Chapter 32
T iny flecks of maelstrom opal dropped from the ceiling like rain, but I couldn’t peel my focus away from those piercing, predatory eyes. As if being an eighty-foot crocodile wasn’t enough, he had some kind of strange magic, too, or at least an awareness of magic.
Fetch screeched, shooting up from my shoulder and into the sky, and, as Noru’s presence receded, I fixed my attention on the falcon.
He’d sensed Noru, too, as clearly as I had.
And, in the same way, I could feel his frantic search for the monster, even from down on the ground. And it didn’t take long.
The mass of scales and raw, tangible hate pulled himself free of the lake at the center of The Fen, dragging himself toward us step by step.
I could just make out his battle-scarred back and tail through Fetch’s eyes, but what struck me most was the sheer size of him.
Trees quaked as he passed, with one snapping in half as he struck it with a lazy swipe of his tail.
To call him a crocodile didn’t do him justice.
He was more like a dragon from my book of stories, just with squatter legs and a longer snout.
A gentle pressure on my shoulders brought me back to my body, and I blinked, seeing Hook’s face just in front of me. “Go,” he said, with a determined, and almost excited look in his eye. Moll tugged on my hand as he gestured toward Billy. “She’ll take you somewhere a bit safer, and you’ll?—”
“I’m not going,” I said. “We’re going to do this together.
” And, in the speaking of those words, the fear somehow gave way, leaving behind only a cold, emotionless calm.
After seeing Noru, and feeling his mind, it was harder than ever to believe we had a chance in hell at winning. But that simply wasn’t an option.
So much was hinging on this. The lives of the kids, the people of Ca’an Saas, and my entire cosmic destiny, all hanging in the balance. Moll squeezed down on my hand, giving me a nod as she pulled away to follow Billy, Garth, and the O’Donnellys.
“Get him, Harm.”
“Of course,” I said, Fetch’s claws smacking back down onto my shoulder pad. Whatever strange shift had come over me seemed to have extended to him, as well. The beak clicking and nervousness had fled, and, giving him a good look for the first time since we’d been here, he looked somehow…stronger.
Larger, even?
At his advanced age, it should’ve been impossible. But that didn’t stop it from being true. His talons pressed into my shoulder right through the pad, and his beak seemed longer, with a reddish hue at the tip.
But I had no time to consider it, as Noru’s rumbling footsteps came into earshot. “Not far now,” I said. “What’s the game plan?”
Hook scowled, opening his mouth to argue, but turned around instead. “You’ve clearly unlocked something new with your magic, so stay back and support Xander and I from the back. Tom, same to you.”
I glanced over to see Tom nodding in agreement, his eyes lighting up with that same, eager fire I’d seen in Hook’s. “Got it, Cap.”
Hook exchanged a wordless glance with Xander, his magic welling up to the surface as we waited for the inevitable. I had yet to see his abilities in full effect, but whatever they were, he felt incredibly strong. If Xander’s magic was a sleek, well-forged dagger, Hook’s was a full-on broadsword.
I only hoped he knew how to make the most of it as well as Xander could.
He’d been strangely cagey about his abilities from the start, and I felt a little flash of anticipation at the prospect of getting to see him fight up close.
Maybe he was like me, and could do a bit of everything?
But no, Xander had seemed far too surprised by my abilities for that to be the case.
A nearby tree cracked and broke, and I focused on my own magic as the monster’s snout came into view, huffing furiously. If we could just keep our distance, we could wear him down over time. Crocodiles weren’t exactly known for their speed, after all.
Or so I thought.
His jaws snapped together wildly as he broke into a full-on charge, dashing toward us at a speed that seemed to defy the laws of nature. How the hell could legs that short carry him that fast?
I had no time to ponder as he came fully into view, his jaws snapping in a wild lunge at Hook. The captain’s good hand disappeared in a blur as he snaked out a slash with his saber, slicing the monster across the cheek.
Pain surged through the beast, smacking into me like a physical force.
I scrambled desperately for footing as my legs gave out, and I gritted my teeth through the rest. The entire place seemed to sing with Noru’s every emotion, buffeting me with as much anger, hate, and pain as I could manage.
But fortunately, the others didn’t seem to be experiencing the same.
Xander’s whip snaked out, smashing into the beast’s skull before it could recover from the previous attack, and I moved on reflex to do the same as the thunderous crack rang out. “Take that, you ugly bastard,” Tom shouted at my side, taking aim down the sights of a crossbow.
I lashed out with an attack of my own, lunging as far forward as I dared before sending my whip screaming toward the other side of his face.
Never give him a chance to recover.
If only it was that easy.
The light from the opals above glinted off yellowing teeth as his mouth shot open, hurling himself at me like an arrow from a bow.
Fury and hate pressed up against me, and it took everything I had just to throw myself to the side, praying he missed as Fetch sprang from my shoulder, surging into action.
Get back, I willed him, but he didn’t listen, charging right at the beast like the crazy fucking bird he was. Until Hook appeared, that is.
He leapt in between Noru and me, letting out a guttural roar as he threw his arm to the side, blasting a storm’s worth of wind and lightning right into Noru’s gaping maw. And, somehow, the eighty-foot bastard felt it, throwing his head back in pain as he skidded to a halt.
I grabbed my fallen whip then scrambled to my feet, forcing down my terror as I readied my magic once again. My energy crackled as it surged all the way through the whip, filling it to the very tip.
I snapped it forward as the croc recovered, and I cursed as it bounced right off the beast’s exposed neck.
A blur flashed through the side of my vision, and Xander appeared, lashing out with his own whip and drawing the beast’s attention.
Noru snapped at him, but the razor-sharp tip caught the beast across the face.
With a flick of his wrist, Xander hooked the whip around Noru’s eye ridge, then yanked it downward in a fluid motion.
A horrible, wet crunch sounded as it ripped free a hefty chunk of flesh—eye included.
I winced as Noru bellowed in mind-numbing agony, the emotion flooding into me in waves, but I resisted, and kept my eyes open this time, preparing myself for another attack.
But there was no opening as he rolled and spun, his tail whipping and teeth gnashing in all directions out of pure, unbridled rage.
Time seemed to slow as Xander leapt backward a half second too late, the very tip of the beast’s tail catching him square in the ribs.
With a loud crack, he went flying backward, slamming into a tree.
My heart lurched as he lay there, motionless.
In that moment, Garth and Molly sprang into view from their hiding place behind a nearby willow.
Billy and the O’Donnellys followed suit, shouting and clanging weapons against the rocks, trying to draw Noru’s attention away from Xander.
Despite his rage, the crocodile swiveled his massive head, snarling at the new targets.
“Come on, you slimy son of a bitch!” Molly roared, brandishing the incapacitator and setting off the charge, creating a flash of light and a series of pops . Garth hurled a chunk of stone at Noru’s flank as the brothers whooped and hollered, searching for rocks as well.
It did no damage to the beast, but it did give Hook time to launch into another attack of his own, summoning a vortex of wind.
Lightning crackled around his iron hook, bolts of it slamming into Noru’s side in tandem with the wind.
The beast roared, staggering under the onslaught, but Hook’s breathing turned ragged, his magic faltering just slightly.
He was clearly burning through the last of his storm magic reserves.
“Damn it,” Hook wheezed, sweat dripping into his eyes as the storm fizzled out, but he wasn’t done yet.
He lunged forward at blistering speed, leaping out of the way of Noru’s teeth and jabbing his saber right into the beast’s neck.
The sequence repeated a half dozen times, and he dodged each of the monster’s attacks, weaving around bites and tail swipes to stab him over and over.
Blood oozed from a dozen cuts, and the heat of his anger and pain throbbed hotter and hotter in my mind, but Noru fought on, wounded but not down, the vast bulk of him seemingly unstoppable.
If I didn’t do something, this could only end one way. Hook was as skilled as anyone I’d ever seen, but this wasn’t a battle of skill. A single slip up meant certain death, and, regardless of how determined he was, his body could only keep this up for so long.
Blood pounded in my ears as I called on every bit of magic I could muster, remembering the vision of those terrible, red eyes.
How could I possibly hope to win a battle of minds against that?
The memory of connecting with him earlier—feeling that raw, unbridled hatred—sent a cold chill through me. But we didn’t have a choice.
I planted my feet, inhaling deeply as energy flooded my veins, flickers of light dancing over my skin. The headache was instant and nearly unbearable, but I gritted my teeth against it. Just a little more magic, and maybe?—