Read The Elder Blood Chronicles Book 3 From the Ashes for Free Online

already fought these things seemed pathetically
small, but there were so many of them. “It is plural guardians.
Hell is no place for optimists,” Jala said softly. “At least they
aren’t big,” she added in what she hoped was a reassuring
voice.
    “My father’s favorite quote, Even the
strongest man can be taken down by rats , comes to mind,” Valor
replied dryly. His gaze was locked on the creatures and it was
clear that he planned to let them make the first move. “He used it
in reference to infantry swarming knights but I think it applies
fairly well here.”
    “Well, strongest man, maybe, but I’ll be
damned if I’ll be taken down by rats,” Jala retorted in the same
soft voice. Her eyes were locked on the beady glinting eyes that
surrounded them. She had been wrong about her estimate of dozens.
It was more like hundreds when you truly looked for the creatures.
They covered the ground like a carpet of flesh. They were simply
everywhere a body could fit – on the rocks, below the rocks,
everywhere. “A Firym would make bloody short work of them. Sadly my
Flamebolts seemed to be one of the more unreliable spells here,”
she said absently and searched her mind for a spell that would thin
the numbers down quickly.
    “I want to know what the hell they are
waiting for,” Valor grumbled as he shifted his stance and moved his
sword to a guard position. His eyes swept the area, and had it not
been for the cliff behind them she thought he might have rushed in
to fight. Valor had been trained too well to sacrifice good ground
however.
    Movement toward the trees drew her attention
and Jala watched silently as a larger shape moved forward. The
smaller creatures parted like water before it as it lumbered
through their ranks. “I’m going to guess that,” Jala replied,
motioning toward the thing. It began to grow as it neared them.
It’s body contorting in sickening jolts. At first it had resembled
a mangy dog. Now it was taking on more human-like aspects. Its gait
changed from four legs to two as it finally stopped no more than
twenty feet from them. Yellow eyes glinted from the canine head.
Its black skin was stretched so tight over its bones it seemed more
skeletal in appearance than living.
    “A bloody shifter,” Valor hissed beside
her.
    Jala raised an eyebrow and studied the
creature closer. She had never seen a shifter in battle form
before, though she doubted this was an accurate representation of
what a living shifter would look like. It stood perhaps twelve feet
at the shoulder with a hunched human posture. Its arms seemed far
too long for its body, almost ape-like, though the long talons that
tipped each finger were certainly not ape-like. Smiling down at
Valor, she winked and then looked back toward their monstrous
adversary. “We have no quarrel with you. We seek Death. There is a
matter I must speak with her about,” she called in a loud voice,
her words echoing off the stones around them clearly. While she
sincerely doubted the creature would back down from the fight, it
never hurt to try.
    “It amazes me how you shift emotions from
terror at a ride down a cliff to perfect calm in the face of a
twelve foot demon and a horde of his minions,” Valor commented
dryly, his sword still held in the guard position. From his posture
he apparently didn’t expect the Shifter to back away from the fight
either.
    “Die,” the shifter responded, his voice so
guttural even the single word he spoke was difficult to understand.
There was no mistaking the intent, however, as he spread his talons
and rushed toward them. Valor moved quickly to meet the charge,
placing himself between the creature and Jala. His sword rang off
the creature’s talons with a metallic hiss as he parried its first
attack and neatly ducked under the creature’s second wild
swing.
    Jala hesitated in joining the fray, keeping
her eyes focused on the smaller creatures instead. She had no doubt
that Valor could handle the shifter, but