Page 45 of Scaled Hearts

Forget what I told her earlier about wanting to wait until after we found the Lotus. I need to claim her right here and right now.

We’re startled when a noise catches our attention from behind us.

I tug Kelly into my chest and cover her as best as I can with my cloak. My eyes scan the darkness surrounding us that my illumination can’t quite touch.

“What is it?” she whispers at me.

I shake my head, ready to tell her that I don’t know, when out of the corner of my eye I see something.

My eyes widen.

“Naga.”

20

Kelly

Before I have a chance to ask Angurus what he means, I’m shoved out of the way.

My body hits the ground hard while I skid a few feet away from where I’d just been standing. A loud hissing sound comes from around the corner, scaring me into throwing my arms over my head and curling up into a ball.

Angurus lets out a fierce roar.

“No!”

The sound of hard bodies slamming into one another causes me to look up, just in time to see Angurus wrestle a large man with a tail to the ground. The long tail whips behind him violently, battering him with the barbed ends of it.

Angurus’ cloak catches most of the initial damage, pieces of it fly off each time the tail thrashes around to try and get at him from different angles. He grunts with each hit, his body shaking while he wrestles with the creature underneath him.

It isn’t long before Angurus is thrown off. His body smashes into a building nearby, crumpling the brick in the shape of his bulk build. Dust collects on him, coating him in a fine layer of powder.

I quickly get to my feet, catching the attention of the creature—naga, as Angurus called it.

It has the body of a human man but the head and tail of a serpent. It’s a ghastly looking creature that I’m sure will give me nightmares if I ever survive this encounter. It hisses at me, its hood widening and flattening to make it—him—more intimidating.

It absolutely works because I’m terrified.

I dive to the side and roll when the naga strikes for me. It pushes towards me with the help of his tail, propelling him forward with a force that surprises me.

More noises surround us, identical to the hissing sound of the naga in front of me.

Around me, glowing eyes appear in the faded light that shines down on the city from above. I crawl back on my hands and feet, quickly coming to a dead end when my back hits the building behind me.

I hear Angurus before I see him. He lets out another mighty roar and comes crashing through the gathering crowd of Naga. He takes a few of them down with his entire body weight, slamming them into the ground and knocking a few of the others away that are close by.

I feel my head spinning as I look at our predicament.

Even though Angurus is practically unstoppable, I don’t believe he’s invincible. And the sheer number of Naga that surrounds him could overwhelm him at any possible moment.

I feel my heart pound inside of my chest. We are so close to our goal, of finding the Lotus and getting out of here, that this somehow seems like a divine intervention from the gods in order to slow us down or stop us completely.

Were we not meant to discover the Lotus and save my sister? And if so, why?

I try and shake the thoughts from my head but they bang around so loudly that it’s hard not to focus on them.

It seems that every time Angurus and I get one step forward, we’re thrown five steps back.

I get to my feet again and look around for any kind of weapon that I can help him with. I know that I have a surmountable amount of strength from working in the minds, but it’s nothing compared to his. Still, I can at least create enough of a distraction for him to get the upper hand.

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