With a ravenous roar
it charged. Ash took aim, ready to level the deadite with a single
blast straight to the head. But as he steadied the gun, Felicia
emitted a high pitched hiss, and in an instant the deadite flew
backwards and then lay flopping on the ground emitting low gargles.
"Oh yuuuuck!"
Felicia shrieked as she looked with disgust at the blood and flesh on
her claws and fur. She looked desperately for something to wipe the
mess on, grabbed the first thing she saw and hurriedly rubbed. She
stopped when she realized what she was holding, and followed the
material up to Donovan, who was giving her a slightly annoyed look.
"Heh...sorry." She said and released the cloth, letting it dangle
back on its owner.
"Jeez lady, remind
me never to piss you off." Ash said admiringly. Felicia flashed
him a charming smile and struck a quick pose. Their attention was
drawn by the gurgling growl of the deadite as it rose back to its
feet, blood and puss still pumping from the gashes across its face.
"Swallow your
souls!" it snarled, and before the stunned eyes of the gathered
band of warriors, its head transformed, the skin pulling tighter
across the skull, the eye sockets growling larger and deeper, the
teeth shifting unevenly in the jaw, the tongue splitting at the end
into a fork. Its neck grew out, nearly six feet long, pulsing like a
great serpent. Its growls grew high pitched, like the shrieking of a
monkey, and it gazed at them with the balls of puss that were its
eyes. "Swallow your souls, swallow your souls!" it repeated in
its now crackly voice.
With a flick of her
wrist, Hsien-Ko threw a series of daggers at the creature. Two of
them ripped its arms away at the elbows, and three more tore into the
giraffe-like neck, decapitating it in an instant. Blood sprayed from
the stumps where its forearms and head had been, and the body danced
about as if drunk. A quick flash of Donovan's massive sword, and
the torso fell away from the hips, and in an instant the remnants of
the dismembered creature rotted into nothing.
Ash stood, his jaw
dangling in amazement at the speed with which it had all unfolded.
His head snapped too and fro, gazing to the rotting body-parts back
to his companions. "Man..." he finally said, a goofy smile
working across his face, "You guy's really are groovy!"
"Groovy!" Felicia
purred with delight at hearing this familiar term.
"Again with that
word!" Hsien-Ko said in exasperation. "What does it mean, this
'groovy'?"
"I'll explain it
later." Felicia giggled. "What was that thing?"
"A deadite" Ash
said seriously, "And you're going to be seeing a lot more of them
if you don't help us."
"How many is a lot?"
Felicia said quietly, afraid of the answer she would receive.
And the answer came
not in words, but in the roars of a dozen more deadites charging onto
the platform. The warriors all dropped into combat-ready positions,
prepared to fight. But the battle was interrupted before it even
started by the long, dreadful howl. All eyes, including the
deadite's, snapped up to see the muscular figure standing atop the
train. It lowered its canine head to reveal a pair of glowing read
eyes. It leapt off the train, performing a perfect somersault in the
air, landing graceful as a ballerina on its feet and glared at the
group of deadites.
They snarled at the
werewolf like creature, and it snarled back, just as impressive. The
deadites charged, and the wolf-man simply thrust its clawed hands
forward, and a massive fireball shaped like a wolf's head flew
forward, incinerating the monsters in an instant, their last cries
echoing into the night.
"Whew, thanks John.
I was starting to think I'd have to break a sweat there." Felicia
said as she strode calmly up the wolf-man. He smiled through his
fangs, and wrapped one arm protectively around her, his hand resting
on her hip.
"Uh...is there
something I'm missing here?" Ash asked as best he could,
considering he could not seem to get his jaw off the ground. Felicia
blushed slightly, and the were-wolf chuckled.
"Oh, how forgetful
of us" Mei-Ling said, apologetically, "Ash, this is John Talbain,
a...traveling companion of Felicia's." She threw the cat-girl a
smirk, and the blush in Felicia's cheeks deepened.
Talbain strode forward
and extended his furred arm to Ash, who gaped at the size and
muscularity of that hand for a moment. Then he clasped it with his
own, feeling like child shaking the hand of an adult.
"Man, it's getting
so nothing surprises me anymore." Ash muttered as they shook.
"Are you positive
this could work?" Q. Bee asked the vampire. Lilith sat on her
branch, addressing the insect-darkstalker rather casually,
considering the situation. She kicked her legs in the air, as if she
had not a care in the world.
"Of course I'm
sure it'll work." She said and with that she hopped off her
branch to join Q. Bee on hers. "All we need is a piece of his
hair. That's all. Then we'll have someone to get the book for
us."
"And you're sure
that they'll listen to it?"
"Of course they
would. After all, it's one of them."
"So that's the
whole story." Ash said as he crouched down to pick up the last
crate. After hearing of the situation, Felicia had gladly agreed to
help them, but insisted that they help finished loading up the train
with supplies for the journey. He struggled and groaned to move the
heavy box, but with only his one hand available, and his only-human
strength, it proved impossible.
"So you actually
went back in time?" Hsien-Ko said as she crouched down on the
opposite site of the large box to help.
"Yeah. Went back in
time, fought an army of skeletons, saved a kingdom, nothing big."
He raised his head to look across the surface of the box at her, and
found himself unable to help but take advantage of the view their
position offered him of the impressive contours of her cleavage.
"Um...you know, those people asked me to stay and lead them,
offered to make me their king." He said, his words coming absently
as his attention was focused entirely on the view.
"I can just imagine
how things would have turned out then." Hsien-Ko said, dripping
with sarcasm. She raised her head to look at him, but found his
gazed was pointed downwards. She lowered her own eyes, saw what he
was looking at. Twin spots of ruddy color worked their way against
the usual blotches of pink on her cheeks. She hoisted the crate
easily, its edge knocking Ash on his chin, the momentum throwing him
back onto his butt. "Don't get fresh with me, pal." She said
haughtily, and with that she carried the crate into the train all on
her own.
"Wanted to make you
king, eh?" another woman's voice interrupted as Ash rose to his
feet. He looked up, and found Mei-Ling gazing at him, amused.
"You betchya" he
said as he came up alongside her.
"So why didn't you
take them up on their offer?"
"Well, I just didn't
belong there. I had to get back to my own time, you know? And
besides, in some ways, I already am a kind." With that, he bent
his knees, bowing his head to her, and he took one of her hands in
his own and placed a single kiss onto it. He raised his eyes to see
her looking surprised, a light blush rising onto her face as well.
"Hail to the king, baby" He said, lowering his voice a few
decibels, trying his best to sound sexy.
"Hey, don't get
fresh with my sister either!" Hsien-Ko shouted as she planted her
foot firmly onto Ash's behind. He yelped and jumped several feet.
He watched as Hsien-Ko prodded her sister onto the train. He
smirked, even as he rubbed his sore posterior.
"No doubt about it.
She wants me." He said to himself, and boarded the train.
