Shadowstrut by Orlando A Sanchez

Author:Orlando A Sanchez [Sanchez, Orlando A]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Bitten Peaches Publishing
Published: 2019-04-19T06:00:00+00:00

TWENTY-TWO

I formed Izanami and began the spell.

<Are you certain you want to do this…here?>

“Not much of a choice,” I said, taking a deep breath. “Someone on the Light Council is playing dirty and using Division 13 to set me up.”

<Flowing water will mean you need to use more power than usual. You will experience considerable pain.>

I looked over at the Hudson River. Above us sat the George Washington Bridge, leading into Jersey. Farther north, past the bridge, sat Fort Tryon Park and the Cloisters. Around me, I could swear I smelled the slightest hint of cinnamon.

“I know. My entire life has been pain. We’re good friends.”

<Understood. What do you need from me?>

“I need you to plant a beacon simulating the tracking spell on these items. Can you do it?”

<You mean a rudimentary spell of mimicry?>

“That’s what I just said. Yes or no?”

<You realize I’m a goddess?>

“So you keep reminding me,” I said, taking a deep breath. “Can you do it? Dawn will be in a few hours, and I don’t intend on being here at sunup.”

<Of course I can do it.> Izanami scoffed. <Honestly, I don’t know what’s more insulting, the request or the question asking if I can fulfill it.>

“I’m not questioning your godly powers, but we’re pressed for time. I figure once they notice we haven’t moved, they’ll come for us.”

<I advise less speaking and more casting.>

I glared at the blade.

Of course I’d get a dark blade with a snippy goddess. Why couldn’t I get a not-so-dark blade with a laid-back goddess? One who felt an afternoon of eliminating beers was an afternoon well spent? No, I had to get the blade with a goddess who had an ego the size of the city.

I walked several meters away with the clothing and plunged the blade into the ground, next to the pile. The runes in the clothing immediately flared orange.

<Again with the burying me in the ground. I’m a refined weapon of death, and you only see fit to bury me in the ground. Maybe you should bond to a shovel?>

“If the shovel didn’t speak, then, yes, I would bond to it,” I said, gesturing. “At least it would be quieter in my head.”

I whispered the spell and gestured. Black energy erupted around me, followed by the sensation of a hot knife plunging into my skull. I nearly screamed at the searing pain. Being this close to the river meant I needed about twice as much energy to cast this spell. Double the energy, double the excruciating fun.

The area around the clothing turned black and began consuming the materials. A black cloud of lethal mist filled with glowing red runes floated up from the ground, remaining in place, immune to the gentle wind. It would expand for a few more meters and then set off a runic beacon.

<You may have made it too strong.>

“I had to compensate for the river.”

<It will attract the creature and many others. Was that your goal?>

“How many others?”

<I do not keep a census of creatures in this city.

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