The Guardian's Grimoire by Rain Oxford Read Free Book Online Page A

to
the sides of its head, more like horns than anything else. Its lips curled up
rather like a canine’s to show ridiculously sharp, small teeth. A lot of sharp
teeth. Its body was also thinner, and more reptilian. Its scales ended with
wicked sharp edges and they glittered black in the rain.
    It was actually much more frightening in its realism.
As opposed to the fear of the unknown or supernatural, I faced a giant,
carnivorous animal that wanted to eat my face. At the same time, it was alien
enough that I couldn’t predict how it would attack or what supernatural
advantage it might have.
    Before Edward could do anything about the cat-like
beast, the other one emerged out of the small patch of forest from the opposite
direction. Running similar to a rabbit, but too fast to see clearly, the beast
took Edward down before he could react.
    I turned in time to see the first one in the air
above me. Fortunately, since I was already going down when it landed on me, its
attack was slightly off and it kept rolling forward, off of me and into the
metal rail I had been sitting on earlier. The pole snapped in half without even
slowing the creature down.
    Using my own momentum, I rolled back to my knees and
then up to my feet with rare agility. Normally I was a complete klutz. I
grabbed the smaller piece of the pole, about three feet long, and turned to
Edward. Weapon retrieved; five points. Please don’t level up. Edward was
dazed, still on the ground, and the cat grabbed the bag in his teeth. Driven by
instinct, I swung the bar like a bat into the cat’s face. The bag went flying
but the cat didn’t even falter. It snarled up at me as the scales on the
injured side of its face turned a pale shade of purple.
    The cat was on me before it even crossed my mind that
I made a mistake. I wanted Edward to use his lightning trick again so that if
the cat did eat my face, at least it would get fried as it feasted. I imagined
the lightning striking the beast and making it light up like a Christmas tree.
My fantasy was so vivid, I saw the blinding light that left spots in my eyes
and heard the thunder that made my ears ring.
    To my honest surprise, the cat released me and fell
to its side. I sat up, dumbfounded, as it lay there, twitching. Its eyes were
closed, but it still breathed. The growl from right behind me was my only
warning before I was swept right over the injured cat by a massive paw. The cat
that had rolled away didn’t miscalculate its landing again.
    I put my arms up to protect my face and neck, but the
pain as it bit into my limb was much worse than I had anticipated. Its jaws
enclosed my entire forearm, my bone broke in several places, and the beast’s
cold saliva burned. It let go of my arm with a fierce jerk and I saw its teeth
coming down on my throat. I wanted to close my eyes, but couldn’t. When the
sound of metal on rock filled my ears, I didn’t understand what it was. I
didn’t even understand why I saw Edward standing over me instead of the beast.
    He had the longer part of the pole and had swung it
to knock the cat away from my throat. With the same momentum of the swing, he
struck the cat with the other end, forcing the cat up and away, but only a
couple feet. Edward turned away from the cat and slammed the jagged end into
its chest. Its screech was so alien I couldn’t compare it to the cry of any
animal or monster I knew. As if the pole weren’t plunged inside the huge body,
Edward pulled it back out to rise in front of him and drove it straight down
into the cooked cat at his feet. He turned back, grabbed my uninjured arm, and
pulled me up. And all that happened before I realized the monster wasn’t eating
my face.
    I remembered then that my body felt cold, drained,
and wet. He shook me as I wobbled. “Did you use the lightning to electrocute
that beast?” he asked. I nodded, unable to comprehend why he was spinning.
“What were you thinking?! That was very dangerous.”
    My following hysterical laugh