The Elder Blood Chronicles – Book Three(12)

“I want to know what the hell they are waiting for,” Valor grumbled as he shifted his stance and moved his sword to a guard position. His eyes swept the area, and had it not been for the cliff behind them she thought he might have rushed in to fight. Valor had been trained too well to sacrifice good ground however.

Movement toward the trees drew her attention and Jala watched silently as a larger shape moved forward. The smaller creatures parted like water before it as it lumbered through their ranks. “I’m going to guess that,” Jala replied, motioning toward the thing. It began to grow as it neared them. It’s body contorting in sickening jolts. At first it had resembled a mangy dog. Now it was taking on more human-like aspects. Its gait changed from four legs to two as it finally stopped no more than twenty feet from them. Yellow eyes glinted from the canine head. Its black skin was stretched so tight over its bones it seemed more skeletal in appearance than living.

“A bloody shifter,” Valor hissed beside her.

Jala raised an eyebrow and studied the creature closer. She had never seen a shifter in battle form before, though she doubted this was an accurate representation of what a living shifter would look like. It stood perhaps twelve feet at the shoulder with a hunched human posture. Its arms seemed far too long for its body, almost ape-like, though the long talons that tipped each finger were certainly not ape-like. Smiling down at Valor, she winked and then looked back toward their monstrous adversary. “We have no quarrel with you. We seek Death. There is a matter I must speak with her about,” she called in a loud voice, her words echoing off the stones around them clearly. While she sincerely doubted the creature would back down from the fight, it never hurt to try.

“It amazes me how you shift emotions from terror at a ride down a cliff to perfect calm in the face of a twelve foot demon and a horde of his minions,” Valor commented dryly, his sword still held in the guard position. From his posture he apparently didn’t expect the Shifter to back away from the fight either.

“Die,” the shifter responded, his voice so guttural even the single word he spoke was difficult to understand. There was no mistaking the intent, however, as he spread his talons and rushed toward them. Valor moved quickly to meet the charge, placing himself between the creature and Jala. His sword rang off the creature’s talons with a metallic hiss as he parried its first attack and neatly ducked under the creature’s second wild swing.

Jala hesitated in joining the fray, keeping her eyes focused on the smaller creatures instead. She had no doubt that Valor could handle the shifter, but they would both be dead if the smaller demons rushed them while their attention was focused on the leader.

The smaller forms ducked and shifted where they crouched. Their desire for blood was obvious, but they showed no sign of making any moves toward the fight.

Jala started to turn back to the fight but paused as she caught a glimpse of white in the corner of her eye. Turning in the saddle quickly she spotted a form well off from the demon horde, standing pale against the shadowy landscape. It wore armor and a mottled white cloak, but was too far away to determine much else. Jala kept her gaze on it a long moment as the sound of Valor’s fighting shattered the silence of the night behind her. She let out a low growl in frustration. She was torn between the need to help Valor and keeping an eye on their audience.

A low grunt of pain from Valor made her decision instantly and she turned back to the fight. Several slash marks showed on the creature’s body though there was no sign that the wounds were impeding its fighting. Valor had fallen back a bit and was moving forward once again, his sword upraised in defense. A jagged line tore through his armor on his left arm and she could see the dark wetness of blood across the metal.

The shifter lunged once more at Valor with claws extended and mouth spread wide to bite. Valor nimbly dodged to the side of one arm while driving in closer for a strike at the creature’s neck. Summoning her power quickly, Jala sent a bolt of force straight into the creatures gaping jaws. A howl of anger burst from its throat as its head was snapped back and broken teeth went flying. Valor seized the opportunity immediately and delivered a savage swing toward the creature’s neck. The blade glanced from the creature’s skin and drew a ragged tear down its shoulder. Letting out a muffled curse, Valor danced back from the Shifter’s returned blow.

The creature let out a savage snarl but didn’t advance again. Yellow eyes filled with hatred flicked from Valor to Jala and it motioned quickly with one taloned hand and uttered another guttural word. This one Jala couldn’t understand at all but she could feel the tingle of magic that followed clearly enough. The ground rumbled beneath them as the rocks began to shift. Valor moved quickly to keep his balance as the creature lunged again.