Total pages in book: 161
Estimated words: 153795 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 769(@200wpm)___ 615(@250wpm)___ 513(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 153795 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 769(@200wpm)___ 615(@250wpm)___ 513(@300wpm)
“I don’t know!” Algar scans the perimeter with frantic eyes. “Gods—see, this is why I hate this death forest!”
In the distance, Rynthea unleashes a battle cry. As the fog begins to clear, I peer around the edge of the boulder to see if I can spot Thane and Rynthea. I shouldn’t have, though, because what I see causes fear to swallow me whole.
Sickly, glowing yellow eyes burn through the remaining wisps of fog. Attached to those eyes is a monster that emerges from the cloudy waters of what appears to be a marsh or swamp stretching beyond it. Its skin is a thick, blotchy, grayish green. With broad shoulders, it’s built like a giant, and its arms are the size of tree trunks. Worst of all, it has tentacles coming from all areas of its body, even its head. Some of the tentacles end with claws. Others don’t. One of the clawless tentacles has Thane wrapped up tight by the midsection. He dangles upside down, grunting as he continuously swipes his sword at the tentacle but misses each time.
The monster gnashes its overly sharp teeth at Thane’s face, but Thane prevents the incoming bite by hurling a blazing gold sphere at its head. With a deafening screech, the monster drops him, sending him plummeting into the swampy water.
While the monster is distracted, Rynthea lunges into the air and cuts several tentacles off with her scythesword. The monster roars as the severed tentacles create loud splashes and sink into the water. She darts around the border of the swamp, slicing at several more.
Breaking through the water’s surface, Thane swims toward the nearest edge and catches his breath. When he manages to climb out, he’s covered in swamp weeds and slime. He shoots to his feet, then snatches out his other sword with a scowl. The monster attempts to grab him again, but he dodges each tentacle, cuts at the ones in his way, and doesn’t stop until he mounts a boulder and flies toward the beast with a whisper of gold and shadows guiding him. He lands on top of the creature’s shoulder.
One of the monster’s tentacles slaps down on the boulder Algar and I are near, and as if it can sense us, it reaches in my direction. I scream as the tentacle unfurls, revealing bumpy, undulating suction cups. Algar grunts as he stabs it with a dagger, and the monster screeches again.
I jump over the gushing tentacle, fleeing with Algar. There aren’t many places to hide, though. The swamp extends in all directions, each path blocked by random tentacles, and the other boulders are much smaller. The tree trunks are too thin to hide behind, but something tells me if we keep running in random directions, we’ll encounter monsters much worse than this one.
How the shadows do we get back to the main path from here?
We stop behind a tree that barely hides us and listen to the unnerving sounds of the monster squawking, Rynthea hollering, and Thane yelling as he fights.
“We have to help them.” I focus on Algar, my heart racing madly. “They aren’t going to beat that thing on their own. Do you have any grenades on you?”
“Grenades? Have you lost it?” he yells. “No one carries grenades on their person unless they want to die.”
“I mean, I just assumed, since you’re a thief who likes to break into things and all…”
He cocks a brow. “I don’t use grenades to steal, Zaira. Much too obnoxious. Besides, the sorcerers who spell them charge way too much.”
“Right. Okay, um…” I peer around the tree, gripping the damp bark as Thane struggles to gouge one of the monster’s eyes out. Rynthea’s lower half is now wrapped up in a tentacle, while another with a claw tries taking snaps at her head. She punches the claw away each time, but I’m not sure how long she’ll be able to keep it up with the lower one squeezing tighter and tighter around her midsection.
I look at the monster again…and that’s when I see it.
Just below the right side of the swamp creature’s head are gills. From what I studied—no matter if it was a fish, beastial, or even a monster—the gills are a sure way to weaken a water creature.
“There!” I point. “The gills! They need to puncture the gills!”
“What?” Algar turns his head, utterly confused.
“The gills! They have to— Ugh! Never mind! Just follow me!” I grip the handle of my new dagger and pray for Orvena to protect me so I can, with her favor, save Rynthea and Thane.
I dash around the tree, and Algar shouts my name, demanding that I come back. I ignore him. If I don’t save them, they’ll die a horrible death because of me. And on top of that, there’s no way I’m making it to Elphar without the minotaur and the assassin. I need them.