Monster Mansion 2 by Dante King (best way to read ebooks .txt) 📗

wind at a foe. This wind could knock prey off its feet or even catch it up and move it around if the spell was powerful enough.

There were two families of Flameclaw Grizzlies as well. They were as terrifying as they sounded, massive, the big male standing over eight feet when he reared up on his hind legs. They had claws that burned with flame when they willed it, charring an enemy to death with a single sweep if they got too close, and throwing flaming fireballs from a distance.

We watched one of the Howling Wind Wolves come up against one of the grizzlies in a dispute over a dead deer. Neither was killed, but the spells they flung at each other were impressive.

The following day, everyone was keen to see what had happened overnight. Kyrine reeled off the list of creatures who had come through. Today’s additions included snakes without any powers, one adder who had the ability to control the mind of its prey, and a vulture whose gaze could paralyze a living creature, rendering it unable to resist the carrion bird’s claws and beak. We were forced to expand the wild area even further, and we built two more observation towers near the first one, connecting them with wood and rope bridges, like in an old-style safari park.

It was hot that day, and I took my shirt off as we worked. It felt good to be working with my hands. I even got an enchantment sheet and some inks out and created a couple of stability enhancements for the bridges, and some visibility enhancements for the towers. That was the first time I’d tried my hands at enchantments since I’d arrived at the mansion, and it felt good to do.

I caught Selena gazing at my bare chest as I worked in the hot sun, and this time when I smiled at her she didn’t look away.

That evening, when the others had gone inside, I climbed the tallest watchtower by myself and sat up there with a beer. The Samuel Adams that the dungeon adventurers had brought was a welcome new addition, and I carried a six pack up there with me to enjoy the sunset.

As I looked out, I found something I hadn’t noticed before. There was a good view out over the suburban area surrounding the mansion as well as over the wilds and the grounds. Out there, I could see the area around the mansion walls, the streets leading up to the mansion, and the houses nearby.

There was something strange out there.

“What’s that?” I thought, frowning as I looked out through the rapidly dimming light. There was something white, about the size of a soccer ball, floating in a patch of trees not far from the outer mansion wall. It floated about nine feet in the air, not quite high enough to see over the wall, but almost.

As I watched, it turned slowly and began to move. It flew, steadily but not quickly, off round the mansion wall and past the gate. As it flew, I saw that it had a thick tangle of what looked like black wiring hanging out of the back of it. Red lights blinked on and off in the midst of the wiring.

The thing flew a circuit, and then I realized that it was not alone. Another one was coming round from the other side, and shortly afterward I saw a third, also moving a slow circuit round the walls.

I was fast losing light, but I didn’t like the look of this.

“Kyrine, send Astrid out here with a gun. I want to go investigate this.”

Through our mind link, I felt her awareness of what I’d seen, and her agreement. I finished my beer quickly, then scrambled down the ladder and found Astrid waiting at the bottom.

She was armed with one of the magitech MP5 submachine guns that we’d come to use as standard in the mansion.

“What is it?” she asked, and I explained quickly as we hurried down to the gate.

“I don’t know what they are, but it feels like they’re watching the mansion,” I said. “I don’t like the look of it, and I want to see if we can catch one.”

We slipped out of the gate and walked toward the stand of trees where I’d seen the first flying sentry.

“There,” I whispered urgently. The white globe was hanging in the air in the shadow of the trees.

“I see it,” said Astrid grimly.

I reached out a hand and she gave me the rifle. Setting the shots to Storm Sphere, I raised the weapon and looked down the sights.

The white globe was turning slowly in the air, and as it faced me, I realized with a cold sensation what it was. It was no soccer ball—the white globe was a human skull. Red lights gleamed in the black eye sockets, and tangled black wires were attached to the back of it.

It saw me at the same time as I pulled the trigger. The sharp snap of the Storm Sphere round echoed cleanly off the white outer mansion wall, and a blue ball of crackling lightning hurtled through the air.

I was a damn good shot, my skills honed over years of target practice with my uncle, who loved shooting and thought all young men should learn their way around a gun. I agreed with him, and now all my hours of practice paid off. The shot hit the flying skull full in the face, and it fell like a dead weight to the ground, bouncing off the mossy earth and rolling a few feet away.

Instantly, Astrid and I were beside it. I kicked it over and saw that the lights in the eye-sockets were dead and the wiring at the back was fried.

“A power source,” I said, prodding at the wiring. “I’ve fried it with