Hunted(36)

Ryon snapped his head forward in a brutal blow, catching the creature on his snout and busting it open. Blood gushed, bones crunched, broken. The grip on him loosened—just what he needed—and Ryon sprang for his dropped sword.

Lyle, never particularly good at swordplay, raised two silver pistols, decorated in gilded gold and designed just for the hands of the king. They were loaded with silver bullets, the highest level of protection one could carry.

Two gunshots blasted, loud and ricocheting in the quiet woods.

Ka-Pow! Ka-Pow!

The other Avagarian dropped in a heap, two silver bullets ripping through it from rib to spine. Twitching, howling, with bloody foam spewing from its mouth; then, stillness.

Ryon finally reached his sword handle, latching on right-handed, not his strong arm. But that didn’t stop him, only slowed him down.

As he wrapped his palm around the familiar leather handle, the Ava bucked beneath him tossing him off sending Ryon through the air like a catapult. The sword loosened from his hand for the second time. Damn! Panic struck, and at the last moment, he fisted his hand around the blade. Then he crashed into a tree, knocking the wind clean out of him. His bullet wound, which he’d ordered his body to ignore, flared violently, making him spasm in pain. He needed to dig down and push past the pain.

Panting, he stood, wobbled unsteadily then caught himself. Sweat poured from his body sticking his clothes to his body like a wet glove. His vision blurred, but he blinked and realized it was only sweat on his eyelashes. He swatted it away.

Lyle was reloading his pistol. It held two rounds. The creature on Penelope had stood and was coming toward him. Ryon noticed it was a female. It wasn’t every day you saw a female Ava. Usually they kept their females protected back home.

The female Avagarian blocked the sight of Pen from him. She had better be alive.

“Kekekekekekekekek.” The threat rolled and crackled in the back of the beast’s throat.

The beast lunged, its heavy paw covered in black, bent talons. It made to scratch his face off, but Ryon ducked to the left and sent a brutal front kick into its abdomen. The Ava was shoved back but only a mere foot of space. It was too strong, even the female form, for him to fight hand to hand and possibly win.

Its glowing eyes tracked him, blubbery lips flapping in the wind while it growled.

The beast surprised them all. Its great, hulking head turned toward Lyle for the first time—recognition flashing in its eyes.

This creature knew Lyle.

He didn’t have time to question. Taking the beast’s surprise to advantage, Ryon deftly lunged to retrieve his sword from the dead carcass he’d shoved it into.

The female Ava spotted the move which snapped her out of her stupor. She jumped too fast for him to react and swung her great big paw against the side of his head. Or so she attempted to.

“Drop down! Now!”

Ryon dropped and the Ava’s arm swiped where his skull had been.

If not for Lyle’s shout, he might have had his head taken clear off.

Gunshots fired.

They missed the mark.

The Ava reeled in panic and darted into the forest.

“It’s going to run!” Ryon shouted, fury driving him. It couldn’t get away, not after what it did to Penelope.

The Ava picked up speed; they were so fast, too fast to catch by foot. She made it twenty feet away as Lyle lined up the shot. Carefully, calmly.

He fired. The final explosive blast echoed thrice before fading.

The bullet ripped through the creature’s back. A cry sounded, then it toppled to the earth, its great body trembling and bloody foam spewing from its mouth.

What happened next took them all surprise.

The creature slowly started reverting back to its human form. Ryon had only ever seen the Avagarians transform into their natural form, not out of it. He’d heard that a dying Ava would naturally morph into its lesser form for easier healing.

The creature’s human limbs became apparent: long tresses of brunette hair, caked with blood, grime and mud, could not hide the woman’s identity.

Lyle dropped the gun to his side, his face a picture of shock. “Lysse?” The gun dropped to the dirt. “I can’t believe it. An Ava?”

Ryon left Lyle to deal with the devastating news about his mistress. He had bigger problems to worry about.

Ryon dropped to his knees to check on Penelope.

Lyle spoke as if to himself in a daze. “She’s an Ava.” His surprised voice said it all. “She’s the mole. Who knows what she’s told them. She helped to plan their attack on us. Lysse…”

The guards finally caught up to them. They began ensuring those who were dead were truly deceased, and checked on Penelope.

Ryon was still stunned at what he found with Penelope.