11. Asher

ELEVEN

Asher

T he cluster hit the sand with a pop, motes scattering like fireworks.

I drew my sword, my stone skin up, since I knew what came next.

Motes made monsters. A massive cluster released from the vent with enough force to shake the town meant a flurry of fucked up creatures were about to throw down.

Bring it. I could do with the extra stretch.

We flew down to the sand as the floating motes swelled, becoming jelly-like purple orbs. They bounced on the beach for several seconds in comical formation.

So weird.

As one, they burst, releasing an army of purple jelly fish with spiky legs within a thick bundle of tentacles. Reminded me of chicken legs, but pointier.

Their bell-shaped tops throbbed, three sets of rapidly blinking white eyes in each one.

“Gargoyles will fall!” they cried, their collective voices a foghorn.

Gods, my poor ears.

The jellyfish sprang into action, lumbering in an awkward charge and falling into each other as they ran, the design of those legs not thought out properly.

Ha! Take that, knobheads!

Dane and I threw ourselves into an aggressive dance. Blades twirled, slicing off legs, the green energy of our protection gleaming across our bodies.

Man, I loved me some monster slaying.

I cleaved a couple of jellyfish in half, their screams and melting corpses filling me with happiness. I laughed, getting a tad cocky.

Until one landed a tentacle on my chest.

By. The. Gods. The sting burned, a series of aggressive jolts in my body forced me to my knees.

Fuck! My limbs spasmed out of control, pain flaring in my veins, my bones, making my mouth clamp shut.

“Asher!” Dane boomed.

My organs slowed. An oozing coldness slithered across my skin, slipping inside.

What happened? Monsters weren’t supposed to be able to touch me. Even a chimera had to put some serious force behind its fire to take me out. An awkward jellyfish on legs shouldn’t have the power to take me out with one touch. Unless they were evolved monsters, having discovered a new method of bypassing gargoyle magic.

Oh. Shit.

Dane fell over me, crushing me under his weight. His body thrashed, the same poison taking him down.

Gods, he was one heavy gargoyle.

Yeah, poison. The cold, icy oozing became a crawl of a billion invaders. Microscopic jellyfish lumbering in my veins toward my struggling heart. They pounded in my ears as a death knell, each laborious beat telling me to buckle up for the end.

Man, what a humiliating way to go out.

Jellyfish scurried around us, making their way toward the lighthouse. Once they got up those sea stairs, they’d soon reach the town.

The only way off this tiny peninsula beach for these monsters was either up those stairs or via the water. So, why weren’t these wankers swimming? Another flaw in their design, perhaps?

Knights soared above in a blaze of speed. I didn’t see what happened next, only heard the slicing and dicing, every part of me rigid. Darkness crept into the edges of my vision, my heart struggling.

My dying cells lost all feeling, the pressure of Dane’s body barely registering anymore. Neither did the pain.

Fading. Waving goodbye to a life I didn’t wanna leave yet. But how could I fight to stay for Luke? How could I fight for anything when the jellyfish got me so good?