The Dark Horde by Brewin Read Free Book Online

Brian. Its muscular arm shot forward and snared Brian’s retreating left foot. Brian face-planted the ground.
    His nose bleeding, caught by his ankle, Brian twisted around to face his attacker.
    Its snout opened wide, drawing thick threads of saliva from a mouth crazy with sharpened teeth. The stench of decay consumed him as the disgusting orifice lunged forward, seeking to swallow his face.
    He rolled away, but was still held fast at the foot. Its snout impacted centimetres from his head, sending shudders through the floor.
    Expecting flesh, its teeth struck only carpet. Furious, it lifted its head to see that the human had moved. Not about to be outdone by a mortal, it grabbed the human by the throat with one claw and prepared to impale the human’s head with the other.
    Unable to struggle free, Brian scanned the floor around him for something of use.
    For once, I wish that Sasha hadn’t cleaned up.
    It savoured the moment, immersing its senses in the reek of fear. The final struggle before death was a treasured moment of victory. A rare delicacy. Brian began to check his pockets...
    Suddenly the human pulled out a thumb-shaped object from which leapt a small flame. Howling in protest at being forced back by prey, it withdrew, releasing its grip. The human rose slowly and waved the flame daringly within centimetres of its face. “I’ve got you now, you bastard!”
    The flame blurred double, dominating its vision. Incensed, it blindly launched itself at the candle, resolved to engulf it along with the human’s hand.
    For a moment, Brian was smiling – he was in control. The next moment its slavering mouth was closing around his hand, his lighter quenched. He jerked back his hand as its teeth raked his skin. The lighter vanished into its closing mouth.
    The beast spat out the remains of the device, revolted at its harsh taste. Then it saw the hall-door slam.
    Its quarry was escaping.
    The demon hurled itself at the closed door, smashing through it like paper. But Brian was waiting in a nearby doorway, armed with his son’s cricket bat. As it came into view, he swung the bat up into its face as hard as he could. The crunch of the creature’s face travelled down the cricket bat and numbed Brian’s arms.
    Shit, that feels good.
    The creature bellowed in agony, but before it could act, Brian followed up with a low hook into its knees.
    Crippled and bleeding, it buckled to the floor, staining it a dark purple.
    There’s another cherry for your bat, Howard.
    Brian abandoned weapon and beast and fled.
    He careered through the front door, only to see that he wasn’t outside at all. Instead, he had fallen through the front door of a car – an orange, bloodstained car. Only unyielding blackness could be seen beyond the shattered windscreen.
    Fuck. I’m in the car that was found at the Weston farmhouse.
    A distant voice spoke. “Escape the dream, Brian. Escape it before it claims you!”
    It took a few moments for him to realise it was Sasha, his girlfriend.
    “Escape it, Brian, escape it now!”
    Her voice was replaced by another behind him, much closer. A cruel, rasping growl, grating like nails on a blackboard.
    It loomed over him, preparing for the final strike.
    Again Sasha called, “Escape the dream, Brian! Before it’s too late!”
    Brian threw himself sideways, back through the open car door.
    He awoke.

    The 4WD police patrol that Brian had fallen asleep in materialised around him. He was lunging out of the open car door into Sasha’s arms. She stood confused by Brian’s sudden embrace.
    “Oh Sasha! You’ve saved me!”
    Sasha struggled under his weight. “Are you okay? It took me ages to wake you.”
    Brian sank back into the driver’s seat, shaking. “Yeah, I’m fine now... Sorry I freaked out. It was just a nightmare.”
    She stroked his hair. “Come on, let’s get inside. You’ve obviously had a hell of a day.”
    Brian raised his eyebrows. “Your choice of words is impeccable.”
    As he rose,