Ancient Magic (Dragon's Gift: The Huntress #1)(55)

We’d only made it past the first pair of stone statues when the magic changed. It surged to life, vibrating on the air.

“We triggered the magic,” I said. Just like in one of my tombs.

Stone creaked and groaned on either side of us. Two great, horned beasts with bulging stone muscles jumped down from their pedestals. The ground vibrated beneath their hooves.

Stone minotaurs. They each raised an enormous clawed hand to obliterate us.





CHAPTER FOURTEEN





Del swiped out with her sword, aiming for the arm of the one closest to her. Metal bounced off stone.

“Shit!” She jumped back.

Well, my daggers wouldn’t stand a chance.

Aidan threw out his hand and blasted magic at the minotaur on his side of the road. It ricocheted off. “Damn it. Their stone is enchanted against my control.”

Damn. If the Elemental Mage couldn’t control these lumps of rock, we were screwed.

Nix held out her hand. Light glowed and the flowery scent of her magic washed over me. A huge mallet appeared. She gripped it with both hands and swung it at the minotaur who was closing in on her.

He shattered beneath the blow.

“Nice,” I said.

She tossed me the enormous mallet. I caught it. “Oof.”

Weighed a ton. I swung it at the other minotaur as she conjured three more and handed them off. We set off down the road, swinging our mallets at the stone beasts that came to life. Monsters of all shapes and sizes shattered at our feet.

“This is pretty fun!” I said as I swung at a two-headed snake that rose high above me. My arms shook when the mallet collided with stone, but the monster shattered into a hundred pieces.

Got him!

An enraged roar vibrated my eardrums. Hot breath blew from behind, wafting my hair in front of my face.

Oh, holy magic, I’d spoken too soon.

Dread soured my gut as I turned and stared into the green eyes of an enormous three headed dog. Like Cerberus.

He looked like the topiary I’d just seen.

Come to life?

His breath reeked of rotten meat and his fangs dripped yellow slime. I stumbled back and raised my mallet, but it was laughably small compared to the monstrous dog.

Behind him, other topiary beasts shook themselves and shed their leaves to become monstrous animals. Winged serpents, giant alligators, and raging hippos burst to life, their growls rumbling through the night.

“Oh, holy magic, we’re screwed,” I breathed.

Gold flashed at the corner of my eye, then a horrifying roar broke through the beasts’ growls. I whirled to face it.

Aidan was a griffon.

He was the one who had roared.

Damn, he was scary.

Aidan crouched low, then launched himself into the air. He roared at Cerberus again. Cerberus bowed his head low. It looked a hell of a lot like a gesture of respect. Cerberus then turned and ran, his giant strides eating up the ground. With a giant leap, he cleared the stone fence and disappeared into the night.

Something hard crashed into my shoulder and knocked me to the ground. Pain shot through my shoulder. An enormous stone werewolf loomed over me, his hunched back and giant wolfish head unmistakable. He wasn’t the real sort of werewolf shifter, but rather the fantasy kind. The extra-scary, monster kind.

He swiped out with his huge stone claws, and I rolled to escape, then scrambled to my feet. I grabbed my mallet and swung, hitting him in the shoulder.

Aidan’s roar rent the night again as half of the werewolf exploded. I swung again, aiming for the other side. My shoulder screamed in pain as my mallet crashed against stone, but the werewolf finally burst into a pile of rubble.

I glanced skyward. Aidan swept through the night, roaring at the topiaries as they shook themselves to life. They bowed immediately, then took off.

On either side of me, Nix and Del fought stone monsters that animated as soon as we crossed their pedestals. At least they all didn’t come to life at once.

As soon as the thought crossed my mind, the magic in the air swelled. It battered my senses, a hundred awful scents and tastes at once. Ahead of me, the remaining statues burst to life even though we weren’t anywhere near them.

“The magic is mutating!” I shouted. It was responding to our threat and changing to meet it.

“I hate smart magic,” Del grunted as she slammed her mallet into the side of a two-headed goat monster.

Maybe the thief hadn’t enchanted this island to remain hidden from mariners. Maybe the island had enchanted itself as the magic had aged.

Great.

The stone monsters charged us. I glanced skyward again. Aidan was still subduing the giant topiary beasts. If he stopped to help us, those monsters would come from behind and devour us.

It was up to the three of us to beat our way to the house. Nix and Del charged the stone monsters, swinging their mallets with precision. I joined them, trying to ignore the pain in my shoulder. Rocks exploded into the air as our blows landed.

By the time we’d destroyed the last stone monster, Del and Nix were both limping and my arm hung uselessly at my side.

“Oh, my ribs,” Del moaned. “Definitely cracked a few.”

She leaned against me as we waited for Aidan to finish demanding obedience from the giant beasts. Nix thumped to the ground and rubbed her calf.

“Those stone bastards packed a hell of a punch,” she muttered.