Read The Way of the Blade for Free Online Page B

bulging. She ran right towards him, and grabbed his robe. Yanking him close so that he only saw her raging eyes, she said, “How do we —”
    “Don’t worry about the wellspiker. Just get in so we can get away. It’ll leave if we don’t bother it.”
    “Tell me how to kill it or I’ll —”
    “It’s head! That’s how we’ve taken them down in the past. It has a soft spot on the top of its skull. But that was a long time ago, and we —”
    Malja glanced over her shoulder as the creature reared back to lunge for Tommy once more. She sprinted along the road, jumping over chunks of rock and wall that now littered the area, and headed for its tail. When it smacked into the ground again and she saw Tommy dashing to a new position, she got on the thing’s back. Letting momentum guide her, she worked her way up.
    The wellspiker let her get about halfway when it shook its body, loosening ages of packed dirt, roots, and rock as well as one angry woman. Malja fell to the ground, hitting it hard enough to knock out her breath. In the distance, she saw Fawbry carrying the girl towards her mother. As he handed the girl over, his eyes roved back towards the autofly.
    The autofly!
    Malja jumped to her feet and hurried to Javery, the pilot, and the waiting vehicle. “You,” she said, indicating the pilot. “Get me over that thing.”
    The pilot looked to Javery who fell back in a seat, upsetting the half-full glasses of alcohol. “I, um, I’m not sure —”
    “If you don’t do it,” Malja said. “Then get out of my way. I’ll figure it out myself. I might break your baby, though.”
    Rather than let her ruin his precious autofly, the young pilot took the controls. They lifted gently off the ground, and Malja punched the pilot’s shoulder. “This isn’t a pleasure trip. Get this damn ship over that bastard now!” The pilot obliged, pitching the ship back and pouring on the speed. Malja gripped his chair to keep from tumbling back.
    Tommy dived to his right, tucked into a forward roll, back up to his feet, and kept running. Dirt stuck to his sweating body, and when he stopped, Malja saw his heavy breathing. He could only dodge for so long. The creature’s lack of sight and brains had been Tommy’s lucky break, but Malja knew even that kind of luck ran out.
    “Now what?” the pilot asked as he hovered the autofly over the wellspiker’s head.
    Malja stepped to the edge with Viper raised above. “Tommy,” she shouted. “Hold still.”
    Tommy looked up at her, tapped his chest twice and brought his hand to his head — an old-style salute. She watched the wellspiker roll its head, trying to sense the boy. It found him and because Tommy did not move, it paused an extra second as it attempted to figure out why the boy had stopped. That was the extra second Malja wanted.
    She jumped.
    Though she dropped to its head in less than two seconds, she had enough time to feel her stomach rise to her chest. Malja brought Viper down fast with its point making first contact like a hook. Viper hit skull, and the vibrations of cracking through bone shivered straight up Malja’s arm.
    The wellspiker reared back, its short barking noise taking on a high-pitched squeal. Malja hung on as the creature flung its head around in an attempt to dislodge her. The action only caused it more damage. Its six extremities shook without control, and the beast flopped to the ground. It rolled to its side, but Malja refused to let go.
    She gained purchase on its head and yanked Viper free, sending bits of bone and tissue flying off. Another crying bark erupted as blood gushed out the hole in its skull. Malja hopped off the dying animal and walked to Tommy.
    “You okay?” she asked, pulling a cloth from her long coat. As she wiped Viper clean, Tommy nodded. “Good,” she said. He looked at her longer, as if expecting something else, but she turned away.
     
     
    Javery had returned to the ground, and she wanted a few answers.
    “That was a