Gilded Read Online Free PDF

frothing mouth.
    The thing roars with the strength of a dragon. I jerk out of my stupor and snap out a kick at the dragon-lion’s nose. That kick should’ve stunned or knocked it back. Instead my own leg throbs as if I’d kicked a stone statue. Maybe I did. Maybe this is all a figment of my imagination.
    A chill prickles my toes as if I’ve stepped into freezing water. Golden tendrils of smoke curl around my feet, then wind their way around my knees. I try to move. I can’t. It’s as if I’m a block of ice.
    The creature before me rears on its hind legs. The eyes blaze.A snarl curls its lips, showing off those sharp fangs. Cold fear streaks through me until I realize it’s not looking at me but at something behind me.
    I twist my body to see what the dragon-lion creature is looking at.
    It’s the shadow I saw behind the sweet potato lady earlier.
    Emerging from the murkiness, the shadow solidifies into a glittery figure of a man.
    The glittery man blocks my escape. Golden ooze drips from his fingers as if he’s clawing for me. The ooze trails up my body until not only my legs are frozen, but my stomach, my chest, my arms.
    It circles me, faster and faster, as if I’m captured in the center of a typhoon. The ooze forms shimmering walls that trap me inside. I squirm, trying to free myself from these transparent barriers. But then my body goes rigid as the wall appears to fade away. Instead of the grungy alleyway, emerald-green meadows roll before me while waves crash against pearly white beaches. I blink rapidly and try to make sense of what I’m seeing.
    The dragon-lion leaps over my head and dives into the glittery man, sending them both tumbling into a trash heap. The golden typhoon dissipates, as does the strange mirage. I can feel my body parts again, tingling as if they were asleep.
    I don’t wait.
    I scramble on top of the Dumpster and jump over their wrestling bodies, roll across the slimy alley, and take off in a sprint, splashing through muddy puddles and skirting broken beer bottles.
What were those creatures back there?
    I run to the main street. Where it’s safe. Hot breath blowson my back. I’m being pursued. The creature chases at my heels, teasing, taunting me.
    I careen out onto the main road, amazed I am still alive. Silence rules the street. The cars have disappeared. The vendors have vanished as if they never existed. A piece of newspaper drifts across the empty street, spiraling in the wind. I stumble to a halt.
    Chills ricochet down my body.
    Clenching my fists, I spin to challenge the creature. His face tells me I’m his captive. I take the fighting stance. It’s not over yet.
    It pounces. I tumble backward, crushed against the cold rough sidewalk. Its weight and the fall knock the air out of me. Then it’s off me, as if I’m some cat toy to be tossed around for fun before finally being eaten. I gasp and push my body up. I’m on my hands and knees when the creature appears again, looming over me, smelling of wild animal and ginseng. I tense, prepping for its next attack.
    “Beware,” it says in a voice that rumbles like thunder.
    I scramble to stand and gaze up. It must be three times the size of a lion.
    “He wants you.”
    The creature talks. This is not happening. I close and open my eyes. Still there.
    “Who—who are you?” I finally ask.
    “I am the Guardian of Seoul. Some call me Haechi. I have been sent by Palk to warn you and offer my protection.”
    “But—but you attacked me,” I sputter. “And how do you know English?”
    A rumble emits from its mouth. “An impetuous one, you are.”
    “I don’t need protecting. I was doing just fine before you pounced on me.”
    “You have been sought out by a dangerous immortal. He nearly took you moments ago.”
    I shake my head. “Who?”
    “Time is fading. You must flee,” he says, and, in a breath, he disappears.
    It’s as if a switch has been flicked. Honking cars, the pound of construction, the roar of the buses