Page 115 of Obsidian Dream

This time, Khalida was expecting it and palmed the ten-inch knives she wore on her hips.She took a running leap, using her speed to launch an attack, and grabbed the nearest gallu.Her legs wrapped around its lithe body, its back to her chest, and she pulled until she exposed the monster’s sinewy neck.Khalida slid the knife and slit its throat with enough force that she easily severed tendons, ligaments, and cartilage.Unwrapping her legs, she jumped to the ground and held the head for a second.Its tongue lolled out of its mouth, its stormy blue eyes were wide with shock.A godforsaken shriek erupted from its mouth as she dropped the head onto the ground.And moved onto the next gallu.

Turning, she sliced the air and the second creature in half.Its upper body hit the ground, limbs shattering into a hundred pieces as it was reabsorbed into the dirt.Black blood splattered all over her.She wiped her face but didn’t slow down.Instead, she repeated the move again and again, until she was only a few feet away from Ninhursag.

Her body was on autopilot, but suddenly the gallu stopped attacking her.She flicked the blades, and blood dripped onto the ground.

The god shuddered.Black tears streaked across Ninhursag’s face as a dark red line marred her neck and her limbs as one of the wayfarers cradled her.Every injury was identical to the ones Khalida had inflicted on the creatures.A mirror image.

The small tickle of triumph bubbling to the surface disappeared instantly, replaced with dread.Talik was still nowhere to be found.

Khalida took a step closer to the god but stopped mid-stride.Ninhursag had moved, without her noticing, and was now suspended five feet in the air.The god’s long black hair draped over her face, her head thrown back at an unnatural angle as she stared at the sun.Her mouth was in a perfect ‘O,’ her eyes entirely white.The wayfarer stood next to her, just as entranced as the god.

Good.Tiny little pieces, she reminded herself.

Looking around, there were no guards protecting the god, except for the Atlantean wayfarer.Good.Kade was keeping the rest of them occupied.

Khalida tightened her grip on the knives.She would have preferred her swords, but she couldn’t be picky.She moved to take another step, but her body was frozen in position.She strained against her muscles, willing to move, but it was to no avail.There were less than ten feet to reach her target, but Ninhursag could have been on another planet.Next to the god, the wayfarer stood motionless as if he was entranced by some unknown force.

No!

She was too late.

Ninhursag’s eyes snapped open, a maniacal smile—her teeth covered in black blood—spread across her face as she lowered her feet to the ground and took a menacing step toward Khalida.

“Little Atlantean, there are things far worse than death for warriors like you.”

The god snapped her fingers and time stilled.

Chapter Fifty-Three

TALIK

Talik grimaced as painrocked his body.Suspended in air for a moment, he tumbled to the ground, landing squarely on the pouch and a concrete-like substance.The impact vibrated through him.His nerves were on fire as every single cell in his body protested.His mouth tasted overly metallic as he tried to swallow the bile.

Laying on his back, he struggled to move.His head continued to spin, and it would be so much easier to rest, even for a second.The swords were just out of his reach, on a wet dark patch, but he had already lost the element of surprise, and they may not be as useful as he had originally hoped.There was nothing around him, just pure white walls, floor and a sky—the absence of anything was stifling and simultaneously horrifying.He was surrounded by an eerie silence that no matter how much longer he lived for, he would never forget.If this was the human hell, it had clearly been misinterpreted.The quiet and the vast expanse of nothing ate at him, reminding him he was not in control, had never really been.

He just hadn’t expected it to be this painful, had probably hoped it would be quick.But nothing about Ninhursag screamed out benevolent god.Quite the opposite, she definitely had the more vindictive-bitch vibe.Especially when she’d realized he had double-crossed her.