Page 49 of Huntress

That little hand, devoid of color, stamped itself into Elsie’s mind. She didn’t want it to be real. Better to convince herself that it was a rubbery fake than face the fact that she was already too late. The overwhelming scent of iron and copper coming from inside made it all too real.

The cave was dark, except for a large pair of bright red eyes peering out at them. Elsie’s fingers curled around her dagger as she pulled it out, the curved blade glinting in the sunlight.

She launched herself into the rat’s feeding grounds, but before she reached the bastard, it disappeared into the dark. She had better night vision compared to most hunters, but she couldn’t see in a pitch-black pit like the demons.

That didn’t mean she would retreat. The stench of these creatures slapped her in the face and made her gag, but when she focused, she heard the rat’s breathing. And the sloppy wet smacks of an animal eating. There was a sharp crack! and then the faintest whimper that broke Elsie’s heart.

Holding up her palm, she formed a ball of glowing light. Tossing her magic into the air, it broke into six smaller balls, each darting off in a different direction to light the cave. She had just a second to catch the look of dismay on Mutt’s face before it morphed into pure fury.

Hunched over the ghastly pile of bones were the rats. One of the creatures sat crouched on all fours, picking at the remains of the girl’s body. The rat’s face and hands were covered in blood, and when it saw Elsie coming, it gave a bone-chilling shriek, showing a row of sharp, pointed teeth.

“Oh, Gods,” Elsie breathed.

She’d thought she was prepared. Of course she’d heard of rat demons. Studied them in books. Logically, she’d known these creatures would be difficult to take on, but reading about a beast that stood at six feet tall while still on all fours and experiencing it in person was a whole different horror.

They had loose gray skin, covered in a patchwork of sparse, greasy hair. Their extremities were bare, including elongated faces with distorted features. Instead of the sharp front incisors of a regular rodent, each and every inch of their mouths were lined with razor-sharp teeth, dripping with an acidic venom. The tails stretched at least six feet long and ended in barbs dripping with more acid.

Their fingers looked long and fragile, each tipped with nasty claws. Even the backs of their legs were protected by wicked-looking spurs. Their magic put them at a middle-class level, but their bodies bumped them up a rank in Elsie’s estimation.

The demon closest to the entrance gave Mutt an incredulous look before launching itself at Elsie. She dodged to the side, letting the creature’s momentum carry it forward while she pivoted and slammed both of her daggers deep into its hip. She tried yanking them back out, but the hilts caught on folds in the creature’s skin.

The demon shrieked with rage, turning in place and pulling the daggers out of her grasp. It snapped at her, nearly taking off her arm. Elsie kept her movements minimal and contained, focusing on learning how the demons moved and fought. She needed a plan, but their strange anatomy kept throwing her off. The frame of their body moved first, and their skin followed after.

Retrieving her weapons would have to happen when opportunity struck. For now, she had to figure out how to kill these things with her bare fucking hands.

It lunged at her and Elsie ducked out of the way, snatching up the cracked rib bone of some unfortunate creature. It was a poor weapon against one of the monsters who’d broken it in the first place, but if she had to improvise, a poor weapon was better than nothing.

A second rat joined the fight, slinking closer, a morbid grin on its drawn-back lips. She adjusted her grip on the bone in her hands while searching the rat’s body for soft spots, weaknesses, and anything else she could potentially use against them.

“Don’t tell me you can’t beat them, mistress. They’re so weak they can’t even take human form,” Mutt taunted, drawing their attention his way.

The rats hissed in unison, two of them slinking in his direction, but the wolfhound remained completely relaxed. In spite of the provocation, he had no intention of fighting. He’d just wanted to needle Elsie for her shortcomings.

“Weak?” one of the rats hissed, the word coming out a distorted mess around all those teeth.

The glow in Mutt’s eyes took on a hellish red, and he bared his fangs in a savage smile. “You don’t want to bring this fight to me.”

For the first time, Elsie appreciated how much he held back when he threatened her. All softness and personality had left his face, leaving nothing behind but a cold demon ready to eviscerate the enemies in front of him. For the first time, it really hit her. Mutt was capable of great violence.

The rats realized it too, and they hesitated, holding perfectly still for two full seconds. Elsie took advantage of the distraction. Rushing toward the nearest rat, she brought the rib bone down on the fleshy part of its side. It sank in, leaving a bruise but nothing more. It wasn’t sharp enough to break the skin.

The rat whipped its head around, jaws snapping dangerously close to her face. She backpedaled in time to avoid damage, but the stench of rotting flesh stuck between the demon’s teeth made her stomach lurch.

The rat attacked again, slashing out with its claws. Those long fingers may have looked fragile, but their skin was tight with muscle and sinew.

She launched into a back bend, her hands hitting the ground. Taking aim at a massive pair of vulnerable balls, she kicked upward, smashing one foot into his most sensitive flesh, then the next into his stomach, allowing her to push off of the creature and out of the way.

The rat shrieked with rage and pain, but it didn’t stop. His tail whipped in her direction, and she barely managed to avoid the venom-coated barb as it breezed past her face. On the way back, one edge of that barb sliced through the tough leather of her top; the sizzle of acid blistered the exposed skin underneath.

“Fuck,” she hissed, but she couldn’t dwell on it. All four of them came for her at once, and true to his word, her demon stood to the side, observing. This wasn’t his fight.

Claws swung at her again and again. She dodged, parried, caught blows on her forearms, and kept her mind moving as fast as her body. One of the barbs cut across her cheek, and Elsie grunted at the blossom of pain, but she didn’t recoil. Her mind seized on what she could use from what she’d just learned.

As the tail slid past, Elsie grabbed it with both hands. It would be sharp enough to pierce the rolls of that strangely thick hide. Turning the barb against its owner, she stabbed the rat through the chest. Hot blood spurted across Elsie’s face, and the rat screeched with pain, stumbling a few steps back before faltering. One of the others collapsed on the ground next to her, crying out in anguish.

“Bitch,” the male she’d kicked moments earlier spat out.

In their rage, they came at her with even more ruthlessness. They learned fast, and now those deadly tails moved far too quickly for her to grab again. A barb ripped through the leather covering her stomach. This time, a thin line cut through her skin. The blisters were instantaneous, and the venom burned through her insides.