We need to anticipate where the energy will hit the ground, but as all of the bright strikes spear downward at an equal speed, my fear grows.
Other than the time Thaden appeared, there has only ever been one monster at a time. Sure, they might be as close as a day apart, but there were never two in a single day.
This time already feels different.
Blackbird must have risen from the ash earlier and found me.
Another monster is already about to rise.
But if more than one beast forms…
My eyes widen when the already splintered streaks of lightning split again.
There are now so many possible strikes that I can’t count them all.
I hold my breath, waiting for one of them to hit the ground.
And then…
None of them do.
Every strike stops midair, snapping at nothing before vanishing.
The rain also stops.
A sudden, heavy silence settles around us. Blood-rain drips from my hair and down the back of my neck. If there wasn’t a little slit in the bottom of my scabbard, my hammer would be swimming in blood.
Confusion fills me as my gaze flies across our surroundings, and I try to understand what has happened.
Then, from within the silence comes the sound of wings.
I draw a sharp breath.
Oh. No.
Fear is like lava sizzling through my body as I realize I’m looking in the wrong direction.
I tilt my head backward, sensing Erik do the same.
Up.
I look up.
To the swarm of flying beasts descending from the clouds.
Chapter 23
There are too many of them.
So many that my heart plummets and panic threatens to choke me.
I thought I knew what I’d encounter: a monster that I could fight on the ground.
I never expected a swarm of airborne beasts that seems to be growing in number with every passing second.
Already, I count more than thirty, and still, the clouds writhe with more.
All of them resemble birds in some way, although none of them look like Blackbird, and none appear to create lightning within its body like he does. It’s a small relief that none of them appear to be a thunderbird like him, but that’s where my relief stops.
