Page 134 of Death of the Glass Angel
It lunged with inhuman speed, spear scraping a tear in Des’ arm as it flew past. The spear point thudded into the stone wall, cracking it open.
A gap in the neck:Talon said that was an armored man’s weakness. But this thing had no exposed skin, not when the armor was its body.
Des’ dagger drove into metal at the creature’s nape, and such force repelled her weapon that it flew from her hand and skidded across the floor.
The soldier swung around, the haft of its spear slamming into her chest and throwing her onto the ground. Wind knocked from her lungs, and she dragged herself into a sitting position, trying to crawl away as it approached.
Every step the soldier took reminded Des of a ticking clock, orderly yet sudden. It reached down, grabbing her neck so tightly she couldn’t breathe. Lowering its spear, it dragged her across the stone, deeper into the Monolith’s shadow.
A dagger flew across the room, clinking harmlessly off the clockwork soldier’s head. But the attack caught its attention. Des gasped as the clockwork soldier deposited her onto the floor.
Talon darted forward, grabbing another dagger from his boot as the creature turned in his direction.
Idiot. He was going to get himself killed.
Not that Des was faring any better. Feeling around for her lost weapon, Des desperately scanned the creature for any weakness.
Its eyes. They weren’t glassy like the strange mirages. They were human.
Talon managed to dodge as the clockwork soldier drove its spear into the ground where he’d been standing, splintering the stone floor.
It whirled around, limbs jerking as it dashed after Talon. The floor up-heaved, shifting into a hand that wrapped its fingers around the clockwork soldier’s legs and pulled it back.
Felsin must have only been a step behind Talon. He stepped into the light, fingers curled, mimicking his spell. The stone crumbled against the glittering armor as the clockwork soldier trudged forward, hunting Des again.
Rising, Des stumbled as pain raced through her arm and blood splashed across the floor. It hadn’t merely scraped her—a deep gouge tore through her forearm, slicing up towards her shoulder.
She gritted her teeth as the monster closed in. Janus could evoke, but Des could not. All she had were her wits and a blade.
Both useless at a time like this.
Though every movement seemed to pain it, the clockwork soldier was upon her in seconds, ferried by inhuman speed. Its hand reached for her throat.
“Des!” Talon called, voice strained with fear.
The clockwork soldier doubled over as the lightning churning in its core burst. Streaks of electric charge flared in every direction, traveling up its limbs and rattling through its legs.
Its anmarite body shuddered, as though warring between its owner’s control and Talon’s lightning. Des glanced behind it, noticing Talon’s eyes flare with light as he extended his injured arm, sparks flaring around his fingertips.
The core burst. Light blinded Des as force swept her off her feet and tossed her backward. She hit the ground, vision spinning as she tried to rise.
The clockwork soldier had been tossed against the far wall. Stones quickly gathered around it like a funeral cairn, entrapping the creature and entombing it against the wall.
Felsin’s face contorted in concentration as the soldier fought against its entrapment. The cairn shattered, sending stones flying in all directions. Des covered her head with her arm, watching as the creature, unharmed and unhindered, raised its spear to throw at Felsin.
Its eyes were its only weak point. Talon wouldn’t be able to make the throw; his dominant arm was still injured. Fumbling at her side, Des grabbed her blade.
She could see it—the memory of him expertly nailing the assassins, in the darkened rain. Years of practice had guided the strike. Des was a paltry apprentice by comparison.
But she either threw, or they died. And she’d rather go out fighting.
The spear and the dagger flew at the same time. Des watched in horror as the silvery glint of the spear point arced toward Felsin’s chest.
Her dagger tore through the creature’s eye, sliding between the narrow gaps of its helm. The spear tip brushed Felsin’s tunic, shattering into a thousand shards of light.
The clockwork soldier dissipated with its weapon. Des’ dagger soared through the eruption of light, like a shooting star across the night. It clattered to the ground as the particles that had once been the clockwork soldier faded away.
A single, black card remained where the clockwork soldier had been. Felsin knelt, picking it up. Even in this gloom, Des could tell it was one of his cards.
