When Lily Kline takes possession of a Gothic estate with Ian Hawke, her co-heir and a stranger, she soon realizes there is more than meets the eye within the many corridors of the sequestered mansion.
Ian is aloof and even hostile at times, and thou...
Callamous reached Morack first and dodged his swinging jaws, galloping beneath him and ramming his horn up into the underbelly over and over again, but Morack's armor-like plating was tightly-knit and there was no time for precision in aim. He galloped out the other end but just as he thought he'd cleared the beast, searing pain tore through his hindquarters as Morack's maw clamped down on him. He hadn't realized the beast would be so fast and flexible.
In the next second he was flying through the air a hundred feet above the battle-gored ground.
He began to fall.
Morack's jaws were wide open below, waiting to swallow him whole. There was no escape. He closed his eyes as the jaws clamped down, impaling him. The beast shook him to and fro and spat him out.
Callamous crashed into the trunk of a tree and slid to the ground.
With a final glimpse of Ian taking a swing with his sword at one of the centipede legs, darkness closed in on him.
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Enraged by the mauling of his friend, Ian swung his sword with all his might, severing the leg in one fell swoop.
Morack snarled and turned to face him.
Knowing he had mere seconds, Ian focused his energy on his palm and a sparking ball of light formed in front of his outstretched fingers. When it reached the size of a basketball he pulled his arm back and thrust it forward, sending the glowing ball of energy hurtling toward Morack's open jaws.
The beast had no time to react and the orb hit him square in the face with an explosion of energy and light, tearing his head clean off.
Morack's body twitched spasmodically and his dozens of legs tried to walk in every direction at once before he finally collapsed.
Ian fell to his knees and let out a lung-full of air. He inhaled deeply, staring ahead at the unmoving, headless body.
Morack was dead.
He stood to his feet and a chill ran up his spine.
The shreds of skin hanging where Morack's face had been began jiggling and knitting themselves back together. The nearby severed leg twitched and then skittered across the ground, reattaching itself to the stub.
Ian's heart faltered.
He'd always believed Morack could be killed if a death blow was received too quickly for healing to occur. But evidently even decapitation was no match for his father.
Morack stood up on his dozens of centipede legs and roared. He then bristled and quivered all over like a wet dog shaking off water, and focused his jade eyes on Ian.
He lunged.
Ian dove to the side and grabbed onto one of the legs—clinging to it.
The beast howled in rage, twisting his body around and snapping at him with the lamprey teeth. Ian scrambled up the leg and went underneath, grabbing hold of an armored plate and hanging upside down from Morack's belly. Sweat dripped from his forehead and his muscles bulged as he dug his fingers and boot tips under the plates to keep from falling.
Morack curled his head in and under his belly to try and swallow up Ian, but he couldn't reach.
Supporting himself with only one hand, Ian pulled his sword from his belt and drove it into the soft flesh between the plates.
He cut and slashed everywhere he could, digging deep, hoping to perforate an organ. Morack writhed and squirmed. Ian let go and dropped to the ground, rolling out of the way as the beast tried to impale him with his many legs. Rancid heat bathed his neck and he spun around to meet Morack's wide open maw coming toward him. It let out a roar, sending globs of spittle all over him; and would have swallowed him whole if Varkis hadn't appeared and rammed the jade eye with a sharp stick.
Ian yanked Varkis away from the beast as it shook its head to dislodge the stick. The Anubis' ear was half torn and his bottom jaw hung at an odd angle, clearly broken. Blood dripped from between his canine teeth and his eyes were glazed and dim, but he gave a nod and indicated a plan.
Catching the cue instantly, Ian ran to Morack's side while Varkis started jumping up and down, distracting the beast who couldn't seem to decide who to attack first. Deftly grabbing a leg, Ian scooted up to Morack's back and crawled on his hands and knees, gripping the armor to keep from sliding off. He reached the neck and withdrew his sword, preparing to drive it into the back of the beast's skull between the plates and into his brain. If he could effectively leave the sword in place, Morack would be prevented from healing.
As if sensing his plan, Morack tucked in all the legs on his left side and rolled over. Ian was dislodged and flew through the air, flailing his arms and legs, sword slipping from his fingers.
With a thwack and a crunch his body collided with stone wall of a turret, snapping his back. He fell to the ground paralyzed.
Morack was only thirty feet away and quickly approaching.
Ian lay watching; helpless.
Varkis yelled and jumped and beat the ground to no avail: Morack was ignoring him now.
A prickling sensation engulfed Ian's legs and the bones in his back crackled as they fitted themselves back together. The sword lay only a meter away.
He snatched it just as the beast lunged, and turned and jumped up, grabbing hold of Morack's lower jaw with his left hand and swinging from it—just barely missing being impaled by the row of teeth. The beast tossed its head to shake him off and Ian let go deliberately, dropping down on Morack's back and gripping the plates with one hand to steady himself, while tucking in his sword with the other. He then scurried up to the head, withdrew the sword afresh, and rammed it between the plates—skewering Morack's brain.
Morack gasped and collapsed to the ground.
But there was no time to rejoice.
The jade eyes snapped open again and the beast rose to its feet, lifting Ian into the air with him.
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