Reborn as a Fire Mage!, page 42
Piper climbed up to the hatch of the Bulldog and scanned her surroundings slowly. She saw nothing but the solitary fiend that was now within twenty yards of the Bulldog. She wanted to just hope down and kill the fiend silently to not scare any citizens in the area. However, she wondered if more fiends would show themselves if she fired the large stationary gun on top of the Bulldog. “Well, here goes.” Piper aimed the gun at the head of the disgusting fiend and squeezed the trigger. The loud gun burst into action and blew the head off the fiend, immediately leaving a geyser of blood from the stump. Thirty seconds later she heard a beeping on the Bulldogs computer console. She descended the short ladder from the hatch and looked. The radar was showing dozens of red dots headed in her direction from the woods close by. Those red dots were fiends.
“Echo, there are a shit ton of these things headed toward me. Where the hell are they coming from? What the fuck is going on?”
“I’ve informed Selene and Hestia of the situation and your whereabouts. Hestia is sprinting there as we speak. Selene is sitting in the control center here to try and locate the source.”
Hestia pounced on the hood of the Bulldog, scaring the shit out of the cat girl. Hestia cringed. She didn’t have the intention to scare the already frightened Piper. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you.”
Piper waved her off and shook her head. “It’s fine. Come on in, the hatch is open. According to the radar, the fiends should come through the trees at any moment.”
Hestia turned her head in both directions, then back at Piper. She nodded that the fiends were on their way. The cheetah girl darted inside the hatch and shut the door in seconds. Luckily, they were completely safe inside of the Bulldog. Mason strengthened the armor big time before the World Boss fight a few years ago. It was even Berserker proof.
“What the fuck, Hestia. This is only my second day, and I’m on my second crisis. This is crazy.”
“I’m in just as much shock as you are. What good are these drones? They are supposed to prevent this shit from happening.”
“That’s what they're supposed to do. Maybe they’ve gone on strike or something,” Piper replied sarcastically.
Selene’s voice thundered through the communicator. “Hey, Piper.”
“Yeah, I’m here.”
“The fiends are coming from something in the woods. We’ve studied the Bulldog’s radar and ran it through analysis on the computer here.”
“So they’re just appearing out of thin air?” Piper asked, confused.
“I have no clue from the data what is happening. We need to get in there to check it out. I’m on my way,” Selene cut off comms before Piper could give a response.
Piper locked eyes with Hestia. “Selene’s on her way. She says the fiends are coming from somewhere in the forest. Are you okay to check it out?”
“Of course, is there some kind of underground tunnel that they’re coming from? None of this makes sense.”
“That’s not a bad hypothesis, Speedy.”
* * *
Chapter Twelve
You’ve entered the Gainesville
* * *
Population 2,885
* * *
Territory: Under the rule of Cuntface
* * *
Local Governing Body: Death General named Cuntface
* * *
Highly Dangerous
* * *
Residents:5% Humans and 95% Mutated Humans
* * *
Diseases and Afflictions: Malnutrition, dehydration, cancer, infection
“Follow the Crimson Bone Road, follow the Crimson Bone Road, follow, follow, follow, follow, follow the Crimson Bone Road,” I sang to myself as we chugged along.
Scarlett gave me a peculiar look. “What are you singing?”
I chuckled and wiped the dust from my pants leg. “It’s a song from a famous movie.”
Lola looked confused. “There is a song about this road?”
“No, that song is about the Yellow Brick Road. I've just substituted the current name into the song. It fits… kinda. Dorothy and her companions followed the Yellow Brick Road to Emerald City to meet the great Wizard of Oz. I’m the male version of Dorothy and you three ladies are my companions to the Magic Kingdom. For the record, there wasn’t a man named Cuntface in the movie. Speaking of Cuntface, are we close?”
“Cuntface and his regiment of the Terror Force are based in the ruins of a great stadium from centuries ago. It was called ‘The Swamp.’ There were great battles held there,” Anna said as the schooner hit a big bump in the road.
“You’re shitting me. Holy damn. I’ve fought many battles in that stadium. I was part of the Crimson Tide… army.”
Anna tilted her head as if she was thinking of something. “Interesting, I’ve never heard of the Crimson Tide before… interesting. That name sounds very tough and brave.”
I raised my fist in the air. “You’re damn right. Roll damn tide.”
“Was that your war-cry?” Anna inquired.
“Most definitely, it struck fear in everyone across the country… especially down south.”
“Thank you for telling me. I will share the legend of the Crimson Tide with others.”
I chuckled and gave her a quick nod.
Anna looked over her shoulder at the three of us. “I would expect more resistance here than in Tallahassee. This region is mainly mutants and most of us are more passionate and eager to fight when challenged.”
“Most of us?” I asked.
“Yes, I'm a mutant, of course,” Anna grinned and pointed at her large blue eye.
“Since I was placed me on Lelara and brought back here, I honestly don’t see differences. I just see either good people or bad people. I could not care less what someone looks like.”
Anna blushed. “Thank you for that. In Florida, mutants are seen as less worthy than a non-mutant person. I was very surprised when amazing people like you three allowed me to provide you with transport. I’m very honored that you would allow someone of my stature to carry you places.”
“Anna, you’re awesome, beautiful, and friendly as all hell. We’re honored that you would offer to let us ride with you. We see you as a person just like us. No more, no less.”
A huge tear spilled from the cyclops girl’s large blue eye. She nodded and sniffled, clearly moved by what i said.
“Don’t cry, Anna. You’re one of us now. I don’t care what other cocksucking bastards think about you. You’re hot as hell and even more beautiful on the inside,” Lola stated then kissed Anna on the cheek.
Anna began to sob after the show of affection. “You are so good to me. I’m very thankful.”
Scarlett held up her hand. “We are the ones who are thankful. You are so good to us. We just sit here on our asses doing nothing while you navigate this dreadful place. You are amazing.”
“She’s not wrong,” I added, matter of factly.
“Gods, you three are changing the world. You’ve healed so many people and purified the lands. You’ve used magic to bring fresh water to the surface so people won’t thirst. You’ve taken on truly evil people in efforts to make Florida a safer place. You’ve been sent from the gods. I wish I could help more.”
“You’re giving us way too much credit, but we thank you for the kind words,” I replied with a wink.
“I have experience with guns and bows. If we can get our hands on either of those, I can be more helpful. I want to help so much more.” Anna said with a pleading expression.
“What you’re doing now is plenty of help, but we’ll be on the lookout for that stuff. It never hurts to have more guns and shit,” I nodded.
“Great, thank you,” Anna replied with gratitude. I could see that she had never really been listened to or taken care of very much over her life. I’m glad we could help her to feel more valuable, even if it was only just a little.
Suddenly, something landed on top of the schooner and screeched. We’d been so focused on our conversations that we were dropping the ball while watching for danger. The thing jumped from the top of the schooner on top of Anna before we could do anything. The blue-haired girl screamed as the humanoid creature slashed her back with its claws.
“Anna!” Lola shouted as she cast divine sword. She lost her balance as she darted toward the mutant. She missed her attack completely and her blade sank its teeth in the wooden seat. The mutant changed its attention to Lola and dove on top of her. The figure looked human, but it was almost like its face melted. It screeched and growled, but it wasn’t saying anything that we could understand.
The mutant raised its arm to attack the supine cat girl and was stabbed in the throat by Scarlett’s rock sword. She pushed it over to the side and kicked it in the stomach. The creature slide off the blade and flew to the ground, flat on hits back.
“Lola, are you alright?” Scarlett asked, as her sword vanished into thin air.
“I’m fine. Check on Anna. She was bleeding pretty bad.”
Anna stood breathing heavily and waved her hand at the approaching succubus. I’m fine. Really.”
“No, you’re not. Turn around,” I demanded.
Anna nodded and showed us her back. There were four bloody canyons in her back, gushing blood. “It’s nothing.”
“Oh, my gods it is so, so, not nothing,” Lola replied loudly as she darted to the cyclops girl, “Hold still,” Lola’s hand glowed like a star and she moved her hand slowly over the flesh rips until they were gone completely. The Celestial Architect blessed her with the most amazing gift of us all. It was truly remarkable to witness these miracles she could perform. Sure, I did magic as well, but I was just burning shit up. Lola was healing people. You can’t compete with that at all.
“Unfortunately Anna, I can’t heal your dress, but your back is back to normal. Are you in any pain?”
“No, I’m wonderful. I can’t thank you enough for what you’ve done. You are truly sent from the gods.”
“Lola, are you hurt anywhere? That thing pounced on your pretty quick,” I asked as I looked at her closely.
“I’m fine.” Scarlett showed him the business before he could hurt me.
“You know it, my friend.”
“You deserve an orgasm for that. I owe you one, okay?” Lola winked at the succubus.
Scarlett chuckled and sat down on the bench. “I’m sure you’ll not let me forget, but you don’t owe me anything. I’m here for everyone here… including you, Anna. You’re one of us now.”
“Yeah, she is,” Lola smiled, and I nodded at the blue-haired cyclops girl.
The Swamp football stadium was a shocking site. It was in similar shape as the Colosseum in Rome. It was in ruins, but it looked pretty damn good to be how old it was, not to mention that it went through a nuclear weapon attack. Memories flooded into my brain as I saw what was left of the stands. I envisioned 80,000 angry Florida Gators fans screaming at me to make me aware of how badly I sucked. Everyone is entitled to their opinion, of course.
“Fuck, Mason, look!” Lola gasped as she pointed at corpses hanging from all over the outside of the stadium.
My stomach churned and blood ran cold when I saw women and children. Then I wasn’t prepared for the next sight. It was the worst thing I’ve ever seen in my life. It showed how depraved the world was now, and it was unimaginable. There was a row of dead infants hung by meat hooks.
“That can’t be real, can it? It’s just some sick joke or some sort of Halloween decoration they put up?” Scarlett asked, even though deep inside of her she knew the devastating answer.
“I wish it was some sort of joke, but those babies are real. I’ve seen nothing like this before, not even in a sick and twisted horror movie.”
Anna threw up over the side of the schooner.
“Anna!” I shouted, “Are you alright?”
The blue-haired bombshell wiped the remnants of vomit from her mouth with the back of her hand. Her face was red, and she was crying. Luckily, the horses are well trained because there wasn’t a soul driving this thing. “I’d heard that Cuntface was a terrible man, but I did not know anyone could be this heartless and vile.”
I nodded. “Yeah, this is on another level of sadism.”
“Do you think the people were alive when they were hung on those meat hooks?” Scarlett asked in a monotone voice.
“Unfortunately, I would say there was a high probability of it,” I responded solemnly.
“Even the children and the babies?” Lola asked, while trying to hold herself together.
I exhaled loudly and shook my head. “That’s something that I don’t want to know.”
“Me either,” Lola agreed.
The sounds of men brought our period of dark depression to a halt hollering, squealing, and screeching. The sounds were unsettling and you could tell that these were from radically mutated men. They were the kind of men that were in the Hills Have Eyes horror films.
Rocks and arrows flew toward our heads, just missing each of us by a few inches. Lola cast divine shield just in time to stop the second barrage. Mutant creatures dropped to the dirt road we were traveling and darted toward us. Some of them fell over because their bodies couldn’t perform what their brains were telling them to do. I opened a long crate and emptied the supplies in it as quickly as I could. I lifted Anna without asking and laid her down in the crate. “I’m sorry. I hope you’re not claustrophobic. This is the safest place for you right now.” Anna was wide-eyed, but she nodded in agreement. I shut the top of the crate and threw a blanket over the top of it. The crate wasn’t airtight and had some cracks between the boards, so it wasn’t a concern that Anna would suffocate. It wasn’t locked, anyway.
Lola looked at the crate, then looked at me with a brow raised. “Mason, never put in me a box like that. I’d freak the fuck out. I’d just take my chances with the crazy monster men.”
I knew Lola’s shield wouldn’t hold up much longer, so we had to fight. I rolled out of the schooner and began launching fire magic attacks at the charging monstrosities. One of the mutant mean jumped beside me out of nowhere, licked the side of my face and moaned like he got off on it. I conjured a dagger of flame and plunged it into his eye socket. I took the sleeve of my robe and wiped off the nasty saliva.
“Mason, are you, like, bi-sexual now?” Lola chuckled as she stabbed a monster man with her magic staff.
“Not that I know of. That was sexual harassment, in my opinion. I’m filing a report with human resources immediately.”
The horses were getting panicked from all the commotion. I couldn’t blame them one bit. Lola looked at me and nodded, which told me she was going to do something. I did not know what she had in mind. She wasn’t a horse whisperer by any means. She stood between both of the horses, then sent divine magic to her hands. She laid each radiant hand on a horse and closed her eyes. The horses slowly laid on the road and fell into a deep sleep.
“How the hell did you do that?” I asked in between fire attacks on mutants.
“Well, I didn’t know for sure if it would work. I just hoped,” Lola replied with a proud smile.
Scarlett launched a rock spear and impaled two mutants that were lined up behind one another. “Do you two always blabber on during huge battles with monsters that want to hang us from meat hooks?”
“Right, sorry,” Lola cringed. “You’re doing great, by the way.”
Scarlett rolled her eyes as she bludgeoned three more mutants with a rock club she conjured. These girls were taking these new mage classes and running with them. In most video games, when you get a new class, you have to level and train a long time before you can do anything worth a damn. These girls were rocking max level as far as I was concerned.
We fought our way into the main entrance to the stadium. The onslaught of mutants slowed the further in that we went inside. Orange and blue colors saturated the concourse. The colors were faded and chipped, but they were still there. More corpses dangling from meat hooks distracted my eyes. Some of them were still alive and screaming.
“Goddamit, those over there are alive!” I screamed at the girls. They attached the chains with the hooks on the end to the railing on the second level concourse. It looked like they stabbed them with the hook and just tossed them over. I wasn’t at a loss trying to figure out how to get them down without hurting them worse. There was no time to fashion scaffolding or find ladders. We would need to pull them up slowly, which made me cringe and gag a little. I just didn’t know what else we could do. They were gushing blood and didn’t have long if they stayed where they were, not to mention the agony that they were in. The scene looked almost exactly like the meat hook scene in the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre horror flick.
“I’ve got to pull them up. It's going to hurt them like a motherfucker, and it could possibly kill them. However, I’ve got zero clue what else we can do.”
“Wait, I have an idea that should work. I’ll created platforms with my earth magic. I’ll construct them so you can easily walk up them like stairs. You can take them off more easily and Lola can heal them immediately.” Scarlett didn’t wait for my approval. She just began making earthen platforms and placing them perfectly all the way up under the dangling men and women. Thank God there were no children. I would have lost my mind if I had to pull a child off a meat hook. Goddamn, this Cuntface was a sick and depraved individual.
Lola and I sprinted up the platforms. “Okay, Mason, you lift them off and I will heal them. Hopefully, when I begin to heal, their pain will go away quickly.”
“Got it,” I kissed the divine mage on the forehead and looked at the first man, “Listen, this is going to hurt, but not for very long. This is Lola, and she’s going to heal you.”
