Arachne rounded the corner and stopped. They were face to face.
“Ghosts,” Arachne whispered, “at least three humans and a dog.”
“One possessed me earlier, that’s how I got captured. Be careful.”
Sawyer’s grin widened, Eva could tell. He looked on at them and started laughing. “A crippled girl and a crippled demon come to attack me? I was almost worried for a minute.” He stopped laughing and glanced at Eva again. She could feel his eyes running over her.
“Ah,” he said, “but those fingers are sure to sell far better than your old ones. Have you come back to donate more? Where are your eyes and toes?”
“A work in progress,” Eva growled. “Arachne, we’re not here to talk. We’re here for
There was an almost imperceptible nod from Arachne. Rather than dash forward, she took one slow step. Eva did not fail to notice her mouth opening into a wide grin. It was almost a shame she couldn’t see her sharp teeth poking though.
The step back that Sawyer took brought a wide grin to Eva’s own face.
Arachne took another step forward.
Sawyer took half a step back. Then he paused. His smile grew wider.
“Arachne,” Eva started.
Sawer waved whatever was in his hand.
The blood configuration Eva decided was flesh golems appeared in front of her. More and more appeared, seemingly filling the hallway.
Eva wasn’t sure if they were being created or transported. It didn’t matter in the end. A plan formed in her mind as they shuffled towards them.
“Hold them off.”
Arachne gently set her on the ground. The moment Eva was steady on her feet, she jumped at the creatures. Eva watched for a moment as six legs lanced into the chests of the first six.
They flew aside as if they weighed no more than a pillow.
Eva set to work on her idea.
Using one of her pointed fingers, she punctured her upper arm. She brought her bloodied finger to the back of her left claw. Keeping her arm as steady as she could, Eva started a circle on the back of her claw.
She found it far easier to move her whole arm, keeping her needle-like finger stiff. Trying to bend the joints felt awkward. It was a far more precise circle than she felt she could draw otherwise.
Slowly, Eva pulled out six spokes and drew an outer circle. The base design was complete. Eva wasn’t finished. Arachne followed her orders perfectly, none of the creatures were getting hear her.
Three tear shaped droplets dripped down from the main circle. A single line crested the top of the circle. Eva added several small marks from the line, stretching out to her fingers.
That would do for now.
Eva walked–waddled–to the nearest downed golem. It wasn’t moving, but its heart beat. That was all she needed.
She dug into the bag of flesh where its heart was located. Her marked hand pressed up against the beating heart.
Eva channeled her magic into it.
The heart twisted in on itself, pulling and rending the flesh it was attached to. It compressed until a small glowing sphere appeared in Eva’s vision. As blood collected against the sphere, Eva could tell it still had flaws. Far less flaws than the woman from the abattoir, but it was more porous than a proper bloodstone should be.
A wave of her hand caused the entirety of the creature’s blood to tear out of its corpse. She kept a small amount wrapped around the bloodstone to keep it floating around her.
The rest formed large marbles and shot off towards the heart of every flesh golem Eva could detect. Once they were splattered with her controlled blood, Eva snapped her fingers.
Nothing happened.
Eva snapped her fingers.
She looked down and repeated the motion. She couldn’t see more than the insides, but Eva had her guesses. The smooth chitin rubbed uselessly against each other in the clumsiest way she ever saw someone try to snap.
“Arachne,” Eva yelled, “I can’t snap your stupid fingers.”
The demon didn’t respond, opting instead to skewer another two golems.
Eva sighed and clapped.
At once, all the flesh golems’ hearts exploded in their chests.
As they tumbled Eva could only lament the potency of the blood. It was far better than hers.
She sent the bloodstone off to collect more blood. Not too much, Eva didn’t want to wear down the new stone too quickly.
“Sawyer,” Eva called as she looked around for the man. “Sawyer, where are you?”
Her calls were just for fun. He sat back behind the line of fallen golems, apparently having fallen backwards when the golems died. His grin was still plastered on his face. She wondered for a moment if it was just stuck like that.
Eva focused on him. All her rage, all her anger. If it wasn’t for him…
She grit her teeth. As carefully as she could, Eva marched up to him. The ground was slick enough with blood for her to see every nook and cranny.
“Ah-ah, my sweetie.” He ticked his finger back and forth. “I should mention this: killing me won’t make it stop.”
Eva tilted her head to the side. “What are yo–”
A brief flash of movement was the only warning she got.
