Vampire Hunter D Volume 9: The Rose Princess: Rose Princess v. 9 by Hideyuki Kikuchi

Author:Hideyuki Kikuchi [Kikuchi, Hideyuki]
Language: eng
Format: epub, azw3
Publisher: Dark Horse Comics
Published: 2012-10-08T20:00:00+00:00

DANCE OF THE ROSES

CHAPTER 5

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I

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Although the cry was one Elena had heard before, she’d never actually seen the thing itself. Known simply as “the forest dweller,” it was fabled to bite the heads off fire dragons and use massive trees as toothpicks. And although the biker didn’t put much stock in such tales, the colossal bones that were occasionally discovered near the forest made it clear the creature was a danger she’d never want to encounter.

The form that’d just pounced on the Black Knight was roughly ten feet tall, covered with hair and circular in shape. Though it had arms and legs twice as thick as a man could reach around, there was no indication of any fingers or toes. And while Elena figured the smell of the head-taker’s blood on her had drawn it here, it was literally a heaven-sent guardian.

Just as the girl was about to make a run for it, she heard a heavy impact and a horse whinnying behind her. She turned to look in spite of herself.

The Black Knight and his steed had both been knocked flat. The forest dweller raised one hand and smashed it down on the horse’s belly. Its barding dented, and the horse let out a pained whinny. Then Elena watched as a band of light sank halfway into the thing’s woolly shoulder. Black spray rained down on the branches and leaves, staining the twilight.

The forest dweller swung the opposite hand. There was a dull thud as the knight was knocked backward by a remarkable hook.

“He’s all yours!” Elena shouted, blowing a kiss at the creature before her feet tore into the ground. Hope had welled within her again, and the exit was right before her eyes. She felt like she could actually hear the sound of her field of view widening.

Elena trembled. Her bike was right where she’d left it and in exactly the same shape. Climbing onto it, she hit the starter. The engine growled.

“Elena!”

The girl thought she’d imagined someone calling her name. And then she heard it again—very close to her. Before she could get its precise location, a figure came running toward her.

“Nichou—”

“I managed to get away. Stahl told me to look after you.”

“Was he—?”

“Yeah, he bought it,” Nichou said, holding his neck.

Feeling her tears building, Elena turned her face away. “Mount up. Let’s go,” she said.

“No, not yet.”

“Huh?”

Nichou’s face was horribly warped. “Watch this, Elena,” he said.

Putting his hands to either side of his head, he lifted it right up. It came off so easily, Elena was even less surprised than she would’ve expected.

“Nichou—”

The ground rumbled roughly as the figure that sprang from the forest came down about fifteen feet from the two of them. With arms and legs covered with black bristles, it was obviously the head-taker. Elena wasn’t even surprised to see that it wore a shirt and pants.

As the girl watched the deep red blood spouting up from Nichou, her hand instinctively went for the chain around her waist.

The slight forward hunch of the creature was somewhat ape-like—that must’ve been what it’d been in the beginning.

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