Sword Sisters (22 page)

I barely had time to turn before the big spider was on me again. It was high on its legs, its abdomen curled to spew a vast net of webbing my way. I jumped through it before it could solidify enough to snag me. I landed painfully on my back in a pile of rib bones, and the spider loomed over me then, preparing to drive its whole upper body down on me.

Idiot. There was a reason bugs hadn’t conquered the world. Its entire cephalothorax was exposed, including the narrow waist between it and the abdomen. I severed it with one clean swipe then scrambled away before the front half, with all the legs and fangs still attached, could grab me in its death throes.

I wiped the webbing from my face and looked around for more spiders. There were none, or at least none brave or hungry enough to face me.

“Aella!” Amelia yelled from inside the cocoon. “Aella!”

“I’m here,” I said breathlessly. “Killed a bunch of spiders.”

“Good! Stupid bugs. Can you get me down?”

“Still working on it.” Then I noticed that her cocoon was attached by one relatively thin strand to a lone stalactite. “Okay, give me a minute.”

Reapers, as is probably obvious by now, are physically much stronger than humans. We also work hard to develop our hand-eye coordination. I picked up a rock from the cave floor, hefted it experimentally, then threw it as hard as I could at the stalactite’s base.

It shattered, and the fragments rained down on the cocoon. “Ow!” Amelia cried. “What was that?”

“Practice shot,” I said. I found some more rocks and began throwing them as rapidly as I could. Each one shattered but also took out chunks of the stalactite. I hoped the cocoon was as thick and protective as it appeared.

After six rocks, the stalactite cracked, and the cocoon fell to the cave floor. The sudden drop made Amelia scream. I rushed to her and used the sword to cut the webbing over her face.

“What the hell?” she said, outraged. “You could’ve warned me!”

“Didn’t have time,” I lied. “Are you okay?”

“They didn’t bite me if that’s what you mean. They just wanted me for later, I guess. But get me out of here. I’m baking alive!”

“Hold still,” I said. No human could have pulled the strands apart, and it was difficult even for me, but eventually, I helped her emerge like a sweaty, angry butterfly. She still clutched her family sword.

She kicked the cocoon and said, “That was disgusting!”

I sat back against a protruding rock, breathless. “You’re welcome.”

She looked around at the dead spiders, some of which still spasmed in their death throes. “Did you do all that by yourself? I wish I’d seen it.”

I grinned and gasped, “Hardly broke a sweat.”

She laughed. So did I. We dissolved into giggles, like girls sharing secrets when no one was looking.

Finally she offered me a hand, and I got to my feet. I asked, “Did you see anyone else here? Blue guy, sticky looking?”

“No, I barely got past the entrance before they grabbed me. Where were you?”

“Our paths got crossed. I’m sorry. And you didn’t see Damato?”

“No. Was he supposed to be here?”

I didn’t know. I just assumed he was here because it’s what I would’ve done. He might just be off visiting some other woman; hell, maybe he had a secret family in another village. Or liked to get drunk by himself in the woods. I really knew nothing about him, except that at some level, he made me feel differently than any other man, human or Reaper. And I still wasn’t sure if that was good or bad. “I just thought he might be. Either way, we need to get you out of here before—”

Two new figures appeared from the back of the cave. They were white-faced and moved stiffly. The unkillable Demons.

“—they show up,” she finished for me.

“They’re bad news, I take it,” Amelia said.

“They’re Demons,” I whispered.

This made Amelia jump, and her voice shook. “Demons?”

I knew what she was thinking. What Demons did to human girls was well known; it was where Reapers came from, after all. I said, “You should run, Amelia. Seriously.”

“But—”

“Run!” I screamed because the Demons suddenly charged toward us, grasping hands extended, shrieking.

The female Demon ran for me, the male for Amelia. I had no choice but to deal with the one in my face first, which I did by the expedient tactic of kicking her in the crotch. Demons had the same basic anatomy as humans, and this had the same effect. It wouldn’t stop her for long, but hopefully, I didn’t need long.

The other Demon had Amelia by one wrist and a handful of her hair. She screamed in terror for the first time since I’d known her, and in this situation, that was a perfectly valid response. I swung my sword blindly, not even pausing to think. The stroke severed both the Demon’s arms at the elbows. Amelia fell back, the fingers of one Demon hand still tangled in her hair.

The Demon screamed, a shrill, high-pitched sound that echoed throughout the cavern. He turned to me, but no blood came from his stumps. It took me a long moment to grasp why. HE was already dead.

I kicked him in the chest and knocked him onto a pile of bones, where he thrashed like one of the big spiders.

And that gave me an idea.

I couldn’t kill him in the normal way. The slug controlling him kept me from slicing off his head. But I could certainly neutralize him as a threat.

He got back to his feet, not slowed by his missing arms.

I grinned. Payback.

I swung not at his head but at his legs. The sword sliced easily through the nearest limb and partly through the other. Either way, the Demon went down, still screeching, his remaining leg bucking at the air.

I turned to face the female. She stayed out of sword range, hissing, the thing on her neck pulsing bright blue beneath her hair. I had to assume she, too, was a corpse given life by Lurida Lumo. It would’ve been so satisfying to wade in and send that head from her shoulders, but I knew I couldn’t, so I bided my time. We circled each other slowly and watchfully.

“What are you waiting for?” Amelia said behind me. She kept her sword leveled at the still-moving but mostly-limbless Demon who’d attacked her.

“The right moment,” I said.

Then the she-Demon smiled and hissed out, “I know you, Aella.”

I went cold inside, but my sword didn’t waver.

“Ganesh’s little pet Reaper,” she continued, still smiling. “Daddy’s little girl. Do you remember playing pincushion?”

Of course I remembered. The Demons would tie me down and stick their daggers in me, laughing, seeing how many they could squeeze onto my wriggling, screaming little body. That day, I learned both how quickly Reapers healed, and to hate Demons with all my heart. I never knew intelligent beings could take amusement from another’s pain until then although that lesson would be the main thing the Demons taught me.

“It was my idea,” she said. “I saw those plump little cheeks and just imagined them full of pins and needles.”

Then the smile faded, replaced with a look of anguish like I’d never seen on a Demon’s face wrenched across it. “Help me, Aella. Kill me. It’s got its fingers in my brain…”

I knew I couldn’t kill her with the parasite on her, but I desperately wanted to and not out of pity. I swung hard and severed both legs her above the knee. I stepped on her chest and, with two quick strokes, hacked off her arms.

Then I turned her over, face down on the stone floor, put my sword tip against the throbbing parasite, and poked. Its skin gave but didn’t puncture.

I pushed harder.

It spread out like a stain and flowed off the Demon’s neck, pulling long tentacles from within her head. She screamed, long and wavering, as they withdrew. Then, like a mobile terrestrial jellyfish, it crawled slowly across the rocks. The Demon lay limp, finally dead.

“My gods,” Amelia whispered.

“Stand back,” I told her. Then I lopped off the Demon’s head just to make sure.

“What
is
that?” Amelia asked, still looking at the parasite.

“Part of Lurida Lumo,” I said. I wondered if he could control people or Reapers with them as well. I wished I’d worn a helmet. “We need to get out of here before—”

“Hello, Aella and Amelia,” the unmistakable, polite, whispery voice said.

I sighed. “Lurida Lumo shows up. Everything in this cave has great timing, you know that?”

He sat on his throne, blue and glowing, smug as ever. I tried to watch both him and the crawling parasite while staying protectively in front of Amelia.

“You have frightened my pet,” Lurida Lumo said. “He’s so lonely now with no one to talk to.”

“He’ll get over it,” I said.

“You are also attempting to take my sacrifice for a second time.”

“It was much harder this time if that’s any comfort.”

“Aella, you amaze me. Your courage is so wonderful.”

“You should see me dance.”

“I will. As soon as one of my pets brings you under my control—”

I jumped and grabbed at my neck, but there was nothing there.

Lurida Lumo tilted back his head and laughed his dry-wind laugh. “Oh, silly little Reaper, these pets only work on the Demons. I created them for that.”

I didn’t want to get drawn into a conversation, but I couldn’t let this go. “Oh, yeah? Why?”

“The Demons betrayed me. During their war. They promised me sacrifices that never appeared. So I took two of their own. You Reapers had them so frightened, they could not be bothered to attempt a rescue.” He sighed and shook his head. “Those two were mere bait. I’d intended to convert an army.”

“Sorry for your loss,” I said. “I think we’ll be going now.”

“No,” he said, “you won’t. I have done without my sacrifice for as long as I intend to. You, human, will feed my needs. And you, Reaper, will replace the Demons you slew.”

I changed my grip on the sword. “I’ll kill us both before I let that happen.”

I glanced at Amelia, who nodded.

“You may not have time,” Lurida Lumo said smugly.

Strong arms suddenly wrapped around me, and I was lifted off my feet. I heard the clank of metal and realized someone was trying to lock me in the Demon shackles again. There was no way that was going to happen, and I kicked, bit, and thrashed until I fell free of whoever grabbed me. I hit the floor and scrambled away, finally turning to confront Damato, standing there with the shackles at the ready.

I froze. I couldn’t speak. I couldn’t think.

“Every God needs a prophet,” Lurida Lumo said. “Mine is a poor one and not very good at his job, but he’s all I’ve got.”

“Damato,” I said at last.

He said nothing. He dropped the shackles at his feet and lowered his head as if ashamed.

Then Amelia shrieked. I followed her gaze to see a dozen giant spiders clustered around the only exit from the cave. There would be no escaping that way.

But I couldn’t believe I’d been so wrong about Damato. “How…could you?” I choked out.

He shrugged. That was all. He said nothing.

My vision grew wet and blurry—and started to turn that dangerous shade of red. If there’s anything I strongly dislike, it’s betrayal. And this was the last time.

“Aella,” Amelia said, her voice shaking. “What do we do?”

“I don’t know!” I screamed. My voice echoed around the cavern, mocking me with my own pathetic words. My vision came in and out as I fought for control. Full-on Reaper-mode might get me out alive, but not Amelia. That I knew for sure.

Amelia strode over and spun Damato to face her. “You son of a bitch. We all trusted you. How could you do this to her? To us?” And like a champion, she slapped him across the face. “That was from both of us!”

He still said nothing. But through his long hair, I now saw the blue glow of one of Lurida Lumo’s parasites affixed to the back of his skull.

The horror of what this meant turned me cold inside. He had come to rescue her, but Lurida Lumo had caught him first. And now…

I whirled toward Lurida Lumo. “You said you could only do this to Demons!”

“No, I said I had to create a special kind for Demons. Humans are infinitely simpler and easier. And as for you Reapers…”

I was alert, but he was still faster than I ever imagined. Lurida Lumo raised his hand and snapped it as if cracking a whip. Instantly, the material of his being stretched out impossibly thin, arcing across the space between us and snapping around my neck. I dropped my sword and grabbed the strand, which felt like a ribbon covered in catfish slime. The tip on the back of my neck swelled, and I knew that it was becoming one of the parasites. Tiny, needle-like sensations dug into my skin and wriggled deeper as the tendrils sought access to my brain.

I fell to my knees, gasping and struggling. The strand in my hand grew thinner until it was no bigger than a hair, far too small to grab or break. I couldn’t breathe, and I heard a voice in my head—in my mind—saying, submit, obey, accept.

Amelia screamed my name, but it was distant and thin even though she stood right next to me.