Foremost (The Lost Princesses Book 2) by Hedlund Jody

Author:Hedlund, Jody [Hedlund, Jody]
Language: eng
Format: azw3
Tags: Young Adult, Fiction
Publisher: Northern Lights Press
Published: 2019-09-23T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter

13

Maribel

I screamed.

The creature was like nothing I’d ever seen before. It crawled on four stout legs, each foot containing extended claws that curled under, similar to Sheba’s talons. It had the long body of a lizard but was much larger, the size of a warhorse. Its scales appeared to blaze—a mixture of crimson and ebony down its spiked spine, which tapered to a whip-like tail.

When the beast roared again, I cowered behind Edmund. It swung its enormous snout back and forth as though sniffing the air. A frill fringed with sharp barbs formed a fan around its head, making it appear bigger and even more terrifying.

Near us, the two soldiers cloaked in black retreated slowly, their swords drawn but suspended in midair, their fear and shock mirroring my own. The creature, however, wasn’t the least intimidated by any of us. It continued into the cave and hissed, releasing a long, forked tongue like that of a snake and revealing dozens of jagged teeth.

Its glassy eyes roved over us, and I wondered how much it could see. Then, with a flick, its tail lashed out and struck against the knight nearest to it. The tail, full of spikes, raked across the soldier’s legs, ripping open his breeches and flesh in one strike. The man screamed in agony and slumped to his knees.

At the same instant, the other elite guard threw his dagger, aiming for the creature’s heart. The knife glanced off the hard layers of scales and clattered to the floor. The beast roared and lunged toward the second soldier, who already had his sword out and was crouched into battle position, ready to fight.

Edmund released a yell and tossed his knife. I thought he was fighting with the soldiers against the beast, but his knife plunged into the back of King Ethelwulf’s elite guard, dropping him to the ground in a motionless heap.

Even as the other injured soldier rose up and swung his sword, the creature wrenched its tail around again, slicing him so that he crumpled to the floor, this time lifeless.

The beast snarled and raised its tail as though to flail Edmund.

Edmund didn’t move but instead snarled back. For several endless, frightening seconds Edmund seemed to be arguing with the creature until finally it lowered its tail. It growled at both of us, revealing dagger-like teeth again.

If it hoped to intimidate us, the tactic worked. I pressed against the wall, my heart thudding with a desperate urge to escape.

“Wait, Maribel,” Edmund said in a calm tone.

I froze. Would my movement cause the creature to strike at me with its tail or chase me? Where was Sheba when I needed her to dive in and carry me away?

“The creature has a festering sore near its eye—a sliver of some kind. It will allow you to remove the shard and dress its wound.” Edmund spoke as if he’d carried on a friendly conversation with the beast rather than roaring and snarling at it for the past few minutes.

“Remove a sliver?”

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