“I can bring you to them. Would you like to drive or shall I ferry you there?”
“Teleportation, if you will.”
Zoe stepped forwards and took hold of Genoa’s arm. “Carlos, I’ll return for you in a moment.”
“I’ll wait right here.”
With a swipe of her dagger, the world fell away to the cool white of between. The sensation lasted mere instants before the pathway leading towards the women’s ward appeared beneath their feet. The rest of reality followed soon after.
“The paths are safe. Avoid the buildings until we get you keyed into the wards. They are not to be trifled with and may cause maiming or death.”
Rather than the acknowledgment Zoe expected, Genoa’s thin lips twisted into a sadistic smile. “If these wards are going to be protecting my daughter, I think a good test is in order.”
“Genoa! That’s not–”
The woman was gone. A pillar of stone jutted out of the ground where she had stood, propelling Genoa with it.
Zoe pinched the bridge of her nose. Genoa had survived as long as she had without too much trouble. Surely she could survive the minute or so it would take to get Carlos and have him talk sense into her.
With a swipe of her dagger, the world vanished.
Besides, she thought, this might actually be a good test.
— — —
A boulder crashed into the common room.
Right through the window adjacent to the front door.
Shards of glass, stone, and metal exploded inwards. If it wasn’t for Arachne diving to cover Eva and Juliana raising a wall in front of herself and Shalise, they could have been killed by debris.
A boulder crashed into my common room.
Unacceptable.
“Arachne,” Eva shouted as all five vials of blood swarmed to her open hand. “Handle it.”
Arachne got to her feet and ran outside. Her grin as she sprinted would not have looked out of place on a serial killer.
Several backup vials of blood in her room exploded, releasing the contents. A second boulder crashed through one of the guest rooms in the time it took the blood to travel and form up into the ball in her hand.
Eva shaped it into the largest shield she had ever created.
Just in time.
She felt a massive impact on the shield. Whatever boulder just got deflected would have impacted straight on top of them.
Confident her shield could handle at least a handful more boulders, Eva made her way towards the unbroken window.
Two combatants danced over the space between the women’s ward and the walls.
One was the obsidian black form of Arachne. Only four legs sprouted from her back. No bulbous behind appeared. Either the demon needed the mobility or she wasn’t being serious.
Eva hoped it was the latter. The unmistakable form of Genoa Rivas was her dance partner.
Showing off as many of her scars as she could without offending the delicate sensibilities of mere mortals, Genoa slung bits of earth towards Arachne with a fervor. Occasional bursts of fire joined the stone.
The smile on her face matched Arachne’s in intensity. Neither looked very friendly.
Arachne caught a boulder almost the size of her abdomen. She had to sprout another two legs to assist. A moment later and it sailed back towards the original sender.
Genoa had the decency to look surprised before she let out a short laugh. Earth beneath her feet disappeared. She fell into a hole and popped out a short distance away just a moment later.
Twelve spears made of rock followed her out. They wasted no time in launching towards Arachne.
Who managed to bat them away with her extra legs. She made it look easy enough that Eva almost wanted to blindfold her.
Eva’s front lawn was a mess. Pockmarks and craters dotted the large clearing between the women’s ward building and the wall sectioning it off from the rest of the prison. Large sections were simply missing. Probably used in making the boulders.
Every dodge or deflection by Arachne was another stone pinging against her shield. The rocks would scatter, further damaging her lawn and her walls.
Then again, the space wasn’t used. No grass. Nothing well-kept. A bunch of weeds and sagebrush that Eva never bothered to clear out. Some new landscaping might be just what the doctor ordered.
A sudden vision of a trap filled courtyard brought a smile to Eva’s face. Moats of molten earth could surround her home. Surely some earth or fire mage could get the molten rock to stay molten.
No. No, no, no. No glass half full. No combustible lemons. They were ruining her front lawn.
Unacceptable.
Before she could launch her own attack at the mad woman, an exasperated sigh came from Eva’s side.
Eva almost swiped out with her own claws before her brain caught up to the presence of a fully armored Juliana.
“Mother,” she said softly, blissfully unaware of her near death.
“She could have killed us,” Shalise said from a few feet behind.
Eva gave another start at the brown-haired girl. Both managed to surprise Eva.
Just when she was getting used to keeping a full awareness around her with blood, eyes had to ruin everything. It was a lot to concentrate on both blood and sight. She’d need to practice.
“Yeah,” Juliana sighed. “That’s my mother.”
“She’s testing our defenses.” Eva gave a dismissive gesture towards the hole in the wall. “They obviously failed.”
“Your shield is working.”
“It came up too late. I need… something. Some way to preserve the blood outside of vials. Perhaps enchanted glass formed up in the shape of a shield. And then some way to make it reactive. Or even preventative.”
Perhaps runes set up to detect high-speed objects? That could ignore fireballs. And then how to hook it up to the blood shield.
Eva shook her head. “Something to worry about later, I suppose.”
“I’m glad we’re not staying here then,” Shalise said in a quiet tone.
Probably not meant for Eva’s ears. Despite taking a slight offense to that, she couldn’t actually disagree.
Instead of commenting, Eva withdrew her void metal dagger and jammed it into her own arm. She didn’t want to hurt Genoa. At least not too much. Maybe some light maiming. Her own inferior blood would be perfect for that task.
If she could find it in her heart to spare Sister Cross who actually attacked her, she could avoid killing someone who was merely probing defenses.
The ground opened beneath Arachne. A wide enough hole that even with her legs, she wouldn’t be able to avoid it. Without even a waver on her crazed grin, Arachne fell in. She leaped out, just skimming the boulder that was going to bury her.
Rather than use her blood as obliterative explosives, Eva formed it into three blunted lances.
A voice echoed through a metal helmet before Eva could launch the blood. “She’s going to be angry if you don’t sharpen those.”
“I don’t want to hurt your mom.”
“Don’t worry. You won’t.”
Eva frowned as she looked towards the blond. “I know that when we’re kids, we think our parents are invincible and the greatest thing ever. They’re not.”
Juliana just shrugged. “I warned you. Don’t say I didn’t later.” The mirth in her voice was plain to hear even through the distortion of her helmet.
Gritting her teeth, Eva gave the spears a point. Not as sharp as she could make them, but at the speed they would be flying, that shouldn’t be noticeable.
All three launched out of the broken wall at the same time. One, the dullest, aimed at her head. The rest aimed around her chest.
Eva didn’t blink. She still missed the slight flick of Genoa’s fingers that raised a shield. It lasted exactly long enough to catch all three of the spears. She was back to flinging stones at Arachne the instant the spears were shattered.
“Huh.”
“Told you.”
“Yeah. But…” Eva smiled. This might be better.
Eva caught the blood as it fell, reforming the shattered pieces into several needles. Unlike Juliana and her mother, Eva didn’t fire and forget. No. She remembered her projectiles.