Total pages in book: 153
Estimated words: 141492 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 707(@200wpm)___ 566(@250wpm)___ 472(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 141492 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 707(@200wpm)___ 566(@250wpm)___ 472(@300wpm)
Above the screams and shrieks of the vampires and demons his brethren dispatched and the clash of weapons between demons and the Imazighen, Petru was tuned to the melodious perfect pitch of Safia’s voice chanting, sealing the ground against the shape of toads, consecrating it, and closing it off so that those above could not return and no others could be sent.
The water was destroying the toads at a faster rate than the fighters had been able to. Along with the toads, other demons, depending on their shape and hierarchy, were also experiencing the brutal repercussions of the drops on their bodies as they rained down on them, mingling with the blue light.
Petru continued his forward drive, seeing the battle already forming in his mind. He couldn’t send his brethren; they were engaged. Aura transported two injured men, both made up of Izem and Benedek. Izem was stretched far too thin. He’d protected his father, his brother and even Benedek and endured too many major wounds. Both men Aura took to the medical station were in bad shape.
You cannot afford to continue as you’re going, Izem, Petru cautioned. Even as he warned Safia’s eldest brother, he was again forced to slow his forward momentum as he was closed in on from three sides by the undead.
Two leapt into the air, flying at him from either direction, while the third confronted him directly. A fourth, hidden, threw spinning spears wrapped in razor-sharp steel at him.
Hidden in the shadows, a vampire that had been stalking the shorter version of Izem suddenly sprang at the Imazighen fighter from behind, but Gwafa inserted his body between the undead and his son. The fist struck Gwafa hard, driving through his chest, while the vampire’s teeth tore at his shoulder, removing flesh all the way to the bone.
Izem instantly attacked the vampire, throwing him off Gwafa. A fountain of blood spurted from Gwafa’s chest while more formed a river at his shoulder, running down his arm, back and chest.
Aura. Need you now. Benedek’s call was calm, but the underlying urgency was felt by everyone.
Through Benedek, Petru knew it was too late to save Gwafa. The wound was mortal.
Retrieve the part of you in him from all replicas, Petru commanded Benedek as he knocked the spinning spears from the sky with a clash of his own spinning swords, which he wielded with the ease of centuries of expertise.
Petru felt Safia and her brothers go very still inside. They continued to fight, but they were all too aware of what that command meant for their father. There was no way to save him. None. Aura couldn’t repair those wounds or give him enough blood. They couldn’t chance losing Benedek.
If I do, all replicas of Gwafa go down at once. Our illusions of fighters will be gone.
Gwafa’s voice trembled with his waning life, but he showed his courage as he had done in saving his son. I will hang on long enough to have the men appear to be naturally killed.
Petru recognized the vow, and Gwafa had always kept his word. That didn’t mean he wasn’t human, and his body would give out before his spirit. They knew they wouldn’t have much time. That meant, as Petru fought off his attackers, he would have to orchestrate the battle below so that every one of Gwafa’s replicas would be attacked and fatally injured, one after another. Benedek would have to be close enough to retrieve his sliver from the injured and dying replica. The enemy would believe they were winning the war.
Baba, Safia whispered. No.
At once, all four packs of hellhounds reacted, stomping restlessly, heads swinging from side to side. They roared aggressively in protest. Some had more than one head. They were larger than bison, and their heads were enormous. The eyes glowed sometimes a malevolent yellow and other times a bloodshot raging red.
It was often said that hellhounds were the heralders of death and anyone who looked directly into their eyes would be overcome with plague and sickness. They carried the plague in their teeth and claws, or whatever the mage aiding Lilith had put in place when they were sent to do her bidding. Their fur was short, dark and spiked, the bristles standing up all over their bodies like barbs. Great claws hooked into the ground when they ran, tearing up the earth and throwing clods of dirt they had fouled behind them.
Every part of a hellhound was venomous. Weapons and one’s body had to be coated in hyssop oil to be able to combat the creatures. The only way to kill them was to shoot them directly in the eyes with an arrow coated in hyssop oil. Petru had prepared Safia’s family for the event that Lilith might use hellhounds against them. She had done so in the past. He didn’t think she was a very imaginative woman, tending to rely on what she thought had worked for her before.