“Here we go. Alex and I will lead, Liam you and Pamela stick close on our heels. Pamela don’t use any spells unless we’re in serious trouble. Got it?” Rylee pointed at each of them as she spoke.
He could feel Pamela bob her head. “Yes, I’ve got it.”
Rylee took the point position, Alex tight against her legs.
Liam adjusted his weight, tightening his hands on Pamela’s jean-clad legs. “Ready?” He asked over his shoulder.
“Yes.”
Much as he hated to admit Rylee was right, there was no other way. The castle was on open ground, without a single twig or rock to hide behind. They were just going to have to run like hell and hope that they could at least make it past the giant.
Rylee broke from cover at full speed, Alex all but glued to her side. With a few long strides, Liam had caught up to Rylee and Alex. Pamela’s fingers gripped his shoulders. “They’ve seen us already.”
Damn, this was about to get ugly. He lifted his eyes to the battlements.
The creatures roaming the castle howled and cheered, as they pointed at the foursome. Worse, the creatures pelted the sleeping giant with large rocks, bringing him to life.
The giant gave a low rumble and rolled from his side to his belly, shaking the earth. Rylee pushed harder, picked up speed, but he knew it wouldn’t be enough. Alex let out a yelp as the first arrow hit the ground right in front of him, far too close for comfort.
“Pamela,” Rylee called out and Pamela took her hands from Liam’s shoulders.
His spine itched as she called up a spell, and the wolf in him rolled upward, struggling to take control. A snarl escaped his lips and the first tingle of a shift crawled along his spine.
Let me out.
His breath came in a hard gasp as he fought the wolf for control.
A fireball flew from Pamela’s fingers and slammed into the first row of creatures along the top of the castle walkway. Bodies exploded, some landing on the giant who was only just now getting to his knees. The bodies that rained down on him didn’t seem to faze him. No, he reached down and grabbed half of a body from the ground and put it in his mouth, broken teeth digging into the still-twitching creature. The sound of his chewing was audible, even a half mile away, the snap of bones echoing across the open expanse of ground. The wolf in him retreated. If they were going to survive this, they would have to work together.
With Pamela.
The giant continued to pick at the bodies strewn about his feet, not yet seeing Rylee and Alex as they sprinted closer. Another volley of arrows came their way, and Alex let out another yelp, this one legitimate. A red-fletched arrow protruded from his shoulder, blood dripping from the feathers. Without breaking stride, Rylee reached down and yanked it out. Alex yipped and Liam growled at him. Right now they had to get past the damn giant; once they did that, Alex could whine all he wanted.
Pamela threw another couple of fireballs, which did two things. One, it took out another huge grouping of the creatures that by now were clearly visible—yet still unrecognizable—on the castle ramparts.
Two, her fireballs had drawn the attention of the giant.
Towering over them, he turned and gave out a gleeful cheer, clapping his hands together and stamping his feet as he saw them.
A garble of words poured from his mouth, along with a stream of saliva as he bent at the waist and scooped Rylee and Alex up in one big, dirty hand.
Liam skidded to a stop, his heart pounding out of control. This was not happening, he couldn’t lose her now.
“RYLEE!”
Liam screamed my name as the giant’s hand closed around us. Ignoring Liam was hard, but I had to. I had to focus. Before the log-sized fingers curled tight on me, I yanked my swords free and slashed upward with them, cutting through the giant’s fingers. Two fell off; two others were left hanging by tendons and ligaments, blood spurting out around us.
Squealing like a two-story stuck pig, the giant dropped us. Falling, I realized—belatedly—that we were a hell of a lot higher up than I’d thought. I hit the ground with a solid thud, and the crack of my ribs filled my ears as I slammed into a barely protruding rock. That was going to leave a mark. Alex rolled across the ground beside me, snarling up at the giant.
“Stinky nasty bugger. No touching Ryleeeeeeeee!”
Hands jerked me to my feet. “Rylee?” Liam was trying to help; I know he was. But I couldn’t breathe, and pain shot through my middle, a band of red-hot knives jabbing into me with each tiny bit of movement. I forced myself to shove him away, to stand on my own. If he knew how badly I was hurt, he’d try to carry me too.#p#分页标题#e#
“Go. We have to go,” I managed to gasp out.
Far too slowly for my taste, Liam led now, Alex limped along beside me, and somewhere in the next ten steps I found the ability to breathe again. Broken ribs were a bitch at any time, but when trying to outrun a massively hungry and fingerless peeved giant—well, let’s just say I could have done without.