Page 136 of A Touch of Poison
Lysander had caught up to us not long after, shadow-stepping here from his estate, bringing the hellhound Fluffy.
Now we closed in on two more Horrors and the hound stuck to me like a pale version of my shadows, even though Lysander was at the other end of the road. On foot, I led half the unit and Faolán the other half, cutting in from both sides as the monsters sniffed and scratched at a brazier that had been used to roast nuts and marshmallows. Archers crept to position on the rooftops.
Movement from above. I raised my sword on instinct but recognised the darkly-dressed woman as one of the guards I’d set on watch. I lifted my eyebrows in a silent question.
“The two ahead are the last in this quarter. Two more are down, leaving one in north and east and two in the south quarter.”
A third of them dead. I nodded, but her report didn’t bring as much relief as it should’ve. “Any sign of the red-haired woman?”
“There was a sighting in the southern quarter, but they lost her before they could extract her.”
I gritted my teeth, eyeing the Horrors as they jostled over feeding from the brazier’s scant magic. We’d head south as soon as these two were taken care of. It sickened me not to go now, but…
Duty called.
I nodded to the lookout, dismissing her, and signalled for Faolán to continue advancing. Once we were thirty feet from the Horrors, I raised my hand and the archers fired their first volley.
A dozen arrows glanced off the monsters’ carapaces, but they were never meant to be anything more than a distraction.
While the Horrors looked up, screeching at the archers, we moved in.
Fed by the city’s abundant magic, my sword was at full power—a pure void with shadows dripping off its edges. I bared my teeth as I reached my enemy, the darkness inside me ready and eager to strike.
I sliced the monster’s leg. When I met its chitinous shell, there wasn’t even an instant of resistance. My Shadowblade cut clean through, and a buzz of magic funnelled into me, stolen from my shrieking enemy.
The long head swung to me, black eyes unblinking.
It snapped, row upon row of teeth closing on the space where a split-second earlier had been my shoulder.
I rolled across the paving, its stone surface digging into my shoulder and ribs.
Muscles roaring with the simple pleasure of battle, I landed on my feet behind the Horror. The remains of its severed leg bled foul ooze onto the ground, flailing as it reacted to another strike.
Growling, Fluffy bit one of the legs. Her teeth sank into the exoskeleton, her magical flame unleashing an acrid smoke that smelled of burning hair.
I battered into the monster’s back, the thicker shell resisting my blows, but making it twitch and start to turn—distracting it for the rest of my unit.
Russet fur darted between the other Horror’s legs—Rose. She snapped at its clawed feet, blinding fast in her wolf form, always staying inches ahead of its strikes.
One of the guards wasn’t so lucky. He flew back with a grunt, clubbed by one of the legs.
With the monster chasing Rose, Faolán leapt onto one of its legs. His fingers elongated into vicious claws.
I grinned as I blocked a strike, clipping the end of my Horror’s leg. I knew exactly where he was aiming.
Back arching, I dodged, then sidestepped, drawing my Horror away from its partner. If it spotted Faolán’s progress, leaping from one leg to the next, further forward, it might try to stop him.
Acid sizzled against my gauntlet as the monster snapped at my hand.
Two inches. That was all I dodged by.
But two inches or twenty—it was all the same. I still had my hand, and the Horror had its back to Faolán. With a roar, he reared and drove his claws into the spot behind his monster’s front leg.
Dark blood spurted.
The Horror shrieked, splitting the air and my ears. I staggered as the sound lanced through my skull, an instant of blinding pain.
I kept my sword high, but as the other Horror fell, mine lunged.
