Chapter 26

Battle…

They reappeared in the throne hall. It was empty, or so it seemed. With the coming danger Marton had most likely removed the pharaoh and his court to some place safe. There had been some warning before Yakumi had appeared.

The hall was unusually dark. What little light still remained reflected dully off the polished stone, blurring the dark surrounding even more. The wind whistled and echoed through the vast room, warning the group back. They ignored it and walked forward, towards the throne where a figure who was not Seti sat. As they neared the steps, the shadowed figure held out its hand, gathering light into its hand, making the rest of the room darker. The ball of light chased away the shadows on the face of the figure. Yakumi’s smile greeted them. She left the globe of light hanging in the air next to her and rested her chin on her hand.

“Welcome,” she grinned.

“Spare the niceties,” Takmet replied. “Let’s begin what you come for.”

“In such a hurry to die, are we?” Yakumi smiled. “Such a pity.”

Sasaki stepped forward. “Where is Eric?”

Yakumi stretched out her arm and snapped her fingers. Out of the shadows behind the gilded throne seat stepped a familiar figure. He casually leaned on the tall chair where Yakumi sat.

Takmet’s eyes widened. It was like looking in a mirror. Sasaki touched his arm.

“He may look like you, but you are different people.”

“What did you do to him?” Chloe demanded.

“I only persuaded him to come look for you himself. He decided to join my cause in the process,” Yakumi smirked.

“He would never do that,” Chloe protested.

Mandi put her hand on Chloe’s shoulder. “He’s not the same. Look at his eyes.”

Chloe looked closer and was shocked. “They’re empty. Eric’s not there.”

“Let him go,” Sasaki said forcefully. “He never had anything to do with this.”

“He does now,” Yakumi replied. She rose from the throne and stood close to Eric. “He is Takmet reincarnated, and therefore has power to rival his. It is useful for my intentions, and easily disposed of in the event of failure.”

“You witch!” Ami yelled.

“Far from it,” Yakumi laughed. “Now, five on two hardly seems fair.” She narrowed her eyes.

Behind Chloe, Ami, and Mandi appeared the grotesque beings of the underworld. The girls suddenly found themselves restrained by bony hands. Mandi was the quickest of the three, disappearing just as the bony hands sought to grip her arms. She reappeared behind her would-be captor and turned him promptly into dust. She did the same to her friends' rotting assailants.

Yakumi frowned. "Gotten better, haven't you? In that case..." She raised a hand quickly. Giant blades erupted from the stone floor, surrounding the girls. Some sort of shield formed in between the already narrow gaps between the blades and cracking forces reprimanded Ami when she attempted to squeeze through them. The blades inched in closer at the attempted escape.

"Try to free yourselves and you'll become ground beef," Yakumi grinned.

Sasaki watched her friends with worry in her eyes. She turned back to Yakumi with a burning glare. "Haven't you done enough?"

"I haven't even started," Yakumi replied darkly. "Eric," she addressed her minion. "Kill her first." A satisfied grin spread across her face at his automatic reply.

The man who had been Eric answered, "It will be my pleasure." He smirked threateningly.

Eric disappeared form where he stood at the top of the steps and reappeared on the ground level, lunging for Sasaki. She almost didn't make the dodge. Sasaki had been caught off guard both by Eric’s swift attack and by the emptiness that echoed in his eyes. She tumbled sideways but regained her feet quickly. Unfortunately she had not repositioned herself quickly enough to avoid his next attack.

Suddenly Takmet appeared in between Sasaki and her opponent. He stopped Eric’s fists with his own hands, and forced him back. Takmet held Eric’s hands steady in the air and glared at him, into those empty eyes.

“Out of my way,” Eric growled at his equally pissed off look-alike.

“Why are you doing this?” Takmet yelled. “Your mind is not Yakumi’s to control.”

Eric only frowned and repeated his command. “I said, out of my way!” He pushed Takmet away with a great amount of strength and rushed at Sasaki again.

As Takmet moved to interfere once more, Yakumi suddenly blocked his path and released a well-aimed spell at his chest. Takmet side stepped it just in time and nearly ran into the female demoness.

“I suppose I’m obliged to keep you occupied,” Yakumi grinned. She ignited a glowing fire ball in her palm and smirked menacingly.

Takmet put his hands up in defense as Yakumi’s attack flew toward him. It dissipated before contact, harmlessly extinguished by Takmet’s own magic. He vanished and reappeared farther away, putting some distance between himself and Yakumi.

“You won’t get past me, Takmet. Worry about your own opponent before your partner’s.” She still wore her confident grin when she said this. Yakumi crouched and put her hand to the ground, keeping an eye fixed on Takmet. The ground began to shake.

Sasaki, meanwhile, was on the defensive. She tried talking to Eric while she blocked his strong punches, kicks, and his equally strong magic.

“Why?! I know you’re in there, Eric!” She paused as she pushed his incoming punch harmlessly to the side. “I don’t want to hurt you…”

“Shut your trap, woman,” Eric snapped. “Fight back.”

Sasaki studied Eric’s face, calculating his moves even as she said out loud, “You’re holding back.” The realization came to her quickly. “You could have hit me already had you wanted.”

Eric’s eyebrows furrowed as he frowned in disagreement. “Fight back!” he yelled as he doubled his efforts to make harmful contact.

Sasaki decided to start fighting back then, or she would eventually get pounded into the floor. She catapulted energy spells at Eric, but he only dodged them or veered them away. Eric’s magic was getting stronger and gradually more difficult for Sasaki to divert. Fights that used magic rather than physical force were much more strength draining, and Sasaki had not felt up to par to begin with that day.

Finding herself at a decent distance from Eric, Sasaki began to weave a more powerful attack that would temporarily hamper all attacks on Eric’s part. But then the ground began to shake and her concentration was lost, the glowing spell fading. Eric took advantage of her disorientation and lunged forward, rapidly closed the distance between them and sent combination punch and magic ramming into her rib cage. Sasaki gasped and doubled over, out of breath.

Eric turned to hit her while she was down, and Sasaki thought she saw a flicker of hesitation and regret in his eyes. But his expression hardened even further as he brought her to the ground under his unrelenting attacks.

The ground shook so forcefully that structural stones were being thrown from their places. Slabs of stone rose from the ground, creating pillars that rose into the sky and as the ceiling of the great hall crumbled. On two separate platforms that soared into the sky, one held Takmet and Yakumi, and another held Eric and the fallen Sasaki. Dozens more followed and stopped at different altitudes.

Sasaki’s friends stared in amazement as the chunks of stony ground rose out of their sights. They were more worried now than they had been, for all they could do was watch what they could of the ensuing fight.

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Throughout the palace, and on the outside of its walls as well, the pharaoh and his men felt the earth tremble. The men had been told to expect the unexpected, and they were ready for almost anything.

The pharaoh turned to Hotep. “I hope they have managed well, thus far.”

“They’ll be fine,” Hotep replied. “But pay attention. We have company.”

Several mangled bodies dragged themselves out of the sand and advanced on the spread forces of the palace.

“How gruesome,” Seti cringed at the site of them.

“They are dismantled easily enough,” Hotep said as he smashed a skeleton that appeared behind him with his bladed staff. “They can appear from all the places sand covers the earth, so watch your back, highness.” He left the pharaoh to fend for himself.

Seti smiled. He hadn’t had a chance to fight in a long while. He swung his doubled bladed swords expertly and set out to occupy the undead with something other than rotting.

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Eric attacked Sasaki again. She had somehow managed to get back onto her feet and deflect the attack he threw at her. Suddenly, Sasaki vanished. Eric whirled, trying to sense where she would appear. Then she was behind him, holding a hooked blade at his neck.

“So help me,” she panted, “if you move, I’ll kill you.”

Eric stood frozen, letting his arms relax at his sides.

“Why are you doing this?” Sasaki asked. “Shake free of Yakumi’s spell.”

“I have no choice in the matter,” Eric replied flatly.

Sasaki shook her head vehemently and desperately tried to convince him otherwise. “Yes you do. Take your mind back!”

His eyes regained focus only for an instant. Yakumi’s spell took over again, stronger than before. “My task is to kill you,” Eric said. “And I will.”

There was a muffled noise and suddenly Sasaki gasped. She dropped the knife she had held so closely to Eric’s throat. Her eyes widened as she saw the red blood splattered against Eric’s back and her chest. He had begun to grow wings, and impaled Sasaki in the process. The hooked joint of the scaly wings protruded through Sasaki’s back. She did not respond right away, but then grabbed the wing with her hands, and pulled it out of her shoulder. She fell to the floor, holding her left shoulder, blood streaming through her fingers.

Eric turned around, continuing to grow wings that were identical to those that the silver serpents had possessed. His head was tilted strangely as he addressed Sasaki.

“I will kill you, Sasaki. And it ends here.” He retrieved the blade that Sasaki had dropped. He twirled it expertly in his hand, though he had never used such a weapon before this. He stood over her, preparing to deal the final blow.