Page 16 of Mortal Magic (Shadow Shifter)

“What did this?” Riley asked.

Colton knelt beside the body, inspecting the fleshy, oozing exposed neck. “It wasn’t a blade. The wound is too ragged. I’m guessing it was demon claws.”

She turned away from the gruesome scene. “Did you know him?”

“I know every member of my clan. Donald was a fledgling. He was too inexperienced to fight a soldier demon. They are supposed to hunt in groups. I need to find out who the senior member of this hunting party was.” He stood, surveying the forest.

A scream vibrated through the trees before they sprinted towards the sound.

CHAPTER11

Riley stopped before the melee of fighting bodies. Screams pierced the silence before a shadow warrior decapitated the demon he was fighting. A putrid smell infected the air, as if she were inhaling Sulphur. Black blood sprayed from the demon’s headless body, landing on healthy green foliage beneath the combatants’ feet. The shrubs withered when they came in contact with the acidic substance.

She couldn’t count how many shadow warriors were fighting the oily skinned demons. Some were large, with horns on their heads, while others were smaller and less muscular. Both had long claws and growled and bit at their opponents.

Colton rushed the monster closest to him as Riley’s gaze fell on the demon who had changed her life forever.

“Priestess,” Halak said.

Riley backed away as he attempted to thread his way through the melee of bleeding men and growling demons. She was so focused on her attacker that she didn’t notice the exposed root cresting the forest floor. She stumbled backward before regaining her balance.

Halak’s eyes remained on her when he smiled. “Retrieve the priestess.”

Riley’s legs were yanked from beneath her as a black tentacle wrapped around her ankles. She turned to the owner of the oily rope.

The demon was smaller than the soldiers and while its skin appeared to have the same sticky consistency as its brethren, its fingers stretched out like black silly putty, ensnaring her in its web.

Dark lips curled over its serrated teeth as venom dripped from its fangs. The demon moved its arm, attempting to retract the oily limbs and pull Riley to him.

Riley grasped at the roots embedded in the forest floor. Her fingernails bit into her hands and arms hyper-extended as the demon continued to try to reel her toward him. The macabre pulley system was effective, but she held the deep roots in a death grip, leaving her body pulled painfully taut and immobile.

Their standoff had the demon growling low from the exertion. He inched closer. His body created a flitting sound as his ankles made their way through the low bushes. Dry twigs cracked under his feet as the sound grew louder.

She was about to call out to Colton, but he was fighting a large demon similar to Halak. Black mist rolled off his shadow warrior’s shoulders as the claw marks on his chest dripped with black blood.

Riley searched the forest floor, looking for anything she could use as a weapon. The small boulder was round and too large to throw, but it was the only thing within reach. She used one hand to pry the large stone from the surrounding earth, using all her strength to slam it down on the oily rope wrapped around her legs.

The demon screamed as its tentacle-like fingers retracted and its eyes blazed with the red fury. “You will pay for that. Larkel hurt you before Deruthel use you.”

Riley scrambled to get her feet beneath her and stand. Her hands were in front of her as she moved with her opponent. Keeping a static distance between them. “Is talking about yourself in the third person a sign of vanity or stupidity?”

Larkel snarled, exposing his fangs before his hand shot out, extending a barbed tentacle.

Riley leapt sideways, narrowly avoiding the barb as it whipped through the air. When he sent a second tentacle sailing toward her, she dove to the ground, rolling across the exposed stones and dead branches.

She almost believed she’d get away until the third tentacle wrapped around her arm, with the spiked barb embedding in her skin.

Her scream echoed through the forest as her stomach rolled from the pain. She was dragged along the ground, unable to get a handhold as her body fought to stay conscious. Her vision wavered as the fire burning through her blood, turned her stomach in knots.

The shadow warrior that coalesced behind the demon, was larger than any she’d seen. His blade whipped through the air before it embedded in Larkel’s back.

The demon screamed in a high-pitched and unearthly tone before he crumpled to the ground and his tentacles retracted.

The shadow warrior who killed him shifted to his human form. “My name is Stern. Are you all right?”

Riley held up her arm. The wound near her elbow was already healing. “I can feel my flesh melding together. I’m not sure I will ever get used to that.”

Stern nodded. “It’s weird I know. I haven’t been a shadow warrior that long myself. Sorry we had to meet under such circumstances.” He inspected the wound. “Doesn’t look like he injected you with any venom. That was a jackal demon, but we weren’t aware they could do that tentacle thing.”

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