Time Shards--Tempus Fury by Dana Fredsti

Author:Dana Fredsti [Fredsti, Dana]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Titan

30

Inside the Palace of Mines and Metallurgy, the snake’s jaws yawned open, more than wide enough to engulf a full-grown man. The flesh inside glistened white and pink and pale blue, billowing out at them.

“Move!” Blake kicked the fire as he yelled, sending a spray of red-hot coals into the oncoming mouth. Hissing like a locomotive, the reptile arched back, shaking its head violently as the men scrambled to get out of its path. Before Blake could get around the makeshift shelter, the enraged snake struck again, smashing through with the strength of a giant’s fist, sending it and the man flying.

Blake hit the floor in a roll, his lantern dashed out of his hand to tumble and shatter across the tiles, igniting in a splattered pool of oil. He turned to see Cam hurdle over the railing into the Peruvian booth, the light from his lantern arcing back and forth. Harcourt squealed with panic as he struggled to run, tripping over himself in his haste to escape.

Rapidly coiling its formidable bulk around a standing pillar, it anchored itself and tried again to snap up Blake, just missing as he dove under a table. The strike shattered a display case above in a noisy burst of splinters, glass, and Australian opals. Its momentum carried it forward and, in a smooth liquid motion, it twisted back around.

Struggling to see in the gloom, Blake scanned for cover. He didn’t dare make a straight run for the door—he’d never be able to outrun the thing—but if he could use the terrain to his advantage—

His thought was cut off as the prehistoric nightmare came at him again. Reacting on pure instinct he rose, angling the tabletop and shoving it straight toward the monster.

For such a massive creature—wide as a rhino and as long as a Mack truck—it could move with uncanny speed. They collided and the impact knocked Blake backward across the floor. With only the table in its jaws, the snake reared back, head thrashing back and forth like a dog with a rat.

Ordering his battered body into action, Blake scrambled to his feet again and ran, hoping the snake would choke on the wooden pieces. Those hopes vanished as the table buckled and broke apart with a crunching snap. Needing cover, he dove behind a pillar in the nearest patch of shadows.

Heart pounding, he leaned against the pillar and let his body slump to the ground, fighting to control his unsteady breath. Then came the sound of Harcourt’s terrified wailing. A tiny, uncharitable part of him wished the snake would be distracted enough to chase the noisier target instead.

Enough of that.

Blake peered around the corner. In the glow from the flames on the floor, he could just make out a portion of the blackness that shimmered in a sinuous movement, gliding silently and inexorably toward him. The dark that hindered his vision didn’t bother the snake at all. So Blake bolted forward, cutting at an angle toward the pool of flames. The snake changed course, circling around the fire to cut him off.

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.