Page 82 of Shadow Bonds

A huge terrigon comes into view across from me on a broken rooftop. It has to be the female. Her body and head are twice the size of any I’ve ever seen.

I glance over at the guys to tell them but there’s no way they’ll get to her in time, there’s too many in their way.

She lets out a loud shriek before starting to move.

With most of the male Shadows distracting the other terrigons, I take my chance and head after her without a second thought, grabbing the long blade from my thigh and shooting and slashing a path directly to her.

“Sena! Get your ass back here!”Knox screams into my head making me wince.

“It’s a female,”I tell him, still shooting until my gun runs out of bullets. I throw it to the side and keep running.

A strangled choke echoes through my mind.“That makes it fucking worse!”

“I’m not as weak as you think I am,”I tell him as I rush up along the wall after her. She doesn’t see me coming, too focused on the male she seems to have zeroed in on.

I use her distraction to my advantage, whip out my second blade, and as she dives for the male Shadow, I dive for her, slamming my blades straight into her back before landing with a roll.

“I take it back…”Knox rasps.“That was fucking hot.”

I glance over to find him and Malakai right there, waiting. They rush her, using their long shadows to wrap around her and hold her still. But she digs her claws into ground and pulls hard, yanking their dark shadows off her.

She lets out another loud shriek, and within seconds, more terrigons appear around us, surrounding us. Using the distraction, she turns and heads off just as soon as they arrive.

Knox and Malakai head after her. I look for Theon and Cyrus but can’t spot them among the mayhem.

“Stay with Cyrus!” Knox orders into my mind. But I can’t find him anywhere.

A slash of burning flames slices down my back, making me gasp in pain. Before I get a chance to run, claws curl around me, yanking me backward.

The world tilts as the terrigon that has ahold of me runs with me in its grasp.

The ruins and sand start to blur as one. I know I need to get free from it soon or I’m dead. I reach down onto my thigh and find a small blade, silently thanking Cyrus for kitting me out with so many.

Grasping onto it, I wait until the terrigon gives me an opening before slamming it into its back. It drops me to the ground with roar.

I roll and roll feeling every rock and piece of dirt before finally stopping with a grunt.

Glancing up, I spot the terrigon claw at the blade in its back, trying to get it out. While it’s distracted, I waste no time and stumble to my feet to make a run for it.

Pushing my feet to run faster, I run out of the destroyed building and right into the next. Only to freeze when hundreds of dark eyes land on me.

Terrigons. It’s their nest. And I’ve just walked right into it.

Slowly, I take a step back but stop when I hear a sound from behind me.

Glancing over my shoulder, ice crawls down my back when I see the group of large terrigons block my only exit.

I’m surrounded with no way out.

They start moving toward me, slowly at first. It gives me enough time to focus and form a shadowy shield around me.

They quickly reach it, slashing and clawing at it. Two becomes a dozen and then more, all attacking it.

I feel each slice, each attack as if they’re clawing away layers of my energy.

My body begins to tremble from trying to hold it up against them. Their attack becomes more vicious, more frenzied with dozens of terrigons trying to climb over others to reach me.

I glance up and around at the mass of creatures now surrounding me. At the hundreds all trying to get to me and past my shield.

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