Seeker: Demon Killers [Fantasy/Action | Complete]

Chapter 7: A Major Disappointment

Two more Rosses came charging. Tora brought up a forcefield, spreading her mind forward to close around their ankles. Their feet passed straight through her mind's grip. A kick into the small of her back from behind sent her crashing straight into her own wall; she bounced off with a yelp and tumbled onto her butt.

"Come on, Tora," said one of the Rosses. They surrounded her, standing about a metre away. "Are you this weak without your fists? Is Carlos talking out of his ass again?"

"Hey!" he protested from afar.

"No," Tora growled, getting onto her knees.

"We both know that. So why are you acting such a weakling?"

Tora's back bristled. Ross could be such an ass sometimes. A hand smacked the back of her head, making her flinch. God, she was such a witch.

"Get up."

Tora expanded her forcefield without moving. The wall pushed against the real Ross, who stumbled backwards. The images shimmered, the same surprised look on their faces.

"That's not going to cut it. Defence makes a crap offence."

Tora dropped the shield, jumping to her feet. Ross's jibes were irritating, and her litheness equally so. She evaded most of the attempts at capturing the real her and immersed herself into her clones. All of them didn't hesitate to lay into Tora, punching and slapping her, and although the images did no damage, every so often a real fist would clap her ears and a knee knead into her stomach. Ears ringing and blood pounding in her ears, Tora crashed into the foosball table again.

"This is pathetic. Are you really a Seeker? If you don't use your fists you're just a pussyfooting weakling – no different than a human."

"You never fail to inspire, Ross," Tora replied, straightening up. Fire burned in her heart and in her eyes, and she flexed her fingers.

"I didn't ask for your opinion. Be on your toes!"

With that, Ross – three of them – shot forward. She had the same agility as Tora, even though Tora was two heads taller. Tora evaded the punches aimed at her. One skimmed by her nose, but left nothing in its wake. A fake.

With the handicap of not using physical attacks, Tora struggled. Unless she threw up a forcefield that separated the room into two – no mean feat if she wanted to contain it on this floor and no further – there was no way to use telekinesis to figure out which Ross was real and which was not. Multiple forcefields was out of the question.

She spent too long mulling. A punch with the base of Ross's palm into Tora's chin made stars explode in her eyes. Her world went black fleetingly. She could taste blood in her mouth. Pain shot like spikes from her nose around her head, making her brain shudder.

"Does it take a near-death experience for you to actually make some effort? I expected better."

Ross was relentless. She dropped to the ground and swiped at Tora's feet. Tora's knees buckled. The training room's high ceiling soared over her head and she landed on her shoulder blades. Her breath was knocked out of her.

"This is pathetic. You're not even trying."

"I am!" Tora propped herself onto her elbows and spat out a mouth of bloody spit. Ross wouldn't understand. Even Tora herself didn't understand. Her head was spinning too much to be coherent.

"No, you're not. You're weak. You're not even using your powers properly. What do you call this?" There was a thud as Ross banged on the forcefield she'd thrown up around herself. The shield shuddered, pressing in Tora's mind.