Trial by Fae (Dragon's Gift The Dark Fae #1) - Linsey Hall Page 0,48
it began to rise up, revealing the roots. They twisted and turned through the ground, and as the tree rose, they formed holes and divots big enough that a person could climb in. One even looked like a tunnel. Magic billowed out from the earth.
We were supposed to go in there. There was no question.
As the tree rose up, so, too, did new creatures. Monsters formed of tree roots and dirt climbed out of the ground. Some had three legs, some had four. All were totally unrecognizable. Each had two eyes made of dark black gems, and they turned them toward us.
Shit.
I called upon my bow and arrow, though I had my doubts about their effectiveness.
The creatures roared and charged, at least a dozen of them. I fired three arrows in quick succession, aiming for the first dirt monster. The arrows slammed into the beast, but it kept running.
As I’d thought.
I stashed the weapon away and called upon a baseball bat. I rarely used it, but for close-range attacks against magical creatures that needed to be smashed into oblivion, it usually worked like a charm.
I charged the nearest one, raising the bat high. The monster ran on three legs made of twigs and dirt, its black gemstone eyes riveted to me. A mouth full of thorns gaped wide, and each brown point dripped with yellow liquid.
Some kind of toxin, probably.
I reached the monster and slammed my baseball bat against its head. The dirt and twigs blasted apart, flying everywhere. Toxin-tipped thorns flew through the air, crashing into the dirt. For good measure, I smacked my bat down onto the beast’s back, sending it into the ground.
As soon as it was down, I spun, looking for another. An even bigger one was nearly to me, its front claws made of thorns as long as my hand. I raised my bat and smashed it into the creature’s head, but it was going too fast.
As the head exploded, the rest of the body slammed into me, plowing me to the ground. Claws somehow managed to rake across me, and I screamed. The creature had buried me under a huge pile of dirt and twigs. Panic flared as I dropped the bat and scrambled up through the dirt and rocks that the monster had broken apart. I reached the surface and gasped for air, then climbed out.
To my left, Luna was battling her own monster, while the fire mage was unsuccessfully trying to fend off another. Tarron had taken out two. He was closer to the tree, both stronger and faster than the rest of us. He was definitely in the competition now, fighting for the prize just like we were.
But why?
There was no time to think about it. I needed my weapon if I was going to get to the tree.
The edge of my bat stuck out from the pile of wood and dirt that had once been the monster, and I grabbed it, then sprinted for the huge tree. Another beast came for me, but I was quicker this time, taking it out with two strikes.
I was nearly to the underground entrance when a shriek sounded from behind me.
I turned back to see the fire mage get his head bitten off by a huge dirt monster. The mage’s body dipped limply to the ground.
Yuck.
Near the tree, Tarron fought four beasts that had leapt up. He moved so fast and so powerfully that it was hard to keep track of him as he tore them apart.
I looked away, catching sight of two more monsters headed toward me. Shit. They were fast, and two was a problem. I readied my bat, heart thundering and muscles aching. The beasts hurtled closer, their enormous mouths gaping open to display mouths full of fangs. They were so close together that I wouldn’t be able to hit both at the same time.
At least one would reach me.
From out of nowhere, the thorn wolf appeared. He plowed into the closest beast, taking him down in a pile of woody limbs.
The other monster kept coming for me, and I raised my bat, slamming it into its face. I leapt out of the way as the body tumbled forward, then jumped over the carcass and sprinted for the entrance into the tree’s root system.
The thorn wolf took out any beast that approached me, and he was the only reason I managed to gain a lead against Tarron, who was fighting more monsters that had appeared.