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Stories # - L | M - Z | Authors
Trapped in Dark Astoria
Prologue
By Eli J. Litzelman
In the cavernous depths of Moth Cemetery three
figures ran through the ever-extending darkness which consumed the area
around them. Leading the way, Archer of Ramesses lit the road
ahead with a burst of flame. Just behind him, a red-headed woman
in her early twenties tried to keep pace with the ancient Egyptian
warrior. She had been captured by the Banished Pantheon and was
the reason the other two were here. Following up in the rear,
Daughter of the Wood had her katana drawn and her glowing green eyes
darted back and forth as she sprinted after her mentor and the recently
rescued hostage. They each had the same feeling – they were
being hunted.
As they came to a bend, Archer of Ramesses lifted
his hand. The three of them stopped and the archer peaked around
a corner with a wary eye. Fifteen glowing blue lights told him
their path was blocked. Running into groups of villains had
become common. The results were always the same: come in
swift, kill all, and continue on. This time it would not be so
easy.
The Egyptian archer turned to his companions and lifted a single finger. “One.”
Daughter of the Wood nodded. She knew what was about to happen
and her knuckles whitened as they gripped the handle of her
sword. Her mouth gritted in expectancy as she drew in a deep
breath.
Archer of Ramesses lifted another finger. “Two.”
The young, red-headed girl gulped. She had suffered through three
days underground and wanted to get out. But she knew not to
panic. Just stay close to the archer and everything would go
smoothly, or at least she hoped it would.
“Three.”
Daughter of the Wood rushed around the corner and Archer of Ramesses
fired a hail of arrows around her. The echoing sound of impacts
ricocheted off the cavern’s walls as arrows dashed into
flesh. The heroine lunged forward like a cat. Her blade
extended in front of her and her body flew through the air. She
sunk the sword deep into a zombie’s head. Before even
touching the ground, she had already retrieved her katana, spun in a
graceful circle, and detached another villain’s head from his
shoulders. Thrusting her blade forward, she plunged it all the
way through the abdomen of an undead and caught it as it exited the
other side. She then turned the katana in the other direction
and, stepping backward, pierced the monster’s heart.
Archer of Ramesses killed the last zombie and signaled to the shivering woman. “Come, we must continue forward.”
A voice came from behind them. “Yes, you must.”
The archer spun on the balls of his feet and trained an arrow on the
shaman. Just as he was letting the arrow loose, however, a burst
of wind flew from the villain with such force it knocked the hero and
his companion off their feet and several yards backwards. The
arrow was launched off coarse but still managed to hit the mystic in
his right arm. Without even flinching, the villain broke the tip
of the projectile, removed it from his body, and laughed evilly.
From behind the first, another shaman spoke, “Your coming was prophesied; your end foreseen.
A third joined in, “You are destined to be in the sacrifice.”
A dark energy began to seep from the ground and the zombies that had
been killed a second ago came back from the dead. Some were
missing their heads and others were decorated with arrows, but they all
stood under their own power.
“Destiny be fulfilled!” all three of them shouted.
Archer of Ramesses instantly responded by igniting a fire sword and
cutting a path through the undead. He then extended his other
hand and created a ring of fire around one of the mystics. The
shaman pushed down with his hands and caused the gravel around him to
flip-flop, extinguishing the flames. He then lifted his hands up
and trapped the Egyptian in a cage of stone.
Daughter of the Wood darted from one villain to the next, her blade
flashing back in forth in a rhythmic motion. She then saw a
shaman lift his hands. Storm clouds formed in front of him and a
flash of lightning blasted toward the civilian. The young heroine
jumped through the air and caught the lightning before in reached its
victim.
At seeing Daughter of the Wood fall, a sudden anger rose in the
redhead. She locked her jaw and charged for the three
mystics. Her dash was halted however, by dark energy. It
soaked into her and she screamed in pain and agony. She collapsed.
The Death Shaman turned and looked at his companions. “It will take four for the sacrifice.”
The first mystic replied, “Worry not. I have seen the coming of another.”
The Avalanche Shaman did not turn to look at his comrades, but merely asked, “He will come to us?”
“He is a warrior and will be sent to rescue his friends.”
“His name?”
“He is known as RoboZon.”
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