sight of Black Hill. Mori looked at Roy and nodded. They were nearly there. Roy smiled, but it didn’t last long.

  They suddenly heard the loud squawking of birds. Looking up, they saw a sky full of black hawks streaming toward them. There were similar to those that had attacked them last night, but these were bigger and more vicious.

  Roy switched on his silver blood and swung the sword. Mori did the same with her back against Irish. Sam stood in front of Irish and shot one bird at a time. Given what happened to the shaman, Roy was obviously anxious about having his back toward Mori. He moved sideways so he could cover more of her and Irish.

  The front line of the birds threw their bodies at Roy’s sword as if on a suicide mission. With this level of viciousness, his guard would be broken soon. Roy glanced toward Mori again. She had copped a couple of scratches, but had managed to kill the birds. He looked up to the sky, the cloud of black birds was still coming.

  “To the woods!” Roy yelled, dragging Mori with him. The thickness of the tree branches would work in their advantage, Roy wagered.

  But before they reached the woods, a shadow of a werewolf charged at Mori. This wasn’t an ordinary wolf. It was very powerful and extremely fast. It was so fast that Mori didn’t even see it.

  There wasn’t enough time to do anything much. Roy was lucky being a two hand shooter. He held the sword in his right hand and used his left hand to pull out a gun and shoot at the beast.

  One shot and the large wolf dropped on the ground where it convulsed and died.

  Then he felt a puncture on his right shoulder. He turned around and saw a dart pinned to his eudqi shoulder. A short distance away, Bartley stood, grinning with something that looked like a gun in his hand.

  Then Bartley’s head exploded. It looked like Sam had put a bullet into Bartley’s head.

  That was all Roy could see before his world went black.

  Chapter 14

  Sam pulled the map out of Mori’s pocket. She didn’t object to him doing so. She didn’t look like she would object to him doing anything. Her world was collapsing. He didn’t blame her.

  Roy had slumped to the ground, breathing heavily. His eyes were dazed, and a stream of black blood trickled from his mouth. Mori wrapped her arms around him, but he shrugged her off. He tried to yank at his shirt to pull it off, but Mori wouldn’t loosen her grip.

  “No,” she said firmly. “You’re not going to shift now. You’re not going to die. We’ve been here. You’ve survived. Do it again for me.” Roy struggled again, but couldn’t loosen himself from Mori’s hold.

  Irish stood shaking with Zanxi in her arms.

  Sam glanced at the map and looked at the thick forest in front of them. He had to somehow use his ordinary human abilities to protect this group safely to the temple. The map in front of him looked like a mess. If he succeeded and if they survived this, he was going to make this into a Die Hard movie, Sam thought then shrugged at his own silliness.

  Irish approached. “Let me see.”

  He spread the map out for her. She examined it, squinted her eyes and looked around, then she looked at the map again. “I think we are looking for water. See this?” She pointed to a red line on the map.

  Sam looked around. He saw no sign of water.

  “Check behind those trees. There should be a dimensional gate way,” Roy said weakly.

  Sam darted toward the trees. When he touched them, they parted way. In front of them was a mysterious river and a boat waiting. The dark water river ran deep into the forest to the unknown. He didn’t know where it was leading, but it was the only possible route at the moment that was better than marching up that hill.

  They helped Roy to the boat and sailed away.

  Mori sat at the back of the boat, Roy in her arms. He was weakening by the second.

  In no time, they were sailing across the sea. “How are we going to get to the temple on the hill by sailing through the sea?” Sam asked.

  “I have no idea,” Irish said.

  “The boat is driving itself. I suppose it knows where to go,” Sam muttered.

  Roy shivered with the cold breeze. Mori gathered whatever she could find to keep him warm, but it didn’t seem to help. His face had turned pale as a sheet, and his lips had blackened. She just gathered him into her arms and rocked.

  Sam didn’t need to know Mori to see how much she loved her husband. She murmured something to him, but he couldn’t hear the words. He was sure Roy couldn’t hear any of it either. What would a desperate woman in love say? He had no idea.

  He looked at Irish cradling the baby. She wasn’t his wife, but he hoped one day she would be. He wrapped his arms around Irish’s shoulders. At the moment, he realized how precious life was. It wasn’t just about staying alive. It was every drop of meaningful moments they had shared with each other. That could end at any time.

  Roy opened his eyes slightly, trying to find Mori. She laid him down to the floor of the boat so he could see her. “Roy, stay with me, please. You have to fight the poison. You’ve done this before. Can you do it again for me, please?”

  Tear streamed down her face and rained on Roy’s chest. He looked like he tried to nod, but didn’t have the energy to do so. When he passed out again, Mori wept.

  There was a loud bang on the side of the boat.

  Sam thrust Irish behind him and moved toward the origin of the noise. At the front of the boat was the largest crocodile he had ever seen. Its beady eyes looked hungry.

  The crocodile surfaced further, revealing its full size; the size that was large enough to swallow the boat whole. It stared at them, opening its enormous jaws wide. It swung around and whacked its tail at the boat.

  It was more than the force of a cannon ball.

  It swatted again and again at the boat with such force that it punched a hole in the bottom and cracked the side. That meant they’d soon be swimming, Sam thought. Better to do it while the croc was distracted with its task.

  “We have to jump!” Sam said. They darted toward the back of the boat. Sam threw Roy overboard and jumped in after him. Mori and Irish followed. Roy sank like a stone; Mori had to support him and kick the water at the same time. Irish tried to keep the baby’s head above the water. The boat was blo
cking the view of the crocodile.

  They had to swim fast.

  The crocodile kept attacking the boat viciously. In the last hit, it broke apart, then sank, revealing them — the crocodile’s dinner — conveniently placed in the water. Sam swore he saw the crocodile’s tears of happiness.

  Chapter 15

  Aro threw a chair at a goon, standing meekly in a corner, shaking after giving an unfavorable report. “You did what?” Aro roared, revealing his sharp teeth.

  “They killed Bartley, Aro, and they got to a river. We would have followed them, but the trees closed on us. Given that they were on water, I thought calling your cousin was appropriate!”

  Aro grabbed the entire steel cabinet next to him and threw it at the goon. The man slid bonelessly to the floor, then shifted into an eel. It wriggled around for a short moment and died.

  “Take him out,” Aro snarled.

  Silence.

  “Take him out!” he yelled again. A small group of goons scurried in and carried the large eel out of the room, then mopped the floor and cleaned up the mess.

  The sound of high heels clanking on the floor eased Aro’s temper. At the door, Jion stood in a snugged dress and a flirtatious smile. Aro reached his arms out for his mistress. “Come here, darling.”

  “These dumbos are giving you a hard day?” Jion asked.

  “Yes, and I need your help.”

  She smiled. “Sure. Anytime. Just because I love you.”

  Sam was facing the beady eyes of the crocodile. He’d fight once and for all. “You son of a bitch reptile!” he shouted and aimed his gun at its head. He shot non-stop. The bullets didn’t seem to create much impact on the animal, except making it ticklish.

  But Sam kept shooting. Then something happened that distracted the crocodile; it turned around as if listening to something. In a flick second, Sam saw a change of color in its skin, something with the tone of human flesh.

  He straightened his stance in the water, kicking hard to keep standing straight. Then he held his breath and pulled the trigger. The bullet tore the air and hit the head of the crocodile at the point where the human skin tone flashed.

  The crocodile roared. Its image flickered a few times. It shifted into a naked man with an exploded head and sank.

  Sam swam to Irish and took the baby. They swam for what seemed like hours to them, but finally came to a small island where they could drag their tired bodies from the water and flop to the bank. The sky in the direction from which they’d come looked inky black, illuminated here and there with lightning bolts.

  Mori said nothing, but hurried to Roy and performed CPR with tears streaming down her face. A short time later, Roy spat out some water and took a deep breath. He was breathing, but barely.

  Then they heard a low growl. Baby Zanxi had shifted into his fox form. He sauntered toward Roy. He sniffed at the puncture mark on his shoulder. Then he simply curled up against Roy’s body and closed his eyes.

  “Is he sleeping?” Irish asked.

  Mori stared at the fox. Being a werefox, she knew what it was doing. It came to her now why Zanxi had shifted and bit Roy at the temple. His bite was so poisonous that it almost killed Roy. But that wasn’t an ordinary bite of a petulant baby fox. It was for this.

  The baby fox had seen this event and what he had put inside Roy’s body was a pre-injected antidote.

  This wasn’t an ordinary fox. She knew now, with absolute certainty, that this fox was magical.

  There had been countless time she’d regretted coming with Roy to Eudaiz and abandoned her Firefox clan. She was an alpha. She shouldn’t have done that. She should have stayed and helped her clan to regain its glorious days.

  When she’d heard about this baby fox being her replacement, she had doubted.

  Uniting all paranormal creatures in her world was impossible. She knew that. More importantly, she knew she couldn’t do it herself.

  But Zanxi could. She looked at him sleeping next to Roy and she knew.

  In a short moment, Roy moved his hands slightly. Then he opened his eyes. His color was back to normal.

  The fox sat straight up. He looked at Roy, then licked his face. Roy smiled.

  “Thank you,” he said.

  The fox made a sound like he was sneezing. Then he shifted back to the baby and wailed.

  Irish rushed over to him. “He’s hungry,” she said.

  They heard footsteps of someone stomping on dried leaves.

  “Who is that?” Sam yelled.

  A shadow jumped out of a bush and darted away.

  Chapter 16

  Roy regained his strength so swiftly that it surprised him. He could still see the pain in Mori’s eyes. He promised himself he would make it up to her when they were back to Eudaiz safe and sound.

  Roy examined the map again and sighed.

  “What’s that?” Sam asked.

  “We have to swim,” Roy answered.

  They returned to the water. “The temple isn’t far away — just over there.” Roy pointed to a strip of land floating close to the horizon.

  Sam squinted as he looked to where Roy pointed. “I’ll take the baby,” he said to Irish. “It’s a fair distance.”

  “Be careful. He bites,” Roy said and winked at Mori who was glaring at him.

  Mori dove head first into the cold water. She swam like a fish. Roy followed. Sam rumbled and dove in with the baby tied on his shoulder. Irish swam next to Sam to support him.

  It had looked farther than it actually was. Soon, they gathered on a rocky beach that had hardly any sand.

  “The Yakuz are here already,” Mori said.

  “They are shapeshifters. Bad news,” Roy explained to Sam and Irish.

  “Where is the temple, exactly?” Sam asked.

  “On top of the hill. I’m not sure how many men or creatures the Yakuz have brought with them, or what kind of weapons they have,” Mori said.

  “Can guns kill them?” Sam asked.

  “They are filthy rich human outlaws. So they hire creatures with magical talents and abilities, including were-creatures, witches, wizards, sorcerers and whatever else I don’t know. Humans and were-creatures can be killed with guns. But if they use magic, we’ll be in trouble,” Mori said.

  Roy smiled and said nothing. Mori forgot what he could do.

  They looked further inland. In front of them was a gigantic rock hill. Mysterious paths curved around, coming from nowhere and going to nowhere. Mist was everywhere. The air and the ambiance was so surreal that they couldn’t tell what was real and what was not.

  If they walked on a wrong path, they could end up at the bottom of the canyon.

  The four of them walked slowly around a small rock. Mori signaled everyone to hide in the shadow of a large rock. Via a gap, they could see large groups of furry black wolves pacing.

  “Werewolves?” Sam asked.

  “Too far away to tell, and too many of them to go ahead on with all of you,” Roy said. “Let’s see what I can do. Stay here.” As soon as he finished his sentence, he raced across the rock in lighting speed. His silver blood was on at maximum capacity. He was sure they couldn’t see him.

  He pulled out two guns and charged across the front line. Before they could register what was going on, their front line dropped like tree trunks. Roy returned to Mori.

  “Holy crab!” Mori said, looking toward the water.

  The red claws of an army of crabs slowly crept out of the water and headed up the hill to where they were standing. They had seen this black magic trick before. That meant someone was using black magic on this island.

  It was show time. From behind the rock, Roy and Mori charged out, swords in hand.

  They slaughtered.

  Soon, bits and pieces of the wolves and the red army scattered the hillside. The remaining ran for their lives, back to the water or into the woods.

  “The entrance of the temple is right on top of the hill. Once inside, I can tell where the main chamber is so that Zanx
i can receive his power,” Mori said.

  “And that will be where I’ll retrieve the key,” Roy thought.

  “What key?” Mori snarled.

  Oh shit!

  Roy didn’t realize he had spoken out loud about the key. He hadn’t told her about it. Now, he was in trouble with Mori.

  Chapter 17

  “It’s more than two hundred yards from here to the bottom of the hill. And there are more of them on the way leading to the temple. Do you have any idea how many there are on the other side of the hill?” Sam asked.

  “I’ll take care of that,” Roy said.

  “No, Roy. You’re not going to do it by yourself, even if you’re in this for the bloody-hell key.”

  “It’s not just a key. It’s a big-deal key, Mori. You want to save the multiverse, don’t you? You want to have silver blood after this, don’t you?”

  “I want nothing except baby fox in his rightful temple,” she growled.

  “All right then. You have your baby in the temple, I have my key. Why is that a big deal?”

  “You lied to me!” Mori shrieked.

  “I didn’t. I just hadn’t told you yet.”

  “That’s equivalent to lying!” Mori waved her arms in the air in frustration.

  “Excuse me, can we focus on the big picture here? The baby needs to be in the temple.” Sam grinned to mask his agitation.

  “Yes, and he’s hungry again,” Irish supported.

  Mori glared at Roy and turned away.

  There was a low growl behind them and they slowly turned around. Six wolves approached them, teeth bared. Roy shook his head and pulled his sword.

  Before anyone could say anything, he had finished the wolves and returned to the group. “Baby Zanxi is hungry again, you need to feed him now?” he asked Irish, picking back up with the conversation they’d had going before the wolves appeared.