Page 187 of Huntress

Pulling one of her knives, Elsie shoved it between two of the demon’s armored plates to gain control of her footing. Each plate was covered in sharp bumps like hazardous sandpaper, giving traction to what appeared to be a slippery surface. She was more likely to accidentally shave a layer of skin off than fall.

The demon’s body lurched and rolled as the centipede searched for a solid target among the fragmented attacks coming from various angles. It took several seconds to orient herself, but once she did, Elsie took her first uncertain steps. The squads below raised a rowdy cheer when they spotted her, but she didn’t dare acknowledge them.

With traction, she gained momentum, and soon Elsie found her stride, running across the demon’s segmented body, Saint close behind her in his demon form.

“Squad six has joined us!” someone from Eight called out over the earpieces.

“Good! Six, get on the perimeter. All others, start pushing her back into the training grounds. We can’t let her get any further into the compound. If she breaks into the barn, we’re fucked,” Elsie ordered.

Instead of an answer over the comms, a resounding shout came from all directions. They’d heard and would carry out her orders.

From her vantage point, she saw everything. The squads executed her orders perfectly. Squad Two had already found three lengths of thick, heavy rope typically used for strength training the recruits with a higher fae blood content. It was a good start, but judging from the size of the beast and the sharp serration of her plates, it wouldn’t hold her long. If they timed their advance right, it might be long enough.

“Get under her,” the leader of squad three cut in once the clamor died down. “The joint attaching the legs to her body is the weak spot. Even if you can’t sever it, you can immobilize it!”

“Nice job, Captain,” Elsie praised. “Did you all hear that?”

Another cheer went up, and Elsie spotted Steve and Banks as they slipped under the demon’s belly. The centipede shrieked and writhed, but Elsie and Saint kept running until they were climbing. Using their daggers and claws like a mountain climber’s spikes, they made quick work of the nearly vertical trek.

“What do you think?” Elsie asked, pausing two segments below where the human part of the demon began. “Will we be able to sever her from the rest? Or at least take a crack at her spine?”

Saint shook his head, back in his human form so he could communicate. “The body is too thick, our swords would never be able to cut through.”

A scream of pain peeled through the air from below, but Elsie didn’t dare look to see which member of her squad it was. That scream sounded far too close to have come from any other squad. Her people would be okay; they had to be. Marley would make sure of it.

“Chantraine! The legs are growing back almost as quickly as we’re taking them off. We need new orders!” the squad leader of Three shouted.

“Nothing can ever be easy, can it?” Elsie complained. “Keep her busy for as long as you can, we’re going for her head.”

“Understood. Good luck, Commander.”

A series of well-wishes, prayers, and luck followed.

“Hey,” Saint called out, and she risked a glance over at him. “Use your magic to strengthen and sharpen your blades. We’re going to need it to pierce her skin.”

Elsie nodded once, then did as he suggested, pouring light magic into the metal itself, imbuing the sword with a strength no hunter-born blacksmith had ever attained. “Ready?”

His expression said he wasn’t, but Saint agreed. “I’ll follow you anywhere.”

Bracing her feet between two plates, Elsie prepared her assault, planning out every move in her mind, including counterattacks. There was no way the demon wouldn’t notice them once they were off the hard armor of her insect body.

“On three.”

She never got to one. Another shout came from below. Squad Two secured the first line. Their warriors had climbed onto the centipede and bolted the rope into the ground.

The demon twisted to face them, her horrid face contorted with rage as Squad Two’s leader ran forward, holding an explosive harpoon. He had to get enough distance from the first line for the second to make a difference.

While he was doing that, a pair of tanks rolled onto the field. Elsie huffed out a laugh. She’d asked them for a distraction, but this was genius. The demon’s body curled up like a snake about to strike, mandibles clicking almost as loud as the hundreds of legs stabbing into the ground.

“Fuck, hold on tight,” Saint warned, digging his daggers deeper between the plates.

The centipede unfurled, aiming straight at the man aiming the harpoon between the plates of her armor, at least fifty feet away from the first rope. Wind whipped at Elsie’s face, pulling her braid straight back and making her eyes water. She was still able to catch the moment the second squad’s captain pulled the trigger, blasting himself off his feet as the harpoon punched through her armor and pierced the muscle underneath. Two beats later, it exploded, chunks of flesh raining down on anyone unfortunate enough to be close enough.

The centipede shrieked in pain and rage, body thrashing violently. More screams erupted, this time from squad eight, near the tail end as they endured the worst of the lashing.

Squad Two worked quickly, securing the new straps and effectively immobilizing a fifty-foot section of the creature’s roughly four-hundred-foot-long body. As the demon streaked toward Squad Two’s captain, she flattened out, giving Elsie and Saint a better hold.

On their feet, they rushed forward as one, swords in hand, the centipede far too focused on attacking the man who’d hurt her to notice that she had company. Saint took aim at her back, where her heart would be if she were human, but Elsie wasn’t sure that would work. Insects often had their hearts and brains located in strange places.