Page 43 of Of Steel and Scale

I called to my flames and ran right. Saw, in swift succession, a man and a woman on the platform, braced against its rear wall, and two olm pacing underneath them; three more olm were in the middle of the junction, tearing into the two bodies lying there, while another paced back and forth just beyond the sword reach of the man sitting next to the other exit. His back was pressed against the wall, and his legs were a shredded, mangled mess.

Six olm. Where were the other two...?

A faint stirring of air across the back of my neck gave me a heartbeat’s warning.

I spun, saw two in the air, their razor-sharp teeth bared and blind eyes pinpointing me with surprising accuracy. I flung a noose of fire, caught the first one around its neck and threw it hard back into the tunnel, then jumped sideways and raised my sword, bringing it down onto the second creature’s snout, severing a good portion of its mouth and a chunk of tongue in the process. It hit the ground on all fours and shook its head, spraying thick drops of blood and flesh through the air, its roars of pain and fury filling the air. Then it leapt at me again, its speed frightening. I swung the sword, but it somehow twisted away from the blade and lashed out with its claws. They skittered across my right arm, slicing through leather but not into flesh. It had barely hit the ground when it lunged at me again. I quickly backed away, fashioned my flames into a rope, and flicked the lasso toward it. It settled around the creature’s neck, and I snapped it tight—not to kill, because the scales on these things were as thick as a drakkon’s, and it took more than an instant to burn, but to control. I swung it around, gathering momentum, then released the rope and threw it against the nearby wall with as much force as I could muster. Bones crunched, and fire now crawled over the length of its body, but it didn’t seem to care. It simply struggled to its feet and leapt again.

I stood my ground until the very last moment, then jumped out of its way and swept my sword along its body, severing limbs and slicing open the entire length of its barrel. It hit the ground and stumbled forward, its insides spilling onto the stone underneath.

Andstillthe bastard wouldn’t die.

I sucked in a breath, created another leash, and once again whipped it against the nearest rock face. This time, it didn’t get up.

One down, several more to go....

The thought had barely crossed my mind when something hit me from behind and sent me sprawling forward. Teeth tore into my shoulder, while needle-sharp nails scraped frantically at my leathers, as if desperate to reach the flesh that lay underneath.

I bit down hard on the scream that rolled up my throat and went full flame, directing every scrap of heat and fury that remained within me into the heavy creature hanging off my shoulder. It was cindered from my flesh in an instant, but I nevertheless kept the flames alive, chasing its ash down to the ground, just to be sure. Then I drew the flames back into my body, cauterizing the wound in the process.

Cauterizing wasn’t healing, however, and Vahree only knew how badly it hurt.

I sucked in another, somewhat quivery breath, caught the sound of sharp nails on stone, and spun. The two olm who’d been pacing the base of the shelf were now coming straight at me. I threw up a hand and unleashed a wall of flame. Pain flicked through my brain, but I knew it was a result of tiredness more than lack of strength. I was a long way from running out of “juice”.

The threat of fire stopped one. The other simply ran around it. I raised my sword, but before I could cleave the creature in two, it was caught in a rope of flame and smashed upward against the roof with such force that its head shattered and brain matter exploded.

Kele, her timing as impeccable as ever.

Another olm had leapt up onto the ledge and was now charging at the two people standing there. As the woman raised her sword, I threw mine; it pierced the olm’s chest with enough force to throw it sideways and pin it to the wall. The woman then plunged her blade down through the base of the creature’s neck, killing it in an instant. I called more flames to my hand and turned, just in time to see Damon kill the last of the three olm who’d been devouring the dead. Another two lay between him and the junction’s second exit, one burned, the other missing limbs and a head. Kele now knelt beside the wounded soldier, a medikit—not hers—on the ground beside her. She, thankfully, appeared unhurt.

My gaze returned to Damon. There was a cut on his forearm and a graze on his chin, but neither appeared bad. We’d been lucky. If the olm hadn’t been in a feeding frenzy incited by the blood of their victims, it might have turned out very different. They generally hunted in packs and were very canny fighters.

The woman standing on the ledge pulled my sword free from the creature’s body and handed it to me hilt first. Then she straightened and saluted. The large cut running down the side of her face bled profusely, her short blonde hair was matted and stringy with sweat, and her blue eyes narrowed with pain even though little of it reached her expression.

I knew her, I realized. She’d been in my team for a few years as a base soldier before being promoted to scout with another team. I returned her salute. “Good to see you, Suzi.”

“Good to still be here, Captain.”

It was wryly said, and I smiled. “What happened?”

“We hit a barrier of some kind in the tunnel running up to the Beak—literally, in Randel’s case.” She pointed toward the man Kele was looking after. “It flung him back onto the damn spikes and shredded his legs.”

“You couldn’t get around it?”

She shook her head. “It wasn’t a physical barrier, more a magical one, though I’m no expert in such things. We were coming back here to take the longer route when the damn olm attacked.”

“They obviously caught the scent of blood,” the soldier standing beside her said. “We’d bound Randel’s wounds and stopped the bleeding, of course, but it doesn’t take much to attract them bastards.”

No, it didn’t. “How badly are you both wounded?”

Suzi now had a hand pressed against the dark stain on her side, and her partner had a palm-sized chunk of flesh flapping at his left thigh. While both were at least upright, I doubted either would be walking very far. Or at least, not far enough to get out of these tunnels before more olm appeared.

“We’re mobile, Captain, but I doubt Randel will be.”

“Definitely not” came Kele’s response. “The spikes might have shredded flesh and muscle, but the olm have broken bones.”

I met her gaze. Though she didn’t say anything, her expression told me everything I needed to know. Even if we could carry Randel, he wouldn’t survive the trip out of the tubes, let alone down the mountain. Not without proper medical help. One look at his gray, sweating features was enough to confirm that.

I returned my attention to Suzi. “How far up that tunnel did you hit the barrier?”

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