Page 54 of Right Hand Of The Reaper
A chorus of low growls sounded from around us and my beast was instantly on alert. There was something evil lurking beyond the treeline, something old. Something I’d never seen before.
“Rafe, Rayne. I need your Hounds. One in the front, one in the back. Atticus, stay with me,” Roux shouted above the growls.
My twin and I instantly shifted. This is what we were here for. To protect our Reaper. Normally we’d be in Hound form to track the souls but right now, she needed our beasts to fight.
Bones cracked, fur sprouted, and I let my beast take over. My senses instantly sharpened, and my breathing turned into heavy pants. I could sense my twin behind me, but I didn’t want to take my eyes off the trees. I could smell them, whatever they were, and they smelled like death. Putrid. Acrid. Pungent. I don’t think we’d ever come up against anything like this before.
Red eyes glowed in the depths of the trees and then they started to step out of the shadows. Long twisted limbs creeped towards, their skin slick like black oil. They were tall, taller than my beast. My head stood five feet above the ground but these creatures were even bigger. They had long, gaunt faces without eyes and mouths than hung open with rows of several sharp razor-like teeth. In the centre of their faces were two large nostrils that seemed disproportionately large to the rest of their features.
“What are they?” Roux asked, voicing my question.
“Druden,” Atticus replied. “Demons of the Wild Hunt.”
That would explain the big nose then. All the better to smell their prey with.
“Any weak spots?” Roux asked.
“Top of the neck behind the ear there is a soft spot in their outer hide. Just don’t let them bite you. Their venom will kill you,” Atticus replied as he stepped one foot back, spreading his weight and getting ready for battle.
“We stick together. We don’t know how many there are, and it looks like we’re surrounded,” Roux said.
My gaze skulked around the edge of the open space, clocking at least five Druden. There must be at least that many behind me.
We could do this.
A sharp crack cut through the air.
I growled in warning, and another arrow whizzed towards us, hitting its mark with a thunk.
Pain radiated through my shoulder, but it wasn’t me that was hit.
Rayne!
His bellow twisted my insides, but I couldn’t go to him right now. Not when the fucking Druden started rushing towards us. I could sense it was deep in the hollow of his shoulder, it wasn’t going to kill him, but it was going to hurt like a bitch. I rolled my shoulders, feeling the arrow as if it had pierced my own skin.
Roux roared and attacked, swinging her axe high above her as she ran at the Druden. I launched myself at the closest one, avoiding the snap of its teeth. I sank my teeth into its haunches and the taste of rotting flesh filled my mouth. I spat out the chunk I’d bitten off and tried not to gag before I attacked it again. I went straight for its throat, sinking my fangs into the soft spot Atticus mentioned and shook the Druden. Its neck snapped and the creature went limp in my arms. I dropped its body to the ground and turned to face the next one.
One down, nine to go.
The four of us bit, slashed and sliced through the creatures until they turned tail and ran. Relief surged through me as I watched them disappear back into the trees. I turned back into my human form and took stock of all the injuries. Rayne had managed to pull the arrow out, but his arm was limp by his side. A little rest and that would heal. I could still move my arm, but I got a stab of pain every time I did. Roux looked okay, a couple of scratches but no bites. Atticus was the same, a little worse for wear but nothing serious.
“You fight well for a pencil pusher,” I said to him with a laugh.
“Watch your tone, pup,” he replied with a deep rasp that did something weird to my insides. He smirked at me, like he knew exactly what he’d done to me, before turning his attention back to Roux.
I walked to my brother who raised his eyebrow at me.
“What was that?” he asked.
“Not a clue,” I replied with a shrug. I’d think about that later. First, I wanted to check his wound. It was deep and ragged, but it would heal.
The sound of a twig snapping had my eyes whipping towards the tree line. There was an outline of a man holding something, but it was too dark for me to see. He took a step forward and my heart dropped.
It was a crossbow.
Time stood still. I couldn’t move quick enough. I felt the rush of air past my ear as the arrow flew past me and landed straight in the middle of Atticus’ chest.
Whoever was attacking us was smart enough to know Roux was a Reaper and already dead. An arrow wasn’t going to do much but piss her off. But Atticus… he was very much alive.
