The Crescent Hour ✓

Chapter 18. The Spider's Dance

The passage was dark and narrow. Tamer trod in silence, relying on his sixth sense to detect any unanticipated attacks. The snapping of claws came from the end of the alley. He had tried speaking to the creatures with his telepathic powers but a barrier had stopped him from slipping through their minds. Because they weren’t natural but mutated beings, the presence of a barrier led to one thing.

Deformed Homunculi.

Their black eyes was proof enough. He sheathed one of his scimitars and exited the passage. Three of the creatures dropped from the buildings to ambush him. One on the left, another on the right and a third one in front of him. He drew out a knife and flicked his wrist. The creature on the left groaned as the blade buried itself in its neck.

Tamer pressed the hilt and black fire engulfed the scimitar. The two remaining creatures circled him, wary of the flames. He moved to the left, stepping over their dead cohort. When one of them swung at him with its pincers, he deflected the attack to the side and slashed at its torso. The third one pounced on him and he sidestepped. He stabbed at the creature, the acrid scent of charred flesh filling his nostrils.

“We cannot be defeated,” came the resonating voice of their leader.

Tamer retrieved his knife and scanned the buildings with his eyes. He saw a silhouette slip between one roof to the next. He followed it. Four Homunculi attacked, their spider forms an embodiment of a living nightmare, and each fell to his swords.

“Come out, you coward,” Tamer said.

The silhouette laughed before dashing into the blackness of the night. Two more creatures surrounded him. Tamer swung his scimitar in a wide arc, hitting the creature on the right and pushing away the one at center with a front kick.

An image darted in his mind. Crooked lines turned into distinct shapes and colors burned with life. He saw statues of priests and maidens standing in two rows and in between them, a group of cloaked men formed a circle around a kneeling man.

No. Not again.

Sigils ran across the floor and a white orb throbbed with light. The man stood back, the cloaked figures chanted a hymn and the roaring flames consumed the orb.

Sharp pain lanced through Tamer’s gut and the vision was lost in a white haze. He felt his back connect with a dumpster. He blinked and leant to his left as claws slammed next to his head. He dipped a knife onto the creature’s pincer. He kicked at it and it stumbled. Standing up, Tamer crushed its face with his boot.

He heard laughter ringing through the street. The silhouette appeared again, balanced on top of a streetlamp, long hair flying in the breeze.

“You,” Tamer said.

The man was the same person who had attacked the Great Scribe in the city of Kirisal. He jumped down, landing on his feet. Cocking his head to the side, the man said, “We meet again, Tamer.”

“How do you know my name,” Tamer demanded.

“I know a lot about you.” The man clicked his tongue. “A lot more than you'd like to see exposed.”

“Who are you? Who sent you here?”

“My name is Enki,” the man replied. “And as for my master, that is none of your concern.”          

Several mutated Homunculi stepped out of the shadows and Enki sank back in their midst, a wicked smile on his face.

As the creatures attacked, speeding bullets stopped a few of them in their tracks. He spared a glimpse at the rooftops and spotted Rai shooting the monstrosities. Clara was taking instructions from Eryx, their hands pulling back strings from bows made of white and blue light and when they released the strings, sharp projectiles whizzed through the air, slicing at any Homunculi that tried to reach him.