Clash of Heroes: Nath Dragon meets The Darkslayer

Clash of Heroes: Nath Dragon meets The Darkslayer Read Online Free PDF

Book: Clash of Heroes: Nath Dragon meets The Darkslayer Read Online Free PDF
Author: Craig Halloran
unlike me, they’d be missed. Avenged. And it ... fascinates me .
    Oran cut in between the demon and the lords. “Halt.”
    The redheaded creature stopped and stared at him with gold lava in his eyes. His huge, clawed hands clutched in and out. The sharp nails looked like spikes. Cords of muscle rippled underneath the black-scaled forearms. No doubt those arms were as powerful as a squeezing python.
    Oran held his palms up and out, bowed, sat down and said, “Sit.”
    The strange man eyed Verbard and shook his head.
    “You have no control over it,” Verbard hissed. “None at all, you failure.”
    “Give him a moment, will you, Brother?” Catten laughed at Verbard. “You are the source of all this agitation, and all because that little sword stung you.”
    “Shut your mouth, Catten. This monster is dangerous and too hard to control. Look at him. That’s no ally to us. It’s an enemy. I tell you, it must be destroyed.”
    “I can control it, Verbard,” Oran said. He pushed his sleeves up over his knobby elbows. “Just give me a moment.”
    “Nay.” Verbard snapped his fingers.
    Pop!
    A small band of urchlings poured out of the nearest tunnel. They were smaller than Oran, barely four feet tall. Their bare backs were hunched over, and their limbs were filled with corded muscles. Teeth and claws were sharp as knives, and their black eyes underneath their thick and protruding brows were filled with hunger and evil.
    “Urchlings?” Oran said with shock. “What kind of game are you playing, bringing along those savage little monsters?
    Catten, to Oran’s surprise, spoke this time. “Perhaps we thought your monster would need feeding.”
    “Give me a moment before you destroy all trust,” Oran argued.
    But the lords would have none of it. This was obviously entertainment for them. Their eyes were filled with an avid and bloodthirsty curiosity.
    He sprang to his feet. “End this now.”
    “Mind your tongue, Oran. Or once this is over, I might have the urchlings tear it out.” Verbard fixed his eyes on the prize, the stranger from another world. “Besides, we need to see if this grotesque demon is worthy of this quest. If he lives, glory to you. If he dies, gory to me.”
    “Oh, that was witty, Brother,” Catten said with a bob of his head. “'Gory to me.' How enchanting.”
    ***
    Verbard pointed at Nath and let out a commanding chitter. “Kill.”
    A dozen urchlings charged in a frenzied horde. Nath stretched out toward his sword that lay on the ground.
    The blade flew straight into his hand.
    Like a striking cobra, he swung.
    Slice!
    The first rank of urchlings died, torsos severed mid-section. The great blade struck hard and fast. The little monsters fell in ones and twos. They latched onto his arms and bit at his scales. Their teeth broke off, and they howled. Claws tore at his skin and tried to rip his red hair from his scalp.
    He more than matched their fury with his own ferocity. Quicker. Stronger. Deadlier. He stomped them, cut them, pummeled them into submission. The floor was wet with their dark blood as well as his own, but less than a minute later, it was all over. He stood tall and easy.
    The urchlings were cave-dog food.
    ***
    Marveling at what he'd just seen, Oran rubbed his jaw and turned to Catten and Verbard.
    They were gone.
    His heart fluttered in his chest. It was just him and the demon holding the great sword coated in greasy urchling blood. Dry throat cracking, he said with command, “You must come with me.”
    ***
    Uncertain of anything, but with his senses full of alarm, Nath surveyed the carnage. The creatures lay dead at his feet. Cruel and vile things. Evil. He didn’t understand it, but he knew it. The silver-eyed fiend that had attacked him was gone, along with the other. His shoulder muscles eased. The lone living person in the room seemed to be trying to befriend him somehow, and Nath was drawn to his words. The tones of the foreign words of the smallish rat-man, a child
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