PALE REIGN OVER GESHEM - CHAPTER 9 DISCLAIMER: Anything contained in this work that is the property of Marvel is used without permission and for no profit, other than creative experience, which the government hasn't started taxing just yet... FACT: Most writers appreciate criticism, comments, suggestion... FACT: Abyss is one such writer... (hint, hint, hint) OK, Chapter 9... roll em! -Abyss ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Pale Reign Over Geshem - Chapter 9 "So this Mage of yours pulled me here, along with someone else who's also me? Lady, that's nuts." "Perhaps, but it is what happened. The Mage has studied the various dimensions for years. He even displaced the Queen into another one to save her, and the Shaman did the same. Our need was great, our situation desperate, and as I have begun to understand, he reached out to more than one world this time." "And he just happened to pull me here... twice over. No such thing as a coincidence... why me?" Tabitha was convinced this version of Lord Summerisle was nothing like the other. That one had been much like the late High Lord. Commanding, polite, a man of patience and decisive action. This one was abrupt, used to getting his way and quickly. He wasn't rude, but he was far less willing to take anything the Hunter told him at face value. He had also been ignoring her since they started walking towards the village again, and she was more than a little tired of it. "Because in order to cast his spell..." She broke in to the conversation. "... I had to cut pieces of our own Lord Summerisle, who you are, sort of, so that he could do the spell." His one red lens turned to her. She tried not to shiver. The look was unnerving. The Hunter broke in. "You are Lord Summerisle, as he was known here. He died fighting the Pale Man's minions, but the Mage was able to find others with his spirit, and pull them here. You, and the one now lost to the river." The Prelate was silent for a moment. "Was that all?" The Hunter looked confused. "Were there just two of us?" Tabitha answered. "Well, I did sever three pieces of the body, and before everything went to the Beast, there were three phantoms in the light..." The Hunter gripped her arm. "Hades, serving-girl, why didn't you mention this before?" "You never asked, and I thought there was only one of him. When he showed up, I started to understand..." "Forget him." The Hunter and Tabitha both looked at the Prelate. He just kept walking. "I met Scott Summers number three two nights ago. He was spooked bad. If he isn't dead yet, he's holed up somewhere, waiting to die." Prelate Summers played back the night of his arrival in his head. The double had fought back... like an amateur, but he had fought all the same. Maybe he wasn't dead... but that made him an unknown factor in a situation that was already out of his control. The Hunter broke into his thoughts. "Hold." They all froze. Tabitha had a knife out, its blade just barely peeking through her hand. Prelate Summers scanned the forest around them, fists clenched, ready for anything. The Hunter spoke again, her voice low. "We're not alone." The Hunter and the Prelate moved closer, almost without thought, back-to-back, Tabitha in the middle, each of them watching half the forest, suddenly threatening in the fading light of the afternoon. Tabitha, stuck in the middle, looked around furtively, trying to figure out how the Hunter had known this. Something wet dripped onto her nose. Reflexively, she looked up... and barely had a chance to draw breath to scream when the beast-man Marauder from the bridge dropped down on them. * * * Hairbag leapt down from the tree, a growl rumbling in his throat. He had failed at the bridge, and if he didn't return with something to show, his master would punish him. A leader of the resistance would make a fine prize. His legs spread wide, he kicked Prelate Summers and the Hunter hard and in either direction. He landed at Tabitha's feet. She brought the knife around, and he swiped his claws across her arm. She gasped and the knife dropped, and then he had her... one arm around her body, pinning arms to sides, the other hand at her throat, claws bared. He pulled her off the road until his back was to a tree. The other two had recovered. The dark woman from the bridge had a blade out. She was edging to his left. The other, who looked and smelled like the one he had fought at the bridge, stayed where he was. Hairbag remembered the fire the other had in his eyes. He kept the girl between them and watched the woman as he spoke. "Hhhuurrrr life is miiiine, or you come to castllllrrrr." They looked at him strangely. He tried again. "Stuuupid rrrrrebels, masterrrr wants you. You come" He bared his teeth for effect. The woman stopped her sideways steps and spoke. "Hairbag, you were a fool when you were Marick's lapdog, and you still are. Do you think you can keep her under control and watch us all the way to the castle?" The one-eyed man grinned. The show of teeth was humourless, and Hairbag began to see the flaw in his plan. He tried again. "You come! Now! Or gurrrrrrl bleed." He flexed the claw at her throat slightly. The dark woman shouted. "No!" And the next thing Hairbag knew was a stinging pain in his hand. The girl he was holding brought a leg up into his shin. He loosened his grip almost without realizing it, and stared dumbly at his hand... or rather, at his wrist. * * * There had been only the slightest flash of red, and Tabitha had been free. The Hunter rushed forward and pulled the girl away as the Marauder stared dumbly at the blood spraying from his severed wrist. She looked at the one-eyed man. He was watching the beast, waiting for something. The beast man whined like a dog, then looked at the one responsible for his wound. The whine deepened and became a growl of rage. Blood still spraying, Hairbag launched himself into the air at the man. The Hunter expected the other-worlder to lash out with his power, but instead he just side-stepped and elbowed the marauder in the back of the head as he past. The attacker hit the ground hard. He was up quickly, shaking his head to clear it, still growling... but there was a tone of desperation in the sound. He lunged again. His opponent caught the reaching claw in one hand and the dripping stump in the other. Hairbag opened his mouth, showing long fangs, ready to gouge the man's face off, and then the Prelate triggered his power. The blast was narrow, and accurate. It entered the beast-man's mouth and burst out from the back of his head. The marauder had enough time for a startled whine, and he dropped like a sack of dirt. The man barely glanced at the body, then looked up at the Hunter and Tabitha. "Shall we be going?" *VERY different.* the Hunter thought. * * * END CHAPTER 9