The Soul Eaters (The Thin Hex Line Book 1) by Gwyndolyn Russell (100 best novels of all time .txt) 📗

try to. Those wing arms pumped down and back as hard as they could. The lights upon its armor dimmed, flashed incessantly. It had gotten a second wind within the confines of the serpent’s gullet. Its only regret not tearing the beast in half when it had the chance.

Fenris grabbed hold of one of the spines of the serpent closest to Jackal. It scaled the beast up its endless body until it finally turned to take a bite out of it. A blast of khexide spread out into its mouth, making it cough and pull away. Fenris continued for the body. It had no hope of defeating these serpents in the water.

Wrapping its bladed arms around Jackal’s body, the valkyrie held him close to its chest. Straight up. Its wingarms swung down, fighting the drag of its cloak with each motion. Its own lights were growing too dim to see. Khexide freely flowed from its armor, washing over Jackal and leaving a cloudy trail below. The valkyrie spun as it ascended, its wingarms uneven in their motions.

The serpents returned, not willing to let them get away. They intertwined with one another, spiraling up through the currents. One on either side of the valkyrie. When one came in for a bite, Fenris dug the claws of a wingarm into its nose, forcing it to skirt by. With it slowing it down, Fenris had to free one of its smaller arms. It pushed Jackal’s helmet into its chest, gave another burst of khexide into the face of the serpent coming for them. With a swing of its smaller arm, each of the layers extended and sharpened. From the elbow down, its arm shifted into the massive sword it had when it fought the skuladr. A thick, heavy blade powered by the mighty strength of the strongest valkyrie would certainly do damage.

Its wingarms continued bringing them towards the surface. The serpents continued spiraling around them, coming in for an attack from behind when the valkyrie was distracted. When one’s nose got in range, it swung as hard as it could, with all of its body and weight. The serpent’s nose split in half, right through the bone. Fenris used the momentum to narrowly dodge the other serpent.

The light of the twin stars above was shimmering down through the surface. Bubbles spewed from the valkyrie’s mouth.

Again the serpent came. Fenris swung, cutting down the length of its snout and cheek. Then the other came. A slash down its larger eye.

Fenris could see the waves on the surface, the flowing squares of sea foam. One swing of its wingarms. It could practically hear the waves hitting the shore. Another swing. Its sword arm shifted, each of the layers returning to normal. It grabbed hold of Jackal’s body with both arms. One more swing.

It broke through the surface, the side of its head smashed by a wave. Its wingarms rose up to push onto the surface of the ocean, its cloak spreading out to help keep it afloat. Still, it took all of its effort and majority of its concentration to keep not just its own head above water, but Jackal’s.

It clawed at the helmet until it ripped it off. Water rushed out, washing over Jackal’s face. Eyes shut. Mouth open and filled with water. Jackal gave no sign of life. No breath. His skin was nearly blue.

Fenris touched his face, lifted it up to keep it vertical and as far from the waves as it could.

“Fenris!” Reaper shouted from the shore. The others began to scream as well. They cheered. Yaaranam and Mjolnir clambered down the basalt to where the water smacked into the pillars.

Fenris coughed and hacked, pushing Jackal’s face into its soaking wet, furry collar. It caught a glimpse of one of the serpents breaching through the waves. They were back. Circling them.

“Fenris, hurry up! Get out of there!” Yaaranam screamed.

One wingarm reached out to pull it through the water. Then the other. It was moving too slow. Both wingarms in unison helped it move faster. As it neared the shore, Reaper and Vactubstein climbed down.

It grabbed what it could in the water to help pull itself closer. It could barely get itself out of the water, not to mention lift up Jackal’s body enough for them to take it.

Mjolnir held onto one of Fenris’ wingarms while Yaaranam took Jackal and handed his body off to Reaper and Vactubstein who quickly climbed back up to dry land. Yaaranam and Mjolnir help Fenris get itself out of the water and up the pillars.

The serpents continued to breach the waves, never leaving their heads above the water for long. They could only see the endless coils rising and sinking.

Finally back on solid ground, Fenris could hardly get itself up on its feet. Its wingarms dragged through the dirt and grass. It spat water out of its mouth and wheezed, its own blood coating its body.

“Jack? Jack, wake up.” Reaper was knelt down over Jackal’s body, patting his cheek. “He’s not breathing. Medic! Medic!” He called. Both hands against Jackal’s sternum, Reaper pushed down repeatedly, counting softly to himself. One, two, three. One, two, three.

When the medic got there on the fourth attempt, he checked for a pulse.

“Captain…” He said softly. He put a hand to his shoulder and shook his head.

“No. Don’t fuckin’ tell me that.” Reaper growled. He continued pushing down on Jackal’s chest. He would keep doing it until his arms could do it no more, or Jackal sprung to life.

“Get the defibs!” Reaper ordered. “If you won’t do anything, I’ll do it!”

“Y-yes, sir.” The medic dug into his medical kit to pull out a small case. Unclipped and opened, he unzipped Jackal’s jacket and cut through his shirt. In doing so, something fell out. Rolled from his abdomen and to the ground next to Reaper.

He didn’t even look. He was too focused on trying to resuscitate him.

“Captain, is that…” The medic asked.

“It’s the artifact.” Vactubstein scooped it up. “He protected it the