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CHAPTER TWENTY
KANA
The first gobbelin dropped to the ground just as I reached him, and I came in swinging, catching him in the stomach.
He hunched over, but the blow wasn’t enough to kill him. His claws dug into my shoulder as he reared his head back, his curved black fangs flashing in the rain.
Fuck that - I wasnotgoing to go down from a gobbelin bite.
I plunged a knife deep into his thigh and twisted away as his grip loosened, keeping an eye on the other gobbelin climbing down the wall. I didn’t want to fight two at once, not with such low visibility.
Launching a spinning kick to his head, I connected with his nose, my boot making a solid crunch. Blood spurted everywhere, and I grinned at the idea that their basic anatomy seemed to be the same as vampires’.
Maybe next time I’d go for a nut shot.
He swung his club, and I ducked in plenty of time, sweeping his legs out from under him with a kick and driving the spiked club down into his chest, smashing through skin and bone. He flailed, swiping and trying to claw me, but the wound was too deep, and blood was pouring out onto the ground beneath him.
I took a risk and leaped over him to catch the second gobbelin in the legs as he scrambled to make it down the wall in time.
He howled as his ankles crunched, falling backward right onto my longest blade. Holy hell, it was satisfying to see the metal slide right through his neck, severing a main artery and soaking the mud with more of their disgusting gobbelin blood.
Neither of them was long for this world, but I’d been trained not to leave loose ends. The first gobbelin was still alive, but just barely. As I strode toward him, he gathered one final, rasping breath.
“We’ll keep coming for you, princess...”
Clamping down on a shudder and keeping my mouth closed tightly, I worked quickly to sever their heads and check them over for anything good enough to steal.
I found some questionable food and a couple of decent knives, and I decided to exchange my club for one of theirs that was in better shape. I also snagged the gloves they were each wearing, even though they were way too big. The leather could come in handy.
As I stepped back from the bodies, I realized I could don the gloves and my ice armor and scale the wall.
Even if I couldn’t escape, I could see more of the labyrinth design and maybe how close I was to the other sections. It might even be possible to spot where any more gobbelins heading my way over the top of the labyrinth walls.
Not that I’d ever expect Merden to fight fair, but it was fucking bullshit that the mist was allowing the gobbelins to target me during the Trials.
I didn’t want to think about the other possibility - that the mist, with all its ancient vampire magic, might hold no power over the gobbelins.
Strapping the new club on my back, I shoved my fingers in the still-warm gloves and sheathed my body in ice. The rock was slippery with rain, and the handholds were few and far between, but willpower and training went a long way. I was more than halfway up when the mist began to gather below me, and I pushed myself to climb faster.
I wanted to see the top before it dragged me back down.
My arm muscles were throbbing with the effort of climbing as I slung out a plea to Nicolas to just let me look, and by some miracle, the mist stayed near the ground.
With a growl, I heaved myself onto the top ledge of the rock wall. The magic crackled around me, tingling like the electricity of the lightning in the air. I stretched my club up as far as I could reach and hit a magical barrier above me, blocking any exit.
Still, the gobbelins had made it through, and the blood slaves.
