Serpent Game: Slave to the Shadows vol. 1 (Now on Kindle!)

Chapter 11 | Her Shield of Glass pt III

"I've been meaning to ask you, Spiritmother."

"What troubles you young one?"

"Well ..." Eve began hesitantly. "You've been away a long time ... years even."

"It would appear so," the elder Anubian reinforced.

"So why now? What brought you back?"

The Spritmother stood up from her meditative position on the tile flooring, narrowed her presence humbly to confide in the young priestess.

"Today ... there was to be a rekindling. Brother and sister alike coming together to stop a terrible foe."

"It looks like it," softly spoken.

"Not these misguided warriors." Spiritmother shooed with a confident smile, "But they are an ember to the fire he set.

"O, will it burn so fierce."

* * *

An ambush lied in wait for the two warriors to emerge from the temple halls, but was quickly dismantled by a powerful kick into the door.

Immediately, its hinges imploded, blasting its reinforced wood frame forward with the force of a cannonball. The wooden battering ram launched the entire congregation asunder; two soared over the edge to meet an even worse end.

Maybe.

Gyone held onto Gonzo's back, steadying an assault rifle from his brisk shoulder and discharging into a scrambling bunch of their infantry.

The pieces set up on this board.

The kingpin now positioned ahead of his two targets on the balcony opposite of theirs. He barked orders in a desperate fashion to retain his reign. Their toll was certainly being felt, though it was always hard to tell with this deranged heckler – numb to all but his own muscle fiber twitches.

There, Gyone and Gonzo formed a skirmish in their minds, confirmed with a simple nod to one another. Gyone finished reloading his empty clip with the last of his ammunition, slapping off the safety with a prominent clap.

Without much hesitation, the two charged to the left, a clearing congested with opposition.

A barricade of guns and guts.

They approached what appeared to be the shredded corpse of a holy banner. Etched into the fabric was that of the Church path's own Maiden insignia, reaching to the clouds as she, herself, wished to fly with them. This design was all within a simple, solid-wove embroidery.

As they passed, Gyone leapt recklessly, grabbed ahold of the drooping banner like some sort of primate. He swung his body forward while Gonzo began rushing through the crowd shoulder-first.

What it was like to be hit by this wall of fury could only be summed up as crippling and deadly.

Carelessly, the hunter began his maneuver by spraying a few bullets towards the presumed kingpin as he glided forward. His target scrambled into cover behind the middle pillar by a narrow margin. Unsuccessful in his attempt, Gyone then unloaded a fair chunk of the clip from a flank, peppering a few and disbanding the cluster near Gonzo into smaller chunks.

The hunter then swung himself around with a healthy momentum, soon dismounted boots-first into a window. He braved the stray shards all over again. Luckily, he caught himself in a roll; barreling into a luxuriously-crafted love seat with a thunderous crash. At least it wasn't a bloodbath this time.

While he shook off the event, he spotted a crimson jackass begin to mount over the window frame – blunt, wooden club at the ready. For how excited the smirking meathead was, his expression transformed to confusion quickly.