Page 6 of Whispers of Ruin
Most immortals could be selfish pricks, himself included sometimes, but everyone here had battled to make the realms safer; they weren’t about to unleash a fresh hell on them. Maybe some had opened a portal and fled; he doubted it. They were in this to the end, even if that end was barreling toward them.
Ahead of him, a branch caught on Kaylia’s bun. The stick worked through the thick strands as she ran and tore the bun free. Streamers of silvery blonde hair dangled from the branch while the braid whipped behind her like a banner.
He could teleport out of this mess, but he was the only one, and he wasn’t going to leave the others behind to save his ass. He leapt over another log, skidded around a large rock, and jumped a small creature that screamed as it raced out of the way.
No matter how fast he moved, he couldn’t get away as hot, fetid breath kissed his neck. It blew down his shirt and tickled his hair, but before the creature could spear him, Brokk threw himself onto the ground and rolled.
As he bounced down the hill, he saw the beast’s horn thrusting forward into the space where he’d been. If he was still there, it would have speared him through.
Another agonized scream pierced the air; it started high before gurgling and cutting off. The ground heaved beneath the weight of the beast’s feet, tossing Brokk off the ground and into a tree.
His breath exploded out of him, and while he struggled to get air into his lungs, he got his hands underneath him, pushed himself up, and ran. His chest burned, and his body protested movement as his cells screamed for oxygen.
He couldn’t stop, though; stopping meant death. Finally, after a few feet, his chest muscles relaxed enough for him to suck in a wheezing breath as, all around him, trees toppled beneath the rampage of the beasts bearing down on them.
Kaylia was to his left now and further ahead. To his right, a female dwarf spun and slashed out with her battle-ax. It crashed against the beast’s three-foot-long horn, driving it into the earth.
The dwarf started to lift her axe when another beast lunged forward and closed its beak on her head. It lifted her into the air, tossed her up, and opened its mouth to gulp her down whole like a pelican with a fish.
Fuck.
This time, while he ran, Brokk pulled the shadows around him and enveloped himself in their dark embrace. He vanished from view.
Pouring on the speed, he raced down the hill after Kaylia, the only one he could still see and knew for certain was alive. They could look for any other survivors afterward, but as another scream filled the air and the creatures all shifted their attention to them, Brokk doubted there were any other survivors.
Forcing himself to relax, he pictured reaching her and touching her and felt his body give way as he transported to within a few feet of her. He went to grab her to enshroud her in shadows too, but she released a cry and plummeted to the ground.
Her fall alerted him to the large branch sprawled across the ground. He jumped over it as she bounced down the hill, her hands over her head as she sought to protect herself.
Kaylia flew three feet into the air and crashed to the ground again before jumping to her feet and sprinting down the hill. Brokk’s heart lodged in his throat as panic dug into his chest. He couldn’t let anything happen to her.
I have to get to her!He didn’t question the intensity of his need to do so; he pushed himself faster while weaving in and out of the creatures destroying everything in their path as they barreled down the hill.
The size of a tank, the monsters were as solidly built as the humans’ war machines that had proven useless against the Lord and dragons. During his nightmares, Brokk could still see those lumbering machines burning beneath the dragon’s fire as the mortal occupants screamed.
During his worst moments, the smell of their burning flesh would return to haunt him as if he were still there on that battlefield, questioning why anyone would unleash such torment on a species so much weaker than them. But then, the Lord had never been sane, reasonable, or filled with any mercy.
The sound of these things brought those memories back to him. For a second, they nearly buried him, and he had to fight to stay grounded in the here and now as he sought to escape this mess with Kaylia at his side… if he could.
CHAPTERNINE
Still enshrouded in shadows,Brokk ducked a horn and raced down the hill after Kaylia as all the beasts focused on her. They were determined to get one last snack in before the end of this shitty day, but he refused to let that happen.
He teleported close to her again, but her momentum kept her out of his reach; at least he was closer. He couldn’t try getting in front of her; if she crashed into him and sent them flying before he got the shadows around her, it could prove disastrous.
Brokk was only five feet away and closing fast when she shoved back a grouping of large branches, ran forward, and vanished. Used to losing sight of the others in this place, Brokk didn’t slow as he sprinted toward where he last saw Kaylia.
It wasn’t until he was crashing into the thick branches that he realized the creatures had eased up in their chase. Their large hooves plowed up the earth as they skidded to a stop behind him.
A chill trickled down his spine a second before the ground gave way. Instinctively, he leapt for one of the vines dangling from a tree he’d just pushed through.
His broken hand protested the movement as his fingers locked around the vine, and he swung out over a sea of white. He closed his legs around the vine and gripped it with both hands as he swung back toward the shoreline, where the beasts huffed and puffed while pawing the ground.
He didn’t get close enough for those things to grasp him, but it didn’t matter as shadows still cloaked him, and they were gazing forlornly at Kaylia. Brokk frowned as he looked from the beasts to the sea.
He had no idea what it was, but it covered Kaylia up to her chest. She was easy pickings for those things, but they refused to go after her.
That can’t be a good sign.
