The Shadow & the Soul: An Urban Fantasy Thriller: Harker & Blackthorn - Book Eight by J.A. Ironside

Author:J.A. Ironside [Ironside, J.A.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Blue Stone Press
Published: 2022-07-04T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Thirteen – The Dragon in the Earth

I tripped and stumbled and fought my way through the undergrowth. Ferns whipped past my legs and low branches plucked at my hair. A long bramble runner caught around my ankle, biting deep as I tore myself free. And that was bad because I was now leaving a blood trail.

“Amy,” Eddie panted beside me. “Where–?”

The bushes behind him thrashed and sleeping birds spiralled into the air, peeping in alarm. I grabbed his hand and yanked him along, once again thanking all the gods that I ran regularly. It was even darker in the deep woods, the moon hidden by the interlocked branches. My heartbeat threatened to drain all sense out of the world. Air soughed up my throat. I had no idea where we were going. Only that something huge and heavy, which whipped along swift as a serpent and reeked of acrid smoke, was on our heels. And gaining. The smell of it filled my nostrils, thick and pungent as if someone was burning lacquered furniture. It came silent and fast in our wake and I knew that we stood no chance of outrunning it. We stood no chance of hiding from it when we were leaving a scent trail a mile wide. I threw the Touch out blindly, almost startled when it pulled me sharply to the left. My fingers bit into Eddie’s bicep as I made the sudden change of direction. He yelped, stumbled and righted himself. There was an ominous pause behind us as the creature cast around for our changed trajectory. I tried to fill every second with more distance run. Five steps on and my feet splashed ankle deep in water. A chance to break the scent trail.

“What…the…fuck…?” Eddie wheezed.

“Keep going,” I snapped, pushing him into the stream until we were both wading.

Before we’d gone very far, I was waist deep and Eddie was almost up to his hips. If we tried wading upstream a way before we got out, hopefully we’d lose the beast Joshua had sent after us. Unless it was scenting the air like a snake. In which case all bets would be off because we were both hot, sweating and pumping pheromones into the night air like an invisible calling card.

“The far bank,” I gasped, submerging myself to the shoulders.

Eddie glanced at me fearfully but didn’t argue.

I stopped him when he would have climbed the bank, pushing him into the thick mud instead.

“Need to cover our scent,” I murmured.

Understanding crystalised in his gaze and he joined me in slapping handfuls of mud and crushed pine needles over every inch of exposed skin. When we’d done as much as we could, I nodded back up stream and we began to wade along the bank, going slowly to avoid making noise. I cast a fearful glance back the way we’d come and saw trees and bushes swaying as something large and fast disturbed them, trying to pick up our trail. A muted roar echoed across

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