Chapter 30

“She is a necromancer,” I yelled to the others. “I have no clue how strong of one she is, so be careful. If she works with Kali, she would not only be strong, but possibly enhanced like Silvia was!”

The ground began to shake, glowing the same sickly color as what was in her hand, and I knew I couldn’t waste any time, so I threw my hand forward and released the divine blast at our attacker. I had dumped more mana into it, making it quite powerful and it left me drained as it used the last of my mana. The divine blast shot across the distance between us, and I watched my elation shatter as she used her other hand to call up a sickly green shield in front of her.

“Oh I like you Pathios!” They said with a smile. “Too bad you aren’t strong enough to do anything of substance.”

I didn’t even get a chance to give the order, as Draco and Saphira launched into action. Both launched small fire projectiles at her, from different directions, in the hopes of catching her from two sides and I watched as the balls collided with their form in a large explosion. Theresa sent Airie in, launching a wind slice attack and we saw in horror as the attack was dissipated by a projectile of that same energy launched out and hit Airie. She screamed in pain as the energy impacted, sending her flying, and slamming into the ground. A second later she dissipated and returned to the bracelet. I looked at the scene in shock, turning back to our attacker as the dust dissipated and revealed to them, and the smug smile on their face.

The hood they were wearing had been blown back and revealed a woman beneath. She had pale, almost porcelain skin, contrasted by the almost black hair that framed her face. The long wavy, raven’s black hair fell down her shoulders from what I could see, cut to have doll-like bangs. What was shocking was that she had no eyebrows, and instead her brow was accented with piercings. A single half-moon piercing with pointed tips, perfectly centered on either brow. An intricate silver and gold septum ring through her nose, with a medusa piercing between the top of her lip and the bottom of her nose. She had dimple piercings in both cheeks and loops on her bottom lip. Each of the piercings looked to be pure silver and made to shine. Her eyes were illuminated by the same sickly green light that her magic emitted. The rest of her was hidden under the thick robes that she was wearing, but I was still shocked at her appearance.

“Awe, it is so cute when they try,” She said in a bored and mocking tone. “You really are in above your head Pathios.”

“It is rude to not introduce yourself when you are aware of the names of who you are interacting with,” I replied, hoping to buy time until I figured something out.

“Oh it is so adorable that you wish to know Catherine’s name?” She asked with a light laugh of surprise.

“So why don’t you just leave Catherine?” I suggested, hoping she would see reason and walk away.

“Well there are a few reasons why Catherine doesn’t want to leave,” She replied. “First, Catherine is just having too much fun, since most people leave when Catherine threatens, or they submit. Second, Catherine is here for that book, since it belongs to Catherine, and she wants it back.”

Listening to her talk in the third person was a bit off putting and I was wondering just how sane this woman was.

“How about this? You come at Catherine, no spells, just raw fighting power and we see who winds up on top,” She offered in a teasing voice.

I glanced at the others, and they gave a shrug, not sure of what we should do. I had no doubt that I probably couldn’t take her in a fight. There was something about her that told me she was more than she appeared and that I needed to be wary.

“How do I know that you won’t cheat?” I asked, trying to stall further. “For all I know you will do something to hurt me or more importantly the others!”

She sighed, “Where is the fun in that? If I end it too quickly, Catherine can’t enjoy herself. If Catherine gets bored, then people die until she is feeling better.”

I didn’t want to risk finding out just how powerful her magic was, as she didn’t even consider my dragons as a threat. Not to mention she had dealt with Airie without even trying.

“What are the terms of this little duel?” I asked, still wary of this game she was playing.

“Only you and Catherine will fight, no magic, no interference from your pets,” Catherine replied, snapping her fingers, and making an hourglass appear. “I will set this little timer for ten minutes. If you can make me yield or last the full ten minutes, then you can walk away with the book. If I can pin you to the ground, then I get the book and another boon of my choice.”

I really didn’t like what she inferred about her boon, as I knew that whatever she chose wouldn’t be good.

“Very well,” I answered with a sigh of resignation. “But if you want a boon for winning, then so, do I?”

“Ohh really Pathios?” Catherine asked with some excitement evident in her voice. “What do you want Catherine to do if you win?”

“You will hand over any weapons that were given to you with the red gem embedded in them,” I answered.

Catherine let out a grumble of disappointment, “Really? That is so fucking boring! Why doesn’t anyone ever want to take advantage of winning?”

“Those are my terms,” I replied, ignoring her outburst. “Are we going to get this over with? I have shit to do!”

Catherine’s bored and irritated expression morphed into one of joy. A dark and violent joy, of one who thrives and enjoys violence. In a scene out of most Star Wars movies, she began to remove the robes covering her and tossed them to the ground. She revealed a very impractical outfit. A black corset hugged tight to her voluptuous body, creating a heaving bosom and an hourglass figure. Her hair looked to cascade all the way down to her ass. Long black lace gloves went from mid bicep to fingertip. An intricate rose and thorn pattern adored them with frills on the ends.

The fingers were covered with chrome metal claws with matching rings on all the fingers, all connected with a thin chain. Each ring had a different glow to it, and I could tell that if she hadn’t put the magic restriction down, she would have wiped us out in a single move. She had a tight thigh length skirt, made of black silk, which went to mid-thigh. There was a slit down the sides to allow her some movement, that also showed the creamy porcelain skin beneath. She wore long thigh high boots with thick eight-inch heels covered in buckles that kept them tight to her legs.

She snapped her fingers and a staff shimmered into view next to her. It was a black and thorny staff, with a chrome-like finish on it and a heart shaped crystal up at the top. The staff formed a crescent moon-like shape at the top with the crystal in the center, held in place by tendrils that extended out from the crescent. When I said heart shape, I meant the organ, not the one that usually comes to mind. As I looked closer, it almost seemed as if the heart was beating. To my horror, it was actually beating in place, sending pulses of magic to run along the staff. What surprised me the most was that she didn’t have a bracer on either of her wrists.

When my shock subsided, I asked, “I thought there were restrictions on having access to magic outside of the dungeons? Inherent magic that belongs to specific species was okay, but magic like you have learned would have had to be tied to a pact house.”

Catherine laughed, “Hehe the things you don’t know could fill an arena young Pathios. Catherine isn’t going to give away all her secrets. Are you ready to fight, or have you decided to yield?”

I closed my eyes, and let out a little prayer, before opening them to get into a ready stance.

“Oh, Catherine likes you boy!” she exclaimed with rampant joy. “Show me if you are strong enough for Catherine to call you a man!”

I slowly approached her, and I could see the boredom return to her face, before a mischievous grin appeared.

“Catherine thought you would be a man and start this fight right,” the necromancer complained. “Looks like Catherine will have to start things off.”

She broke into a rush, moving faster than I had expected someone as fragile looking as her would be able to move. I needed to stop judging people by appearance alone, and quickly brought my shield up to blog the potential attack she was about to make. She surprised me again, by dropping into a slide, and taking my legs out from under me. It surprised me and I wondered why she would do that, because it would mean she would get pinned, then realized that if she was this fast, she had to be strong too. I realized she was trying to get me in position to be pinned and it was almost too late to do anything. As I went down, I brought my shield down, trying to twist away while bringing the shield down to bare.

She responded by shoving the shield with her hands and sent me moving a few feet away, as I stumbled to get back on my feet. She was already on her feet and smiling when I was ready again. This time I rushed her, keeping an eye on her staff as I closed the distance. She twisted into a sidekick with her right leg, slamming into the shield, then flicked her foot and kicked the sword out of my hand. As she moved her leg back, I pressed forward and swung the shield at her, hoping that she would use the staff to block the attack. Instead she used her free hand to slap down on the shield, deflecting my movement down and then backhanded me, sending me flying again. I landed with a thud and watched as she rushed at me. As she drew close, she brought her staff down in a two-handed downward swing.

I quickly moved to beat away the staff, but that is exactly what she wanted. She fell into positioning straddling me, allowing her staff to be knocked away. This gave her the opportunity to pin my arms to the ground and I realized I was out of my league. I struggled against her and found that nothing worked. How the fuck could she be so strong, if she didn’t have a bracer. It was then that I noticed that she had a bracelet on her upper arm that looked like a variation on a bracer.

“Ahh he finally figured out what makes Catherine different,” She said with a hearty laugh. “Looks like Catherine wins, little boy. So are you going to honor the agreement? Or will Catherine need to flay the skin off the two over there? Catherine is good either way!”

I tried once more in vain to break free of her grasp, but she was just too strong. I looked up at her and saw nothing but excitement and joy in her eyes.

“Ahh, this was fun, though Catherine had hoped you would last longer!” she exclaimed with a laugh. “Still when dealing with a real woman, men usually finish rather quickly. You tried your best, but you will need to work harder to be able to keep up with me!”

She moved my hands above me, grasping them both with one hand. She tapped the black crystal in her circlet, and I looked in horror at the stats that were listed there.

Catherine McBride

Health: 4140
Mana: 3940
Level: 10
Strength: 414
Defense: 422
Speed: 448
Vitality: 304
Magic: 389
Wisdom: 421
410
Agility: 422
Awareness: 372

The stats were mental, and I had no chance of stopping here. That didn’t even cover the various spells and abilities that she had. Knowing that I couldn’t do anything to turn the tide, I stopped struggling against her.

“Ahh good boy,” she said smugly. “You have so much potential. Catherine is excited to see what becomes of you!”

She deactivated the circlet on her arm and smiled down at me, before leaning down to kiss me on the lips. I was shocked at the feeling of her piercings and the out of left field kiss.

“Now give Catherine the book and then Catherine will take her leave,” she said in smug satisfaction. “I will get my boon from you the next time that we meet!”

I glanced over at Cassandra and nodded. She reached into her back and took the book out, tossing it over to us. Catherine gave me one more smug look before her eyes flashed green and I saw darkness. I came to and found that we were still in the ruins of the goblin village, but Catherine was nowhere to be seen. It looked like whatever she did, hit not only the three of us, but even Draco and Saphira. I got up to get my sword and shield, while the others got up from where they had been asleep. I brought up the clock in my bracer to find that only five minutes had passed. I groaned in frustration, and we did a quick check of our stuff, and nothing seemed to be taken.