Twisted_Dystopian Urban Fantasy by Ann Gimpel

Author:Ann Gimpel [Gimpel, Ann]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Amazon: B07678DRW9
Publisher: Ann Gimpel Books, LLC
Published: 2017-11-14T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twelve, Bjorn

Rowan was fierce and beautiful, like an avenging angel as she lobbed magic-laden death at the bats. Maybe her intuition was working overtime. I’d thought she was being overly conservative about stopping by Midgard, but she’d been right on target. A shrill keening preceded holes ripped in the either, admitting two more of the bat monsters. Apparently, not everything bad originated from the dirt under my feet.

Beyond their obvious relationship to bats, there was something familiar about the winged horrors. I’d never seen their like before, but my memories had expanded. Was I tapping into knowledge from Hel? Or Nidhogg? I hadn’t stopped long enough to consider what being directly related to him would mean.

I’d always assumed everyone in the Nine Worlds was loosely related to Odin, but my kinship ties had just grown a whole lot more intimate. What that signified remained to be seen as well. Power flowed through me as if I’d been born to wield it. It felt odd and beautiful and right in a way not much else has in my life. Rowan’s magic pulsed alongside mine, a glowing ribbon in shades of blue and violet.

I snatched a nanosecond to scan the familiar surroundings. Witches weren’t the only ones scattered on the ground. Why in the hell hadn’t they remained within the caves? They would have provided protection. A hairy foot looked as if it might have belonged to a dwarf. What was it doing out of Svartalfheim? Severed wings probably belonged to a sprite. Three pieces of what had been a grossly deformed snake with caterpillar markings were separated by unidentifiable debris.

“I’ll clear that side,” Rowan yelled and sprinted nearer the cave’s entrance. She didn’t wait for me to answer. No need. I turned toward the farthest bat. This one was pale, almost white. It was new to the party, and the acrid stench of toxins clung to it.

I could keep right on killing what was in front of me, but it was a shortsighted approach. What I needed to do was close off the entrances. Keeping a close eye on the latest bat to arrive, I reached deep, asked for more from Midgard, from Yggdrasil through its root that touched the world I stood upon. My spell was about halfway built when the foul reek of bat drew dangerously near.

I’d thought I had enough time. I’d been wrong. The light-colored bat was female from the looks of the lines of teats hanging from her belly. Crap. Did these abominations give birth? That wasn’t good news. I detached a bit of the power I’d been fashioning, redirected it into a ward, and waited. The high-pitched squeals bats use to locate prey suggested she was effectively blind in daylight.

Excellent.

She’d zeroed in on me, but she was still zigging and zagging. On one of her course corrections, I sent a lethal blow into her heart. I expected her to fall out of the sky, but it didn’t even slow her down. What in the

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.