Prophecy: Tome of Blood

7. Listen

Lorelei, once again, was in command. And once again she was beautiful. It had been only minutes earlier when they'd been alerted to the Anchoress' cult, terrorizing the public again in a bid to secure more sacrifices for their queen, and with Toby still in recovery that left her to rally the troops. But since they were down two members, two others had stepped in to fill the void, and behind her-behind Myrna and Austin-Liam and Percy completed the formation. With a warmed smile Lorelei focused back on her target, knowing that her back was safe for the time being.

With a crouch she stuck her heel into the air, meeting with her foe's chin and sending him flying back into his cohorts before rising with haste and grabbing the dagger sheathed on her arm. When two more approached her she sliced back and forth, maneuvering beyond their attempts at blocking to get at their throats and cleave the life from them. When they both stood there, holding their mortal wounds, she returned the blade to its place and leapt into the air, flipping around and kicking them both back in the same manner as she had the first.

"Hungry!" The Anchoress bellowed, moving through her cult in a way that proved she had no care for their condition as she approached her sacred one. But indeed things were not as they were before, and even though Austin still feared her-feared what he alone knew what she was, what she could do-he would not let that paralyze him. He kept a mindful eye on her as he held back those who attempted to grab ahold of him, hold him still so that he could be easily captured. But he'd trained with the best.

With the same dexterity that Qui'hara had taught him, he wielded his staff, twirling it through the air after landing each consecutive blow. To the chest, the neck, swept under the legs. He fought well, surprising the cultists and their dark goddess when they tried to recall the once fragile boy. But that wasn't him anymore, and he battled on with such courage, a deplorable scent that offended the Anchoress. But she approached him nevertheless, prepared to latch onto him as she laughed shrilly. The sound sent shivers up Austin's spine, but he knew he couldn't give in to that. It hadn't been his intent to enter into open conflict with her, he'd planned to lay low like he'd promised Toby. But he couldn't let innocents suffer.

When the Anchoress was close enough she reared back, ready to spring as she watched her sacred one tense in anticipation. But she was blindsided, caught off guard by the heavy projectile that slammed into her and knocked her to the side. Almost like it was magnetic, Liam held out his arm, the base of his wrist where his hand had detached pointing toward the metal fist in her side. He charged forward, slamming the pieces back together, resulting in delivering her another blow. She howled, furious, and took a swipe at him, but his eyes caught the movement and paused, making the calculations in his enhanced brain and allowing him enough time to feint back.

Of course Myrna was right there too, and as soon as Liam had moved out of the way she threw a couple cobalt bolts at the Anchoress, doing significantly less damage, but scaring her all the same into moving away from them. She still remembered. And Myrna knew this, using it to her advantage as she gave chase, her feet hovering just inches above the ground as she zipped after her, launching her magic blasts. Liam stayed by Austin, using his incredible strength to crush the oncoming cultists with one clench of his cybernetic hand.

But by then the Anchoress' worshipers had taken notice of their queen's departure, and they too began to trickle away. True, the interference of their old foes had stopped them from harvesting as many sacrifices as they would've liked, but they'd gotten enough to tide their mistress over. With that they heeded the call of retreat from their head priest and started back, finding that in usual form the enemy did not relent even as they began their escape.