Emberhawk - Jamie Foley Page 0,34
sheathed his dagger and grabbed Kira’s wrist, yanking her closer to him. She fell into the hammock in an awkward splatter, and Ryon pulled her onto him so they wouldn’t both plummet to the ground.
Kira cried out and struggled. “What are you—”
“Quiet,” Ryon whispered. “D’hakka.” He scrambled on top of her and pulled at the Phoera element, rejecting the flows of light around them. Darkness blanketed them in a void. “I’m making us invisible.”
Her warmth squirmed under him. “Do you have to—”
“Shhh. Don’t move.”
The silence that followed reminded Ryon of how Kira might have interpreted what he’d just done. He pushed off the hammock to avoid smothering her, removing his weight and his touch wherever possible. “Sorry,” he whispered, trying not to think about her figure beneath him.
Kira shifted. “I thought you said your element would keep them away.”
Ryon’s breath faltered. Surely Felix hadn’t drained him so thoroughly . . . he’d never left Ryon with less syn than what he had naturally as an Emberhawk royal.
He reached out with his senses, trying to determine how much of the Phoera element remained in his blood.
He barely had enough to command the flows of the energy around them.
Bleed that stupid fox!
Ryon held his breath, listening intently for any sound besides the chattering insects. Maybe it didn’t matter. If he could maintain invisibility, perhaps the d’hakka would just search for a moment and forget about them.
But what had drawn it here in the first place?
Ryon remembered his shoulder, which screamed against the strain of holding himself over Kira. He smelled like blood. Like weakness.
Like prey.
Click, click, click.
Ryon cursed under his breath. His energy waned, slipping out of his control like silver sand through his fingers. Maybe I should save my energy so I can use fire—
Something slammed into his back, piercing through his leather armor like a scalpel. The impact swung the hammock sideways, throwing him off balance. Kira screamed as Ryon lost his grip and tumbled over the hammock’s edge and down to the forest below.
He hit the ground hard. Breath fled his lungs, leaving him in a stunned moment of shock before the pain registered. I’ve been stung!
Ryon pushed himself up from the pine needle mulch and wheezed, trying to orient himself. Which venom did it use? If it were poison, it would begin rotting his blood within seconds. If it were the sedative, he had only seconds to move.
Kira cried out above him. He looked up and found her face to face with an eight-eyed nightmare rearing its wicked tail back for another strike.
Ryon thrust his hand out, willing a branch near its face to burst into flame. But the darkness remained.
Kira threw something at the creature that plinked off its thick chitin armor and whirled into the night.
Click, click, click!
The d’hakka’s tail lashed out at Kira like a whip. She held the tree trunk behind her and dodged to another branch, missing the strike by a hair’s breadth.
The movement jostled the hammock, tilting Ryon’s machete sheath so the blade slipped out and fell. His quiver spilled likewise, scattering his arrows across the ground in a deadly volley. Ryon ducked, covering his head as his bow hit the earth not two feet from him.
He breathed a blessing to the creator as he scooped it up along with a fallen arrow. He nocked it and drew the string back out of habit. Blinding pain lanced through his shoulder and wavered his vision.
Aeo, help me!
He aimed at the d’hakka’s largest eyes that glinted like obsidian in the moonlight. The arrow sang from his string and struck true with a thud.
The d’hakka reared back with a shrill screech, swiping at the arrow with a long spidery limb. The arrow’s feathered end snapped off with a sickening crack.
Ryon dropped his bow and grabbed his machete. He bellowed a challenging roar. “Here, you ugly cockroach!”
The d’hakka switched its attention to him, rearranging its legs in every direction. Click click click!
Its hiss sent terror into Ryon’s bones. He brandished the machete and reached out for the Phoera element. It was nothing but a whisper in his blood.
The nightmare lurched at him like a ravenous hound. Its tail struck out like lightning.
Ryon dodged right, and the world blurred sideways. The stinger slammed into a tree behind him.
He raised his blade and sliced down on the tail with all his might. The machete slipped off the chitin plates as if they were oiled. He raised his weapon again as the creature struggled, placing forelimbs on the ground