Heretical Fishing

Chapter 94: The Defense Force

I woke from a dreamless sleep and sat upright as something punched me in the stomach.

My eyes darted around the room, but I was alone. I brought a hand to my abdomen and felt it for pain—there was none; all that remained was a vague sense of wrongness.

Was I dreaming, but can’t remember it...?

The needs of my body yelled out, and I shook my head, laughing.

“Guess I just needed to pee...”

Something made a questioning squeak from beside me, and I glanced over, seeing Cinnamon’s ears alert, her gaze fixed on me in alarm.

“Sorry, little one. Go back to sleep, alright?”

She relaxed as I reached a hand out and stroked her fur. I lifted the blanket, and she hopped under it, immediately curling into a ball.

“Good girl,” I said in my most-reassuring tone.

“Damn, Barry—what was in that rum?” I asked aloud, my head spinning.

I barely remembered Maria helping me back to bed, but from what I could recall, I was even drunker now.

Using the doorway for support, I lurched from my bedroom and made for my front door.

As I opened it, a cool breeze hit me, and I swayed there for a moment, enjoying the sensation.

“What a beautiful night...”

***

A pulse of power slammed in Sergeant Snips, and her eye shot open.

Rocky made a hiss from beside her; he’d felt it too.

She dashed from the pond, sitting on the sands as her awareness flooded out, trying to grasp what was happening. Rocky and Pistachio joined her a moment later, and they all looked to the north.

The moment stretched on, and just as her worry was receding, something appeared.

Its power was distant, muted, yet undeniably strong.

They shared a look, then took off toward it.

***

Corporal Claws’ head darted around, scanning the surrounding buildings.

She’d fallen asleep while watching the two idiots on the roof, but woke when something slammed into her. It seemed to come from right beside her, and she peeked her head over the roof, checking for any danger.

She saw the two idiots, one on his knees, the other grinning maniacally.

When the air shattered and a leg stepped through the rent, her heart skipped a beat.

She’d intended to attack whatever it was, but as she felt its strength, her body froze.

She needed backup.

The next second, she launched herself from the building, her legs wreathed in lightning as she shot away.

***

Barry’s eyes flew open as something almost physical punched him in the gut.

He sprang up, glancing around the room.

Helen let out a gasp beside him as she sat up, her eyes wide.

“What... what was that?”

“I’ll go see.”

His head felt woolen, but most of the rum’s effect was gone, no doubt cleared away by his new body.

He took a moment to thank himself for not making his drink as strong as Fischer’s, and with each step toward his bedroom door, his mind cleared a little more.

As he swung the door open, something vast and unknown appeared to the north-east, coalescing from nowhere, and he took an involuntary breath.

Helen whimpered behind him; she’d felt it too.

“Stay here,” he said, then ran toward it.

***

Gary scrambled back from the creature, trying to get as far from it as possible.

Death seemed to ooze from its shadowy form, coalescing as waves of smoke that roiled out and surrounded its feet.

Its shoulder was tall as a man and lean muscle covered its entire form. A canine’s head sat atop its thick neck, and incisors longer than a dagger extended below desiccated lips. Its tail wasn’t a tail—it was a snake. The snake’s head moved on its own, its tongue flicking out to taste the air.

Every inch of the creature’s body, bar the claws, teeth, and serpentine tail, were blacker than the abyss, seeming to draw any light and good from the world.

The hound let out a low growl as it turned to bare its teeth at Gary, its eyes holding intelligence and an accusation.

It knows,he realized, his dread climbing. It knows I stopped helping it...

“Blessed hound of Hades!” Sebastian yelled, prostrating himself before the beast. “Thank you for heading our call!”

Though he screamed at the top of his lungs, the sound seemed muted, as if sucked into the creature’s blooming aura of death.

The hound turned to look at Sebastian, and feeling its gaze, the cult leader lifted his head, showing a snarl just as vicious as the monster’s.

“I offer a life to you, as the contract demands!”

Sebastian reached into his shirt, withdrew a cardboard cup, and held it out before him.

“The man that drank from this—I offer his life to you!”

Gigantic paws strode forward, not a sound coming from their contact. It bent and sniffed the cup, its grotesque nose twitching.

It snarled again, but this time, it held something other than anger—the beast showed joy, exhilaration.

Muscles bulged as the hound crouched. It gathered strength, and faster than Gary’s eyes could register, disappeared.

All that remained from the beast was a swirl of inky blackness that slowly fell and pooled on the rooftop. The stones hissed and cracked at the swirling cloud’s touch, becoming pitted and worn.

“What... what have we done?” Gary heard himself say. It sounded flat to his own ears, empty of emotion.

“What have we done?” Sebastian repeated, his voice riddled with manic glee. “We have won, Gary! Let this be a lesson to anyone standing between us and the great leviathan! We will stop at nothing.”

Gary didn’t feel like he’d won; he felt hollow.

***

Sergeant Snips led the charge across the sand.

She saw a spark of blue stream across the sky and knew it to be Corporal Claws.

The otter arced toward Barry’s home, and Snips took a moment to approve her judgment; they might need everyone here, considering the power she felt coming from the invader.

Snips held her speed back, making sure Rocky and Pistachio could keep up, and they moved as one toward Tropica.

Something ahead of her caught her attention, so she held a claw up, halting the procession.

Wisps of black smoke rose from the sand, and something humongous stepped through space before them.

The humongous dog had a lithe form, vicious teeth set behind cracked lips, and a snake for a tail; it was an abomination.

They stared at each other for a long moment, and when the beast snarled at them, Fischer’s disciples, the defense force, attacked.

***

Corporal Claws led Barry back toward Tropica through fields of cane, hissing and chirping what she’d seen.

Barry, having also felt the creature’s arrival, followed without complaint.

She felt the beast’s power swelling, and she increased her speed as electricity sparked out from her body.

The creature’s position shifted, and she skidded to a stop. It appeared to her right, somewhere on the sands between Tropica and her master’s home.

It had teleported far enough that it would arrive at Fischer if it did so again.

“Attack,” she chirped at Barry, hoping he would understand.

Then, before Barry had a chance to respond, she rocketed from the sand, lightning empowering her flight as she shot directly through the fields of cane, leaving naught but destruction in her wake.

***

I leaned one hand on the headland’s rock as I ambled my way toward the ocean. My head spun, and I slowly made my way toward the water.

I breathed deep of the ocean air, the moisture and salt-laden oxygen grounding me and bringing a sense of great calm.

Small waves lapped the shore, and I smiled at the sound.

Man, I thought. I will never get over living in this little slice of paradise.

The light of a half-moon lit my way, and I gazed up at the blanket of stars.

Looking up was a mistake; I immediately missed a step and stumbled.

“Oof,” I said with a laugh. “That rum got me good.”

I focused on my steps as I hobbled over to the ocean and started relieving myself.

I took another deep breath, making a satisfied sigh as I exhaled it.

“What a beautiful night...”

***

Water flooded from Snips as she activated her ability.

She launched to the side, placed her right claw under the hunched and prepared-for-flight Rocky, then fired him at the hound.

She dashed just behind him, her water-powered stride easily matching the airborne crustacean.

As Rocky reached the dog, he slammed both claws closed, and duel explosions ripped out, slamming into the creature’s flank and causing Rocky to fly back from the blasts. The hound rocked to the side, just in time for Snips to release the energy stored in her left claw.

The blue-tinted arc shot forward and cut into the dog’s side. She’d hoped it would slice right through the thing, but as the energy hit, pitch-black smoke roiled out and caught the attack, taking most of the power away. The arc had left a shallow cut, but shadowy wisps leaked from the wound and formed into flesh and skin once more.

The creature opened its maw and snapped at her. The serpent’s head lashed out, ‌glistening fangs descending faster than Snips could react.

Private Pistachio’s targeted blast hit the beast, throwing its head into its own tail, throwing both mouths off course. Its vicious jaws slammed shut on open air, the snake’s head hissed, and Snips darted back, making space.

A blur of blue sparked in Snips’ peripheral vision, and before Snips could turn her eye, an aggressively chirping Corporal Claws slammed into the creature’s side.

Lightning spread from Claws’ body into the hound, and it shook as electricity ran through it.

Snips prepared to launch another attack, but more movement caught her eye.

Leroy slid toward them, a green glow surrounding his hands, his feet wrapped in vines that carried him forward. He moved at impressive speed, and when he was twenty meters from the hound, he stopped and slammed his fist into the ground.

Thick roots shot up around the still-trembling creature, cinching its legs and holding it in place.

“Kill it!” he yelled, holding his fist firmly pressed against the sand.

Snips shot forward, collecting power in both claws. Pistachio cocked back his claw once more, preparing to fire another blast. Rocky scuttled toward it, both clackers held high and ready to blow. Corporal Claws shot off the sand, a toothy grin across her face and lightning sparking from her body. Barry arrived, and he kicked off the sand, flying at the hound with one hand held back, ready to punch out.

Roots held the creature down, lightning flared, claws slammed closed, a punch descended, and Snips witnessed every single attack miss.

The hound went transparent, a victorious grin of needle-sharp teeth displayed for all to see.

The abilities all met in the center of its form and detonated on one another as the powers clashed in a violent explosion.

Barry, Claws, and Rocky, who were closest to the epicenter, all flew back, thrown by the explosive force.

The creature became tangible again, and chains of smoke flooded from it, wrapping around them all in the blink of a cultivator-empowered eye. The smoke solidified, and a spear of dread wedged itself deep within Snips—the darker-than-night shackles had encased her, and she couldn’t move a limb.

The creature hunched, collected strength in its muscles, and burst forward. Instead of attacking anyone, it simply vanished from existence.

Snips felt it appear elsewhere, and her dread rose higher than a king tide under a full moon.

It was by the headland, near her master’s abode, and Snips was held in place.

***

When I finished relieving myself, I set my hands on my hips, letting out another sigh as I gazed at the hypnotically swaying ocean before me. My swimming vision made the churning water even more intense, and I smiled.

It really was a beautiful night.

Something appeared beside me on the rocks, and I squinted, trying to make out what it was.

“Snips? Is that you?”

It crept forward, not making a sound.

Not Snips, I thought. It’s on four legs.

My vision warped, making the creature appear far bigger than it was.

No way, I thought. Is that what I think it is...?

I held my breath, unbelieving of what I saw.

With a broad grin, I got low, not wanting to scare it away, then held out a hand for it to sniff.

“Pss. Pss. Pss. Heeere, kitty kitty.”