Southwest Days (Semiautomatic Sorceress Book 2) by Kal Aaron (best book recommendations TXT) 📕

hiding behind an army of twisted creations would present himself for judgment.” Aisha sliced her hand through the air, flames shooting from her fingertips. “Pathetic. How dare he think himself a Sorcerer but be unwilling to stand in front of his army?”

“I can’t disagree with you there,” Lyssa said. “And I think we’ve got a solid team.” She patted a holster. “We’ve got four Sorcerers with three Torches among us. That’s a lot of power. I was good enough to take down one sub-nest by myself, so cleaning out the rest should be a breeze as long as we don’t get in each other’s way.” She pointed at the sun. “Remember, we’re on a time limit here. There’s evidence this might be part of some sort of ritual, and I’d rather not wait long enough to find out.”

Lyssa pulled out her pistols, one already loaded with explosive rounds. “As per the plan, Plague Doctor will lead us to the monsters, then we’ll knock and say hi. Then we kill everything that moves.” She turned to the life Sorcerer. “Will it drain you too much to give everyone else dark vision and protect their noses?”

“I don’t need dark vision,” Aisha said. She lifted her palm and conjured a flaming orb. “I can provide my own light.” She eyed Antoine with a vague look of concern. “I’m fine with him helping me concentrate by removing the smell. There’s nothing to be gained by dealing with unpleasant odors during a battle.”

Ryan gave a single nod. “I’ve got echolocation spells. I’m used to relying on them in this kind of environment.”

“Fight in a lot of mines, do you?” Lyssa asked.

“Sewers.”

“It sucks to be you.”

Ryan said, “I take the jobs the Elders and the EAA give me.”

He pulled out a crystal shard hilt with no blade and hummed a series of low notes. A high whine erupted from it and increased in pitch until Lyssa couldn’t hear it anymore. There was a slight blur in the air tracing a barely visible blade of pure sound that formed above the hilt.

Antoine took a moment to cast the anti-smelling spells. Lyssa felt the pressure of the sorcery more on her face than in her chest before the earthiness of the area outside the entrance disappeared. She’d never been more grateful for a missing sense and already dreaded having to clean up again after returning home.

She glanced at the deputies. They didn’t look tense, despite her earlier warning. Most of them looked excited.

It was rare to get so many Illuminated in one place. This whole disgusting incident might or might not be targeted at her, but it didn’t matter because she now had enough power to take out anything the hidden rogue might throw at them. Soon everything would be over, and everyone would be safe. Then they could hunt the person behind it at their leisure.

The future promised more Sorcerers and Sorceresses. Someday these kinds of teams would be the norm, not the exception. It wasn’t a half-bad vision. She smiled.

Lyssa strode toward the entrance. “Plague Doctor, you stay in the center. Let us know about any incoming threats or if our friendly neighborhood murder monsters have moved. Ultrasound, you get our back until we locate the main force. Remember, we kill anything bigger than a beetle that’s moving and has more or fewer than two legs. Try to take anything with two legs alive.” She turned to Aisha. “And remember, these tunnels can get narrow. Don’t go crazy with what you’re blowing up. I’d rather not die from literal friendly fire.”

Aisha smirked. “I’ll do my best not to kill you, but I’d advise you to stay out of my way, Hecate.”

“We’re making progress, and we haven’t even visited a therapist.” Lyssa snickered. “Good for us.”

Antoine grabbed a couple of vials and downed their contents before following Lyssa. “I can’t believe I’m willingly going back into the monster pit. There were a lot of critters on the other side of the wall. This is going to be intense.”

“There better be to justify triple Torch coverage,” Lyssa replied. “Right now, there could be some terrorist or rogue deciding to hit a different location because we’re all here. That’s another reason to finish this as quickly as possible.”

Aisha jogged to catch up with Lyssa. “We should bet on who’ll kill more of the creatures. I, of course, will win.”

“Sorry, I already took down a whole swarm,” Lyssa replied with a hint of mockery. “You’ll start with a handicap, and you’ll always have to live with the question of how you would have done by yourself. I couldn’t do that to you. It’d make me feel terrible.”

Aisha wrinkled her nose. “I would have done fine, even with a handicap.”

“Sure, you would have.” Lyssa chuckled. “Keep telling yourself that. Live in wonder.”

Ryan sliced through a rock with his sonic blade and nodded with a satisfied expression. “This is a simple job. Engage and terminate hostiles. It’s nice to have something so straightforward. It’s been a while since I had that. No hostages, no worries about collateral damage.”

“I think it’s been a while since any of us have had that,” Lyssa said, thinking back to her concern about Aisha setting an oil tanker on fire. “Though getting this far wasn’t easy.” She passed through the mine’s entrance. “And we still might have to raid a rogue’s base at the end of this.”

“One rogue against four of us.” Aisha scoffed. “He’ll be dead in seconds. The coward is personally weak. That’s why he hides.”

“Being careful isn’t the same thing as being weak,” Lyssa said. “I thought the same thing as you at first, but now I’m not so sure.”

Antoine waved his staff. “I’m here to keep you all alive and find the monsters, not so much to fight. I wanted to throw that out there.”

“Then slink back when the time comes.” Aisha shrugged, shaking her bangles. “That leaves more glory for the rest of us.”

“Killing these things isn’t that fun,” Lyssa said. “I’ll