Lance Hayward
It had been forty minutes since we landed. Nearly sixteen hours now. Sixteen.
Through the dark, I could see our destination. An island rising out of the black, the port town we were heading to growing bright with lights.
I stared at it, wondering what awaited us as I stood at the front of the ferry.
Mom put her comforting arm around me. "We'll prevail."
"How many have already been hurt?" I asked.
"You can't save everyone," she said. "Don't put all that weight on your shoulders. You came as fast as you could."
"I know..." I gripped the ferry railing and glanced back. My harem stood there. Tabitha and Kylie held hands. Bella was whispering something to her mother, the ring I'd given my Maid-Wife gleaming on her finger. Martha was playing on her phone, maybe researching something.
Perhaps this Tsukuyomi. Martha was my expert on mythology. Celtic Mythology.
Ms. Docea smiled at me while my aunt and her fiery maids were pacing, ready for the fight that was to come. I glanced back at the island. It loomed larger and larger the closer we came to it. The docks came into view.
We piled back into the vehicles. I sat in the passenger seat beside Mrs. Miles. It was so strange sitting on the left side of the car and not driving it. She tapped her fingers as she waited for the ramp to come down. The ferry docked. It came down.
The harem drove. She followed the lead vehicle driven by Mrs. Kenning that had Asuka guiding.
We passed through the town on narrow streets. So narrow, there was hardly any clearance. It was so going with all the foot traffic.
But only for a short time before we were climbing up into the island's rugged mountains.
The world grew dark as we headed up into the forested mountains. I could feel something dark ahead. We drove fast now up the winding road, headlights the only source of illumination. It was another fifteen minutes before we came to a stop.
The wind howled as I stepped out of the van. Trees groaned above us. Wooden stairs led up the slope of the mountain to a black storm that swept across the crown of it. Branches drifted down through the air, flung from the vortex.
"The Tempest," said Cali, staring at it. "It is trying to breach the shrine, but there is a surprising amount of power here. An ancient place of worship, unlike the church Malevolent attacked. That is why they like North America. Fewer places of power like this exist in the Old World. Especially in the US."
"Let's go," I growled.
Aunt Nancy and her six maids charged up first, forming their fiery flails. Bella and the Concubine-Maids ringed around Kylie, Mom, my Daughter-Maids, and me with the Virgin-Maids and Ms. Docea and her maids at the rear. We climbed the mountain fast. The steps were steep. The howl of the wind grew louder.
"...Yuki-chan..." a voice whimpered from before us. It spilled out of the howl of the winds. It should be impossible to hear over that growing cacophony, but it came through as clear as day. "...Aishitemasu..."
The Tempest swirled violently around the top of the peak as we came closer. The world grew darker like the storm swallowed up the starlight and moonlight shining down on us.
The red light from Aunt Nancy's and the Slut-Maids' fiery whips soon was the only illumination out here.
"Attack!" Nancy cried as she stopped on the steps.
The seven of them lashed out their fire at the storm. I held my breath, wanting to see what would happen. Their flames slammed into the black wall of clouds swirling before us. Their light illuminated a vortex climbing up into the sky.
A tornado of shadows.
The storm contracted for a moment. A violent roar screamed around us, the wind whipping at us.
From the Tempest, a vortex of darkness shot out like a punch and slammed into the midst of the Slut-Maids.
Aunt Nancy flew off to the right, crashing into the trees and brush that lined the slope. The blast flung Izzy in the other direction. She shrieked before it cut off with a loud thud as she struck something in the dark. The other Slut-Maids were knocked off their feet, crashing down on the stairs.
The whirlwind hurtled forward.
"Shields!" Bella cried as she leaned into the attack, forming a shield of earth.
Mrs. Miles stood on her right with Veronica and Carla. Opal, Mrs. Kenning, and Gloria were on the left. They had all rushed up, forming a wall of stone. The wind slammed into their barricade a moment later.
Black shadows engulfed them, scattering them like the Slut-Maids. Bella crashed back into me. I grunted, catching her. I stepped back, but I was on the stairs. My foot slipped. I fell backward, crashing hard on my shoulder blades.
I tumbled, the wind sweeping around us. I crashed into other maids. Squeals and shrieks filled my ears as the tempest blew us down the mountain.
I bounced, crashing into the wooden steps, hitting on my lower back, my shoulder blades, and my knees. Bruises throbbed across my body as I hit the bottom of the stairs.
I groaned as I rolled to a stop on my belly. The wind surged over me. Darkness engulfed me. I couldn't see anything before. It was like when the Seductress engulfed me in night. No, this was like a stormy night that just choked off the light, not some veil of black.
I staggered to my feet, buffeted by the wind. It struck me, whipping at my clothes. My feet shifted on the ground as I fought to hold my balance.
I thrust out my left hand. My golden lance flashed into being, illuminating the wisps of shadows howling past.
Black vapor washed around me. Turbulent swirls spilled off me, mini-vortices that spun in the air. I looked around for my other women. I could hear them shouting as the wind attacked them. Their shrieks filled my ears.
"No, you don't!" Mrs. Kenning shouted. "You don't get to touch me there!"
"Fucking bastard!" howled my cousin Deborah.
"Master-Daddy!" Virginia cried.
"Don't you touch her!" Bella cried.
I thrust my lance at the swirling vapor howling around us. The golden glow illuminated the shadowy vapor, too bright to be snuffed out by it, but it didn't seem to do anything to the Tempest. It streamed around me unharmed.
I thrust again then slashed with it, trying to cut the winds. The darkness. Whatever this thing was, I wasn't touching the part of it that mattered.
How could we hurt something that was a giant storm? A tornado howling around us.
"Ms. Docea!" I shouted.
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