5 Onslaught Read Online Free PDF Page B

this club in its forehead. I’m not
certain, but I think that if I can drop the big guy, the rest of the myth-squad
will head for the hills.
    The
centaur rears up for a moment and then stomps its hooves on the ground. The
display is very horse-like, but it’s coupled with a mental shout.
    Mine!
    No , I think back, stepping forward.
    The
mythological creatures stomp and shout, shaking weapons, feathers and limp
snakes. They’re angry and agitated, but I think there is some fear in there.
    The
buzzing in my head grows stronger and it happens again. My mind and body disconnect.
I fall to my knees, but then a surge of power from somewhere within me repels
the giant. The centaur-gatherer rears up, clutching its head and letting out a
shrill scream.
    I have no
idea what is happening to him when he digs down into my mind, but I can’t
complain. I’d be a mythical-creature readymade meal without it. Whatever it is. And while the centaur has managed to
keep me from using my powers, my body is still under my control.
    I step
forward again, looking up at the centaur. It’s absolutely massive. Its knee
caps—my intended targets—are twice the size of a basketball. I’m going to have
to hack at it like a manic lumberjack to do any real damage. I glance back to
the jungle. Where are you Kainda?
    Mine! Mine! “Mine!”
    The last
“mine,” is shouted. The voice is high-pitched, almost fragile sounding, but the
anger in it is powerful, like a child throwing a tantrum when a toy is about to
be taken away. But the shout is coupled by a sudden and jarring psychic attack
that drops me back to the ground and makes me shout out in pain.
    I can
feel the strange force inside me, fighting back, pushing hard, but the centaur
retains its grip on my mind. My body twitches and I fall onto my back, looking
up at the sky. The earth shakes beneath me as the centaur clomps toward me.
Then it looms above me, looking down with those black, almond shaped eyes. Its
thin lips are pulled back in a sneer that reveals two lines of rotting,
cracked, horse-like teeth. Its eyebrows are deeply furrowed, punctuating the
hate radiating from its body—and its thoughts.
    It lifts
a single hooved foot above my head. All it has to do is stomp, and I’ll be
dead. The great Solomon Ull Vincent, the last hunter, vessel of Nephil, slayer
of Nephilim, destroyer of a good portion of the planet and promised leader of
the human race is about to be killed by a centaur-gatherer with the disposition
of a five year old.
    Honestly,
it’s embarrassing. But I’m currently unable to do anything about it.
    The force
inside me rallies, delaying the centaur’s attack, keeping its hoof locked in
place. What is going on? I think. Is there a mind outside mine that’s fighting
the creature?
    Luca, is that you? I think, but I get no reply. Before he
died, Xin, one of several clones of me, bestowed the gift of telepathic communication
on Luca, also a clone, and a perfect replication of me at age six. But while
Xin was part gatherer, Luca is all human, and I doubt the child, as strong as
he is, could put up much of a mental fight against a creature with thousands of
years of practice.
    There is
no reply to my silent question. Instead, the battle is brought to a very sudden
and violent conclusion.
    There is
a grunt off to my side. I recognize the voice.
    Kainda.
    But
before this can fully register, her hammer flies into view above me, striking
the centaur in the side of his hairless, plump head. The weight of the weapon
crushes bone and implodes the cranium.
    At the
very moment the skull is ruined, my body and powers return to me. I roll back onto
my feet and the wind carries me away from the now falling centaur. There is a
deep, resonating boom as the giant body topples over, its legs jutting straight
out, almost comically, frozen by its surprise death.
    I turn
and face the remaining mythological creatures, who appear enraged and confused.
    Kainda
wanders onto the battlefield almost