Page 3 of The Zagorath
Brandon was dragged down to the ground, his eyes wide with terror as the thing began to rip into him, his body jerking with every rip from its wing hook and snap of its teeth into his flesh, tearing out wet chunks. Liv pressed her hand to her mouth in an attempt to remain silent but jerked in place, her body going rigid when Jessie’s scream pierced the air from behind her. Cursing under her breath, she spun around, breaking her friend’s hold on her and grabbed her hand. Liv didn’t even hesitate, the moment she had a hold on Jessie’s hand, she broke into a run, dragging her with her as the other coven members rushed chaotically through the bushes in an attempt to escape the danger descending up them.
Overhead, she spotted one of the bats peel off from the others to wing its way directly overhead. Sailing neatly between the tree branches, it dove for them. Seeing it dropping from the air, Liv changed direction on a hairpin, bushing her way through the bushes while Jessie frantically prayed under her breath behind her among broken sobs. Her friend’s breath drew in short, andshe grabbed Liv’s shirtsleeve with her opposite hand, tugging it sharply.
“There he is! There’s Gray!” she shouted.
Liv’s head turned curiously, her brows knitting as she watched Gray neatly evade one of the other men of the coven who were reaching for him as he passed. She couldn’t remember the guy’s name, or even clearly make out his words from their distance, but it was clear from the way he was blubbering and holding his hand out that he was loudly begging Gray for help and not to leave him.
“Gray!” Jessie shouted and she released Liv to wave both her hands over head as his head turned in their direction.
Liv saw the indecision on his face and also when it quickly hardened into resolution as he ran in the opposite direction toward his truck.
Jessie’s arms slowly lowered in disbelief as he launched himself into the cab and slammed the door shut. As he fumbled with his keys, trees broke nearby and the thudding of something heavy arriving made Liv’s heart leap with fear. She slowly turned toward the source of the sound. She heard the engine roar to life and wheels spin, kicking up dirt as it peeled away from the cabin, but her attention was too focused on the way that the younger saplings and brush seemed to bend toward them.
“Where’s he going?” Jessie whispered. “He’s leaving without me.”
Liv’s gaze wrenched from the woods to see the blue pickup speeding away. Her upper lip curled with disgust. That fucking figured.
“It appears that he was really committed to your relationship,” she observed as she began to drag her friend forward once more.
Standing in one spot too long would just get them killed and she sure as hell wasn’t about to have her last moments on Earthbe as a result of a camping trip that she didn’t even want to go on in the first place.
“But… all of our plans,” Jessie protested, her feet moving in a half-hearted and confused jog as Liv pulled her along.
“Clearly he was very attached to them,” Liv muttered and then drew up short when one of the giant bats dropped onto the only other vehicle, crushing it with its weight.
Liv turned, yanking Jessie back with her out of harm’s way but putting the departing truck directly in front of them as several of the giant bats suddenly descended upon it. The truck swerved violently to the left and right before spinning and flipping, its trajectory taking it off the road and right into a ravine where the woods suddenly dropped at a steep angle.
“Oh, blessed gods,” Jessie whispered in shock, but she moved cooperatively when Liv began to shove her back toward the cabin as the bat-like monstrosities dropped with excited snaps of their wings into the ravine after it.
“Back to the cabin.Everyone… get to the cabin,” Liv shouted.
While several people had fallen, others that had managed to stay alive immediately changed direction. If they could just get inside, they would be safe.
They were at the porch steps when woods moaned again. The sound sent a tremor of fear through her, and she whipped toward it, fear tightening her throat. It was stupid to just stand there and yet she couldn’t seem to make her feet move. Another roar split the air as a massive creature broke through the bushes, its clawed hands slashing through the air. It roared as it charged them, and Liv felt a chill rush over her. Easily around eight feet in height, its frame bulged with muscles over an almost marble-like gray flesh. Horn-like protrusions pushed out from its skin along its shoulders and down its upper arms as a double set of enormous horns entwined thickly with vines rose from the bony plating of its brow. In contrast to the almost stone-like qualityof its flesh, its hair streamed around its shoulders and down its back a fiery red that hung in a loose tangle amid which Liv could spot several beads and gold bands containing it as she stared in horror.
“Get in the fucking cabin!” she screamed as she spun on heel. Breaking once more into a run, hauled Jessie up the steps and across the porch.
Footsteps raced up the steps behind them among strangled shouts of fear and shrill screams, but she was focused on only one thing. Crossing the doorway, she shoved Jessie through the door in front of her. Grabbing ahold of the door with one hand, she held it open, her heart racing as the thing charged at a shocking speed from the depths of the tree line. People streamed by her as she watched the thing, and when the last person made it over the threshold, she slammed the door behind them and threw the locks. They would have to set up a barrier, but she prayed to the gods that it would be enough.
“We need to blockade the door and windows,” she shouted as she sprinted from the door toward the furniture sitting in the middle of the room.
To her relief, the others, despite being obviously shaken and several sporting injuries among them, followed her lead and they were able to push the barriers in place while the creature paced outside the cabin and bellowed its rage. It occasionally threw its body into the cabin, its claws scraping savagely into the wood, but so far, the cabin was keeping it out. It was more a question of “how long?”
Chapter
Three
The sweet scent wafting from the dwelling was making his madness climb. With all the rage that had been awakened with him, the hunger that climbed from the deepest recesses of his being was new. He knew this scent. He had perceived it in his sleep. It made his loins ache with the need to spill his seed then and it afflicted him even stronger now.
Dahtao, the Zagorath—the destroyer, roared his frustration. The air trembled and the winged fahgor burst from the trees where they lingered. His eyes narrowed on them as they rose to the sky and departed the immediate vicinity to land in the trees in the near distance. He bared his teeth in warning at them, growling as he watched them depart to a place of relative safety. They continued to watch, however, their hunger as sharp as his as they waited for an opportunity to descend once again.
Normally he did not disdain them their feast. The things that dwelled within the deepest recesses and shadows of the forest always rose with him, eager to feed from the descending death and destruction. Dahtao didn’t want them anything near what was his. His gaze shifted back to the human dwelling; its thick walls built with felled trees nearly muted the fragrance ofwhat was his. Growling under his breath, he circled it, his claws dragging along the beams that supported the roof that extended over the flat open space at its fore. His nostrils flared, dragging in the faint trail of the scent.
Hiding. It was hiding from him. His frustration rose as he came to a stop alongside the dwelling. The flats of his hands slammed against the wall and his claws scored deep into the wood. The screams from inside scent crimson through his mind and he slammed his hands repeatedly, clawing at the wood. He vented his frustration for several minutes before finally withdrawing with a hiss of annoyance. His hands lowered to his side as he turned his head away with the pretense of not observing it, though he peered at it from the corner of his eye.
The humans had that which was his. They were keeping it from him. Even the fahgor were not so foolish. They would never contest his will, but the humans had stolen it. Somehow, they had come to know of it, discovered it, and had taken it from him. He shook his head, allowing it to swing from side to side to vent his frustration and confusion as he slowly withdrew from among the trees and crouched within their shadows. He stared and his long tongue swept along the impressive length of his fangs and sharp teeth. The madness within him rose furiously, demanding that he fall into the abyss of his rage and destroy everything—to pry the dwelling apart bit by bit even as his own body became damaged in order to root out the humans like termites from a mound.
Dahtao’s flesh trembled, and his cock ached. It had ached since he had risen. He didn’t recall ever being aware of such urgency before. Blood and death did not have such impact on him. He was a fallen ancient lord of forests, their protector and the vehicle of their wrath. Although he had been fashioned by the gods to possess a cock, it had never risen with the desire to mate in the way of beasts—except recently within the sleep. Inhis dream he had felt it engorge with life and need. That need was a dim memory with the heavy mist that filled his mind, but his cock twitched within his swollen sheath and his sac felt uncomfortably sensitive where it was nestled between his thighs.
