Previously: With the death of Yi Fan, the Ghost left her body and possessed the glowing crystals of the City of the Moon, source of the Cobalt Czar’s immense power. And now…
In a market in Tianjin, an elderly woman picked through melons at an outdoor market. There was nothing remarkable about her except the pendant she wore around her neck: a tiny shard of glowing blue crystal trapped in an intricate wire knot. It was the only thing of value left to her by her mother, who’d gotten it from her mother before her. It was beautiful, and though many people remarked on its beauty, no one had ever thought to steal it from her. For this reason and others, she’d always thought the bauble carried good fortune with it, and so she wore it always.
Perhaps it would have been better if the necklace had been stolen, though, for she felt the necklace grow suddenly hot, then cold, and then her body was not her own. She overturned the melon cart with inhuman strength as hideous laughter tore from her throat. She watched, horrified, as the melons tumbled across the pavement, only to be crushed under her feet as she stomped forward without wanting to. She saw dimly through a haze of blue as her arm reached out, and with the motion, a glowing claw stretched over 10 metres to grab the fleeing melon merchant and dash him to the ground.
As she turned to claw her way through the rest of the suddenly-stampeding crowd, she tried to close her eyes so she couldn’t see the awful things her body was doing. But the gloating thing inside wouldn’t let her.
***
“Geez, stop gawking and kill it,†Twain said as he unleashed a blue beam of destruction at the glowing wisps that made up the Ghosts’s mocking form. The beam disintegrated a section of the stone ceiling over the Grand Cathedral. Clusters of crystal, seemingly untouched, fell to the floor and shattered musically into their constituent crystal segments. The image of the Ghost remained where it was, unperturbed.
[blockquote type=”blockquote_quotes” align=”left”]She overturned the melon cart with inhuman strength as hideous laughter tore from her throat…[/blockquote]“You can’t hurt him physically,†Digger said, “and the crystals are immune to their own power.â€
“Damn it,†Twain said as the Ghost’s laugh grew even more amused.
“Submit to your fate,†the Ghost said. His hand swelled to gigantic proportions as it reached out toward Cole and Bogdan. “Don’t fight it and it will hurt less. A little, at least.â€
“No!†Cole shouted. The invisible strand of wire he had used to slice off the Czar’s arm suddenly congealed into small balls of metal, slightly larger than BB’s. He shot them at the Ghost, who didn’t even flinch. The balls struck one of the giant crystals making up the altar of the Grand Cathedral. It shattered in a flash of blue, the pieces tinkling to the floor of the cavern.
The Ghost laughed, unaffected by the projectiles. “You can’t fight it. Surrender.â€
“No, wait!†Digger shouted. He pointed at the shattered bits of crystal on the ground. They lay in irregular chunks, not glowing, but cracked and dim, like ordinary quartz.â€We can’t hurt him, but the crystals can be destroyed!†Digger said.
How can our heroes (or whatever you call Twain, Bogdan, Cole and Digger) hope to prevail against the power of the Ghost? Don’t miss our next exciting episode!
To read from the beginning, click here…