Total pages in book: 135
Estimated words: 128061 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 640(@200wpm)___ 512(@250wpm)___ 427(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 128061 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 640(@200wpm)___ 512(@250wpm)___ 427(@300wpm)
We as fliers were grossly outnumbered. Hilariously so.
Par for the course.
“Here we go,” I said, seeing his shape clearly now, knowing his focus wasn’t on this house. It wasn’t on this raid.
It was on me.
He wanted payback.
TWENTY-SEVEN
Jessie
I shifted in a hurry. I could direct my people through magic and our links. I could direct them from the air, even in the middle of fighting. I’d done it before.
I had to find the darkness first. I had to completely surrender to my gargoyle.
This time there was no hesitation.
I pushed off the roof. A pump of magic told the others not to follow. Not yet. Let the crowds see me meet that monster. Let them see the tiny pink and purple speck fly out to meet that metallic blue and teal beast.
The air felt good around me. I flapped my wings and rose higher, accentuating my gargoyle’s shortcomings in flight. In contrast, one pump of Tristan’s wings drove him forward at an incredible speed, cutting the distance between us in half as he zoomed right for me.
My stomach wiggled, but only for a moment. Fire raged in its wake, and then I jutted forward to meet him, feeling paltry at best until I let loose a surge of magic that trumpeted my challenge.
His answering roar was mighty, wriggling through my blood and slicing into my bones. Instead of causing fear, though, it invigorated me.
He straightened, and his claws came forward to ram and rip at me. I threw up a shield and jetted sideways. He slammed into the magic full force, which knocked his head and flattened his body. The spell weakened a little—his natural defenses coming to his aid—but not enough. He began to fall.
The others zoomed behind him, and I sent out another peal for my crew. As one they roared or neighed, issuing their challenges, and the fliers rose into the air. Thunder rolled across the sky, followed by streaks of lightning from Hollace. Fire curled away from Cyra. The gargoyles took off in all directions, needing to cover various angles, and Niamh wasted no time in shooting directly for the first gargoyle she saw who needed a hole in his side.
That was when Ivy House shuddered into action, feeling her time for glory. The door to the doll room opened, and they spread out, finding their placement within the house for the poor sods who would make it that far. Darkness filtered into the blue sky, and shadows reached across the grounds and into the wood. Fog drifted through the trees and upward, making a murky soup.
A spear rose through it and out of the trees, striking a gargoyle. Startled, he flapped wildly, but the weapon had punctured a wing. He was lowered, fighting it, until he disappeared into the trees. I knew he wouldn’t come back out until this was all over.
Another spear sailed up, and then another.
Apparently the basajaunak had talents no one had told me about. That was handy and terrifying at the same time.
“You’ve been very naughty, little gargoyles,” Ivy House said in a strange sort of whisper. “Mommy gargoyle is not impressed.”
I shivered, both because that was off-putting and because I was suddenly nervous for our adversaries.
Tristan caught himself from the fall and backed off the magic, so incredibly agile despite his size. He rose slowly—for him—his gaze on me. He circled away from Ivy House as a blast of darts filled the air around us. They wouldn’t hit my people, and I threw up a shield so they wouldn’t hit Tristan either. I didn’t want Ivy House’s help. I wanted this battle to stay between just him and me.
He saw what I was doing, watched the darts fall to the ground, then circled me a little longer, sussing me out. Maybe calculating his next move.
I waited. There’d be no point in my attempting to be the aggressor in the air. We both knew it.
He shot forward so fast that I couldn’t help but flap wildly and skitter backward. He caught me quickly, scratching down my stomach and across my shoulder to the top of my left wing. Hot agony raced through me, but he hadn’t decommissioned that wing. Tried but failed.
Healing myself already, I answered by ripping my claws into him, still in his hold, and shooting spells directly against his skin. Burned flesh perfumed the air. A series of grunts worked up through his throat. A small keening sounded before he tossed me away, unable to take that much pain.
I was after him then, missing Nathanial at my back, struggling to catch him but throwing a slab of magic on his other side to stop his backward progress. I ripped into him, shot him with magic, raked my claws against him. His hide was tougher than other gargoyles’, though, and I didn’t make much of an impact.