She had been here for half a day. Exhaustion had forced her to sleep and for a fleeting moment, she thought recent events were a bad dream. Her brother dead, their family artifact seized. Captured and brought back to Yorkshire. A guard stood outside her door while one kept a watchful eye on her just a few feet away. There was a knock on the door and she jumped. The outside guard brought in a tray of food. It appeared Keith would honor his promise of keeping her alive if she cooperated. ZODIAC's spy still lived in the colony and she thought maybe they would help her escape. However, since she'd been awake, there had been no attempt to contact her from any of the horoscopes. She grimly ate as the reality of abandonment sunk in. There was a knock again on the door, but it wasn't food that arrived.
"Did you rest well?" Keith asked entering the room. He calmly sat at the foot of her bed. "You treat your prisoners well" the girl replied. "As long as they behave. I wouldn't try anything funny" Keith said snapping his fingers. The roof was opened revealing a giantess Susan towering over them. "You wouldn't last long" Keith finished. The girl went back to eating her food. "Drugs, magic, or torture?" she asked. "Drugs are a mixed bag. Magic is good if you ask the right questions, and torture? Subjects tend to say anything once you've broken enough bones. Effective at first but tends to drop off over time" Keith said with an eerie grin. "Your name and age" he said.
Karolina Lee. I was born on May 23, 2003...along with my twin sister" she said. "You look Asian" Keith said. "Father is Chinese, mother was Russian" she said softly. "So how does a 15-year-old girl fall into an organization like ZODIAC?" Keith asked. "Family business. It's passed down from generation to generation" she said. "Like your mirror or did you just get it from ZODIAC?" he asked. "No, that's been in the Lee family since the Yuan Dynasty" she said. "750 years?" Keith asked. "Until yesterday" she finished. "Well, that mirror is the rightful property of the Imperial Japanese family. It's already on its way back there" he said. Karolina put her fork down. "I see" she said. "I expected a bigger reaction" Keith said. "The khan stole it from them in 1274 and it passed into my ancestors’ hands. ZODIAC will retrieve it one day. They are as relentless as the tides of the ocean" she said. "Where are they? Who are they?" he asked.
"Where I don't know. We meet in...there is no word to describe it fully. It's a collective mindscape is the best way I can describe it. Something we can all do instinctively. As for their real names...we don't associate that much. Ares and Libra might know" she replied. "Shit. So it's true ZODIAC's goal is to round up magical artifacts and use them to control humanity?" Keith asked. "A means to an end" she replied. Keith perked up. "End? To what end?" he asked. "Is it dark outside yet?" she asked. "...yes but I want you to answer..."
"And I will but it will be easier under the night sky" she said. "Susan. Take us outside" he said. Susan opened the roof and plucked them both up one at a time. She made sure to keep a tight grip on Karolina. "Outside of the dome please" she said. Keith nodded to Susan and she exited the dome. It was brisk outside. The air a chilly 27 degrees. Keith cast a simple spell to keep them warm with a bubble of hot air. "Okay. We're outside now" he said. Karolina nodded. "To understand their true motives, you must first learn how and why ZODAIC exists. The organization itself is over 2,000 years old. Creating empires and wars simply for the sake of finding lost artifacts. It's true. For example, The rise of the Third Reich. Historians always found it odd that Hitler scoured the world searching for the occult during the war. It was because we told him to. The Roman Empire expanded into Egypt not just for their grain but to find artifacts like the Eye of Bast. We have guided history from the shadows for a very long time as we prepared for their return" she said. "Who's returning?" Keith asked.
Karolina sighed. "You've heard of lost civilizations right? Civilizations impossibly advanced for their time yes?" she asked. "Like Atlantis?" Susan asked. "Yes like them. For every legend, for every myth there is at least some bit of truth. Long ago there was a place called Lemuria in the Pacific Ocean. An island the size of Texas, it was the home of a civilization that existed 20,000 years ago. A civilization that could rival our own. While our ancestors foraged for berries and hid from simildons, the Lemurians were perfecting calculus and hydroponics. The Lemurians were a peaceful people. A population of over 200,000 that knew nothing of war, disease, or pestilence. They melded magic with science creating fantastic devices that improved lives and furthered their understanding of everything" she said.
"How did they advance so much over other humans? Can't be just magic alone?" Susan asked. "Story goes that a young man with magic elevated a tribe of humans thousands of years before. ZODIAC thinks that man was the older brother of Pelé, but we have no way of knowing for sure" Karolina replied. Keith nodded as Pelé said she had two brother and a sister. One had died in a fight between them. The sister died (or counted as dead during the battle that summer) which left the fate of the other brother up in the air.
"If they're so advanced, what happened to them? Where is the archeological record of them?" Keith asked. "Etherion happened. The Lemurians had discovered the source of all magic when an Etherion user was born among them. To further their own power, an array of magics was created that divided that power among 13 elected officials. Each one carrying a portion of fantastic power. And thus ended the golden age of Lemuria. What came next we call The Fall. The officials decreed that only those gifted with magic had the right to rule the Earth. Armies were sent out all over Asia to conquer the primitive tribes that lived there. The people enslaved and shrunk down to be pets. It was so prevalent...Keith, do you know why shrinking magic is so popular among magic users?" Karolina asked. Keith shook his head. "Genetic memory but I'm getting ahead of myself. It was so prevalent that stories say as many as 50,000 shrunken humans lived on the island."
"The humans considered Lemurians as godlike beings and worshiped them so. They had no qualms about feeding themselves to them or simply dying at their whims. It became a leisurely thing to pit a shrunken human against one another of have mothers or fathers sacrifice their lives for their children. Imagine it for a second, your young child dangling over the mouth of a giant or giantess and being told you can save their lives by letting yourself be squashed flat under their feet. And their cruelty only got worse. Forced breeding only to be eaten or pedigreed. Orgies leaving the dead and dying in their wake. And the experiments..."
"And then the end came upon them. A group of Lemurians began to protest the treatment of the humans and soon it boiled over into a full-scale civil war. When the Etherion users began slaughtering the civilians to end the war, the most powerful mages of their civilization defeated them in a grand display of magic" she said. "How? I thought Etherion users were nearly invincible" Susan said. "As Keith can tell you, even an Etherion user is mortal. They need to eat, drink, and sleep just as we do. 1,000 mages besieged them over the course of four days relentlessly until they faltered enough to be imprisoned. Imprisoned in a way not even they could break free" Karolina replied. "Where is the prison?" Keith asked. "Above you" Karolina replied. Keith looked at the sky. "I'm not following" he said. "What do you see?" she asked. "Just the stars and the moon" he replied. "The stars. What do the stars make in the sky?" she asked. "...you mean to tell me"
"Yes. The constellations in the sky are the 13 Lemurians that were imprisoned 20,000 years ago" Karolina finished. "Let me get this straight. Long ago there were a race of magic users that enslaved primitive humans, fought a war against one another, and the leaders were imprisoned in the fucking sky?" Keith asked. Karolina nodded. "And ZODIAC wants to free them. Why in the holy fuckery would anyone want to do that?!" Keith yelled. "Because humanity is heading down the path of destruction" she replied. "And here we go. I heard this line of bullshit from Ebonheart before. Jesus. And here I thought it might be different" Keith hissed.
"Ebonheart was a fool. Killing 90% of humanity would only hasten the end of our world, not save it. What we have planned is the solution. The true solution" she said. "The final solution?" Keith quipped. "Compare us to Hitler all you wish but logic doesn't lie. Look at what has become of humanity and the world in the last 50 years. Ozone layer depletion. Global warming, rising sea levels, coral extinctions. Bee colony collapse. Record breaking hurricanes every year. A result of humans polluting the very air. And what does their leaders do about it? Delay change, say it's too expensive, or downright call their own scientists liars. No that's nothing compared to the rise of violence and inhumanity. They conscript children to fight and die over family lines. Bomb school buses because their God tells them to. Build nuclear weapons because a leader who claims he never took a shit said so" she said.
"Humans are far from perfect but they have the capacity to change. They do not deserve being shrunk and kept as slaves and fucking food" Keith said coldly. "And the ZODIAC's agree. We do not want this nor does our ancestors imprisoned in the very stars" Karolina said. "Ancestors?" Susan asked. "Before the fall, the 13 officials had offspring. Offspring that survived the destruction of Lemuria along with thousands of other citizens. Those survivors went on to breed with humans and help evolve humanity into what it is today. ZODIAC itself are the descendants of those original 13. We are more alike than unlike. Borrowers carry human blood so it's likely you have Lemurian genes in you just like me. We estimate as much as 85% of humans today carry Lemurian DNA" she said. "We'll stop you" Keith said. "Keith, this isn't about you, or her, or any of us. Nature itself has decreed that humanity is coming to an end. Birth rates plummeting, super bacteria, diseases like the measles and deadly influenza coming back. And that's not to say allergies to food. Either by humanity's hand or Mother Nature, one way or another humanity's days are sorely numbered" she replied.
"And these zodiacs are gonna save us all. No strings attached. No enslavement. No domination" Keith said narrowing his eyes. "Come now. You know the will be dissent among some people. Those that are deemed dangerous will be cut out like any cancer. Humans already do it. It's just we'll have better management helping us" she said. "And only those that go along with their ideals make the cut. Listen to yourself. You're taking about extinguishing the very aspect of what makes us individuals. The freedom to have a different opinion. You can tie it up all in a neat bow all you want but I know elitist totalitarianism when I hear it. Thanks but no fucking thanks" Keith said.
"Your approval is not necessary nor is it expected. We care not about your organization however ham handed it is nor do we care about borrowers. We do care about your child though" she said looking at the sky. Susan didn't know Keith could move that fast. In a flash he had lept from the hand he sat in to Karolina's. He gripped her throat. "I'm about to rescind the deal if you do not explain that threat RIGHT NOW" he ordered. "She...is the key!" Karolina coughed out. Keith released her for the moment.
"They are imprisoned in the sky, but it is not permanent. There is a way for them to break free so they can usher in the new age" she said holding her throat. "I suggest you explain faster girl" Susan said. "It is called the Great Alignment. A time in which planets will align and weaken the prison holding them enough that they can be freed" she said. "By an Etherion user. By my daughter" Keith said. Karolina nodded. "Planets aligning?" Susan asked. "It is true. The prison began weakening in 49 BCE when the Big Dipper shifted. Weakened it enough for them to communicate with us and tell us of our destiny" she replied. "Stellar drift" Keith said. "Come again?" Susan asked. "It's not just planets that move. The stars do too. Back in the day of the pharaohs, some constellations looked different. If a magic array was based on where the stars were way back then, it is possible the spell could weaken if they moved enough" Keith said.
"Who was that with you in the hangar?" Susan asked. "My twin brother" Karolina replied. "Wait. You said you had a twin sister" Keith said glaring at her. "I do" she replied. "Don't play word games. You're wearing me thin" Keith warned. "I'm not playing word games. I do have both a twin sister and brother...until you killed him. My sister was born with severe complications. Umbilical cord wrapped around her throat cutting off oxygen to her brain when she was born. It caused brain damage severe enough she was little more than a vegetable. When I was five, my father used the mirror to um...swap out my sister for a brother. In that world there were twin brothers. A Lee for a Lee. Father gained a male heir and I gained a brother" she explained. "How did you even know me, or your brother would touch the mirror at the same time?" Susan asked. "The mirror can draw the person reflected to it or in my case speak through it" Karolina said. "The stars are very pretty tonight" she muttered.
"Take her back. We're done for now" Keith said. Susan carried them back to the house they were using in the colony and dropped her off. Under his direction, she carried him into the house to the living room where he sat quietly on the table. "What do you think?" Keith asked sitting on the coffee table. "About what?" Susan asked as she took off her shoes and placed her socked feet on the table behind him. She began staring at the fire in the fireplace. "Is she telling the truth?" Keith asked. "I smelled no deception from her" she replied. "Then she was telling the truth" he said. "More like what she believes is the truth" she said. "The way she acted. Calm and content" he said shaking his head. "Now that was an act. She was terrified" Susan said. Keith turned to look at the giantess. "The smell of her sweat. Her heart racing the whole time" Susan said. "So she's not so inclined to be a martyr" Keith said softly. There was a pause between them. "That's good we can possibly change..."
"No. People like her won't change their mind. Danica was born into the legacy but she chose to be different. She decided that humanity had possibility and wanted to break the cycle. Karolina, she had facts and reasoning to back up her beliefs. She'll cling to those to legitimize her understanding" Keith replied. "We have one other concern" Oberon said. "You've been extremely quiet. Must be big for you to speak up" Keith said. "I'm troubled by how the girl that used the book summoned it" he said. "Wasn't that sympathetic magic like we use?" Susan asked. "No. That was a different order of magic. A type called null magic" he replied. "What's null magic?" Keith asked. "As you know, magic comes in different types mostly according to forms of nature. Fire, water, wind and whatnot. Then there's non-elemental magic like growth, shrink, healing, and fortification. But there's a third type of magic known as null magic"
"Null magic is very specific in spell. For example, Elena uses sound for spellcraft. Hikari and that Mogwai woman summoned family bound familiars. That girl from the hangar, she used a high-level translocation spell to summon her book and to flee. She invoked it with just a word. Adet" Oberon said. "I heard others use it" Susan added. "That's even more disturbing. Null magic is blood specific. It's an inherited ability. Usually, only those with a very powerful magical ancestor can use null magic. It would seem Karolina was truthful about her being a descendant of a user of Etherion...or at least a portion of it" Oberon said. "Hold on. I was told when Hope was born that Etherion's power was transferred to her. Wasn't that why Ikaros attacked her?" Keith asked. "That majority of Etherion was but its remnants can remain in previous hosts. After all, Pelé didn't lose her power when Hope was born and neither did Ikaros" Oberon said. "Question. What do we do with her? She cooperated so we can't just kill her. You said she doesn't want to change. So what do we do? Erase her memories?" Susan asked.
"And leave her with a ten-year gap in her mind?" Keith asked. "So then what do we do? Imprison her for the rest of her life?" Susan asked sighing. "Don't know. If we defeat ZODIAC, maybe...just maybe she'll change" Keith said. "In any event we'll discuss it tomorrow" he said leaning against her socked sole. He rubbed his eyes. "You should get some rest" Susan said scrunching her toes. "Still have a few invoices to sign. The festival of lights starts tomorrow" he said. "We're still in for that?" Susan asked. "It's important that we keep going. Ebonheart took the lives of loved ones but she won't take our fellowship and joy" Keith replied. He started nodding off. "Maybe you should go to bed instead of using my stinky sock as a backrest" she said. "I said I can't. I should go to my office though" he said stretching. Just then the front door opened. "Thank god. Thought we'd never get here" Aspen huffed as she entered. "Wasn't me that caused us to miss our flight" Claire said sitting on her shoulder. "Didn't know you guys would be back. Thought you had a shoot in Milan this weekend" Keith said yawning. "Missed everyone. Strutting on a foot-long stage in designer clothes is more tiring that it sounds" Claire said as Aspen pulled their suitcase into the foyer. A maid rolled it to their room.
"Did we interrupt something?" Aspen said flopping onto the couch. "No. Just resting after a hard day" Keith said using Susan's leg to climb onto the couch. He made his way to Aspen until Susan grabbed him in her hand. "Didn’t you say you had invoices to do before bed?" she asked. "Yeah I guess I did" Keith said hopping onto the floor. He grew himself to human size and left the three. Aspen and Claire looked at each other. "So anything happen while we were gone?" Claire asked. "Oh the usual. Ancient evil wants to rule the world and enslave humanity" Susan shrugged. "Again?!" Aspen yelled. Susan cringed at her voice. "Yes Aspen again. Me and Keith have been working hard to stop them" she replied. "I can help you know. I still have the power Pelé gave me" Claire said. "I'll let you know when we need you. For now me and Keith are doing fine. We even have ourselves a prisoner" Susan said coldly. "...have I said something to upset you?" Claire asked. "No. Nothing at all. If you excuse me I need to take a bath before bed" she said staying up and leaving. "What crawled up her ass?" Aspen asked.
Susan shrunk down to her normal height and quietly bathed in her sink. She grit her teeth at the fact she could smell Keith's pheromones spike when Claire and Aspen entered the living room. "Jesus he didn't waste time" she growled as she shampooed her hair. "I understand he has feelings for them but he could at least be sensible enough to wait till I left the room" she said as she rinsed her hair. She held her hair in her hands. It wasn't blond like Claire’s nor was it as long as Aspen's. She glanced at her tits. Having had a child, both women had bigger breasts as well. She got out of the sink and dried off. She cupped her breasts and pushed them up slightly. She shivered as her fingers brushed her nipples. They were slightly more sensitive than usual.
Keith had told her her nude body aroused him, but she had some pangs of inadequacy. The only part of her body that she felt was superior to the others were her feet. Being extremely sensitive, she rarely went barefoot preferring to wear comfortable wool socks. She lotioned them every night keeping them as smooth as baby skin. Having regained her sight, she now pampered them with pedicures every week. A few males stared at her feet when she was at the pool although the one she wanted to notice above all barely gave them a glance. Susan slipped on a robe and went to the kitchen to get a cup of soothing tea. She startled Aspen who was not expecting the now human sized woman to appear. "Leftovers are in the lower shelf" Susan said pointing to the fridge. "Uh thanks. Are you alright?" Aspen asked. Susan sat down to take s sip of her earl grey.
"Between us girls. Is Keith a good lover?" Susan asked. Aspen nearly dropped the loaf of bread with n her hands. "Wha...why would you ask that?" Aspen asked. "I'm curious. He's a loving guy who wears his heart on his sleeve but how is he in bed? Surely you'd know having a kid by him" Susan asked. Aspen pulled out some ham and cheese. "Attentive. Gentle. A kind man who considers your wants" Aspen replied softly. Susan sipped her tea. "Does his kindness piss you off when he shows it to other girls?" Susan asked. Aspen sat down with her sandwich. "Is that what this is about?" Aspen asked. "Does it?" Sudan asked softly. "I admit it irked me when he was close to Claire and Elena" Aspen replied. "And his wife?" she asked. "It hurt very badly" Aspen replied. "Yeah I can imagine it would" Susan said.
Upstairs...
"Came to check on you before I went to my parents" Claire said entering his room. "Oh I'll be alright" Keith said signing papers. Claire floated onto his desk. "I got the feeling that Susan is pissed at us" Claire said sitting on an invoice. "Susan is extremely lonely right now and lately has been going through some rough missions. She's looking for someone she can feel safe with" Keith said. Keith put down his pen and rubbed his eyes. "I'm scared I'll break her heart" he muttered. "Keith. You always put your wants behind others. What do you want?" she asked. Keith placed her in his hand and bent his head forward. "I want to fuck her so bad it hurts" he whispered. "What else?" Claire asked pulling her clothes off. "I watched her teeter on the edge for months. Worried I'd get the call she hanged herself or something. She's...she's so fragile Claire" Keith said shedding tears. Claire wiped away the giant tears on his cheeks.
"Being who we are is a balance of emotional and physical needs. We're borrowers. We like to fuck and be pampered. But denying our wants can be just as hurtful" Claire said. "So I pissed her off" Keith said. "Keith. You two were intimate right until the second we walked in. Hell, you used her as a literal bridge to get to us on the couch. So yeah. I'd be angry at you and at us" she said. Keith grew quiet. "Keith, sweetie I love you more than you know but when you focus on something, you grow blind to everything else" she said. "That's not true" he muttered. "Keith. I'm butt naked in your palm and you haven't noticed at all" she said. Keith blushed. "Go be with her. The bills can wait" she said. Keith nodded at left her in the room. Claire looked at the pictures he had on his desk. Pictures of Luke, Lawan, Kannika, her and Aspen. But there was one she took note of. A picture of Keith with Hope laughing. In the background was Susan looking at them with her head hung low. "Dumbest genius award goes to..." she muttered.
"Aspen I'll see you tomorrow. Me and Susan need to get some sleep" he said plucking Susan off the table. Keith carried her to his room. "Stop fidgeting. You'll fall" he said as she wriggled in his grip. He found Claire had left the room as he returned and sat on the bed. "Really Keith?!" Susan yelled. "I was very rude earlier" he said. "I'll say. I wasn't finished with my damn tea and you just waltz in and snatch me up!" she yelled. "No. I meant earlier in the living room. You wanted a moment with me and I brushed you aside" he said. Keith shrank down to her size. "You're putting me on the spot" she said. Susan scooted close to him and whispered in his ear. "That's all? Susan, I don't mind us doing more than that" he said. Susan used an arcane to grow and placed him on her bare breast. "All I need tonight is me knowing you're close" she said. She closed her eyes and laid back on the bed.
She felt safe feeling his small body lying right above her heart. She wanted more from him. Her instincts screamed more but what would come would come she figured. And a humbling thought occurred to her. Of all the people in her life at that moment. It was safe to say Keith loved her the most. "Susan? Your heartbeat" he said. She opened her eyes and her lip quivered. She was scared and part of her wanted to tell him why. Tell him what happened the last time "a" Keith slept with her. "...I'm fine. Just nervous with you inches from my nipple" she said grinning. "Your nipple is safe around me...for now" Keith chuckled. She wanted to cry right then. She knew from his long gaze that he could sense something was wrong with her, but he chose not to ask. He chose to give her time to talk to him when she felt ready.
The next morning...
Scrambled eggs and bacon with a side of toast. Fresh coffee. Karolina almost forgot she was confined to this house. She wondered what her future held. Left shrunken forever on house arrest? Would she see the glorious revival of the 13 ancients chained in the very constellations? Fate would answer her questions very shortly. Two guards stood outside her door yawning. Two more stood outside the house watching the people pass by going about their morning. They took no notice at first of a young woman walking towards them. She stopped in the middle of the street. "Is there something we can help you with?" a guard asked. "Adet" she muttered as a helm and set of armor appeared and wrapped itself around her body. She took ahold of a necklace and crushed it effortlessly. The guards readied swords and watched as the woman's looks changed from the average brunette into a stunning Indian woman with black hair to the small of her back. Stunned, the woman took advantage and gripped both their throats and twisted hard snapping their necks. A passerby screamed at the sight and others took off running. The woman shrugged as she opened the door.
"Halt! Who the fuck..." the female guard asked just before the woman punched the girl in the chest so brutally her ribs shattered. She fell to the floor vomiting blood. The second guard swung his sword only to watch it snap in half on the chain mail armor. She punched him hard enough to ram his hard through the wall killing him. Karolina looked as the broken lifeless face jutted out of the wall in her room. The door opened. "I didn't know if you'd come Cancer" Karolina said. "You're alive Gemini. We still have use of your true power. But I see the plan has borne fruit" Cancer said. "It has. However, the entire area is enchanted under a spell lock preventing our escape" Karolina said. "Leave that to me. We still have the matter of capturing the Etherion child" Cancer said. "The spell lock prevents enemies from coming in and us translocating out. It does not hamper my Absolute Reflection. All that held that back was the arcane carved in that oak door. Thanks for coming" Karolina said. "...the child will be with the others at their school at this time of day. Grow and follow me" she said as they walked out of the room. "St...op...don't...move" the girl from earlier said grabbing Cancer's ankle. "Borrowers are sturdy" she muttered before slamming her dirty bare foot on her cheek snapping her neck.
Two minutes earlier...
"Deep in thought?" Susan asked enjoying her own breakfast. "Something Oberon said yesterday has been bothering me" Keith said staring out through the sun room. "Such as?" Susan asked. "He said that adet word is a type of teleportation magic. We saw that it can teleport people too in the case of that girl with the book" he said. "Okay. And?" Susan asked. "So we know that Gemini can use it too. So why didn't she use it to escape the hangar? Instead of running for the fucking door, why not just adet herself out of there?" he asked. "She was too scared?" she asked. Keith turned to look at her. "Yeah. Not buying that myself. So what...she wanted to be captured? Why?" Susan asked. "Help...intruder...great...power...attacking...prisoner...free!" a broken voice carried on a magical link to Keith and Susan. "She's escaping? How?!" Susan yelled as they dashed through the sunroom.
Keith and Susan stepped into the main entrance of the colony. "Nothing makes sense! Why get captured and then decide to escape?!" Susan asked. "...oh my god. She's after Hope! She needed to get captured to get close to her!" Keith yelled. They watched aghast as two girls grew in the middle of the colony. "Who the fuck is beside her? And is that armor?!" Susan asked. Keith was about to take off running before Susan stopped him. "Don't! The street is filled with people!" she yelled as she looked for the emergency alarm button. She pressed it. A klaxon went off. "All citizens to emergency shelters. All citizens to emergency shelters" a voice said. "Control! Dispatch agents to the hostel and to the elementary school now!" Keith yelled on a link.
"Hear that?" Karolina asked. "How could I not? This way" Cancer said. They didn't get far when the first group of soldiers stopped them. They unleashed heavy volley shots from their arcane guns left over from the battle. Clusters of ice, fire, and lightning impacted Cancer. The smoke and steam cleared showing the giantess was unharmed. "Know your place" she growled slamming her foot into the street so hard it bowled. Houses shifted off anchoring, soldiers thrown into the air, groaning and screaming all around them. A few staggered to their feet. Karolina saw water gushing out of broken mains. All that she needed. "Absolute Reflection" she muttered as globs of water rose into the air smoothing out into fine perfect mirrors of ice. They fired once again only to have their own spell thrown back at them with deadly force. Another group appeared behind them and Karolina directed her mirrors to them. Wisely, they used fire to try melting them. It was working only to watch as the sheets of ice lower right on top of them. Karolina watched with slight amusement as a dozen soldiers were flattened gruesomely.
One very brave THORN agent lept from a roof right at Karolina's throat. Cancer grabbed him in midair. He had only his pants on. It was a Sunday and he had the day off. But when he heard the call he got dressed as fast as he could and grabbed his sword as the pair of giantesses approached his home. His pregnant wife crying as he yelled for her to get under their bed. He headed up to the attic and opened the window. He watched as soldiers were easily decimated by the one in armor. Her beauty and rarity matched with her deadliness. But the one behind her wasn't armored. Her nightclothes had no defense against him. He figured if he took her out than half the danger would be gone. His toes gripped the thin frame of the windowsill and he leaped. His 16-year-old heart pounding. His training (as he had graduated from the academy just months before) still fresh in his mind.
"Humans are huge beings but they feel pain and bleed like anyone else. Their lips and soles of their feet are sensitive, their fingers too. A good cut will stagger or at least give them pause. Use that time to aim for vulnerable spots. A good follow up to their eyes will cause them to panic. They will flail about with their hands up. Use that moment to ready the killing blow. The artery in their neck." he remembered his instructor say once. He saw no time for all that. Another group turned to paste on the street, but her focus was below. He readied his sword and then a massive hand swooped from the side grabbing him. His arms still free he went to cut her fingers. That is until a crushing pressure broke his spine. He screamed in pain as he lost feeling below the waist. He dropped his sword. Cancer tore away his pants leaving him naked. With not a speck of mercy, she placed his body in her mouth and let him slide down her throat. His wife heard his screams and then the loud gulp. Their heavy footsteps left her street leaving her and many others a widow.
"Out of the way! Out of the godamnned way!" Keith yelled as he tip toed down the street with Susan behind him. His own defense plans worked against him. After the battle, Keith had the entire estate placed under a spell ward keeping any magic users from popping in or blowing them to smithereens with a heavy-handed spell from afar. After all, they were still locked in a cease fire with the Mogwai nation. If that failed, shelters built under the street could protect some of the population...if one was close to one. A Cold War era solution to a magic problem. Those that didn't make it to a shelter hid in basements of their homes. Therefore, Keith and Susan couldn’t simply run right through the colony. They could flatten people in their own homes. The attackers thought had no such qualms.
"There. Watch my back" Cancer said planting her bare feet deeper in the street. Her hand slammed through the roof of the school before she tore it open. "Doesn't that hurt? Your hands are exposed" Karolina asked. "The armor of Kavacha* protects even my exposed skin. From my fingers to my toes" Cancer replied. She hummed to herself seeing nobody in the classroom. "I know she's here" she muttered slamming her fist down breaking open the floor. "Ah. There you are. I could sense your power" she mused seeing Hope, a teacher, and three dozen students ranging from 6 to 10 years old. There were hundreds of students that attended the school, but Cancer used clairvoyance to hunt Hope out. The children whimpered as the giantess grinned showing her teeth. "You won’t hurt my friends!" Hope yelled firing a very powerful bolt of lightning at Cancer. The thunder itself shattered windows for blocks. Cancer shielded her face and lowered her hands. "Excellent power. You will serve us so well" she said reaching into a hidden pocket. She dropped golden dust in her palm and blew it on Hope. Hope coughed and tried to use wind magic to get it off. Nothing happened.
(Authors note: Kavacha is the mythical armor of Karna a demigod of the Hindu epic Mahābhārata. Said to neigh invulnerable, the armor protected Kavacha until a fatal flaw was exposed...)
"Iron pyrite. Useful for jamming magic" Cancer said as she drew arcane in the rubble. A powerful sleep spell knocked out each borrower in the shelter except one. The teacher was a part time THORN agent. 22 years old and trained to resist spells. However, that didn't mean she was immune to them. She barely had enough strength to climb out of the shelter. He heels were missing as her bare feet stepped on bits of wood and brick. Her feet hurt so badly but it kept her awake. Her desk was turned on its side and she yanked her sword from its hiding place. "You won't touch them" she growled as she readied herself. Cancer lowered her hand to her. The woman grunted as she slashed her dark-skinned fingers to no effect at all until they gripped her arms. With a pinch her tiny frail bones were pulverized. The teacher shrieked in pain and fell to her knees dropping her sword. Cancer picked her sword up and ran her through with it.