Page 177 of Elven Shadow

Just as soon as she burned out the last of her wrist’s damaged flesh.

Another furious snarl burst from the half-ogre’s lips as he rose off his knees.

Rebecca had better finish up quick and get on him before anyone else caught wind of trouble in their master’s sadistic paradise.

Enlivened by the idea of moving in on this compound as silent and swift and deadly as she was created to be, taking out her enemy one body at a time, Rebecca urged her healing magic to work faster.

Two minutes ago, just ridding herself of the homunculus poison she’d consumed with its not-spark had been better than she’d imagined. But now, she could hardly work fast enough to restore herself to full health and strength, completely wound-free.

Then there would be nothing more to slow her down.

She just wasn’t quite fast enough.

Seconds before the last of Rebecca’s Bloodshadow healing could fully take effect, the half-ogre marched around the back of the utility vehicle in her direction, sniffing at the air like a wild beast on the hunt catching wind of its prey.

Then he fully rounded the vehicle and stopped when he saw an elf clothed in all black, crouching in the dead grass with one palm glowing above her overturned forearm and that forearm covered in blackened, charred flesh that now flaked off her wrist in curling pieces to flutter away from her on the breeze.

With new, pure, healthy, perfect flesh revealing itself beneath.

Rebecca looked sharply up at him, her eyes wide.

Shit. He’d found her. She wasn’t ready.

She had to handle this guy now, whether or not she was finished.

He opened his mouth and sucked in a deep breath, but before she could even move, a dark gray blur darted past her from behind. No more than two feet from her right shoulder, the enormous shape leapt for the half-ogre’s throat.

The shaggy gray mass hit the half-ogre head-on and sent him crashing backward to the ground in a snarling pile of limbs and fur and flashing teeth.

The second the half-ogre hit the dry dirt to try wrestling the enormous wolf off himself with his bare hands, he’d already started screaming.

Then his screams worsened, his shrieks growing wildly more unhinged, colored by terror and pain when the wolf tore a chunk of flesh from an arm, then chomped down on his shoulder, then ripped off a nice bit of fatty, muscular belly.

In seconds, the half-ogre’s screams filled the prison yard, automatically sounding the alarm for every other guard on duty because his screams sounded nothing like those of Harkennr’s prisoners.

Then everyone knew something was wrong on the other side of the easternmost utility vehicle.

Shouts rose from every other direction of the prison yard. Beams of light strobed and streaked across the dead and dying grass, searching for the intruder and the unfortunate member among their ranks who still screamed bloody murder like a lunatic with a snarling gray wolf still chomping at his flesh and pinning him to the ground.

With a hiss, Rebecca ignored the last bits of blackened flakes still clinging to her wrist and jumped to her feet to peer around the edge of the vehicle.

The prison yard erupted in shouted commands and hasty movement and pounding footsteps now that the enemy had some inkling they were under attack.

Dammit, she could have gotten so much farther thanthis on her own.

But now her stealthy entrance had been completely blown, and she’d have to fight at least a dozen more of Harkennr’s soldiers than she would’ve willingly taken on in the first place.

All because Maxwell Hannigan had come sniffing after her, sticking his nose in her private business, and now he was the one about to get them both caught up in a whole world of hurt because he couldn’t just leave her the hell alone.

She’d known it was Maxwell from the second he’d leapt past her out of the darkness to attack the half-ogre. She’d seen him shift in the field during plenty of mission battles and instantly recognized his wolf.

That didn’t mean she was happy to see him.

A half-dozen armed magicals charged toward her on foot, automatic magitek assault rifles powered up and ready to go. A second later, the base’s breach alarm activated, blaring non-stop and so loudly, Rebecca could hardly hear herself think.

The giant spotlight switching on inside one of the entrance gates’ guard towers didn’t help either.

“Dammit, Hannigan,” she growled from the shadows behind the vehicle while the guards rushed toward her position.

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