Ransom & Ruin: Jesimae Book I by S.E. Zell

Author:S.E. Zell [Zell, S.E.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2023-10-31T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 25

Ashdan

They came from above. Ashdan had only half been expecting it and barely managed to get her weapon up in time to block the first savage attack.

Other men weren’t so lucky, but Emyr had apparently been looking upward and praying to the gods just before because two of them were already beheaded at his feet. She stopped worrying about him and slashed with her dagger, missing but driving the thing that attacked her farther away.

It turned and jumped on one of the men. Several men were already dead, but their leader was gloriously savage as he took out—what were they? A pile of the creatures already lay beheaded at his feet.

Ashdan took out two more, sustaining several nasty cuts and gouges in the process of dodging wicked claws and dangerous fangs. These things were stronger and faster than any human or Elymas she’d ever fought. Their arms were unnaturally long and tipped with those vicious claws.

Unfortunately, Ashdan’s own claws were too risky a weapon to use in this situation as they would force her to get in extremely close, so she was making due with two of her longer daggers.

She didn’t fight with a sword unless she had no other option because they were big and hard to maneuver in tight spaces. The blades she now held happened to be her sharpest which was coming in handy.

Their attackers had leathery skin blackened and shriveled by the centuries, making it that much harder to cut through their stubborn necks.

Ashdan crossed her blades at the neck of the next one and wrenched her arms wide, taking off the head, but the sharp claws of another dug into her shoulders from behind. She let herself fall backwards in an attempt to crush the thing’s thin frame, but it wrapped its legs around her waist and rolled until it was on top, using its wiry strength to push her into the dirt.

She shoved her dagger backward over her shoulder. The thing screamed and jerked above her and her knife left her hand, still stuck in its shoulder.

Desperately, Ashdan held its head at bay by lashing out with her elbows. Strong jaws were inches away from taking a bite out of her face. She wriggled until she was facing the monster on top of her and plunged her other knife into its side. It let out another shriek, but clawed her left arm which had been reaching for the blade still stuck inside it.

The thing’s head reared back in triumph, amber lights glowing from sockets where eyes should be. Ashdan felt as if she was looking into the fiery pits of the underworld and waited for the final blow, having seemingly run out of options.

It never came.

As the monster began to lower its arm, a bright blade stained with black blood reached through and sliced off the thing’s head. Emyr shoved the thing off her and pulled her blades from its dead body, handing them to her. She nodded her head in thanks, but there wasn’t time for anything else.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.