Page 100 of Stone Temptation

With a mighty burp of hot air, the ground quaking, a swarm of motes burst from the darkness. Green, glittery in the sunshine.

I staggered back, almost losing my balance

Asher grabbed me, wings flapping. “Not a safe place for you to be.”

The motes clumped together, releasing a thunderous boom. Every gargoyle, including Asher, drew their weapons and made their skin pebbly.

A burst of bright lime green light, and the motes gave birth to a giant humanoid with a sea lion’s head—a dead-looking sea lion, tiny crabs crawling over it.

I clutched my amulet, lungs on pause.

The monster towered above us, packed with muscle, a lime green ogre with a twist.

A huge ring of bone skewered its nostrils, its eyes a darker green. Boils covered its skin, pulsating. There must have been eight of them at least.

The woman charged with her sledgehammer, launching herself into the air. Before she landed a blow, the monster blurred to the left, out of her trajectory.

Great. A speedy giant.

The monster laughed, the sore in the middle of its chest leaking a translucent yellow ooze. “Silly gargoyles. We’re getting better at this game.” Its voice churned the air, my hair ruffling with every word. A curdled milk smell assaulted my nose.

Lovely.

Grumpy ran into battle, leaping at the giant, going for a vicious tailspin with his stony appendage.

The monster blurred away again, appearing behind Asher and me.

“Pickles!” I spun in horror, bladder about to let go.

“Human.” Its voice rumbled down at me. “Your days are numbered. Soon will we tip the balance once more. We are patient, we will break you. This land will be ours. And then yours.” The bastard aimed that at the gargoyles.

My body shimmered green five times in a row.

The friendly guy tried this time, coming up behind it in a sneak attack. He almost landed a blow, the monster dodging him at the last moment.

This time, the giant lingered closer to the mote vent, standing on the corpse with a hairy foot. The dead man oozed out between those dirty toes, testing my gag reflex.

“Enough of this,” Asher said. “I’m getting you?—”

A boil burst open, a yellow starfish on three chicken legs landing on the mud.

What was this? Starfish bingo?

The smaller monster danced across the mud toward me, three more sores bursting on the ogre, new starfish chickens attacking the gargoyles.

Asher growled, destroying my attacker with one swing of his sword. “Don’t touch him!”

Wow! That sent shockwaves through me, a stronger sense of safety.

A boil on the monster’s neck exploded, the next starfish chicken making a beeline for me, wailing as if it’d sucked down helium. “Human! Human! Human!”

Asher twirled, smacking it with his tail. The monster flipped straight up, falling back seconds later, legs kicking wildly.

My bodyguard straightened his tail into a deadly spear, the starfish skewered on the tip. It trashed and screamed for its creator before melting into death.

“Never touch him,” Asher warned.

A delicious shiver ran up my spine.

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