CHAPTER#56

"No take backs," Jenny repeated, staring back the way they had come. The giant gate had disappeared, leaving behind a wall of stone. Mike's jaw dropped, and he ran to the wall, placing his hands on the stone.

"How is this possible?" He asked. In answer, the minotaur called out again, this time much closer.

"Straight." Jenny walked past Mike, then started skipping. "Straight, straight, away from the gate! The Minotaur is coming, he wants a date!"

"Fuck," Mike muttered, jogging behind to keep up. Jenny's arms swung wide, and each time she skipped, she covered an impossibly long distance. The hard brick path beneath his feet created sharp footfalls, echos that chased him down the long path.

"Right!" Jenny made a sharp right, disappearing. Mike tripped, barely keeping his feet beneath him. Stumbling to a halt, he saw the small recess in the wall that he would have missed. Walking into it, he found himself in a circular corridor.

Behind him, the minotaur called out.

Mike ran to catch up to Jenny. She was still skipping, but was now doing it backwards, her hair bouncing gently against her breasts. They did this for almost a quarter of a mile, Mike's legs burning with the exertion, sweat beading along his brow. Jenny didn't seem to be having any issues - Mike wondered if her control over Beth's body allowed her to avoid fatigue.

"Right, right, stop at the light!" Jenny came to a sudden halt, arms outstretched. Mike nearly ran her over, stepping to the side at the last second. Jenny grabbed Mike's wrist and pulled, swinging him in a large circle. They both collapsed to the ground just as the path ahead erupted in fire, streams of fire spraying from nozzles hidden in the wall.

"Holy shit!" Mike watched the fire scour the floor clean, burning up the glowing moss. "This place has booby traps?!?"

"It's not just a maze," Jenny told him. Her body was pressed against his, with Mike on top. He was suddenly aware of her legs wrapped around his waist. Looking down into her darkened eyes, he flinched when she kissed his nose. "It's a giant trap."

"A trap for what?" Mike asked.

"Nobody in, nobody out." Jenny turned her head. "The center is that way. If the others are alive, they will be that way."

"What makes you so sure?" Mike asked. Standing up and pulling Jenny to her feet.

"The minotaur is scared of the inner ring." Jenny walked over to the wall. "He is not, however, scared of fire."

"That's good to know." Mike watched Jenny step into the stone. This time, it was like looking at a fucked up magic eye painting - she appeared to be touching the stone, and then it moved back several feet to allow her entry. Following her, he saw that the stones were slightly larger than the closer stones, giving the illusion that they were the same distance away. This time, they could go left or right.

"Which way?" Mike asked.

"Right of course!" Jenny took off again, and Mike followed.

-

Kali closed her eyes this time, letting her magic surge along the crack she had found. The last time she tried to peel it open, the ensuing flash had blinded her. Each time she struck the flaw in the Geas' boundary, she could feel it give just a little bit more.

Elation flooded her. No spell on Earth was perfect, and she was very surprised that some sort of counter measure hadn't been enabled yet. Clearly, the Geas had been cast from roughly where she stood, that was part of the magic. A large crack had formed across the sky, a crack that emitted sparks and fire every time she struck.

However, she was tiring. She was using a combination of six different spells to reach into that gap, and had discovered that the Geas was trying to repair the damage she was causing. That meant she needed not only total concentration, but she was dipping into some of her magical reserves. She didn't like the idea of becoming vulnerable, but she liked the idea of other members of the Society showing up to lay claim to what she may discover even less.

She started casting, her fingers weaving one spell while her lips uttered another. Several of the spirits she had formed pacts with drained away her life force in trade, but she had centuries to spare. No, the big issue right now was to carefully balance her attention. What she was trying to do was akin to plucking a hot coal from a fire without getting burned.

A loud wailing carried across the front yard, but Kali ignored it. The banshee didn't dare approach, and had managed to distract her only once. She knew the creature could do little to harm her, and a simple spell dampening her shrieks had been enough to protect her ears from further damage.

The wailing persisted, but Kali ignored it, thoughts focused on the magical crack up above. Channeling her energy, she grabbed at both sides of the crack, ready to strike it once more. The front door of the house opened, and a woman stepped out onto the front porch. Kali's eyes opened to see who the newcomer was, and she had to hold in a laugh.

The woman on the porch was wearing a rain jacket and a fireman's helmet. In her hands, she tightly clutched what appeared to be a regular garden hose. The snakes emerged from the ground, venomous fangs bared, daring the newcomer to attempt to cross the yard. Satisfied that the firefighter had been thwarted, Kali turned her attention back to the sky.

The banshee wailed even louder, and her voice was like a small bomb.

"NAIA!" The name the banshee cried meant nothing to Kali, but the firefighter braced herself against one of the pillars.

Kali had no idea how they were able to raise the pressure in the hose high enough to cross the length of the yard and strike her in the face. The spray was hardly powerful enough to harm her, but the icy cold water was a shock to her, and she faltered, her mouth and fingers frozen in place, just as her magic struck the crack.