Page 97 of Shadows of Light
Skog scowled, but before he could say anything more, Maverick yanked the ax from him. Skog spun on the lycan who towered over him. The dwarf pulled back his arm to launch a punch at him.
Skog may not intend to die today, but hitting a lycan was a good way to set off that chain of events. Despite their small stature, dwarves were incredibly strong, but they weren’t stronger than a lycan.
Before Skog’s fist could fly, Varo stepped between them. “Easy,” the light fae coaxed. “Del must have a plan and needs your ax to see it through. Do you?”
The hopeful look Varo gave him was far too optimistic for Del’s liking. Normally he did have a plan, and on more than one occasion, some brilliant ones.
Today was not one of those days. This was more of a wing and a prayer.
Despite that, he still replied, “Sure.”
Skog’s scowl deepened as he looked from Maverick to Del and back again. “This isn’t over, wolf.”
“Anytime, dwarf.” Maverick tossed the ax to Del. “How are we going to save my nephew?”
“Luck.”
With that, Del backed up a few feet before sprinting toward the lake’s edge. With a fierce shout, he launched himself off the ground. His feet kicked in the air as he flew over the water.
When the kraken’s eyes rolled toward him, he considered too late the possibility one of those tentacles might hit him as they lashed out of the water. One whipped past his head with enough speed and strength to shatter his skull, but he ducked it.
Water poured over him and sprayed his face as he dodged another tentacle while keeping a firm hold on the ax. With a thud, he landed on the monster as the tip of a tentacle streaked across his cheek, welting it almost instantly and causing his head to ring as his vision blurred.
He’d made it past the tentacles, but the monster was much more slippery than he anticipated. Adjusting his hold on the ax, he scrambled to right himself when he started sliding toward the monster-infested water.
Unable to maintain his precarious position on the monster, Del lifted the battle-ax over his head and swung down to embed it in the kraken. The creature bucked and flailed as tentacles whipped through the air and water sluiced off to drench him.
An almost melodic screaming issued from the kraken as the water churned faster, and those silver fish flung up water as they flapped against the surface. Eager to devour him, their chattering unleashed a cacophony of noise.
With the battle-ax firmly embedded in the kraken, Del kept himself from sliding to the side, but even with his legs spread wide, they didn’t cover an eighth of the beast. The kraken dove a little deeper, and water poured up to the soles of his boots.
One of the silver fish leapt from the water and bit into his boot, but its teeth didn’t pierce the leather. More of them hovered closer, and another leapt out to grasp his arm.
Del gritted his teeth against the pain and grasped the slippery body. He tore the fish and a chunk of his flesh away. It flapped and clacked in his grasp as he threw it back into the water.
But as the kraken sank lower, threatening to turn him into fish food, its melodic screaming increased, and it rose back toward the surface. What Cole did to this beast was more painful than anything he did as the kraken sought to escape Cole.
Once he was sure the kraken wasn’t about to take him under, Del ripped the ax free and inched his way through the kraken’s slippery blood toward its head. When he was closer to its head, he positioned himself behind the beast’s eye.
Another tentacle lashed out of the water and smacked him in the head. It knocked him to the side and momentarily blinded him.
He couldn’t let his suffering deter him; if he did, he and Cole were as good as dead.
Lifting the battle-ax, he dodged another tentacle trying to take off his head and yelled as he brought the ax down. He sank it into the creature’s eye as he ducked a tentacle swinging at his back.
It whistled as it lashed over his head; its passing created a wind that pulled at his clothes and hair. He pulled the ax free when the tentacle splashed back into the lake.
As he did so, he slid toward the monster’s other eye. Just as he plunged the ax into its second eye, another tentacle smashed into his back.
With a crack that briefly drowned out the chatter of the silver fish and the melodic screams of the kraken, his spine snapped. As Del’s fingers and legs went numb, he lost his hold on the ax.
He glimpsed the brilliant blue sky for a second before plunging into the water.
CHAPTERSEVENTY-FOUR
Cole punched rapidlyas he continued to bury his claws into the underside of the kraken. He sliced through its flesh, shredding it and spilling blood until it clouded the water between them so much, he barely saw the creature anymore.
Its blood obscured the silver fish darting through the water, but they hadn’t bothered Cole… yet. He suspected the wrath of the kraken was keeping them at bay. That wouldn’t last.
