Magical Artifacts Institute (Complete Series #1-4) by Isa Medina

Author:Isa Medina [Isa, Medina,]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2022-07-14T04:00:00+00:00

10

Aidan tried to break my fall, but I still hit the water like a sack of potatoes. A sack with nerve endings. Sharp pain shot through my arms and hip, and for a few heartbeats, all I could do was lie there, gasping for air and seeing stars.

“Maddie!”

I blinked a few times. “I’m okay,” I managed, if somewhat tearfully.

With a last big gulp of air, I rolled onto my elbow and scrambled to my feet. Aidan was already up, Dream Devourer’s handle in hand, scanning our surroundings. Half his jacket and jeans were dark with water, but he had survived the fall a lot better than I had.

“What was that?” I whispered, coming closer. The fabric of my T-shirt stuck to the skin under my backpack, the long sleeves to my arms, and my sodden jeans clung uncomfortably to my legs.

“I don’t know. I didn't see it coming.”

I used my foot to nudge some of the leaves away. “Maybe the snake thing went to mommy.” I clamped a hand over my mouth. “Oh, my God.”

Aidan glanced at me with alarm. “What?”

“We’re in a creature movie and there is a giant anaconda surrounding us right now waiting to take us out one by one.”

He snorted in disgust. “Really? You remember that but not the fact that my eyes turn gold in Faerie?”

“Don’t blame me, blame the spell,” I said defensively, kicking more leaves away while watching out for nearby ripples on the leafy surface. The damn green things closed back in as soon as I removed my leg. Speaking of which… “Uh, Aidan?”

“Yes?”

I ignored the honeyed invitation in his tone and stared at the water, which now reached halfway up my calf. “The water is rising.”

“What?” A curse followed.

“How can the water rise?” I asked, sense of doom rising.

“The bottom of the pond is lowering,” he ground out. He grabbed my hand and tugged. “Run.”

I barely got my legs moving when I caught something in the edge of my vision.

“Left,” I cried out.

He let go of my hand and swung in that direction. Something was traveling beneath the surface, bumping it in a ripple and coming straight at us.

Anaconda! I wanted to scream. The word got stuck in my throat as the ripple reached us and a mass of leaves launched at Aidan.

“Back,” he barked, jumping aside.

I leaped sideways, giving him more space. The…thing going at us was a huge knot of leaves and flowers and stems with no head or arms or teeth.

Dream Devourer appeared in all its brilliant glory. Steady for a second, then dropping sharply against the leaf mass. I almost felt sorry for the green pond monster. Dream Devourer was sharp.

And then I no longer felt sorry when Dream Devourer’s blade bounced right off after barely making a dent into it.

Aidan’s expression tightened with frustration. Dream Devourer’s blade disappeared into its handle. Not because the pond monster had done anything to it, I realized, pulse pounding, but because Aidan was saving his strikes.

When your sword gave you horrible nightmares every time it slashed something, air or otherwise, every move had to count.

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