A Touch Of Lightning (COMPLETED!)

Chapter 65 Ghost Lands 2

Chapter 65 Ghost Lands 2

Raina stared in horror at the black things moving towards them. One was engaged with Ahleena, all flying blades of liquid midnight, Ahleena herself a blur. Another was in blinding-fast battle with Ghost, it's piercingly brilliant blue eyes hissing with power-soaked rage. And another was stalking directly towards her, a nightmare so close in looks to the Flayers that still haunted her dreams that it froze her rigid with sick familiarity.

It was formed out of a blackness so pure that it defied the eyes, almost moving through space like an eraser, blocking what was behind it, as if by its very presence it was deleting reality. It was all razor-edged strips waving about, reminding her of the Torn. Looking like it was peeling pieces of itself off and weaving them into cutting edges, then seeking for other flesh to rend.

The only point of color on it was the fiery, crackling blue of its eyes. Eyes fixed on her with hatred so focused, so depthless, that she found herself stumbling back in shock. It didn't just hate her, it hated the very life within her.

Something warm and wet trickled down her back, accompanied by a deep throbbing in her muscles. The throbbing seemed to be sucking at her warmth, at her energy. She took one more step away from the advancing Rift Razor and then her legs collapsed, turning to rubber noodles in an instant. She blinked at the ground, on her hands and knees, feeling the deep ache in the small of her back beginning to ratchet upwards into a roaring inferno of agony.

Swirling bits of black dots were starting to sweep across her vision, adding to her confusion. But she was able to connect what had happened. Her back-flip hadn't been fast enough. That slightest brush of something across her back she had felt as she had rose into the air must have been one of the blades formed by one of these Rift Razors. Just the thought of being touched by something so foul, so perfectly wrong, made her stomach churn like a sour tornado.

She felt that warm wetness on her back trickling down her sides, knew it was her blood, and hung her head. Waiting for the inevitable killing strike. The Rift Razor was standing over her, it must be lifting its blades to slice her to ribbons any instant now. She held her breath, waiting. Nothing happened.

"Raina!" Ahleena screamed nearby, her voice punctuated by a great ripping sound, as if a tablecloth the size of a football field was being ripped in two. A moment later there was a second, similar sound, and Raina heard Ghost and Ahleena sprinting towards her.

"What is it doing? Why didn't it kill her?" Ahleena cried, panic riding her words like piece of sandpaper on steel.

Despite the paralyzing moment of waiting for death itself, Raina was warmed to hear that panic in Ahleena's voice. It reassured her Ahleena cared about her. It reassured her Ahleena was real, that she was alive, that she wasn't just the dead thing she presented to the world.

"I don't know. Help her, I'll hold it back." Ghost sounded as calm as ever, but there was still a sense of urgency behind his words.

Raina had collapsed fully onto her belly, and now as she heard Ahleena crouch next to her, she lifted her head to look around. The Rift Razor that had been stalking her, the one who had sliced her across the back, was standing just a few feet away. Ghost was in front of it, his blades held up and ready, meeting its power-ravaged stare with his own, strange, gray eyes.

They looked almost like two, nightmare statue images, both so still that Raina blinked, wondering if maybe she had passed out and was now seeing a dream world inside her own mind. Then she noticed the ever-so slight rise and fall of Ghosts chest and knew he was real, he was alive.