My stomach pitched, but I didn’t have time to worry about her. Two more heccanids were skittering toward me, anddamn, they were fast.
The snow and ice didn’t impede their progress. If anything, they seemed to gain speed from the slick terrain — using it to propel their bodies down the wall.
As the creatures advanced, my gaze homed in on their round, bulbous heads and their horrible maws dusted with long, thin hairs. The nearest one clicked its pincers as if to indicate they should target me, the other responding with three rhythmic chirps.
Shit.
The heccanid lunged, shooting forward faster than I’d anticipated. I thrust my sword up, but the creature’s momentum sent me sailing backward.
I hit the snow on my rear, scrambling back to keep outof reach of those horrible pincers as I hacked again with my blade.
The creature squealed and danced up on its hind legs, one of its forelegs spewing that thick, yellowish slime.
Blood.
A small measure of satisfaction trickled through me when I saw that I’d severed its leg above the claw.
Pressing my advantage, I made another wild slash with my sword, but the beast danced out of reach just as the other galloped forward.
Bracing an arm under me, I surged to my feet at the same moment the second heccanid attacked. This time, I thrust my sword up — aiming for its bulbous underbelly. My blade sank in a few inches, and the monster shrieked and scampered back, taking my weapon with it.
Cursing, I drew one of my daggers just as the first beast I’d wounded came skittering around for another attack.
I gasped as its pincers swung toward my face, but then a blade cleaved through the air, and the creature let out a high-pitched death cry.
I looked up in time to find Adriel glowering down at me, the decapitated head of the heccanid at his feet. The thing was still flailing wildly, though it could no longer see or pierce us with its sharp pincers.
Guilt stabbed at my insides. If I hadn’t insisted that we treat the gnome more humanely, the heccanids might not even have noticed our presence. But I couldn’t think about that now.
I lunged toward the heccanid I’d pierced through the abdomen, swinging my other sword in an attempt to decapitate the monster. It whirled out of reach, but the royal guard stabbed at it from behind.
Another horrible screech, and the thing retreated, though one of its companions advanced with an incensed hiss.
The royal guard and I attacked in tandem, his strikes sure and efficient as I hacked and slashed wildly with mine. This was not the lethal dance I’d trained for. Unlike vampires or even demons, the heccanids’ movements were erratic. Unpredictable. And I was out of control.
Thick yellow blood sprayed the snow, and my ears itched with that awful clicking sound. But then Adriel brought his blade down in a brutal stabbing motion, and the heccanid’s muffled death cry told me he’d pierced its skull.
Wiping sweat and gore from my brow, I turned to face the small army of monsters that Kaden and Sorsha were fighting back-to-back.
We stormed toward them to join the fray, but there were too many. Each time one of us managed to sever a limb or decapitate a beast, another seemed to take its place. Putrid blood sprayed, slicking the hilt of my sword and soaking the hair that had tumbled loose from my braid.
I could feel my muscles growing fatigued. Feel my grip slipping on my sword. My movements were becoming slow and uncoordinated, each slash of my blade weaker than the last.
One of the heccanids fell before me, and another of the horrible things launched itself over the flailing, furry corpse — pincers outstretched and legs splayed.
It struck with unfathomable force, knocking me flat on my back and sending my sword sliding across the ice. I couldn’t breathe. The heccanid was too heavy, and it was crushing my chest.
As those horrible pincers clicked, extending toward my throat, I knew I was going to die.
Chapter
Twenty
LYRA
Fighting for breath, I searched frantically for a place to aim my dagger. But I knew I wouldn’t land a killing blow before the thing ripped me in two.
Long, coarse hairs pricked at my exposed skin, and I fought back a shudder as I stared into its milky gray eyes.
