Devourer's Might by DB King & Shawn Whitney

Devourer's Might by DB King & Shawn Whitney

Author:DB King & Shawn Whitney [King, DB]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2022-08-25T16:00:00+00:00


Chapter 22

Nathan turned and saw Malory’s face, then threw himself across the bier at her, knocking her against the fountain. Jaden looked over his shoulder at them but needed to maintain focus on his hands to continue burning the wraith elements that were in the ground.

Nathan was on top of Malory, holding her hands over her head. She was accessing her Seeker powers and had turned her hands into razor-sharp Harpy Eagle claws. Nathan had a deep gouge down one cheek and was struggling to control her as she thrashed about on the floor in a frenzy. If he hadn’t tackled her, she probably would already have gutted Jaden with her claws.

From the other direction Jaden heard the shrieking wraiths enter the patio. He had no choice and pulled his hands from the earth. As soon as he did, it began to cool, and Larisa’s shadow once again began to stretch out toward the earth, sliding like a serpent down the side of the bier, as her eyes drifted closed and she let out a sound like a death rattle.

Jaden stood and faced the wraiths, feeling his wings spreading out behind him, their crackling energy creating the smell of a thunderstorm in the air. There were three Noon Wraiths in the doorway and, upon seeing Jaden, they stopped, their heads cocked.

He felt a sharp pain in his temple, where he’d been pierced by the wraith on the ship. He reached up with his hand and touched the spot, forgetting the heat still in his hands. Upon contact with the wound, his skin sizzled, and he could smell the flesh burning before he yanked his hand away.

As he did so, he saw the wraiths changing form, shifting. Their girlish faces fell away, along with their hair. They now appeared to Jaden in what he could only assume was their true form.

And they were hideous. They didn’t look like land animals at all. More like the sea urchins he used to see in the fish market in Lessertown. They were covered with quills that were constantly in motion, extending, contracting. They each had three extra-long quills, which Jaden could now see had managed to get right up close to him while they were invisible—an arm’s length away from his face.

From the tips of the quills, a cloudy liquid like the liquid that had oozed from his temple dripped onto the stone beneath them. Upon hitting the stone, it was absorbed directly into it. Jaden wondered if the venom was also a kind of spore, which allowed the creatures to extend themselves into the earth—or to colonize the body of a victim. The quills that bristled from their entire bodies acted like a protective armor. But Jaden could also see their vulnerability now.

Their elongated quills grew out of a fleshy, purple opening near the base of the creatures. As he turned his attention back to the quills in front of him, he realized why they hadn’t tried to stab him; they were focused first on Larisa.



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