Chapter 75

‘So, what’s the plan?’ Akl asked.

‘A quick smack on his head,’ Zeke replied as he watched the three people in the room.

He was surprised they hadn’t felt him enter the room. The spell on the cell was only supposed to stop people from escaping, not entering. It had been easy to unravel once they were distracted.

The three antagonists were gathered near a corner of the long bench. Frank and Yarram had their backs to the cells. Sharon was to the side and distracted as she was opening a chest she had placed on the table. She had retrieved it from beside the dentist’s chair.

Zeke hadn’t seen it, due to it being on the other side of the central bench. He did feel the pain that came from the box when it was opened.

Patricia also gasped and struggled to her feet.

“Oh, no!” she wailed loudly. “Frank, please! Don’t touch that thing; it is cursed,” she yelled in despair.

Frank turned and snarled at her, “Shut up, woman! This is my chance to rid the system of that abomination you birthed.”

He turned back to Sharon and watched avidly as she lifted a smaller jewelled box from the chest.

As she placed it on the table, she said, “This once belonged to the Egyptian God called Seker. While he worked for Ptah, he was devoted to Ptah’s wife, Sekhmet. And he fathered both her sons.”

“He isn’t happy that she died, but he will obey you. He also hated the way Ptah treated Sekhmet and his sons. Unlike the tepid items Queen Lee hands out, these three entities are not so constrained.”

“I’ve asked my special team to disable Zeke’s ship. If he isn’t aboard, they are to break in and take hostages. A couple were reported to be with him. While Zeke deals with them, that should give us time to teach you a few kill spells. We will then take care of your son.”

“He is no son of mine,” Frank growled. “Patricia whelped him before I met her. The little shit would cry if I came anywhere near him. If she hadn’t found herself pregnant, she probably wouldn’t have married me. It was just as well I fed her fertility drugs and a little Diddle to keep her interested in me.”

Yarram said, “You had no problems with being fertile?”

Frank skited, “No, I left two daughters on Earth to different women. Penny, my true love, has had another daughter for me. Francis is eight. Zeke nearly screwed things up with me and Penny after he told Patricia about us.”

“That’s another thing I have to thank him for. Give me the damn box. I’ll do whatever you want as long as killing Zeke is included in the deal.”

Zeke went to blink when Akl stopped him. ‘Zeke, if he puts the item on, it will be easier to free the guide before it becomes established.’

Zeke didn’t like it, but he waited.

As Frank opened the box and removed a ring, he said, “Zeke left half of his worth to Patricia. I’ll deal with her once we are back on Mars. Once I have control of her share, she will walk out onto the surface of Mars in her grief. Nasty place to run out of oxygen. It will be tragic,” Frank laughed.

As Frank slipped the ring on, he tossed his head back as he felt the entity enter his mind. His laughter died as the entity ransacked his mind and found him unworthy.

Seker’s guide wasn’t as crazy as the other two. He just wanted freedom from the cursed items. Frank was his way of gaining it, so he took the opportunity to escape.

He knew Zeke was in the room and hoped the young man was able to free him.

Sharon and Yarram both recoiled as an apparition appeared behind Frank.

Unfortunately for Frank, throwing his head back at an angle upset Zeke’s aim. Instead of a short, sharp wack behind Frank’s left ear and the side of his neck, the stave hit higher on his cranium. It knocked Frank into Yarram.

As Yarram felt himself falling, Frank grabbed him to arrest his own fall. Yarram twisted as they fell, so he landed on Frank. However, despite his training, he couldn’t stop himself from head-butting Frank in the jaw. Frank was down for the count.

Yarram was wheeling from the fall and the smack to his head. Before he could roll off Frank, Zeke knelt down and touched him. Yarram screamed and tried to roll away as Zeke’s spell released the entities from the two men.

Yarram’s entity wrenched from his mind in its bid to escape another unworthy host. It had no compunction as it scrambled Yarram’s brain before departing. Yarram rolled around screaming.

Frank’s entity left him with nightmares. It left him to relive every nasty thing he did in his life. Frank moaned and shuddered on the floor as image after image played in his conscious mind. The ring slipped off his hand and disappeared.

Zeke looked up from his kneeling position to see Sharon with her wand in her hand. She had the crystal-embedded end aimed at him.

“Die, you bastard, die!” she ground out as she released a spell.

Just as Zeke dived to the side and behind the table, Yarram tried to stand. He caught the full blast of the electric charge in his back. The room was filled with the stink of burnt clothing, hair, and flesh. Yarram collapsed to the floor beside Frank.

Zeke rolled to his knees. He got his wand in place in time to deflect the second blast. It shot back at Sharon but discharged on her personal shield.

She laughed, “Is that the best you can do?”

“General, I don’t wish to harm you, but I’m not going to let you leave here wearing those items. Put down the wand. I can help you once the guide leaves. It needs to be set free,” Zeke said as he stood to face her.

“No! It’s mine,” she snarled as she backed towards the door to her office.

“Don’t go through that door. It still has spells on it,” Zeke warned as he stepped closer.

“My spells can’t hurt me,” she said as she shot another charge at Zeke to distract him.