I brought my sword up and met her descending claws, I expected my sword to slice through her nails, but was surprised when my blade was turned aside. I sucked in my stomach, thrust my hip backwards as her other hand swiped my midsection, missing me by an inch.
Her face was something out of a horror show. Neal had briefed me on sea witches, but I had never seen one before and what I saw was disturbing.
She had skin that reminded me of an electric eel, slimy and smooth. It was green, but not the vibrant green of lush grass, but more like a cancerous green that is full of sickness and disease. Her face held two eyes that were three times the size of a human's, with dark black pupils she had an alien quality to her stare, as if I were some unknown creature that had to be tasted and eaten. Her arms were long and held corded muscle, while her lower body writhed as six tentacles undulated as she moved.
If I hadn’t been fighting for my life, the very sight of her would have made me puke.
She opened up her mouth and lunged forward; hundreds of needle like teeth raced towards me as I shifted to the left and landed a heavy punch to the side of her face.
Hitting her made my stomach churn as her skin gave way and I felt her jaw break.
She let out an ungodly sound, a high-pitched screech that bored into my head, threatening to make me pass out. I saw the other two come flowing towards me, being propelled by their writhing tentacles.
We have to retreat, get to dry land. Neal pleaded with me.
She reached out and sliced one of my fins with her poisoned talons, leaving three slashes in it.
The other two were almost on me. I thought about bringing my powers to bear, but when I tried I couldn’t concentrate enough to make it happen.
I was a master swordsman and expert hand to hand fighter, with my skin suit I was agile and at home in the water, but even with my strength and speed, I was no match for creatures such as these in their own element. Getting the drop on one was pure luck, luck I was glad I had, but beating two of them while their sister regrouped was not a situation I thought I would be able to swim away from.
At the last second I heard Neal scream in my head as he also sent a sound assault towards the witches.
NOW! He sent.
The sound waves from his attack flowed through the water and left a ripple effect as they went. Sound travels better in water, which made his normally devastating sound assault even more powerful. I turned to hurry under the grate and was hit by a fraction of his attack. It knocked me sideways and pain tore through my shoulder as I feared it had been dislocated. I ignored the pain and forced myself through the small opening.
Once on the other side I looked back at Neal’s handiwork, surprised at what I saw. The witches had been affected, but not like I had expected. Neal had pushed them back a few feet, but they had resisted his blast and were once again approaching in a weird snake-like motion.
I sheathed my sword and pushed off, swimming with all I had, not knowing how far this tunnel led or if it even opened up. If it was a dead end I feared that’s exactly what it would become for us.
Neal was ahead of me and as I reached him I grabbed him and kept kicking. I kept seeing in my mind as the sea witches closed the distance and raked my back with their claws, causing the poison to do its deadly work, the fear of them catching me pushed me to keep swimming, faster than I ever had.
Hurry, my sensors indicate we are almost there. They are gaining.
He just had to add that last part, didn’t he?
The floor slowly started sloping up and as I broke the surface and hurried through the waist deep water I chanced a look back.
The witch I had punched, evidenced by her jaw, which hung askew, surged out of the water and covered the short distance between us. I reached up and grabbed her wrists before she could stab me with her long nails. Her strength was amazing and it took all I had to stop her from impaling me. She opened her mouth and lunged at me, hoping to bite off my face.
I dodged back and forth keeping her from biting me and slowly backed out of the water, which was now only a foot deep. With a grunt of effort I lifted her up and threw her backwards into her two sisters, who were coming up behind her.
She barreled into them with a wet smack but managed to reach out with one of her tentacles, wrapping it around my leg. I was hauled off my feet and hit the ground hard. My head rang from smacking the rough floor. Reaching back I unsheathed my sword and as the witch began dragging me back under water I sat up and swiped at the long sinuous tentacle pulling on my leg.
With a satisfying slice I watched as my sword parted the tentacle end from the rest of her. She let out another loud screech and I scrambled onto dry land, next to Neal. I faced the water and kicked off the cut portion of her that still adhered to my leg. It landed in the water with a loud splash and writhed as if it had a mind of its own.
Neal and I slowly backed up putting distance between ourselves and the water’s edge, taking quick stock of our surroundings. It was a simple tunnel; rounded rock walls leveled out and continued back into darkness. My Atlantean skin suit still covered my face and allowed me to see in the pitch black. Soon it would flow back and then I would be blind, hopefully not until this threat had passed.
A light green glow appeared in the shallow water and I watched as all three sea witches slowly rose up from the water, standing side by side. Their bodies emitted a slight green hue that reminded me of deep sea fish who use bioluminescence to draw in their prey. I saw as the head witch, the one I had been beating on, still led the way, her jaw was held tight as she clenched to keep it from moving. Her tentacles still moved in a strange fluid motion under her, but the one I had cut a portion off had already stopped bleeding.
I continued to face them, afraid to turn my back.
We have a slight advantage out of the water, but I am not sure how fast they are on land. If we engage them it is hard to say what the outcome will be. If we turn and flee they may follow us and we would be forced to fight them anyway. I don’t know how long they can last in the open air. The choice is yours. Neal finished.
What? Had some portal opened and taken Neal only to replace him with his opposite from another dimension? The choice was mine? Granted I always made the decisions, but he had never said that before.
Neal leapt to attack and landed on top of the witch on the left, his canines biting down on her smooth green neck. My blade was again pushed aside by her long claws and I spun to the right as her sister tried to get at me from my flank. I swept low slicing her in the stomach with my sword and watched as a large deep gash opened up, followed by a screech of pain.
I immediately backed up, knowing the first one would be coming for me, but I slipped on something under water, something I hadn’t seen. I took me a second to regain my footing and I felt a sharp pain as the first sea witches sharp claws stabbed me, radiating pain flowed from the wound and my arm went limp. I reached out and grabbed the sword as it fell from my grip, slicing a quick X into the chest of my assailant.
Again there was a loud screech of pain and I backed up as the other witch began to advance on me.
I feared for Neal, as I realized that without the use of my arm I was sorely outgunned. I began to try and gather energy into me, in order to use it against the witches when I saw the witches look up past me and hiss with obvious hate. A large bolt, the kind used by a cross bol
t, thunked into the sea witches chest and she immediately spun and dove back under the water, along with her sister. A few seconds later Neal splashed out of the shallow water and came to stand next to me.
He looked me up and down quickly.
You’re hurt, one of them got to you. It wasn’t a question.
Neal stood over me, looking up at someone.
I could hear the smooth melodic words of Atlantean as someone slowly approached. I was able to move my head to the side and see a skinny looking man with glasses and wild unkempt hair slowly approaching. He had set down his weapon and had both hands up in a show of non-aggression.
The man’s words came to me clearly as he approached.
“Please, I am not here to hurt you, he has been poisoned. I can help, please he is the lost son isn’t he, come to help? I’m here to help, we have been waiting for him, please let me help.” He kept saying.
Lost son? What the hell did that mean? I thought as blackness began to take me.
Chapter fourteen
I was getting tired of always being knocked out, poisoned or blacking out from exhaustion.
“Is it him?” The speaker had a squeaky voice, filled with uncertainty.
“I don’t know we’ll have to wait for him to wake up.” A woman said.
“Of course it’s him, the proof is right there, keeping guard.” A third speaker said.
His tone was authoritative, the leader maybe?
“What is it? I’ve never seen anything like it.”
“It’s not an it, it’s a he.” I said, opening my eyes and sitting up.
When Neal insisted on teaching me Atlantean I never thought I would actually use it, it’s times like these that makes me thank the stars for my over bearing, aggravating, and demanding dog.
I was in a small mechanical room, the walls were covered in old piping and valves dotted the metal. Three people stood in a group near the sole door. The same man who had come to my aid, a woman with blond hair and hard edges and a short, skinny man who kept looking over at me and Neal with quick, furtive glances.
My movement and words caused them all to pause and turn to me, looking at me as if I were a coiled snake ready to attack.
“His name is Neal, and he’s my dog.” I rubbed my arm which still ached, but I could move it and since I could tell it was aching, meant I had feeling in it, good.
An odd light fixture in the middle of the room gave off an amber glow, making misshapen shadows on the wall.
The one with the wild hair helped drag you here. He then produced an antidote to the sea witches poison. I analyzed it to be sure it would not harm you further, whereby I allowed him to administer it into your bloodstream. From my calculations it should now become part of your immune system and help fight off any further episodes of their poison.
Not long after the other two individuals showed up. From what I have heard, the wild haired one’s name is Brigand, and the woman’s name is Sessarian, I do not know who the third one is.
“Where am I?” I asked, hoping to get them talking.
The older one, Brigand, stepped away from the others, getting a little closer.
“You’re somewhere safe, for now. Tell me, why are you not inoculated from the hag’s poison, and what is a dog?” He said the last word with trepidation, testing the sound.
“The hag?” I asked.
“Oh, you mean the sea witch. I didn’t even know there was an antidote. I’ve never run into the nasty things before, never needed it, and Neal is my friend and companion, he is no threat to you.” I answered, the less they knew about Neal the better, we still had no idea who these people were, Neal’s presence would be a target for the Warlord, should he find out about it.
“The hags are a common foe for us, for anyone living in the city. Anyone authorized to be down in these areas have to be immunized. Are you saying you do not have authorization to be here?” He asked, I felt like this line of questioning was a ruse, he had something else on his mind.
It is unclear if they are friend or foe. It would seem odd, however, for them to save you, only to want to harm you. That was a good point.
Perhaps.
I could see Neal wasn’t going to be much help. Sometimes if you wanted information you had to give it first.
“No, I don’t have authorization to be down here, I wouldn’t even know where to begin to get authorization. I’m not really from around here.” I stood up, moving my arm back and forth.
I felt my sword still on my back, either they didn’t try to take it or they did and Neal wouldn’t let them.
The third guy turned and took a few steps closer, interest evident on his face. The woman’s already steely countenance became even more so.
“What do you mean, not from around here?” Brigand asked.
“Look, Brigand is it?” He was clearly surprised at my knowledge of his name.
“I live in a small apartment above my place of business, I don’t live in this city, I’m from Oklahoma.” I was sure they had no idea what states were and just wanted to see how they would react.
“You see? I told you, he is from the outside.” The skinny guy said. His words came out in an excited rush.
“We don’t know that for sure, he could be an agent of the Warlord’s.” Sessarian argued.
Brigand hushed them both, staring at me intently.
“Is it true, do you come from the surface?” He asked.
“Yes, I already said as much.” I was beginning to get impatient.
“I knew it!” Squealed the skinny one. The woman was unmoved.
“How is it that you have an Atlantean skin suit?” He asked.
“Listen, I came down here in search of a girl and a woman whom the Warlord kidnapped. It seems to me that you guys aren’t big fans of his, so how’s about you ease up on the twenty questions and answer a few of my own?” I don’t know what I had expected when I came down here, but these three misfits wasn’t it.
Sessarian leaned towards Brigand, “We have to move from here, their entry most likely alerted the patrol, they will be down here soon.”
He turned to her then to me.
“She’s right, we have to move. Will you come with us, we can provide a safe place where you can ask your questions and we can ask some more, perhaps we can help each other?” He was clearly hoping I would acquiesce.
I sense nothing about them that invokes hostility towards you. The woman, however, is clearly mistrustful, but she seems to be more worried about her friend’s well-being than attacking you.
Most of them are in areas of education and labor, namely populated ones. I think it may be in our best interests to go with them, at least until our interests diverge.
“Okay, we’ll come, but as long as we keep this meeting between us, no outside communications.” I said, knowing Neal would inform me if anyone tried.
Brigand was thoughtful for a few seconds.
“I don’t like it, we will need to report in soon, if not someone will come looking for us.” Sessarian said.
“True, but this may be what we have been waiting for.” Brigand an
swered.
“Fine, come with us and we will do as you ask.” He said to me.
“Deal.” I answered.
We all made our way out of the cramped mechanical room and entered a large industrial looking area. We were at the bottom of several levels of what looked like huge filtration systems, hundreds of huge cylindrical tanks dotted the area while pipes ranging from three inches to two feet in diameter exited the tanks and went to destinations unknown. The whole area reminded me of a sewer treatment facility.
There were landings and stairwells leading up to different levels that allowed access for maintenance crews to reach the different pieces of equipment and tanks.
It was from one of those walkways, two levels up, that we heard a loud booming voice say. “You there, stay where you are!”
We all turned and saw a group of five men hurrying down the walkway, heading towards a stairwell that would bring them down to our level. They were dressed in uniforms, dark blue from head to toe with a large silver blazing sun on their chests. Each one carried a long black stick and two of them held the foam pistols I had encountered earlier.
“Go! Go! We can’t let them stop us, move!” Brigand ordered.
They are getting ready to fire at us. Neal’s voice rang in my head.
“Incoming!” I yelled, turning back to face the soldiers.
Sessarian ran up next to me, without looking back she said, “Brigand, get to safety, we shall see if our newcomer has a spine.”
The two soldiers holding pistols raised them and fired two round white spheres at Sessarian and myself. Before I could so much as move Sessarian pointed her own strange pistol at the incoming projectiles. It looked like a black powder pistol, one used in the eighteenth century, only the barrel ended in what looked like the end of a trumpet. I fully expected to hear soft jazz come from the weapon when she pulled the trigger.
Instead there was a high pitched whine which buzzed in my head. Neal let out a loud whimper and backed away from the sound. The projectiles were almost on us, but a few feet away they each burst and came apart in a cloud of what looked like flour, the particles were so fine.
Lost Son Page 14