Moon Shadow

23

"Get her!" the necromancer barked.

The skeletons moved forward with unnatural speed—the magic energy covering them must've given them a boost.

I conjured a barrier around me. Some skeletons still charged ahead, while others dived into the ground like it was a swimming pool and appeared under me.

Shit!

This was barrier magic's weakness—it was a semi-circle forcefield. A clever sorcerer countered it by using the ground as a weapon.

Among the skeletons that dived underground, some came out and surrounded me, while others stayed below and held my legs in place with their maggot-covered hands. Yuck! I stomped them into pieces.

Esther came through the crowd and placed her palm on the forcefield. "You're so lame."

"Lame's my middle name," I said.

She sucked her teeth.

More skeletons popped out of the ground, making the inside of the forcefield overcrowded. I withdrew it, then closed my hand into a fist, activating my moon magic. It was time I kicked all their asses and faces.

I aimed one hand at the ground and the other in front of me. Lunar energy built around them, giving off a high-pitched sound before I shot the skeletons and disintegrated them. Esther would pay for desecrating the sorcerers' corpses. I swore on my life.

Turning to the necromancer, I fired at her repeatedly. She evaded each attack with ease. I continued, and the same thing happened. She dodged the beams like a trained dodger. Dodging artist? Whatever.

The thing that pissed me off to the point my eye started twitching was the smile on her face. She was enjoying this fight, and she hadn't even broken a sweat. In fact, she had her hands behind her back the whole time. Mxiu! The disrespect.

I couldn't let her have the last laugh. This bitch was going down tonight. No matter what.

Lunar beams weren't enough. I switched to lunar bombs, bullets, waves, and back to beams. Still, none of the attacks grazed Esther. The way she moved on the ground was as if she was on ice. She body-swerved and sidestepped each strike like a professional figure skater.

I didn't know a lot of figure skaters. Actually, I knew none. But the necromancer moved like one. I was sure of it.

While observing her movement keenly, I shot a beam at Esther. When her feet touched the ground, ice formed under her feet.

I knew it!

Aside from possession, necromancers also had spirit magic. They could channel, summon, and use the power of spirits to achieve their goals. Esther must've channeled an ice spirit (a dead sorcerer with ice magic) into her body to gain its abilities. It would last for a few minutes, but she could use it all night seeing as we were in the cemetery's sorcerer section.

Gahdamn it! Why hadn't I seen this coming? It was so obvious.

I sighed. "It doesn't matter. You can't beat me."

"Oh?" Esther smiled again. The kind of smile someone with more tricks under their sleeves gave.

I stomped the ground. Thousands of lunar spikes popped out, tearing apart the skeletons, heading for Esther. She backed away, but they caught up to her. Before the spikes pierced her body, the hundreds of skeletons behind her tore their limbs and formed a stairway for her to climb.

Fuck! She was good.

Clapping my hands twice, two lunar pistols materialized on my palms. I shot at Esther immediately while chasing after her. She danced her way up the skeletal staircase, spinning and twirling like a ballerina. Her lack of care bruised my ego, and I almost pulled out my joker card.