Page 64 of Secrets of Ruin

“How do we get them down from there?” Maverick asked.

Before anyone could reply, a flurry of motion rattled the vegetation around them as something rushed toward them. The thick jungle made it impossible to see what was coming, but the low vegetation whipped back and forth, and branches broke.

Brokk stepped closer to Kaylia when an enthusiastic chatter started, and something clacked together. He reached over his head to unsheathe his sword as the sway of the vegetation came closer and closer.

Five feet.

He still couldn’t see what was approaching but sensed the excitement radiating from the hidden creatures as the chattering increased.

“What the fuck is it?” Orin demanded.

Three feet.

Beside him, Kaylia lifted her sword and braced her legs apart as a horde of gremlins rushed from the underbrush. The hideous creatures leapt forward with shrieks and the clicking clatter of their teeth.

Those teeth still had pieces of flesh dangling from them, and many had bloated bellies that didn’t slow them. Their ears flapped as they hooked their three-inch claws in preparation for tearing into something.

Their humanoid faces with big, red, bulbous noses twisted into murderous expressions. No bigger than three-feet-tall, they were still lethal monstrosities that would gladly devour them.

Brokk had no idea how these things broke free from the mirror realm, but he suspected the ophidians freed them in exchange for some help in the jungle. Which meant they were probably closing in on the serpents.

Brokk hacked through the first gremlin to reach him and ducked a second one. Kaylia sliced through one before kicking away another and decapitating a third.

Others weren’t so lucky to avoid the beasts’ wrath as the ravenous creatures pounced and took them down. Confusion reigned as immortals shouted in pain and alarm.

The shadows swept toward the creatures, encompassed some of them, and hauled them away. Clawing at the ground, the gremlins tried to keep from being taken, but they couldn’t fight the shadows.

Smaller than all around them, the brownies managed to evade the attackers. The small creatures screamed as they leapt onto the gremlins and beat or stabbed at them. They were tiny but fierce.

Hauled into the jungle by the shadows, their enemies’ shrieks mingled with those of their army until a cacophony of noise filled the jungle. Brokk hacked through another gremlin before lifting another and smashing it off a rock.

He’d released the repulsive gremlin when one of the big black cats, with fangs hanging over its bottom lip, sprang from the dense foliage. With its claws extended and its jaws open, it went for Kaylia.

CHAPTER SIXTY-THREE

Brokk spun and lifted his sword to bring it down on the monster, but it was already moving away. Kaylia had released her blade and thrown up her hands. With her palms up, she pushed outward like she was shoving something at the creature.

Waves of air rippled outward as the feline flew backward. When it soared past him, Brokk brought his sword down across its back, slicing through sinew and bone before it hit the ground and bounced toward a rock.

It lifted its head before collapsing onto the ground. One of the gremlins used the cat’s massive body as a launching pad, raced across it, and jumped into the air toward Kaylia.

Its arms swung as three more of the tiny monsters sprinted toward Brokk. The shadows rose and engulfed two of them before ripping them apart; the third got through.

Brokk yanked his sword from the cat’s back, but he didn’t have time to get the blade up to deflect the creature. Releasing the handle, his weapon hit the ground as the beast slammed into his chest, knocking him back a step.

Brokk grabbed the monster around the middle and tried not to cringe at its scaly body’s cool, clammy feel. The gremlin’s razor-sharp teeth snapped in his face as more screams rose.

A knife suddenly burst through the gremlin’s chest, nearly poking Brokk in the nose before someone seized the creature’s nape and ripped it away. Orin stood on the other side of the gremlin, a grin on his face.

“You’re welcome,” his brother said.

“You almost stabbed me in the nose.”

“You’re still welcome. Besides, it’s not like you’re as handsome as me, so don’t worry about a little sword to the face.”

Brokk didn’t get the chance to tell Orin to fuck off before another cat leapt out of the jungle and onto Orin’s back. Brokk scrambled to reclaim his sword as Orin hit the ground.

The cat’s claws hooked into Orin’s back and dragged him toward the jungle. Snatching up his sword, Brokk sprinted forward and plunged his blade into the side of the creature’s head as another pounced on Kaylia.