Covenants: Anodize (Hymn of the Multiverse Book 9) by Terra Whiteman

Author:Terra Whiteman [Whiteman, Terra]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Shatter Star Press
Published: 2020-06-29T22:00:00+00:00

*

The waystation was more menacing than it appeared from afar. The fire pit crackled blue embers, each pop and hiss hit my ears like a painful warning not to take another step closer.

It was Nibli’s turn to slow, the halcyon of their demeanor giving way to a tensing of their shoulders and dark frown.

“Leid, stop,” commanded the wraith.

I did, but not soon enough to miss the body of a cloaked hominid male, crumpled at the foot of the entrance to the stone abode. His hair was the color of rust, soiled by a black, tarry substance. It also stained the corners of his contorted mouth, having died in mid-scream. He had no eyes; they’d been burned from his head.

Next to the circular edifice was a pair of pillars, etched with symbols and purposeful striations. A stone arch connected the pillars, and from it hung another body, this one appearing to have been dead far longer than the other. It was wrapped in cinctures and tourniquets, bruised and battered beyond recognition. I couldn’t tell if it’d been a monster or person. Was there any difference in this place?

Whatever the case, I quickly concluded there would be no resting here.

“What happened to them?” I called, still heeding Nibli’s command to stay back, internally cursing my uselessness.

Nibli said nothing, turning in place, billows of the foul, psychosis-inducing vapor spewing from their armor.

“Wraith, answer me!” I shouted, my hands balling into fists. “What is happening?”

“Dinner,” chimed Nibli, now immersed completely within the toxic cloud. I could envision their ear-to-ear grin. Not exactly the reaction to mortal danger that I’d expected.

The air surged with a vicious charge as threads of red plasma striated the environs. I couldn’t see anything around the fire pit, shrouded in Nibli’s effluvia, hearing only the shrrcks and thuds of mysterious weapons colliding, footsteps, parries…

My heart leapt into my throat. Fueled by pure instinct, I took a step forward, ever-conditioned to fight rather than flee. I managed to head off the intrinsic desire for violence, lamenting my Vel’Haru impulses in lieu of the aptitude necessary to execute them. Standing by felt worse than death.

A heavy gust of wind startled my senses, propelling me forward and sweeping away Nibli’s effluvia, offering a brief glimpse at the skirmish in front of the abode. The wraith stood several paces from the pit, having grown a set of long, black spikes across their armor. One arm was protracted upward, elongated four times to that of its other, the taloned hand having morphed into a spike as well.

Above Nibli a creature, equally as ghoulish, levitated. Tall and twig-like, it had four arms, each moving with a separate intention, somewhat reminiscent of sign-language. Upon its head was some sort of crown, though I couldn’t discern any further details.

A group of black, wriggling vines(?) shot from the ground around Nibli, agleam with teeth-like thorns. Another effluvium cloud enveloped the scene once more, leaving me to question the wraith’s fate. The ensuing sounds of a god-tier scuffle made me confident they were still alive.

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