Read Moon Rise (Twilight Shifters Book 2) Online

Authors: Kate Danley

Tags: #shifters, #young adult, #epic fantasy, #epic, #shapeshifters, #fantasy, #coming of age, #archery, #swords, #werewolf, #sword

Moon Rise (Twilight Shifters Book 2) (16 page)

BOOK: Moon Rise (Twilight Shifters Book 2)
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The creature had pretended to go away to lure them out of the clearing.

His pointed, scorpion-like feet clattered on the wooden planks like hail.  He was the color of midnight, his skin was slick and oily.  Where she had cut off his arm, another was already growing in its place.  Aein dodged to one side as his scorpion tail pierced the mist to strike her, hitting the ground directly where she had stood, then raised up to strike again.  Lars leapt at the girtablilu and hung on.  The creature's pincer-like front legs were snapping at Aein, but paused as the human half of the girtablilu took Lars by the scruff of his neck and threw him into the swamp.  Lars struck a tree with a sickening crunch.  Aein prayed that the water would not begin to ripple and boil.

The girtablilu advanced on Aein, claws clacking as he swiped at her, trying to cut her in two. She held the sword in two hands wondering how on earth she could kill this thing.  She struck him again and again, but his armor was tougher than any steel.  The only point of weakness was his upper torso and he would not let her near enough to strike him again.

Lars appeared out of nowhere and landed upon the girtablilu's back.  The girtablilu began dancing in circles, trying to reach behind himself to grab the werewolf.  The creature's venomous stinger struck Lars, burying itself deep in his pelt, again and again.  Lars bled, but he did not let go, tearing at the creature's backbone with his powerful jaws.

And then the girtablilu struck out once more and missed, and when he missed, he struck himself instead.  His stinger pierced his own back with such force, the tip went clean through and emerged in the front.  The creature's face was puzzled as he looked down.  His legs collapsed beneath him and he fell to one side, twitching. 

And that was when Aein saw this monster had another weakness.  On his underside where all the plates of his insect-like skeleton met, there was a soft spot, a spot which she might be able to pierce.

Lars was panting and wobbly.  Even though he was immortal in wolf form, he needed time to recover, for his body to expel the venom injected into him. 

A high-pitched scream pierced the air, coming from the direction of Finn and Lord Arnkell.  She ran into the darkness towards the sound, hoping it was not the fog leading her in the wrong direction.  Ahead, she saw the dim light from the lamp that Lord Arnkell had been carrying.

They were fighting another girtablilu, but this one's torso was shaped like a woman.  Both Finn and Lord Arnkell were weary, unable to get inside its defenses.  Aein dropped her sword and pulled the silver knife from her waistband.

"RUN!" Aein shouted as she came towards them.

Lord Arnkell picked up the lantern and headed one way.  Finn ran the other. But Aein ran full tilt towards the girtablilu.  The creature was distracted, not sure which one to follow.  Aein fell onto her side and let the momentum carry her as she slid beneath it.  The creature lifted its legs, sensing something wasn't right.  But it was too late.  With all her strength, Aein jammed the silver knife into the weak spot and prayed it worked.

The girtablilu let out a screeching cry and fell to its side, its legs scrabbling to reach the blade like a dying spider.  Suddenly, Finn was there, grabbing Aein beneath her armpits and hauling her away from the sharp feet to safety.  They stood, breath heaving as they watched the creature die.  Aein was aware of Lars limping towards her and leaning against her body.  She rested her hand on his fur until the girtablilu gasped and exhaled its last breath.

Silence fell over them as the fog began to thin.

She reached out to Finn.  "Are you okay?" she asked.

He nodded, wiping his brow with the back of his hand.  "I'll live."

Aein suddenly looked around, realizing they had lost one member of their party.  "Where is Lord Arnkell?"

It was at that moment an eerie light filled the fog.  It flickered golden and the wet mist was replaced with the smell of smoke and the sound of crackling wood.

Aein locked eyes with Finn in terror.  They raced towards the flames.

They reached the edge of the swamp and ground to a halt.  Lord Arnkell had dashed the lamp upon the boards, and the oil caught the ancient wood like paper.  Lord Arnkell had set the road on fire, trapping them inside.  It was what they had all been trained to do if the border was ever breached.  The bog surrounding the swamp would not allow any creature to pass.  They had witnessed its grip the moment that time the horse had fallen off the road. 

Lord Arnkell stood at the far end of the burn, his figure wavering in the heat.

The darkness of the night was beginning to lift as the sun began to rise.

"I'll tell everyone to burn their roads to contain the creatures of the swamp!  I'll tell that queen of yours that you perished to save my life!" shouted Lord Arnkell.  "The balladeers will sing songs of you three and how you led to my return!  You are responsible for the glorious revolution I shall bring!" he shouted, holding his sword up high.  "May your death be quick and painless!"

Aein, Finn, and Lars watched him as he walked away.  They stood there watching him until the fire forced them back and they had to retreat into the swamp.

They ran in front of the flame, the road falling behind them into the water, leaping over the bodies of the creatures they had slain to save that traitorous man.

They reached the sacred clearing just as the sun rose and watched as the fire consumed the road just beyond the entrance.  The soot and smoke brought tears of pain to Aein's eyes.

But the swamp did not burn.  Only the road which would let them out.  

Lars shifted back to himself, whole and healthy once again.  He stood, facing Finn and Aein.  He was terrified.  He knew what it meant to be trapped in the swamp.  He knew what madness would meet them here.  He knew that within weeks, they would all be begging for death.

"What do we do?" he asked, unable to keep his voice steady.

Finn tried to infuse them with strength before the sun rose and stole his human form.  "We travel to the Haidra Kingdom through the swamp and we warn Queen Gisla that now Lord Arnkell has abandoned the border.  Her war with him is now the least of her worries."  But his words, for the first time, rang hollow.

Aein stared out into the swamp’s forest, a land filled not just with the dangers that came across the border, but the wild werewolves who had rebelled against Lord Arnkell.  Just beyond the clearing, the fog waited for them.

But it was at that moment, a hawk landed in a tree.  He cocked his head and fixed his eyes upon Aein.  There was intelligence there.  The vision of Cook Bolstad filled her mind and his request, something so important he reached through the veil of death to ask her:  to seek him out.  Had he known secrets about the swamp no one else was aware of?  Did he know these birds that watched them?  Was there something else besides monsters here?

"The border is not abandoned," she said.  "It must always be held by two, and by my count, we have three."  She reached out to both Lars and Finn, grasping each of their hands in hers.  "We travel to the Haidra Kingdom and we hold the border, just as the guard has always done.  We survive."

The hawk flew a few branches away, as if beckoning her to follow.

"Besides," Aein added watching the creature.  "I do not believe we are entirely alone."

Coming August 2015

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BOOK: Moon Rise (Twilight Shifters Book 2)
4.4Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
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