A steady stream of fire burst from Dax’s mouth directed at the carcasses already dead on the forest floor, incinerating them instantly. Just the seconds it took to remove the bodies, ensuring Nera couldn’t find a way to use them again, was all it took for Dax to be in trouble, with hellhounds and scorpions targeting him, rushing him fast, even as he rose above them.
He was fire, and the demons were attracted to fire. His burnished skin glowed, and little gold and red flecks of glittering ash floated in the air around him. Sandu raced to protect him, actually wading through the bodies of the hellhounds to get to the Carpathian. He was coated in hyssop oil, and he used his arrows, stabbing into eyes as the beasts turned their slavering jaws toward him. He disappeared into mist, only to reappear a half a second later to stab another one in the eye to edge closer to the fire-breathing Carpathian. If he brushed up against the fur, the oil protected him, and the beast howled as if it burned him, veering away, giving Sandu that split second to drive his arrow deep into the creature’s eye as he rushed past.
Two scorpions turned toward Adalasia while they attacked Danutdaxton with their stabbing tails. They spit venom at her as she came toward them, daring her to approach closer. She stood just out of their range, studying the pattern they set. One sprayed, releasing a stream of venom, while the other held back, and then they traded. She came in on one at an angle, using the shield to prevent him from getting the venom on her and swinging the sword at the same time. The blade sliced cleanly through the scorpion’s neck. Adalasia leapt back and rushed around the writhing body to attack the blindly stabbing tail, removing it before it could hit Dax or anyone else.
The companion scorpion scuttled around quickly to try to face the newer threat, its red eyes staring malevolently at her, spewing venom as the tail lashed wickedly. The hellhounds burst through the trees, coming from all directions, abandoning their attempts to try to get to Sandu or one of the other Carpathians.
Adalasia ignored the hellhounds, slamming her sword into the scabbard at her waist and the shield onto the hook. The demon hounds were the concern of the Carpathians. Her priority was the scorpions. She leapt for the tree branch overhead, caught it, crouching there for one second to once more take up her sword and shield before leaping onto the scorpion’s back. She had to time her slice of the blade perfectly. There could be no mistake, or she would pay with her life.
The tail was cut through, the venom sac and stinger flying through the air as she turned to the head and made a quick clean stroke, separating the head from the body. The scorpion’s entire frame, as she cut off the head, shuddered violently before crashing to the ground, catapulting her forward. She somersaulted when she hit the ground, still hanging on to her sword and shield, going under the belly of a hellhound. She came up between two hounds. The stench was unbelievable; so foul and toxic, just inhaling it made her feel dizzy and sick.
Get out of there. Over your head. Dissolve now.
Sandu held the mist in her mind, and he all but yanked her into the air and changed her physical form. Her weapons left a trail of colorful light in the cloudy fog, giving her location away to the beasts below. It didn’t matter to the Carpathians protecting her. They also had dissolved into mist, thickening the vapor through the trees, suddenly coming back to their physical form to shoot arrows into the hellhounds’ eyes and then dissolving again.
I’m ready, Adalasia affirmed. She’d taken in enough fresh air to dispel the rotten stench the hellhounds gave off. We can’t wait too long. I have to get rid of the last three scorpions before Nera can unleash anything else.
She felt Sandu’s reluctance. Not only Sandu’s reluctance but that of all the Carpathian males. The concentrated, extremely powerful disapproval was in her mind. The guardians—and Danutdaxton—were not happy with Sandu that he had allowed his lifemate to be in such danger. She hated that for him, that they didn’t see how magnificent and courageous he was to go against centuries of tradition and have faith in their partnership when they hadn’t been together that long.
She didn’t wait; she flooded his mind with overwhelming love, words she couldn’t say, but a feeling she could give him, and then she spotted a particularly large and aggressive scorpion tracking the red and gold flecks falling through the clouds. The gigantic demonic creature scuttled through the forest, rounding the trees, forcing the hellhounds to get out of its way, at one point even spraying venom at a hellhound to move it.
This huge scorpion had eight eyes glowing brightly on the surface of its prosoma. She knew, in spite of having so many eyes, most scorpions used their bodies to see, not their eyes, as they had poor eyesight. She couldn’t count on that. If this scorpion could see those little gold and red flecks like a beacon, she had to believe those eyes were seeing accurately.