Bound By Darkness Page 0,46
way?”
He shook his head. “It will be the most efficient—” A sharp shriek pierced the air, and smoothly pulling his sword free, he turned toward the sound. “Bloody hell.”
Jaelyn was flowing to his side, her gaze trained toward the woods. “Was that Levet?”
“Unfortunately.”
On cue the tiny demon charged across the meadow, his wings flapping and his short legs churning as he attempted to outrun the dark shapes that were following behind him.
“Something’s coming!” the gargoyle bellowed. “Something dead!”
The stench hit Ariyal at the same time Levet charged past them and headed down the dirt road. Shit. His gut twisted at the sight of the creatures who shambled forward with jerky motions.
Zombies.
At least a dozen of them.
The abominations were recently deceased mortals who had been reanimated by magic. They were nothing but mindless shells, which was why he hadn’t sensed them the moment they’d been called from their graves.
Unfortunately, they were also impervious to pain and nothing could stop them but fire or killing the magician who was controlling them.
He heard Jaelyn’s hiss of shock as she belatedly realized what was approaching.
“Friends of yours?” she muttered.
“I don’t have friends.”
Chapter 10
Jaelyn ignored Ariyal’s revealing words as she surveyed the nightmares that shuffled toward them.
Even in the world of demons the zombies were ... gross.
The moonlight starkly revealed their rotting flesh and the dirt that clung to the patches of the clothing that survived the climb out of their graves. Worse were their odd, jerky movements. As if they were ghastly marionettes being pulled by invisible strings.
“Where did they come from?” she rasped.
Ariyal shifted at her side, the sword held ready for battle.
“How would I know?”
“It’s your people who go around raising the dead.”
He snorted, his gaze never wavering from the approaching horde (or whatever it was you called a group of ambling zombies).
“I believe there are many who would claim your people are the grave robbers, vampire.”
She didn’t bother to dignify his accusation with a response. Mostly because he was right.
“Did Tearloch make those”—she grimaced, waving a hand toward the zombies—“creatures or not?”
He shook his head. “Sylvermyst can call upon the souls of those in the underworld. They don’t raise the dead.”
“And the difference?”
“Zombies are recently deceased bodies that have been animated by the magic of a necromancer.” His profile was hard with disgust as he swung his sword at the nearest attacker, slicing off its head with one smooth stroke. The body never faltered as it continued forward, the hands held out as it sought to grasp Ariyal. “They’re mindless weapons that have been forbidden since the beginning of time.”
Jaelyn took an instinctive step backward, firing her shotgun at a gray-haired grandma who clutched a shovel in her hands. The creature reeled backward but was swiftly replaced by another who lunged forward.
She danced backward, scowling as the hideous things began to circle them.
“So they can’t think for themselves?”
“No.” He kicked the nearest zombie, sending it flying halfway across the meadow. Not that it helped matters. Without hesitation, the creature was on its feet and shuffling back toward them with a stoic determination. One alone would be easy to chop into tiny pieces. But there were too many and with no visible means of actually killing them, the horde would eventually overwhelm their prey. Even if that prey did happen to be a powerful Sylvermyst and vampire. “They’re directed by the witch or wizard who animated them.”
She swiftly shot two more of the demons. “Sergei?”
“Doubtful.” Ariyal muttered a curse as a zombie darted from the side to hit him on the temple with a large rock. Blood ran down the side of his face as he turned to slice off the bastard’s head and kicked away the body. “The mage is an immoral snake, but his black magic is minor league. Only a true disciple of the Dark Lord could raise zombies.”
Her mind coldly clicked through their various options even as she reloaded her gun.
“Rafael?” she pressed, needing all the information she could gather.
“It should be impossible.” Ariyal ducked the clumsy fist directed at his chin. “But then I would have said a lot of things were impossible just a few weeks ago.”
Yeah, no crap.
She shuddered, the rancid odor of the zombies nearly overwhelming as they closed in.
“Can you keep them distracted?”
He shot her a suspicious frown. “Why?”
“I’m going on a witch hunt.”
“Dammit, Jaelyn ...”
Ignoring his protest, Jaelyn shoved the shotgun back in the holster and grasped the nearest zombie and used it as a battering ram to clear a path through