Mortal Kombat Fan Fiction ❯ Of Serpents and Sirens ❯ By A Single Thread ( Chapter 20 )

When they approached the stone staircase, the torches were already lit, flickering with green flame.

Johnny pointed them out, "Are they supposed to be green?"

Shang Tsung shook his head.

"It is È Mèng's power flowing freely. I do not know how she got her devious claws on Lily but she is more than likely using her as a conduit for more energy."

"What kind of energy, Shang Tsung?" Raiden inquired, eying the torches warily.

"Not just her soul, Raiden, but her very essence, considered as the source of life. Due to women's ability to bear children it makes them a tremendous natural source of this life energy. È Mèng will undoubtedly be siphoning this essence from Lily. It is similar to the process used to make revenants but if not stopped, she will be changed."

"Changed?"

Shang Tsung stopped for a second, hanging his head, before sighing heavily and continuing on.

"If È Mèng completes this transfer of energy from Lily to herself...Lily will not die but she could possibly never be able to bear children."

"Shit."

The screaming stopped suddenly as they reached the bottom of the staircase. Standing in front of them was a simple wooden door, the green wisps covering it, writhing and undulating like serpents.

He clenched his teeth and tightened his fists. They exploded with green flame and muttering under his breath he threw the flames forward, washing the wisps in soul magic. They screeched and hissed as they shrank back, slithering through the gap at the bottom.

"Raiden. Fujin. You come with me. Johnny and Cassandra, stay put."

The father and daughter both opened their mouths to argue, but a single look from Shang Tsung silenced them.

His eyes had turned pure green and there was no emotion to his face.

Cassie grabbed Fujin's arm, pulling him into a quick kiss. "For luck."

When she stepped back and looked at her dad, he was gaping at her.

She shrugged, "I'll tell ya later."

The sorcerer turned back away from them and pushed his magic forward, blowing the door off its hinges.

"È Mèng! Your time has come!"

When the three stepped into the room all they could see was green mist everywhere, a single flaring light flickering in the center suspended in the air.

Shang turned to Fujin, "Clear this mist away from the center! We must locate Lily."

Fujin waved a hand through the air, a breeze kicking to life and pushing the mist to the edges of the room. And there on the floor was the urn, shattered, ash spilled out onto the stone.

Shang Tsung cursed, it would be even more difficult now to capture her. They needed the urn whole. È Mèng didn't realize that the urn was much more than a prison. If he could only gather the pieces before more damage was done to them...they would have a chance.

His eyes trailed upwards, attention caught by the light there.  What he saw froze him to the core.

'Hehua.'

She was held, naked, suspended in the air like she was in water, her hair floating around her like clouds. Green, glowing chains wrapped around her tight and hanging just above her attached to her forehead was a single strand of green light flowing upwards into the very chest of È Mèng.

"We must be careful Raiden. Those chains are the very same ones that were used to bind È Mèng. I will need time to dissolve the spell. Do not to hit Lily."

"I shall try."

"I said do not, not try."

"Hello 'husband' How very kind of you to join us. We were having such a lovely little chat."

"'Wife.'" He spat that word at her like venom, "You will let her go. Now!"

She threw her head back and laughed. It sent a chill down his spine.

"You? Making demands of me? Oh no, Wǒ yīngjùn de shé. Not this time. You never realized it did you? Why her?"

She swept a hand over Lily's body and the chains melted away into her skin, causing fractures of green to branch across her skin. She woke screaming in pain...and when it let up for a few seconds she looked wildly around the room until her eyes finally settle on him.

'Shang.' She mouths unable to speak.

He nods grimly.

"You are not the only one who knows what transpires on this island...Mortal Kombat."

He looked at her startled, "How do you know of the tournament?"

"Souls wander here and there, my love. A few have wandered right into me, like flies right into a spider's web."

"That is how you have gained such strength. Why do you need her if you have had access to souls?"

"You already know that answer."

"The life essence."

She giggles madly, "Yes! The one thing I was lacking for my spells...the one thing I needed to become what I was meant to be...a god! Far stronger than the Elders. I will finally realize my plans. All thanks to your little toy."

He shook his head at her, "That cannot be everything...or you could have drawn any other woman here and used them. Why specifically do you need Lily Cage."

She motions with her hand and another inch of the string is pulled free from Lily's head. She groaned in pain.

"I needed the strongest source of life possible and who better than one of the bloodline that held the power to defeat an Elder God."

Raiden stepped close to him, "Shinnok. Cassandra Cage was the one that defeated him but the power had been passed from Johnny to her. It could be safely assumed that Lily held the same power but only dormant."

"Yes! Well done, thunder god! You discovered the secret before my husband did...well done indeed!"

That little discovery rattled him and he sneered at her. "So you placed the parasitic spell on me to get to her?"

È Mèng throws her head back, laughing raucously, "Parasitic spell? You think I needed your magic to get to her? Oh no, I needed you. You see while I cannot affect the living realm I can affect the realm of thought and dream."

It all made sense now. "You sent her the dreams. Of me and her together. Orchestrated them just for her?"

The spectre came close to him and ran a finger down his cheek, before scratching him and drawing blood. He moved to attack but before he could, she retreated back up to Lily's side, toying with a strand of her hair. Lily glared at her, struggling against her bindings.

"You utter fool. For the strongest of life magic it must come from the womb, you know this."

The soul sorcerer nodded.

"Oh but this is the delicious part...did you know, my husband, that the magic is at its strongest when there is already life growing within said womb?"

He was frozen solid, completely in shock by what she had uttered. His eyes tracing his lover's form and saw the terror and devastation on her face when she realized what È Mèng had said.

Raiden shook his head in disbelief, "By the Gods, she's-"

"Pregnant." Shang Tsung finished, thrown completely off guard.

Fujin questioned her, "It is still far too early to tell. How can you be so sure?"

Lily's body arched as È Mèng stretched her hand out over her. She waved her hand over Lily's womb and there pulsing in time with the light that flowed from her forehead was a tiny green wisp.

Shang took a step forward, a slight ache in his chest at the sight of the incredibly small soul. His child.

'Lily's child.'

"Souls can begin forming at the very moment of conception. And imagine the power this little one will have with it's father's magic and mother's dormant power. Once I remove her soul, the child's will come loose easily and will be mine."

Shang gave a slight nod, his hand falling to his side and his fingers traced a symbol in the air.

The signal was given.

Fujin summoned a gust as Raiden conjured lightning and Shang Tsung brought forth a torrent of soul magic, tossing a small reliquary to the floor at the same time, shattering it.

"Do this task and you will be granted your freedom! You are summoned forth, Ermac!"