Page 172 of The Gods Veiling
The night sky is pitch-black and lacks stars or a moon. The light provided is from beams placed around the stronghold. They help, but at the same time, they don’t reach very far. You can’t see what continues to come out of the shadows until they pass through the rays.
Every so often, a deadly chuckle cuts through the tense, death-stained air. Riven’s manic sounds calm my heart more than I’m willing to admit right now. I might not be able to see him, but to know he’s laughing somewhere near me means the rest of my Valtrue that isn’t in my sight is okay.
I don’t think about the black blood that’s staining the soles of my boots, my armor, or even my face. The hot essence is currently dripping down my cheek and I want more than anything to wipe it away.
Fear won’t allow me to.
I just watched a creature literally try to bite a god.
If I take my hand off the handle of my sword, my arm, neck—fuck, my face—anywhere could get a chunk taken out.
I have no clue about the repercussions of being bitten by one of these things.
Another body falls at my feet like a statue.
The startling scream that belts out from it after it hits the ground causes me to flinch.
Except…
I whip my body around as the screech continues to pour through the air.
Oh gods. Fuck…shit.
At least ten creatures are pulling Mara. Every time she frees an arm, another one latches on.
Unlike what I’ve seen so far, they aren’t trying to eat her or kill her.
They’re trying to drag her away.
“Thayla.”
My name rips from Kyzen’s lips. It’s soon followed by Amick somewhere calling to me as well, but my feet don’t stop from sprinting toward her.
My sword slashes in every direction as I cut down a path to get to her. My eyes search my surroundings for Mellcom, Jeremiah. Fuck, Chasin or Gladian as well.
Why the hell is her Valtrue not coming to her aid?
I raise my sword above my head and with my own guttural shout, I jump over a few bodies blocking me from reaching her.
The heavy metal that’s really starting to weigh on my muscles comes down so hard, it almost slices the creature in half.
All the black eyes turn to me.
My body moves like the wind as each of them tries to attack at once. I see it all happening. I know who’s the closest, who’s out of my reach.
All it takes is one swing. If I draw blood, they die.
I cut them down one by one.
My chest rises and falls rapidly as both adrenaline and exhaustion pound my body. My hand trembles slightly as I reach it toward Mara where she’s pushing herself up to her feet.
She pauses as she staresat it.
Then she slaps it away.
“What the fuck are you playing at?”
I flinch like she just hit me. “Excuse me?”
