My heart pounded out a drumbeat against my ribs. “Kobal—”
I didn’t get a chance to finish my question before he spun toward me. He wrapped his arms around me seconds before something launched itself out of the water. Kobal jerked against me, and we were both shoved roughly forward. The boat listed precariously to the side, nearly tipping over. Leaning back, Kobal planted his foot on the other side of the boat and pushed it down before we were all dumped into the water.
“Are you okay?” I demanded of him. I tried to twist in his arms to see what was going on when the coppery scent of blood filled my nostrils.His blood.
Fury at anything injuring him caused fire to dance across my fingertips, and Kobal’s flames emerged to circle his wrists. The boat rocked as the weight within it shifted, but I still couldn’t see around Kobal as he kept his body enfolded protectively over mine.
“Corson!” Kobal barked.
“It went down before we could get it,” Corson replied.
“Get us to shore, Carion, now!” Kobal commanded.
“Are you okay?” I demanded again.
“I’m fine, Mah Kush-la, do not worry. What was it?” he asked the others.
“Lower-level demon,” Bale replied.
“In the Asharún?” Magnus asked, his tone disbelieving.
“They know the World Walker is here,” Lix said.
Another loud rattle sounded from somewhere beyond the cavern. Kobal lifted me up and spun me around as a demon came out of the water behind us. More fire flared around Kobal and lashed out of his back in a protective wave. The demon screamed, and Kobal’s low growl resonated in my ear. Moving to the side, I twisted away from him enough to see the scorched demon falling into the water as another creature loomed out of it.
“Kobal!” I shouted at the same time he turned and launched a punch.
The creature’s nose flattened and its cheek caved in from the force of the blow. Blood oozed from its mouth before it spit out its teeth. I recognized it as a lower-level demon because of its animalistic features seconds before Kobal clutched its head and snapped it to the side.
The demon’s body went limp, but its eyes still rolled in its head. Kobal continued to twist its head to the side until he wrenched it from the demon’s shoulders. Yellow blood spilled forth to mix with the red water.
Something crashed against the side of the boat, spinning it sideways in the water. I staggered back, my arms pinwheeling to steady my balance. Righting myself, I placed my foot against the wood behind me to brace myself as a splash sounded.
Something hit the boat with enough force that the wood shuddered and beads of water formed around the edges of the boards. I edged my boots away as the red water slid toward them.
Corson plunged his talons straight through the neck of another demon while Lix and the other skelleins eagerly hacked at them with their swords. Kobal lashed out at another one when it erupted from the water. Fire danced over my fingers as I searched for another threat and positioned myself so that my back was against Kobal’s. Kneeling at the side of the boat, Magnus and Hawk waved their arms as they shouted something I couldn’t understand.
It took me a second to spot Bale swimming through the water toward us. I realized she’d created the splash I’d heard. Magnus and Hawk grabbed her arms when she made it to the boat and hauled her over the side. Water dripped from Bale as she sat for a second before leaping to her feet with a murderous gleam in her eyes.
“Destroy them all,” Carion hissed.
My eyes widened when I realized his hood had fallen back to reveal his features. Lix had been completely right, the ferryman was ugly and not in the disconcerting, ‘I’m not used to seeing something that looks like this’ kind of way, but in a flat out, ‘I’m going to have nightmares about him for the rest of my life’ kind of way.
His gray skin flaked off and fell around him as he lifted the staff and slid it back into the water with far more speed than he had before. There were no lips to his mouth, only a clear view of his yellow, pointed teeth. The white cheekbones beneath his eye sockets were visible. Two glowing red lights burned out of his head from where his eyes should have been. However, none of that was as bad as all the things wiggling beneath his crusty skin like worms burrowing through the earth.
I finally succeeded in tearing my gaze away from him, but his face was forever seared into my memory.
Another demon burst from the water and came over the side of the boat at Bale, Magnus, and Hawk. Against my back, Kobal’s body moved fluidly while he worked to fight off more demons with the skelleins. On the boat behind us, the hounds howled, but their vessel remained unaffected by the demons swarming us.
Lifting my hand, I released a blast of fire into the face of a hyena-looking demon. The demon yelped and fell into the water as more of them emerged. Some fell back beneath the surface, but others caught the boat and held on as they tried to pull themselves inside.
Drawing on the vast power Kobal emanated, I fought my growing dread as the boat rocked precariously and the shouts and grunts of fighting filled the air. Fear brought out the fire in me, but right now I needed my ability to wield life. It was a far more lethal weapon against these creatures.
Deep blue sparks danced across my fingertips. I worked on growing the energy as a splintering sound rent the air and the boat shuddered to a stop. Expecting the boat to break in half, I glanced nervously around, but I couldn’t see any damage to it. The boat following ours came to a stop and from somewhere behind us another rattle sounded.
“What—” I never got to finish the question as the wood beneath my feet suddenly gave way and I plummeted into the water.
CHAPTER 4
