Bloodflowers Bloom (The Astral Wanderer Book 2), D'Artagnan Rey [essential reading .txt] 📗

the edges were jagged and the form twisted. Something was visible inside. “Wulfsun, what is that?!” he asked and pointed below. “Something is in there. Is that normal?”

“Ah, hells!” The Templar growled and thumped his gauntlets together. “There should be more of the magic pouring through. I had hoped it was dying down but something is blocking it. Something is coming through.”

“And what is that?” Farah demanded.

They did not have to wait long to find out. A large hand was the first thing to emerge from the rift. It pushed against it as if it was some kind of muck and the earth simply wrapped around it. A second arm followed, then pointed horns on a head with no clean features. The being was the ebon shade of the portal.

Finally, the creature uttered a snarl and bellowed as it forced the rest of itself through. Jazai fell and placed his hands on the ground, and an earthen wall arose around them. Wulfsun added his barrier to it. A burst of magic was unleashed that shattered the wall and hurled them into the fields.

Devol landed and tumbled for a few moments before he turned and froze when a stream of purple lightning seared toward him. Asla leapt forward, snatched the back of his jacket, and flung them both away from the deadly assault. Remnants of the energy crackled on the soil and shifted between shades of purple and blue. He stared at it, both mesmerized and unnerved, before he moved his hand cautiously closer to it. Even without touching it, he knew there was something wrong about it. It burned, but when he jerked his hand back and ran the other one over it, his palm felt chilled.

The swordsman stood, shook the pain off, and helped Asla up. “Thanks for that,” he said gratefully as they ran to the clearing. Wulfsun and Farah were already there and Jazai blinked in behind them. As they gazed at the being, the darkness faded and was replaced by a dark-blue skin. White eyes formed with slits for irises.

What had first appeared to be a pair of horns were two—one pair that pointed to the sky and one each on either side that curved around its head. A vertical mouth had rectangular husks around its lips that peeled back to reveal long, spear-like teeth. It stood on four legs and two long, spindly arms were coated in the abyssal energy it had fired at them and that traced through its chest and up to its shoulders.

The odd eyes finally cleared and it lowered its head and focused on the group. Devol could see nothing that might indicate fury, confusion, glee, or anything of that nature. This being seemed to be as mindless as the beast he and Wulfsun had slain but he was not sure if he could even read the emotions of this one. It arched its back and stretched its legs and standing at full height, it was at least ten feet tall. As they stared at it in stupefaction, it leaned away from the group and several small holes beneath its eyes flared. Was it smelling them? Could these abyssal creatures even do that?

Finally, it uttered a gurgled hiss, snapped its mouth closed, and extended both arms. Wulfsun and Farah were the first to react. The Templar battered the large hand away with a solid punch while Farah sliced through the other arm. Her light magic drew another hiss from the creature. It stepped back and its large legs shook the ground when it stumbled.

“I don’t know if you guys are standing around thinking of a clever plan!” Wulfsun shouted at Devol and his friends. “But now isn’t the time for that. Kill this bastard!” He condensed his mana into one of his gauntlets and released a blast. The demonic creature swiped a hand and a surge of abyssal magic swallowed the attack. The man cursed as he prepared to charge before the demon leaned forward, planted its hands on the ground, and shrieked at the group.

Asla curled into a ball to block the sound and it almost deafened Devol. He looked at Jazai, who tried to fire a spell from one of his rings, but whatever it was simply vanished before it could form properly. The Templar stood tall, pounded his hands together, and released a large blast of mana that seemed to counter the demon’s wail. He then responded with a roar of his own as he lunged forward and struck it in the chest with sufficient force to thrust it back by several feet.

The young diviner was finally able to fire a volley of mana bolts that pierced the creature as it tried to reengage. Asla shook her head and staggered to her feet but seemed to have recovered. Devol drew Achroma and joined Farah and they both raced toward the demon and struck. This turned out to be quite effective, as each of their attacks claimed one of its arms. The limb he’d severed began to disintegrate, only for the remnants of the magic to streak past him and back onto the demon. Farah’s did the same and they shook their heads in disbelief as the creature’s arms grew back. It turned toward them and lightning formed in its hands.

As Wulfsun ran forward for another blow, the being lifted its two back legs and kicked at him. The Templar caught the legs but was dragged to the ground. The demon fired a large chain of lightning at Devol and Farah. She drove her blade into the earth and erected a shield in front of them. The lightning bounced off and struck the soil around them, which erupted in geysers of the abyssal magic.

Asla had finally recovered enough to join the brawl. She bounded high and dove toward the demon’s head with her claws extended. It evaded her but she was able to use her majestic to tear a chunk out of its neck and shoulder, which quickly reformed