Total pages in book: 117
Estimated words: 109477 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 547(@200wpm)___ 438(@250wpm)___ 365(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 109477 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 547(@200wpm)___ 438(@250wpm)___ 365(@300wpm)
I need an axe, she thought, and no sooner were the words formed than her dagger turned into said axe. Fantastic.
She dodged a clumsy strike with a wooden spear attached to the creature’s arm and hacked at the crease between its shoulder and its neck. It issued a high-pitched squeal. She did it again, jumped, and kicked it in the chest. The head bent at an unnatural angle, and the thing fell away.
The next closest had turned, ready to run away. She took two quick steps and cleaved it in the back. She left the axe stuck in there and jumped, using it to crawl up to its neck and wrap her legs around its neck. She’d accidentally killed a guy with this move right before she met Tarian, and for some reason, it seemed fitting that she do it properly now.
She swung her top half, leaned back, and ripped around. The neck cracked like a newly felled tree splitting. She swung again, and the body beneath her tumbled toward the ground. Job done.
She hopped off before hitting the ground and grabbed the axe from the middle of its back.
Go, go, go, Tarian said urgently into her mind.
He’d taken the other two down and stood with his eyes pointed at the sky. She didn’t bother looking up. She was scared of what she’d see. Instead, she put on a burst of speed. He matched her, his long legs eating up the ground, but held back to stay even.
Thank you for not trying to hold my hand while we run like in all the action movies, she thought, gaze on that opening in the wall. Briars crowded the open space, their long thorns looking like spikes. Darkness pooled and gathered within the jagged bricks framing the hole.
What a stupid notion.
Despite the situation, she couldn’t help her grin.
Duck! he mentally shouted.
She did, still not looking up. Air rushed past her, followed by the whisper of wings. The morphing colors of dawn shimmered as the wings passed by, attached to a regally dressed body that remained as straight as an arrow. A strange rumbling vibrated her bones. Fear made her heart quake, but she didn’t succumb. She slashed up with her weapon, now a long staff, slicing through a strange haze above them and into the Celestial’s leg. The blade cut in deep, hitting bone. The male jerked and looked down, his flawless features twisted in agony and blood dripped from the wound.
Tarian yanked her arm, getting her running. Wasting no time, she turned it into a sprint. Her weapon shrank into a short sword. The beating of wings grew louder against the rushing wind.
Here we go, Tarian said. I won’t let it kill you. Take the pain.
A blast of power shocked straight through her middle, slicing into her heart and tearing at her organs. It felt like a rough version of what Lexi could do, only it wasn’t attacking her soul. It wasn’t threatening to rip out her life’s essence. It was, at its peak, just pain, as Tarian had said. She ignored it easily thanks to a lot of practice when Lexi was still learning, or now when Lexi was too mad at her to control herself.
Tarian threw up his hand, and a new feeling rose. This one was spicy, but not painful. The opposite, actually. It was exhilarating, like lightning bubbles working through her legs and into her belly, where they heated up and spread. She sucked in a startled breath as a blanket of sparkly gold cut through with black spread out over them. Shards of indigo tried to slice through it from above but didn’t make it.
Run faster, Tarian gritted out, the feeling of his exertion coming through.
She gave it everything she had, aiming for that opening in the wall. Aiming for safety.
A spear sliced through the magical haze above. It glanced off Tarian’s arm before finding the ground and sticking there. He muttered a curse but didn’t falter, his hand still held high, his sword out and ready. Her core pounded, but not sexually. A buzzing filled her center, but it wasn’t pleasurable. Another spear sliced down and stuck, missing them.
The beating of wings let her know they were coming in fast. She created her own spear with her weapon and thrust it up. The beating grew erratic as the Celestial dodged. She tried again, and again, blindly aiming while running. She paused for a second, expecting their attack, then glanced up. A female with flawless skin dove in, taking aim. Daisy jumped and thrust, stabbing the Celestial in the side. She’d aimed for the gut, but that would have to do.
Veer right, Tarian said. Right!
She hit the ground and did as he said, at his side. His weapon had turned into a spear as well. His magic billowed out around them, gold cut through with black, slicing into the flailing creature and three others swooping down toward them. Daisy jabbed upward again, aiming for the wing. Her point poked through that delicate webbing, as fragile as a dragonfly. The face of the Celestial, a pretty male, screwed up in pain, and he flapped his wings wildly. He tilted left, the wing not working properly because of the damage.