Page 53 of Curse of Darkness
A gaping hole in the wall appears—possibly where the wyrm crashed through it eons ago—and I don’t hesitate. I launch myself over the gap, arms wind milling through space before landing right on the other edge. The lip of rock crumbles beneath my foot and I catapult forward, slamming into hard stone.
Light flashes from the amulet as I haul myself up.
I barely have a chance to catch my breath before the wyrm rears over me.
Fuck.
Its endless black eyes lock upon me, its lips drawing back from its vicious teeth in a serpentine smile. “Such a ssmall, tasty morsssel. I can practically tashte your warmth.”
Summoning my magic, I whip a lash of fire toward it as it goes to swallow me whole. “Taste this then, asshole.”
“Fire!” it shrieks, rearing back.
Darting forward, I clap my hands over my ears as it’s scream makes my head throb.
The wyrm darts ahead of me, blisteringly fast. It lunges again, and I spin a rope of pure flame above my head.
Snap.Clash.
Its teeth crash together dangerously close to my body, but the fire seems to be holding it off.
And then I see it.
The pale, milky underskin of its throat. The scales there that are almost translucent.
Everything has a weakness.
The wyrm cuts in front of me and the only chance I have is now.
I sprint toward it, launching off the wall and jamming the bone knife into its vulnerable throat.
The wyrm screams, thrashing instantly.
Gravity does the rest. Plunging down its throat, I tear a seam all the way down before I crash into stone. My ankle gives out, a shock of pain lancing through me, but I can’t hesitate.
If I hesitate, I’m dead.
I stagger toward a gaping arch, plunging inside one of the buildings and pressing my back flat against the wall as I gasp with adrenaline.Fuck. My ankle is on fire.
But I still have the knife.
Silence falls. Did I kill it? Or wound it?
I chance a look through the arch—
“Can sssmell you,” hisses the wyrm, its blunt nose hammering toward me so fast I scream.
The wall trembles as it slams against it, but the arch keeps it out.
“Little, filthy lightbringer.” It’s maw jams at the arch to my right. “I will crunch your bones and chew your screams. Come out, little wretch. There issh… no escape.”
“Thiago?”
There is no answer. And my mind can’t help conjuring images of the wyrm outside, and those teeth.What if—
No.
No.I won’t go there.
