Chapter Thirty-Nine: Shut up and kiss me.


    “AAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!”


    The scream tore through the air, raw and ragged, rising in pitch as the pain surged. Well, pain was back, no question. Leoleth used Death’s Door to heal me, but I had to be below five percent for her to do it. Titus was just stupid enough to have his guard down if I was close to dying. And getting close to dying seems to be one of my specialties.


    Leoleth was standing over me, her foot on my left shoulder, holding Titus’s sword with two hands, and yanking on it has hard as she could. In my twisted little head, I imagined all the knights trying to pull out the Sword in the Stone. Only it was just the frost elf, and the stone was my chest.


    “Pull the fucking thing out!” I cried through gritted teeth.


    “I’m trying!” she grunted as she yanked. “It’s all wedged in your spine or something!”


    “Fuck!” and yes, the VP was dropping but what could I do? My gods damn body was healing around the thing.


    After a few more agonizing yanks, the sword burst forth from my chest, spraying the hall with fountains of blood. It felt like a red-hot poker was being stored in my chest cavity. Leoleth fell backward on her butt while I rolled on to my side.


    I downed another health potion, holding off the fatal decline in my VP. The pain subsided for the moment, but mother lover that was a rough one.


    “Nice,” I croaked before coughing up the last of the blood in my lungs. I looked over at Titus, all dead and shit. She managed to put the invisibility cloak she stole from Faedan to good use. Titus never saw her coming. His naked body lied in a pool of blood. “You looted him?”


    “Of course.” Leoleth sat up, Titus’ rapier held proudly in her hands. “I got full credit for killing the bastard. I leveled up too.”


    Group Chat:


    Regan: Titus is down. The rest of the Red Hooks are gonna be on us in two seconds.


    Jinx: We’re in position down the hall.


    Regan: Another thing: the Empress’ personal guard are going to be alerted to trouble as soon as those assholes head this way.


    Jinx: This is turning into an interesting night.


    “Is the door locked?” I asked Leoleth.


    “Dose a grim worm squirm in the sun?”


    “I don’t know.” I said irritably as I got up on to my hands and knees, standing was not quite in the offering yet.


    “That would be yes.” She offered me her hand. I took it and got to my feet. I didn’t waste time as I staggered to the door of the larder and collapsed in front of it.


    Before I started working on the lock, I cast Eyes of Death. Gazing through the veil of darkness at the room ahead, I saw nothing. No trace of any life. I looked around the hall I was in and saw the ghostly shadows of everything up and down, including Leoleth. But there was a patch in the larder where there was no trace. There should have been something.


    “Well, that sucks.” There was never nothing. I would always see bugs and mice and other little critters everywhere I looked. “What does it mean if I don’t see anything?”


    “Magic shield.” She pulled out a control rod and started working on a ritual. Drawing circles of light in the air as she chanted quietly.


    “No time for that. We’ll just have to try and hit them with obsidian and hope it works.” I had the dagger, my Black Rain spell and a half dozen arrow heads.


    I pulled the black blade out of storage, and gripped it in my teeth. I went and went to work on the lock. Click. My personal record was two seconds, I beat it by a half that.


    Boots echoed in the hall as the Red Hooks came barreling in the room.


    “You!” Scar Head, the leader guy barked at me. I spun around to see only ten of the Red Hooks, I guessed clearing the entire table at one time would be a little too suspicious. The others were arrayed around him, in a half circle with me and Leoleth in the center. I summoned a rapier and held it with my obsidian dagger as the circle started to close on us. I could feel a crackle of energy as Leoleth readied a spell.


    Thwip! Thwip! Thwip!


    Scar Head and the two to his right went down with arrows in their heads. Jinx, Eric and Kev came running in from the hall from the left.


    Jinx let lose a chain of lightening that jumped from one of the Red Hooks to the next, until three lay on the ground twitching. Eric engaged one and Kev, the last two.


    “Go,” Leoleth hissed, putting a magical barrier up between us and the fight. I pulled the handle and rolled into the larder, leaving the chaos behind me outside. But then again, I was now in the middle of a whole new kind of chaos.


    The room was lit with alternating red and blue lights. Reminding me of a crime scene with police cars parked around it. It was a good size, about two dozen feet across and deep and ceiling around twelve feet. The ritual was taking place behind a blue magic barrier being maintained by a mage with a large glowing staff inside the circle. Next to him, were the five priests and priestesses, each with a staff topped off with a power crystal.


    Eumenia stood clad in black and crimson robes at the head of the hexagon of people, her hands raised as she and the others chanted. I couldn’t hear the words because of the magical energy. The charge was so built up, it crackled and sparked, sounding like someone dumped five sacks of marbles into a Vitamix and cranked the dial to eleven.


    Heather was in the middle of the circle. They had stripped her down to nothing. She was bound to the floor in iron shackles on at the wrists and ankles and had a massive iron collar around her neck. Her face was twisted in a silent scream, tears running down her face. She was in pain. I could tell, and lots of it.


    I could see cracks of energy erupting from her skin, following the lines of her major nerves like lightning bolts across the body. It was getting close to finish. I’d seen it before in the summoning at the keep. Soon her body would erupt, and the demon would feed on her soul as he slipped into her skin.


    I hazarded a glance at the hallway outside. Through the shimmering blue shield, I could see that the rest of the Red Hooks were on the scene, and my boys and Gem had fully engaged them. Gem had stashed her bow, and now was brandishing two long, mean looking curved knives that she used to cut her way around the room in a display that reminded me of a sword dance, but I don’t think she used any formal martial skill just kick ass girl power.


    I needed to get into the circle and free her, but I could also just stop the thing by killing one of the priests. Ah hells. I gripped the obsidian dagger in my left hand and held tight to Silent Passage in the right. I took a dive at the shield, bring in the black glass covered dagger down with all my might, while aiming the magical murder blade at the back of the nearest priest.


    And, Well, Shit. As per the rules of Murder World, nothing shakes down the way you want it to. The blade did its thing, breaking the magical barrier and leaving a gap for my attack. I swung the blade down as hard as I could. The damn thing shattered in my hand as I did, and poof the barrier restored itself.Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more.


    Right before it did, I managed poke Silent Passage into the skin of the bastard creep with his hands on the glowing magical power staff. However, the Silent Passage went flying somewhere. I was giving a good and nasty shock of magical power that felt like a kick in the chest from an angry yellow clad pit queen I’d rather not name.


    I hit the floor hard enough to ring the bell in my head, but I was back up in half a second, ready for round two. The red glow from inside the shield had stopped. The priests and priestesses all looked at the one I poked as he barked at them, point at his throat. That was the one-minute silence debuff, complements of Silent Passage. You need all five, plus the cleric to make the ritual work, hopefully this set them back by more than a minute.


    I was running low on ideas though. I guess using a power crystal to run a barrier made it much more difficult to penetrate. I needed to think of something that would allow me to punch through. I had a few more hits that I could take to buy myself some time. I just needed to find Silent Passage, though. I started checking the corners, ignoring the panic and mayhem inside the ritual area as the Granvulites worked to get their collective shit together.


    There was a flicker of blue light, followed by the sound of a flash and crackle. Leoleth was down.


    “OOOH!” she howled, more rage than pain. She had a small knife sticking out of her right shoulder. Four of the Red Hooks, clad in officer’s dress armor came charging in, bowling over the frost elf and ignoring her. The focus was on securing the room. I don’t even think they noticed me yet.


    “Oh,” I said, pulling my rapier out and Sick Stick. “Hells No.” I activated Sword Dance and went to work.


    Of the four, two had broad swords, one had a cutlass, and one had a mace. A broad sword in and enclosed combat space? Not the smarts of the group, but whatever. I watched the long ribbons of movement from those two and could easily plot my movement to evade. The other two were gonna be the challenge.


    I focused on Cutlass first. She swung her blade fast, swishing and slashing, pushing into my space as much as she could. I kept dancing back, keeping the walls in my periphery and her compatriots always in front of me. While the dagger was good at parrying the lighter blades, the hard swing of the cutlass would knock it around.


    Mace jumped up, swinging at my temple with all the gusto of a four-year old at a t-ball game. I danced under his swing, thrusting my shoulder into Cutlass’ chest. I turned and gave Sick Stick a throw, landing its twisty blade it into his armpit with a satisfying thwump.


    He doubled over, the Tilt a Hurl debuff doing its thing. I followed up with a full strength thrust into his left chest. I thanked Titus quietly for encouraging me to choose this blade. Even light as a rapier was, Level twenty-plus Strength did, indeed, punch through just about any kind of armor, and his breast plate never stood a chance, neither did his heart.


    I kicked him off my blade and leaned back, right under Cutlass’ swing as she managed to get back on the attack. I rolled on the ground, right around her, and gave her a kick forward, into the two Broadswords as they charged at me. I summoned up another dagger.


    The flicker of blue lights in the room from the magical shield started dancing with a new, reactivated red light. The ritual was back on. I glanced to my side and saw the attack on Heather was back under full sway, the cracks in her flesh getting larger, their tendrils spreading around her naked body.


    “Oh gods!” I did my own charge this time. The dance guiding me under the clunky swings as I shoved my dagger into the belly of Cutlass and the rapier through the left thigh of one of the Broadswords. I released my weapons and grabbed the cutlass out of the Red Hook as she went down in agonizing pain. I spun it round, swinging it with everything I had on her bare, exposed neck. Her head rolled on to the floor, the blood gushing out like a fire hydrant. I stepped back from the spray after taking a full blast on my chest.


    Achievement unlocked, beheading.


    My blade was up and ready to face down the last two of those sick bastards. Broadsword number one was still down, healing his leg, but also trying to pull the blade out, not easy, that I knew from experience. Number two was ready to move again, his blade up and in the ready position.


    He took a step forward, but an old, but well maintained, cutlass burst through his chest with enough force to knock his breast plate completely off.


    “Ye best be droppin’ that blade, little Regan Summer.”


    Captain Brooks marched up, shoving the dead broad swordsman to the ground. He leveled his gaze on me, his eyes piercing as sharp as his blade. “Lest you be lying next to this one here.”


    I released my grip on my sword, letting it clatter to the floor.


    “Sorry,” I said, breaking away from the gaze of the pirate captain and looking at Heather. Her body was almost completely engulfed in the energy of the ritual. She was out of time. We were down to just a few seconds. I needed just a little more time. But there just weren’t any to spare.


    “Got some savin’ to do.”


    I activated Time Dilation,  spun on my heal, and took two massive running steps towards the blue magical barrier that kept me from saving my friend. On the third step, I leapt with all the strength in my body, propelling myself like a torpedo for the space right above her, my hands in front of me like Super Girl flying above National City.


    I snapped off Time Dilation and activated Black Rain. I couldn’t do them at the same time. Microseconds ahead of me, the burst of magically summoned obsidian bullets flew into the shimmering blue light, shattering it for an instant. That was all I needed.


    I passed through the space where the barrier used to be, flew over Heather’s thrashing body and bounced off the reinstated barrier on the far side. My stomach lurched as I entered the magical field fueled by the ritual and five gods damned power crystals. Everything shifted in my vision as I shook my head, trying to get the static out.


    I jumped at Eumenia, but again was repulsed by another barrier, this time generated by the ritual. It would make sense the thing would have something in place to keep the demon constrained. She looked at me, her lips moving, saying a chant that I couldn’t hear through the sound of crackling magic and the cries of my dear friend.


    The bitch was smiling, and I swear she fucking winked at me. She was clad in the black and red robes as the others, but for some reason, she was wearing her magistrate badge. What the hells was that all about?


    I slid next to Heather, she was fading. But at least I made it. I only had to move her out of the center of the circle to end the ritual. I gripped the shackle on her left wrist and summoned up a lock pick.


    Um, Shit.


    I couldn’t access my storage. All my EP was drained by the ritual.


    I had added like twenty of the things all over my body when I was in the wench uniform, but when I switched to the armor, I didn’t think to move any over. The ones I used to open the door were stashed away too. And storage was locked off due to the magic drain.


    My heart stopped, and all time slowed, just like time dilation. All I needed was a lock pick. I could free her from these piece of shit locks in, like, three seconds.


    I reached into my hair, pulling at it. A hair pin! Yes, I must have a hair pin. I yanked and ripped at the stupid curls. There was nothing there.


    “Hi.” Heather was looking at me. Her beep blue eyes were blood shot and puffy from the crying and pain, but when she looked at me, she was suddenly calm. The noise of the ritual was roaring, but for some reason, in the center, it was like being in the eye of a hurricane.


    “I’m sorry.” I whispered.


    “It’s okay.” She said, smiling at me. “I knew you’d come.”


    “I don’t think I can save you.” I held back the onslaught of tears that were about to come.


    “You don’t have to.” She closed her eyes. “The Goddess blessed me by bringing us together. You saved me enough for one lifetime. I’ll be fine.”


    We had seconds. My heart dropped into my stomach as the realization hit me. It was agonizing, but there was a way. I reached to my belt, my boot, the small of my back. I needed something, anything. A dagger to the heart would do it, but I didn’t have anything on me.


    “I’m so stupid.” I muttered, looking at her face. She kept a calm and peaceful look on her face, despite the pain she was experiencing. Her limbs and chest were starting to shift, to expand like air was being pumped into her. It was almost over.


    She closed her eyes like she was going to sleep. I could see she was


    I dived into my sheet, looking for anything, anything that I could use. I couldn’t access skills that would work. I had no EP for magical spells. She had a fucking collar that kept me from wrapping my hands around her neck even.


    “How do I save you!” I bellowed.


    She opened her eyes and looked at me, a smile of realization seemed to come across her face. “Shut up and kiss me.” She whispered.


    I cradled her head in my hands and placed my lips on hers. I activated Kiss of Death.


    I felt like I was falling, twisting and turning in the air as the world whizzed by. I could feel Heathers gentle breath against my lips, even as I fell. One breath. That’s all I got.


    There was a flash of white light, and everything stopped. The ritual, the chanting, the crackling of energy, and the sounds of combat outside the room I didn’t even realize were there. Everything. I could smell her hair and her skin, and swear, could hear the chime of her laugh echoing in the back of my head.


    The words appeared black, on the white background:


    Kiss of Death


    The gift of death from the Unnamed God. Delivered with compassion. Non-Combat only.


    Activation time: Instant. Range: Lip to Lip Contact. Cost: 0 EP. Cool Down: One Day.


    Heather’s body was limp, her head was tilted awkwardly, and her eyes stared lifelessly past me.


    The world exploded.