Broken Ritual (2)

--Gatix--

Despite being spun nearly halfway around, I still shielded my eyes when a pillar of flame enveloped the screaming alchemist.

Damn, girl...

I counted five seconds before the pillar disappeared in a whiff of smoke.

No...

After an attack like that, I expected to find the alchemist's charred remains. Instead, I found an alchemist clinging to his staff, alive. Half his robe had been burned away to reveal patches of burnt skin.

“I... won't be stopped so easily.” A skin-tight shimmer around him evaporated as he spoke. Now lying on the ground, Ms. Queen tried to raise her arm, but the fight had left her. Luckily, neither Scythe nor myself had the same disposition.

“No.” A tendril broke through the ground by his feet and shot toward me faster than I had seen. I didn't have time to react as it slammed into Scythe's barrel and knocked the weapon from my grip. One of the warning lights I feared the most flickered to life inside my visor at the same time.

Barrel jammed.

Scythe would not be firing again in this fight.

“You piece of-” I reached for Fang, but two tendrils wrapped around my feet before a third one slammed against my head. Stars appeared throughout my vision as my head bounced inside the visor. I barely felt the impact of my back slamming against the ground.

***

“No!” Gatix fell backward when the tentacle crashed against his helmet.

“As for you!” I tore my attention away from my fallen comrade and focused it on my foe. While still leaning on his staff, his right hand now grasped a single vial containing a red substance. “I should thank you. None of this would be possible without your visit to our base.”

Red... My eyes widened. “Is that my blood?”

“It's ironic that your blood will lead us into the new age.” Donkor tried to chuckle, but all that came out was a raspy gurgling. “And now, you can watch it all take place.” He raised the vial to his mouth and bit off the cork. “Observe! Offer!”

A white glow enveloped the vial as the blood flowed out to form a glowing ball, hovering in front of him for a second before it vanished into the white sphere.

“Yes...” A pulse ran throughout the sphere as if it recognized the blood. Several black dots appeared in its center, all moving towards the center where they fused into a singular black mass.

“Yes!” The mass grew with every dot until it filled half the white sphere.

“Yes!! Maak oop!” The white sphere gave another pulse as a golden blob formed in the middle of the black mass.

But the golden blob was different. It appeared to be taking shape.

“Donkor, what are you doing?”

“Look upon your destruction, O' Queen!” The alchemist cackled. “Know your death will usher in a new-”

BANG.

***

I didn't know what the yellow blob was, but I knew it spelled trouble. My usual action would be to set Scythe to maximum power and let the resulting blast take care of the problem. While that wasn't an option right now, it didn't mean I was unarmed. With the alchemist's and Ms. Queen's attention focused on the growing blob, it gave me the opportunity to unclip Fang from my hip, take aim, and squeeze the trigger.

I didn't understand many things in this world, but one thing seemed to be universal. Unless you're a clattering headless skeleton, nothing survives a bullet through the head.

The resulting screech reminded me of metal shearing in the midst of a hurricane, with the violently pulsing white sphere at the center. Each pulse risked pulling the sphere apart.

An opening if I ever saw one.

BANG.

“NOOO!” Somebody yelled.

BANG.

BANG.

BANG.

The white sphere was dented with every bullet that struck it before the final one blew it apart. The resulting shockwave not only blew the alchemist backward but knocked me flat on the ground. I heard several chandeliers fall, but with my feet still tied, I could only stare at the one above me, anxiously hoping its chain would hold.

An eerie silence filled the room after that, only broken by the alchemist's wailing. “What did you do?”

“Pretty sure...” I pushed myself into a sitting position. I found him leaning on his staff with his eyes focused where the white orb exploded. “We stopped your crazy idea.”

“Do... do you have any idea...” He stretched his hand, but his expression confirmed he didn't find what he was looking for. “... any idea how long I've worked towards this?” The snarl he shot in my direction sent a shiver down my spine. “Rank spies, skiet!”

Something slammed against my back and I gasped in pain. Lowering my neck revealed the bloody tip of a tendril poking out of my abdomen.

“Critical damage sustained,” Nev said, but I barely registered his words. The coppery taste of blood filled my mouth as a numbness spread throughout my body.

“At least I'll have the pleasure of sending you to the void,” the alchemist said with a snarl.

I wanted to yell something back, but I didn't have the strength for it. But that single movement behind the alchemist did not escape my notice. Were I not in pain, I would have grinned, maybe taken some pride in it, but all I could manage was to raise the corner of my mouth in a pained attempt at a smile.

“I'll see you... there.”

BANG.