Page 65 of Queen's Griffon

Ron lost his grip and plummeted. His cries of terror abruptly ceased but there wasn’t silence. A skittering filled the space, a scratching din at the bottom of the crevice that appeared to be rising.

“We need to move,” Avera yelled, throwing herself back from the edge. “Something’s coming.”

She bolted across the wide-open space that once might have been a courtyard of some kind. She headed for the building straight ahead only to skid to a stop as something emerged from its open double doors. A thing borne of nightmares.

Avera had never been scared of bugs, not like her sisters or other girls. She’d found them fascinating—when they were small enough to be squashed. The one that came scuttling was bigger than even Munro. Avera veered away from it, heading for another building, one with doors still intact.

Behind her, she could hear the men.

“Giant fucking snakes and now giant fucking bugs! Fuck me,” hollered Frisk.

“Save your breath and run,” ordered Lenno.

As for Munro, a quick glance over her shoulder showed the heavy-set man just tried to keep up. Doubtful he’d manage to evade the tide of darkness spilling over the crevice’s edge.

Avera stumbled and almost fell as she saw the bugs. A wave of them skittered out of the chasm, not all of them huge, some dog and cat-sized, but all of them sported dangerous-looking mandibles that clacked.

Not good. Not good. To think she’d worried about the dragon. This might be worse. She poured all of her energy into making it to the closed door. A sealed entrance surely meant safety.

“Munro’s down,” Frisk yelled. “Fuck.”

She made the mistake of looking, and this time fell, horror overwhelming her like the bugs did poor Munro. The man didn’t deserve to be enveloped by chitinous nightmares. The unnatural things proceeded to scour the flesh from Munro’s bones. Worse, once they’d finished stripping the body, they resumed coming after the remaining party.

Lenno hauled Avera to her feet as he went to run past. “Move,” he yelled. “Move your scrawny royal ass.”

They pounded up the steps to the doors. Safety in reach. Frisk grabbed the handle and pulled.

The door didn’t budge. He heaved again and again before slumping against it. “We’re dead.”

Avera felt the same hopelessness as she turned to see the black wave of limbs scuttling for them, close enough for her to spot their faceted eyes and the fine hairs on the mandibles and legs.

What she didn’t see or expect?

The dragon that suddenly swooped. It landed amidst the bugs and began gulping them down, the sinuous neck weaving the head around as those powerful jaws grabbed and crunched.

The bugs decided the humans weren’t worth being eaten and turned around. The wave of beetles raced back for their crack in the ground. The dragon took a few steps to catch the slower ones, snatching and gulping.

Even quicker than they’d arrived, the bugs left.

Left them alone with the dragon turned to eye them, a beast so huge Avera’s heart stopped.

A creature so beautiful she almost didn’t mind it would kill her.

It stared at her, and she could have sworn it spoke,Who are you?

Before she could reply, a bright light shot out from the window at their back and detonated into sparks with an explosive bang. The dragon immediately lifted off, fleeing for its mountain.

As for them?

The door at their backs suddenly opened and they tumbled inside, landing at the feet of an older man who drawled, “Well that was close.”

Chapter 20

Griff

“What the fuck!”Simhi screamed as they watched Mohan disappear into the ground, snatched by an enormous beetle.

Griff had no words. What had happened to this country? He knew for a fact oversized bugs such as that one weren’t supposed to exist—or, at least, hadn’t during his youth. Its presence added a perilous layer to their rescue mission, one he couldn’t subject Simhi and Monty to.

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