Soul of Skulls (Book 6) Read Online Free PDF Page A

spell. 

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    Mazael swung Lion again, and for the first time the huge Ograg stumbled. Its leg wavered, but the huge creature kept its balance, and its heavy club swung for Mazael.
    He jumped back…but just a moment too slow, this time. 
    The club’s edge clipped his chest. His armor of golden dragon scales kept the blow from shattering his ribs. But the sheer force of it knocked him hard to the ground, breath exploding from his lungs.
    The Ograg raised its club, ready to turn him to paste.

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    Molly cursed as Mazael fell, as the Ograg looming over him for a killing blow. 
    It was time to be reckless.
    She leaped into the shadows and reappeared atop the Ograg’s left shoulder. Her feet slipped on the withered gray flesh beneath her boots, but she struck with both sword and dagger, reducing the left half of the Ograg’s face to ruin. The creature spun, wrenching its head around to bite her, and Molly lost her balance and fell. 
    The shadows swallowed her, and she reappeared next to Mazael as he regained his feet.

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    Riothamus whipped the Guardian’s staff in a circle, and a sheet of golden fire exploded in all directions. 
    The changeling runedead stopped, stumbling as the magic disrupted the necromancy upon their flesh. Riothamus leveled the staff and loosed blast after blast of golden fire. The four calibah slumped to the floor, nothing more than dead flesh once more.
    Riothamus flung another burst at Szegan, and the San-keth cleric jerked back, standing between the altar and the looming statue of Sepharivaim. 
    An inspiration came to him. He could not waste time battering down Szegan’s wards, and he knew no spells that could affect the massive bronze image.
    The stone pedestal upon which the statue stood was another matter entirely.
    Riothamus cast a spell, forcing his will into the crimson block of stone. The pedestal trembled, and then turned dark brown as his magic transmuted the stone into thick mud. 
    The statue fell forward, the mud block collapsing into a puddle. 
    Szegan just had time to look up, and then the statue fell upon him.
    Riothamus blinked. The only ways to destroy runedead were with magic or fire, but crushing one beneath a ton of bronze seemed just as effective. 

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    The floor shuddered as the bronze image of Sepharivaim fell with a deafening clang, and Mazael tried to keep his balance, as did Romaria and Molly. The Ograg stumbled, all its weight coming down upon its damaged right leg.
    Mazael heard bone snap. 
    He struck, Lion ripping through the runedead’s knee.
    The Ograg’s right leg collapsed, and the creature fell, sending another vibration through the floor. Mazael ran forward, seized the creature’s leg, and heaved himself up. 
    For just an instant, he met the Ograg’s remaining eye, and then swung Lion with all his Demonsouled strength and rage behind the blow. The burning blade sheared through the Ograg’s thick neck and spine, its head rolling down its back. The rune above its forehead flickered and went out, and the body collapsed. Mazael jumped free as it slumped to the floor in a misshapen heap. 
    Silence fell over the sanctuary. Mazael looked around, breathing hard, but saw no other attackers.
    Lion’s fire faded. 
    Riothamus walked towards them, staff clicking against the cracked floor.
    “What happened to Szegan?” said Mazael. 
    Molly grinned. “Riothamus turned the statue’s pedestal to mud, and it fell on him.”
    “Clever,” said Mazael.
    Riothamus shrugged. “Your Amathavian church tells its faithful to tear down false idols. I merely took the injunction literally.” 
    “Come,” said Mazael, returning Lion to its scabbard. His chest and shoulders ached from the battering the Ograg had inflicted, but already his Demonsouled blood healed the wounds. “We’re still alive. Let us go disappoint Earnachar.”

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    “I am overjoyed,” said Earnachar, “that you were victorious, hrould.” 
    Mazael nodded. “I’m sure you