Death Hunters 11: Necrokinetic Swordsman

     He stands in the middle of the dance floor as ethereal music plays with no source, no band of kind in sight. He is completely out of place with his blue jeans, white tunic, and yellow deer hide vest. He scratches his scruffy semi-short blond hair as faceless figures of men and women in high society Croix dress dance around him not paying him any attention. He has no idea how he got there or why.

    “Huh?” he says as he surveys the room, tables, each a clone of the other, seem to appear in the background with a window with darkness covered trees and un-clear courtyard behind them regardless of which way he looks. The dancers as well seem to shift no matter which way he looks. No doors, no one standing, no one eating, and the music continues on as the dancers spin about the floor.

    “Now what is going on?” he asks himself as he scratches a none-existent beard on his chin between his index finger and thumb.

    He walks across the floor, the dancers somehow getting out of his way, yet not responding to his presence. He narrows his eyes as an all too familiar yellow deer fur coat appears across the room.

    “I knew it!” he says rushing over there and grabbing the coat with its sleeves draped over the back like it was cape by the shoulder, however as the figure turns he stops in place.

    “Hello Sir Ethan.” says the pretty young blond aristocrat, her hair done up in a bun. Her yellow dress shimmering with sparkles, the coat now no where to be found.

    She puts out her hand for Ethan to take it. His eyes glaze over as he takes her hand and starts to dance like all the faceless people.

   “This has been a wonderful night.” she says in her all too pretty voice.

   “Yes,” says Ethan in a monotone voice.

   “If only it could last forever?” she says more as a question than a statement.

   “Yes.” says Ethan again in a monotone voice.

   “Kiss me.” she says.

   Ethan shakes his head, “But Janet…Rebecca, Za…my friends, err, urrg.”

   “Kiss me,” she says a little angrily and forces him to kiss her.

   Ethan’s eyes shoot open as now where the shorter girl had been is now looming over him the large muscular frame with his yellow deer tunic and yellow deer fur coat, and blond eyes staring right back at him.

   “RRRR!” growls Ethan as he shoves the man away from him.

   *cough, spit, dry heave!*

   Ethan tries to force himself to vomit after locking lips with this man, who from a distance now laughs and strokes his hair…if it can be called hair, most of the blond hair on his head is shaved short to almost nothing but fuzz with a bit left centered at his forehead, with so much oil on it that what should be a pomp instead looks like a lopsided (bit lump at forehead) sponge cake.

   “Now, now my boy.” says the man in an aristocratic tone, “Lets not have any of that on the floor. Perhaps I rushed things, but in due time you will submit your will and soul to me the great and mighty Baron Adonz.”

    Before Ethan can protest Baron Adonz has vanished and the room has returned to its previous state, except now the room is fixed with two sets of windows on either side, a queen and king sitting at one end of the room, and large double doors behind him.

   “I told you,” says the old scientist looking over the massive machine with its various wires and tubes behind the chair in which Ethan sits, strapped down with an odd helmet device over his head, “It was too early to start the brainwashing phase, the environment hasn’t been set yet in his psyche, its still too dream like.”

    “I thought,” says Baron Adonz, “You said it only takes three minutes, it took half of that for the test subjects.”

   “My forgiveness my lord,” says the scientist with his conical white hair and button lab coat, “The test subjects were common folk and your soldiers, not one of which with a specialty ability beyond simple minor things. Mister Ethan here seems to be a more powerful Necro-kinetic than even I had thought.”

   He strokes his pointy beard as he adjusts some knobs on the overhead portion of the machine opening a panel to a large tank filled with green fluid and ghostly forms floating through it.

    *taps the glass*

    “Yes,” he says, “The collected ghosts are reacting to his power already, ready for the final phase. Please have patience my lord, we can try again in six minutes I assure you.”

    “You better be right this time.” says Baron Adonz as he walks to the window, “Nothing will stop me this time, this time Ethan will be mine, his power will be mine,  power enough to rule the empire, power enough to even surpass the magic of the cult of Satasar.”

    He looks down to the large court yard, and beyond its walls the long bridge connecting the castle mountain to the ground beyond the massive canyon like moat surrounding his castle, “and it looks like our hero’s friends have come to his rescue.”

   He smiles a wicked smile as the scientist tries to tune him out and work quickly, the Baron is impatient, despite the scientist’s protests he had gone into the virtual environment to try and get a head start on phase two after all.

    ******

    The great iron gates stand tall and strong, like the gates to hell it’s self. From a distance the gate had looked silly, taking up most of a very short wall between too artificial rocky hills which form a ring around a very deep circular canyon like moat around a castle that along with its sizable court yard takes up most of the space on a thin craggy steep mountain in the middle. Most of this canyon is filled with water, an artificial lake moat with an island. The steep cliff sides and the castle jutting above the water line along with the long thin bridge to the court gate giving one the appearance that the moat must go down a considerable distance as well, or it could just be a trick on the eyes thanks to the reflective surface of the water.

    They are there to save Ethan, a task that they had no doubts about, but now despite only being two young women they are determined as ever, although it would have been nice to have gotten a few more adventurers to help them save their beloved Ethan from the clutches of the baron.

    On the right stands Janet the red witch, a woman of light complexion with cherry candy red wavy hair and a fair voluptuous build with large breasts and full hips, and not overly thin in the waist, despite attempts by her red corset witch’s outfit with short twin pointed capes not even reaching her waist, and large boots. Her thin red leather gloves and red underclothing completing this outfit earning her the name “red witch”. Beside her stands her sister, Rebecca the blue witch with impossibly blue wavy hair, in fact as Janet’s twin she is identical to her, save that her outfit has a blue theme to it with silver straps, where as the straps on Janet’s outfit are black.

    “Okay,” says Rebecca, “stand back,”

   The massive doors are magic proof, but Rebecca has another trick up her sleeves, a psionic specialty.

    “Uuuuh.” moans Rebecca as she holds her arms out and pushes with her mind, struggling to force the gate open, which does so
with a very noticeable moan of its own, as though it were made to do so like some ear scratching alarm system.

   *huff, huff*

    Rebecca takes a moment to catch her breath before nodding to Janet that she is ready to go on. Before them now stands their second challenge, the long bridge, just wide enough for a carriage to travel in one direction, and thirty feet beneath it the water. From afar using a distant viewing bubble spell they had seen a complete lack of guards on the outside of the court yard; however the waters are another story. Along the sides of the bridge are giant green gem stone inlayed into the bridge and its support beams. They had noted the last time they were here, months ago when the baron had invited their party in the hopes of convincing Ethan to work for him as a personal body guard, some assembly of notable local adventurers and mercenaries along side aristocrats; It was more like a business association gathering than a party really, that things were different. Back then the gems were glowing, Janet and Rebecca had noted they must have been wards as the shadows in the water were keeping a distance then, unlike now, and either end of the bridge and before the court yard gate were guards.

    Rebecca peeks over the side and…

    *splash!*

   A massive sixteen feet long Croix cat fish leaps from the water straight for Rebecca.

   “Psionic Wave!” she yells sending a wave of psionic energy, distorting the air and blasting the fish as it just misses her
throwing it back into the water with a loud belly flopping splash.

    “Well that explains that,” says Janet pushing aside an errant strand of red hair, “That lunatic is keeping a school of Croix cat fish around his castle, thank the goddess we decided to go in the front entrance and not try for a boat and a rock climb.”

   Although Rebecca knows that idea was never considered given neither of them knows how to rock climb, and getting a boat over the top and down to the moat alone would have been a chore, she does make a note to stay away from the sides of the bridge. However as they look at the castle looming ahead, its clear the element of surprise is not on their side, but love makes one do foolish things after all.

    At the other end of the bridge there is a wide landing, a parking lot for carriages, as just like before the guests were expected to walk a path through the court yard, something they are not looking forward too for beyond this gate is a jungle whose path was lined with torches with ward stones in them, both emitting an eerie light and keeping back what ever was rustling in the bushes before.

    The gate isn’t locked and requires no effort to open.

   “I think we’re expected,” says Rebecca.

   “yeah,” says Janet.

   Inside its sweltering hot, although its summer now its still a lot hotter inside the court yard than outside. In fact months ago in winter it had been the same. The baron uses some strong thermal control magic generators to keep a thermal bubble (invisible to the naked eye) over the court yard giving it a jungle like temperature.

    As they walk inside the gate closes behind on its own.

   “A trap,” says Janet

   Rebecca nods as they both knew it would be a trap by this point going in, after all the whole set up around this castle is one big obvious trap meant to keep out would be thieves or heroes, and kill those foolish enough to enter.

   *rustle, rustle, rustle*

   Along the sides of the wide dirt path, the foliage hides in shadow, despite the sun above, numerous figures scurrying about watching them with reflective yellow slit crocodile like eyes, the ponds and thin yet deep cut waterways between hiding another danger. The baron is a wealthy and powerful man, so powerful he has no issues showing off things obtained on the black market. While most in this part of the world would hire goblins to ambush people in this type of set up the baron has obtained a horror from Amazonia, Repti-Goblins, creatures that are small and lanky like goblins but covered in green scales, had no ears or nose, and a mouth filled with needle like teeth and a forked snake like tongue. These are the creatures checking them out, walking as they walk down the path, determining in their lizard like brains how much of a threat the two girls are, not as potential predators or enemies but as potential prey.

    *splash*

    Up ahead is a clearing just outside the castle gates, an area with metal torches lit with forever fire so the baron can watch his garden before the forest day or night, however its also open space, an easy place to be surrounded and home to a large deep pond. The pond has Janet the most worried, the last time the baron had shown off having Croix-Gill men, brown fish scale covered humanoids with sharp teeth, clawed and webbed hands and feet, with a solid single large helmet like scale on their foreheads. One of the few creatures able to escape from the mouth of a Croix cat fish. However like with the repti-goblins from Amazonia, he has something else rare and acquired from the black market, Amazonian Gill-men, they look a lot like their Croix cousins, close enough that the two species can live together here with out fighting, however the Amazonian ones are green with long webbed spines down their back filled with venom, a venom also found in the claws on their hands and feet.

    As they feared just as they get into the clearing numerous repti-goblins hurry from the forest cutting them off from the castle, and more behind from the path, they had expected a dozen or so, but this swarm was very much un-expected.

   “He has an army,” whispers Rebecca blowing a strand of blue hair from her face.

    “It gets worse,” says Janet nodding towards the pond as almost a dozen Croix gill-men crawl from the water, these creatures may be slow on land but they are strong, and will try and drag their prey into the water to drown it first. From the water they can see the green heads, with out any head crest, of the Amazonian gill-men bob up and down and swim down showing off their dorsal spines. Unlike their Croix cousins they aren’t as prone to walking out of the water in broad day light.

    A few of the repti-goblins try to jump them.

   “Psionic Wave!” yells out Rebecca sending them smashing into the wall.

   And then all hell breaks loose, the entire swarm rushes into their direction, its all they can do to summon their staffs. A wooden staff with a blue sphere in the claw like top for Rebecca and a wooden staff with a red sphere in its claw like top for Janet, staffs fitting their twin red and blue motif. As Janet smacks the repti-goblins rushing at her bursts of fire explode from her staff scorching them, for Rebecca psionic burst send them flying back. If not for these weapons they would be nearly defenseless in this fight, the swarming creatures are attacking too fast for either of them to have time to cast a spell. Under normal circumstances Ethan would be their swordsman and they would stand back and cast either defensive or offensive spells to aid him and whoever else was traveling with them at the time. But right now that’s impossible, they are forced to fight unable to use their greatest strengths.

   Janet is feeling this pinch more than her sister, for while Rebecca has her psionic specialty, granted she has psionic spells she is unable to use, she can at least use psionic techniques and even basic telekinesis in battle. Something noticeable as every so often Rebecca aims her free hand at an opponent grabbing it with her mind from a distance and throws it into another opponent. As Janet smacks and scorches two repti-goblins, only causing them to withdraw for a moment as others she had already hit a moment ago retry their attack she ducks out of the way just in time to miss a Croix-Gillman, and sees the pond behind her and her sister.

   “Shit!” exclaims Janet, causing Rebecca to notice the same predicament as the Amazonian Gill-men duck under the water like crocodiles. They had heard these creatures were smarter than people give them credit for, but to actually maneuver them with their backs against the water to be outflanked by the aquatic monsters.

    Rebecca makes a ditch effort and uses up too much strength to telekinetically lift over a dozen repti-goblins in the air and throw them out into the pond trying to clear an opening. Unfortunately she falls to her knees exhausted huffing for breath.

   “Rebecca!” yells Janet trying to run to her sister’s aid.

   *oomph!*

   A green claw from out of the water grabs her ankle, if not for her thick leather books its venomous claws could very well have dug into her leg.

   A Croix gill-man looms over her.

   “No you don’t!” she yells reaching her hand out towards a forever fire torch and with her will power makes the flame (which is quickly replaced by another) fly from the torch and shoot at the head of the scaly beast like a fire dart.

   The sudden burst of heat against its cold wet head has it hissing in pain and heading for the water, however just as she is trying to manipulate another flame with her specialty power to get the one holding her leg it suddenly with a burst of strength pulls her under.

    She holds her breath and tries to swing at it with her staff, but underwater its nothing but another stick, and as useless as her specialty power, which can only manipulate fire but not create it with out a spell or magic item, is on land its completely useless under water. However the Amazonian gill-man lets go as numerous red glowing threads come up from the depth, or maybe the opposite shore down into the water and back up, she doesn’t have time to contemplate this now, wrap around the gill-man. The others which were just out of sight in the depths swim away in a panic, the repti-goblins thrown in are also no where to be seen, she hopes they were knocked out sank and drown, maybe turned on by the gill-men. The threads cut through the gill-man slicing it into ribbons. With its hand removed Janet quickly swims to the surface. She doesn’t know if what ever that was, was a savior or a greater threat, and she doesn’t want to stick around to find out.

    *gasp!*

    Back to the surface she finds the scene very much changed, Rebecca is still out of breath, but she’s pointing straight ahead. Janet sees the bodies of repti-goblins laying about and a large gash in the ground like someone cut it with a sword. From the forest more repti-goblins emerge, wet ones, likely the ones Rebecca had thrown into the pond.

   *swoosh*

   A large green arc flies from above them, and hits the repti-goblins, slicing many in half, and those not directly hit die when the energy trail hits them. Those few remaining look at them and then look back before deciding to run away. Apparently one has to kill large numbers of them before they decide the threat level is too high, maybe their just that stupid when they are in a blood lust. This isn’t something Janet is going to think about now as she heads over to Rebecca’s side and helps her up, who is just as much helping Janet up.

   “Pitiful.” comes a man’s voice from the shadows of the castle wall above, the shadow of the castle from the descending sun hiding the man, although they already know who it is.

    A thin yet athletic young man walks out from the shadows staring down at them with his red eyes set in his pale hairless pointed chin face. He shakes his head, the red tilted backwards spike like hair atop his head waving like pointed grass. With his hands in the pockets of his black open trench coat with a red inner lining showing off his red leather vest and black undershirt, and matching black leather pants, he looks more like some king of thieves than the man Ethan has referred to as his child hood friend and rival.

    “Zanaz.” huffs Rebecca standing to her feet.

    “What are you here for?” asks Janet, “The rumors true about you?”

   Zanaz *humphs*, “So you two the ones spreading those stupid rumors huh?”

   “No,” says Rebecca, “but with that girlfriend of yours always bugging out when ever you meet up with us and Ethan.”

    Zanaz just scowls, “Andria…isn’t any of your concern girls. Especially with your sad showing just now, can’t even fight right with out relying on magic. One little push of your specialty abilities and your exhausted.”

    They just glare up at him.

    “Hit a sore spot did I?” he says with a twisted smile and a callous tone, “What were you expecting with your weak powers and slow poke magic? Just thought you could waltz in through the front gate and take on Baron Adonz and his army of monsters?”

   “So you’re here to just gloat and show off how strong you are again?” scowls Janet.

    “Not at all,” says Zanaz, “Ethan is my rival  and I’ll be damned if I’m going to let that boy hungry baron have him.”

   He jumps down from the high wall and pushes the front door open, “So we storming this castle or what?”

   Janet and Rebecca exchange looks bothing thinking the same thing, “He came to help Ethan? That explains why Andria isn’t with him.”

   They both imagine her sitting back at Zanaz’s place with her straight black hair, and cliché tight black corset witch’s outfit complete with pointy black hat, angrily mixing her potions upset that her boyfriend is off helping save Ethan…they whom the rumors, much to their own annoyance say…”

    *Crash, ROAR!*

    A rex-skull magical creature creation, complete with a vertebrae chain holding it to the wall smashes through the wall and roars at them.

   “What the hell are you two doing! Day dreaming!” yells Zanaz as he leaps into the air and unleashes a necro arc simply by sweep kicking the air, never taking his hands from his pockets.

    His arc severs the vertebrae chain as the rex-skull maneuvers out of the way, and is now free to float about and snap at them.

    “Telekinetic Hold!” yells out Rebecca, the jewel in her cane glowing as it adds power to her technique, “I…can’t…hold…it…for…long.” She huffs.

    Janet chants

   “Salamandra
    Hokai
   Infernum
   Fire Ball come forth!”

   Fire rolls from the red gem in her cane and spirals into its self to form a tight ball, which flies like a rocket at the rex-skull after forming and explodes out when it hits.

    Rebecca releases her hold a little tired

   *Roar!*

   When the flames clear the rex-skull is still there, only now missing half its teeth. As it charges at them, and before they can try another attack Zanaz does a flip kick, with a green glowing trail behind his leg, smashing down on the rex-skull sending it into the floor and into pieces.

   “Shit.” says Zanaz, “you’re both already exhausted, goes all that melee battle outside used up more of your strength than your used to.”

    He scowls and pulls two vials from his pocket.

   Janet and Rebecca look at each other wide eyed, “healing potions?” they both say in unison.

   “Andria gave me them before I left,” he says coldly, “Supposed to be for me and Ethan only…or just me, but you two are no use to me exhausted.”

   They thank him politely, which he just shrugs off, as they drink the vials and feel their energy renewed. However they both know how Zanaz feels and are disappointed in themselves, all the strength it took to use their staffs in melee combat could have lasted them much longer if they had only been able to cast spells rather than rely solely on their own inner power channeled through the staffs. After all that is the purpose of magic, its boosted by one’s inner power, but at the same time only uses a small amount of it, for a much greater effect saving a magic user a lot of stress. At least that’s what the New London University of Magic taught them; however right now they wish they’d taken a few more of the basic combat courses as well.

    This isn’t the first time they’ve been here of course, and given the lights seen from their scouting the place the main activity may very well be in the main hall. After all the baron isn’t some evil wizard who’d need to hide his work deep underground, not some war lord hiding his creations and machinations in some tower hidden in the woods, no he is wealthy, he is powerful, and he is well protected, so why not yet again try to make some machine to either drain or take control of Ethan, not his first time trying after all. But it is the first time he’s actually caught Ethan and his first time doing this in his own home. In the past he’d have some power siphon machine in some dungeon, work secretly through some villain. This time he actually sent an assassin, a professional serious scale assassin, but not to kill, but rather to capture Ethan from his own home in his sleep in the dead of night.

    Of course

    *bwoom!*

    Rebecca sends several low level guards in their silver and red armor flying with a psy-burst.

    Such thoughts are what are

    *fwoosh*

   Janet throws a fire-womph at several others causing them to dance around patting out the fire from the cloth parts of their armor.

   *crack*

   Zanaz with swift punches and kicks, always returning to his hands in pockets pose afterwards, cracks the very armor of the guards sending them smashing into the walls.

    *smash*

    Janet knocks out a man with her staff

   *bwoom-crash!*

   Rebecca using a psy-burst sends several men flying into the guards recovering from Janet’s attack knocking them down like dominoes.

    “You should use magic.” says Janet

   “I’m good,” says Rebecca, “I can do the psy-burst spell in my head, just…those repti-goblins didn’t even give me the few seconds I need to do it.”

   “Got it,” says Janet smiling, “Just like my fire womph.”

   “You two done chatting,” says Zanaz, “if so then lets keep moving.”

    At the end of the hall are the large red velvet doors with their gold trim to the main hall. Zanaz throws the doors open with Rebecca and Janet gasping as they come in behind him to see the monstrous contraption with its huge green tank filled with ghosts and green smoke or liquid.

    “Ethan!” they both scream and start to run towards him.

    *boom!*

    A green ball of energy hits the floor before them, the source of which being Baron Adonz himself.

   “Not so fast,” he says, “I have waited for you all to join us, it would be so sad if I had to end your lives before you could see the final phase of my ultimate plan.”

   He smiles a wicked smile, “Janet the Red Witch, Rebecca the Blue Witch, and of course Zanaz, the third strongest Necro-kinetic in all of Croix, of course if Ethan didn’t work out you’d be here at my side instead, you still could by lad.”

    “Don’t make me vomit you freak!” sneers Zanaz.

    “In either case,” says Baron Adonz

    *click*

   *AAAAAAHHHH!!!!*

   Ethan screams as the green Necro energy of the machine flows into his body.

   “NOOOO!” scream the others trying to rush to him only to be stopped by the same Necro-spheres being thrown around them that he had used a moment before.

    Rebecca and Janet are forced to run for cover as even one hit would be fatal for them, but Zanaz rips through them, using Necro-punches and Necro-kicks, however a direct hit would harm him greatly requiring him to keep dancing past the rapid mini Necro-spheres flying from Baron Adonz’s palm. Even though Zanaz considers Ethan his greatest rival, he has to admit that Baron Adonz is himself a very powerful Necro-kinetic with many years of necromantic research under his belt.

    “Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha,” laughs Baron Adonz, “I may not have been able to turn Ethan’s beautiful mind to my side, but I don’t need to! Ha, ha, ha, ha, I know he will survive this! My scientists may not believe as I do.”

   Zanaz and the girls note a dead old man in a lab coat with a snapped neck (head turned completely around), at the far wall.

    “Ha, ha, ha, ha,” he laughs again, “Nothing will stand in my!....”

    He looks at the machine surprised, as do the others, and says in a more rational indoor voice, “my…my…what the hell?”

     Ethan has stopped scream and is now moaning in a more tired and worn out tone as the Necro-energy is being pulled up and
out of his body, back into the tank.

    *crack!*

    The top of the tank breaks open as the Necro-energy and ghosts fly up in a column through the roof, phasing through it.

    “huh?” says Baron Adonz, he looks at the ceiling with a confused expression.

   Zanaz also looks up saying, “well, that’s weird.”

   “What?” asks Janet

   “Shh,” says Zanaz, “the ghosts are vanishing, there’s someone up there, a necromancer or something.”

    “Damn it!” screams Baron Adonz taking a speaker like circular device from his pocket and screaming into it, “Guards! Elite Guard stop playing poker or what ever the hell you’re doing and get to the roof! We have another would be hero trying to screw up my plans!”

    Baron Adonz is still standing too close to Ethan for them to try anything, especially now that he has summoned a green ornate sword from thin air.

    “Now, now,” he says, “Lets allow my guards to deal with our little interloper before we continue our party, I would rather lose Ethan than allow you three to take him and stop my plans once again.”

    “Ethan’s the one that always stops your stupid plans,” retorts Janet

   “yeah!” says Rebecca, “I bet he would have just killed you if you had turned him all super-necro-what ever.”

    Baron Adonz shrugs as they can hear the sounds of battle already on the roof.

    “Got guards hiding around every corner,” he says smiling, “didn’t you think you had it too easy getting in here?”

    Janet and Rebecca exchange looks both thinking, “Easy? Damn this guy is totally and completely crazy!”

    There eyes drop with a “no duh” thought and expression.

    *clang, crash, screaming guards…*

   The sounds of battle can be heard above

    *CRASH!*

   Rubble and a large man in black armor with shoulder spikes with a bull horn helmet fall from above landing between the party and Baron Adonz.

    “th…that’s the black knight of Baron Adonz!” exclaims Rebecca recalling an innocent some time back where they were forced to fight this formidable warrior in order to try and stop a black market shipment, nothing they could prove, to Baron Adonz including the egg of a powerful monster known as a Necro-Naga, the man had even been able to summon acid type lower demons.

    *uuuh*

   Moans the knight as another man lands on him from above smashing his head into the floor knocking him completely out. The man smiles at the party, Rebecca and Janet exchange looks and Zanaz just sort glares at him. He looks to Rebecca and Janet a lot like Zanaz, even has red spiky hair, except his is glowing a little, and he’s wearing less cloths, or rather no trench coat or layers at any rate; and the oddest thing to them is that he has a fishing pole in one hand and some odd crystal with a mechanical device for a base strapped to his back. This is a man known elsewhere in the world and other worlds as The Death Fisher.

    “who are you?!” demands Baron Adonz pointing his sword at the interloper.

    The man looks around, “Who am I? Just call me the Death Fisher. Fancy digs you folks got here and…”

    He looks right at Janet, “well, well, the pretty fish I saw before.” He bows to her in an overly aristocratic fashion
complete with a wave of his arm over his chest.

    “Don’t ignore me!” yells Baron Adonz stepping away from Ethan to better angle himself towards Death Fisher, keeping his sword pointed at him.

    “Sorry,” says Death Fisher in a nonchalant manner sweeping his hair back, “Did I interrupt something?”

    He looks at Ethan, then to Baron Adonz, and then over his shoulder at Janet, Rebecca, and Zanaz.

   “I…see…” says Death Fisher, “Yeah well, not my bag. I got nothing to do with what ever freaky thing you folks have going on.”

    He takes the crystal device off his back, “I’m just here for the spooks, sensed a whole bunch tightly packed right here and
decided to clean up. I trust this isn’t another mansion tourist attraction, nah, what’s the chances of that.”

   He turns and winks at Janet before leaping up and flying away through the hole in the ceiling. Zanaz could sense the same thing Baron Adonz could, that this man was also a Necro-kinetic, or something similar, only with more Necro power than the three of them in the room, Ethan, Baron Adonz, and Zanaz himself, combined. However unlike Baron Adonz he’s not easily distracted.

   *Poom!*

   Zanaz as quick as a flash kicks Baron Adonz sending him flying backwards, but not off his feet. As though, and possibly, floating Baron Adonz rights himself and holds his sword out ready for another assault. Zanaz has positioned himself between Baron Adonz and Ethan.

    With a powerful Necro-aura around his legs Zanaz strikes at Baron Adonz and his Necro-sword. As both are manifestations of Necro-energy any natural advantage a sword would have had over boots and kicks is negated thanks to the thick Necro-aura. As the two of them exchange blows Janet and Rebecca take the queue to run to Ethan and un-strap him from the contraption.

    “He’s…” says Janet.

   “Let me try something.” says Rebecca as she lays her forehead against his, “let me concentrate.”

   Janet looks over to the flashes of green light as Baron Adonz and Zanaz have taken to the air and are throwing Necro-arcs and Necro-Spheres at each other. Zanaz trying not to show it, but trying to deflect and direct Baron Adonz’s attention away from Ethan and the girls.

    “hurry up Rebecca.” urges Janet.

    “I’m trying” says Rebecca not shifting focus, keeping her eyes closed, “If I had the time I’d be able to properly remove the mental illusion the baron put in place, I don’t want to, but we need to get out of here.”

    “Do what?” asks Janet looking back and forth between her sister rubbing foreheads with their mutual love interest and the very dangerous battle going on right next to them.

    “The safest thing,” says Rebecca, “is to knock out everything, just turn off all dreaming and thought till we get to the healers. If I don’t and we just drag him out the brainwashing vision could keep going.”

    “Then please,” says Janet, “Just do it and lets go.”

   “Alright,” says Rebecca while thinking, “Sorry Ethan,” while at the same time appearing to him in the darkening dance hall of his mental illusion, “I have to turn everything off, if we’re lucky you’ll just forget this whole day, sorry Sir Ethan.”

    Like a light switch being turned off his mind goes black. The two girls lift him up on their shoulders.

   Zanaz seeing them says, “Sorry Baron psycho games over.”

   He drops to ground and focuses an immense vertical disc of Necro-energy in front of him, the Baron’s eyes go wide as Zanaz yells out, “Necro-Blast!”

   A massive beam of swirling green and yellow green mist like energy blasts the baron, engulfing him and blasting a massive hole in the wall of the castle. When the mist clears Baron Adonz is no where to be seen. Next to the giant hole is a window, “well damn,” thinks Zanaz, “My aims still off on that one.”

    He turns to the girls and says nonchalantly, “We’re done here, lets get Ethan home now.”

    “One last thing,” says Janet as she turns towards the evil forboding machine that had held Ethan in its clutches.

    She holds out her hands and chants

    “Power that lies with in, grant me thy strength to form a spirit sphere.”

    A clear bubble about as large as her two hands appears in her up turned palms.

    She holds her hands high and chants.

    “Great Salamandra
     Essence of Fire
     Lord of the Flame
     Gather thy strength into my hand
     & into the sphere of spirits

     The sphere glows red and now has a symbol of fire at its core. As though throwing a large stone above her head, and with as much look of concentration and strain as if doing just that, she throws the glowing sphere while yelling out, “Fire Sphere!”

    The fire sphere takes off like a rocket and explodes with a mighty blast upon hitting the ghost containment and power infusing machine the baron had used to try and force feed Necro energy into Ethan with. With several more internal explosions the machine comes crashing down. They all walk out just as fire suppression enchantments spring to life in the hall to douse the flames with water from their glowing green floating ball forms.

    ******

    Bright light invades closed eyes, he stares up at a ceiling and towards an unfamiliar door just in time to see the back of Zanaz as he walks out the door.

    “Thank the goddess!” says Janet on the right side of his bed.

    “Oh praise the heavens!” says Rebecca on the left side of the bed.

   Both girls leap onto the bed hugging him, sending a stinging pain through his body as he looks down to see his torso in bandages, and notices in the reflection of the window with the nearly set sun beyond it bandages on his head as well.

    “Good to see your awake,” says a young brunette healer girl from the door way, “But please you two give my patient some air, his body is still recovering.”

   Janet and Rebecca get off and apologize to Ethan and the healer.

   “You adventurers,” says the healer, “Always getting yourselves banged up, but for the life of me I can’t imagine what sort of thing could have done such strange injuries, it was like your whole body had been cooked and constricted. Well in any case please get some rest.”

    Ethan scratches his head as she leaves thinking, “Okay, what happened?”

   He looks back and forth between Janet and Rebecca as they start to tell him everything that happened.

   Outside the hospital Zanaz is met by his girl friend Andria who greets him coldly, her hands on her hips with their flaps from the skirt like portion of her long vest overlapping her long black dress skirt, “Well? I take if he’s safe now right?”

    “Yeah,” says Zanaz.

   “Good,” she says, “Now come home, my mushroom soup isn’t going to eat its self.”

   “Uhhh,” says Zanaz with a silly crooked smile, “Sure honey, ha, ha, ha, ha.”

   His demeanor is quick to return to his hands in pocket emotionless face format as other people approach them, and back to his smiley self when they pass them.

   ******

   If one was to assume Baron Adonz vaporized in Zanaz’s attack they could be forgiven for thinking as such. However it is not the case.

    “uuhhg.” moans Baron Adonz as he sits up, finding himself lying on a stone table in some massive dark cave or chamber. Before him is a gargantuan statue of a robed figure with what looks to be a cuttlefish for a head. The giant statue’s eyes open bathing him in a blue light. He stares into the hypnotic light, eyes glazed over.

    Another robed figure, this one a normal mortal size, and not a statue, but whose face is hidden beneath a hood, walks over to him.

    The robed figure says in an oddly deep voice, “Welcome to the brotherhood of Satasar, and to the temple of her son Daiyakisar. Baron Adonz, by the light of the elder-gods you are now mind and body one of us.”