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

“Hold still. I’ll cut it off.”

The moment the blade touched the vine, one of the ends reared up. The end split up to reveal razor sharp teeth lining moist jaws. Two black, beady eyes peered up from the top.

It wasn’t a vine.

They could only call it a snake. It constricted Reaper’s hands together and hissed at Ruby. It lunged and snapped at his hand only to drop and hang down low.

“Fuck off!” Ruby shouted at it. He swung the knife down its back. It lifted its head again and sunk its teeth into his arm.

“Fucking cut its head off!” Reaper ordered.

Ianisse pulled out his own machete and swung. It sunk right through the snake, blood spraying out of both ends.

Ruby had to pry the head off his arm.

Reaper quickly pulled off the rest of it.

“Wait…” Ruby’s eyes narrowed at Ianisse. “You’ve had a damned machete this entire time?”

“What? It looked like you had it.” The bird squawked.

Ruby snatched the machete from him and continued to chop at the vines. With that blade he was able to slice through in one, or two swings instead of sawing through.

As they broke through into the jungle, they heard the boy scream again. He must have been chased by something.

“Johnny!” Reaper called.

“I heard it over there." Ruby pointed.

Every so often, the boy screamed again, but never replied to their calls. They chased the sound, running through streams, puddles, and mud. They leaped over fallen logs and stone in their path.

"Can he not hear us?" Ianisse asked.

"Just keep running." Ruby said.

They crossed into a small clearing. The loose sand and mud under their feet gave way. It opened up under the pressure of their weight. Reaper nearly face planted into the ground. When he got back up to his feet, he couldn't move.

Ruby was stuck just behind him, sinking into the soil at an alarming rate.

Reaper cursed.

"Stop moving!" He said.

"I-I'm stuck!" Ruby cried. He was already up to his knees.

"You'll make it worse if you keep moving!"

The boy screamed again.

Ianisse almost took off after the sound. He stayed in place, standing between the Captain and Ruby.

"Are you not stuck?" Ruby asked.

"No, we're fine." The bird squawked.

Reaper cursed again, looking around the area.

"Find one of those vines, or something." Reaper said. "We could use that to get out of this."

"Okay. We'll get some!" Ianisse darted across the clearing back the way they had come. He had seen vines back that way. Hopefully they would be long enough and strong enough.

A bird squawked above them. A branch hung over their heads mostly barren of leaves. The bird that sat upon the branch stood tall, more horizontal than a typical bird. A rounded snout and tiny teeth. Big green eyes looked down at them. Long arms with metallic feathers flailed at its sides.

"Is it...mocking us?" Ruby grumbled.

"Ianisse!" Reaper called.

The bird squawked again. Then came a different sound. They weren't sure if it came from the bird or not. A kind of roar, guttural and low. Not one that seemed to travel very far. The bird took off. The roar sounding out of sight.

"That can't be good...Captain, I'm still sinking!"

"Just relax. He'll be back soon. Hopefully he'll be able to get you out of this."

Another roar. This time closer. A second roar sounded further off.

Ruby bit his lip, looking around. Something about how calm Reaper was freaked him out. They were sinking into the ground with no end in sight. There were monsters lurking in the bushes. Yet he stood, or rather sank, in a complete state of zen. His eyes darted around, looking at everything going on around him.

Ianisse finally returned after a few minutes. Spying the branch overhead, he tossed one end of the vine over it so it would drape down. Ruby reached for it. He wrapped it around his wrist and pulled on it while Ianisse pulled on the other end.

The bushes shook. A twig snapped. Another roar much further away.

"Fuck! Come on! Pull!" Ruby shouted.

Ianisse was using all of his strength, but Ruby was pulling him off the ground with each tug.

Another shake of the bushes, and a hulking beast stepped out. Low to the ground, thick muscles limbs and a massive head with a downward facing nose. Two large canines stuck out from its upper jaw. It was tall enough to look them in the eye on all four feet. The metal that sprouted from its body looked more like armor, protecting its head, snout, and neck most of all. The rest seemed to be more reinforcement of the thick hide. The worst part was the device, no, the weapon that stuck out of its back. A barrel nearly four feet long was mounted on the creature. A series of lilac glowing lights lined either side of the barrel, with the back end shielded by pointed plates.

It sniffed at the air. Spotted vulnerable prey. With a low growl it stepped forward.

Another, much larger creature stepped out of the bushes in a hurry. It nipped the others rear and shoved its own frame into it. The smaller one opened its mouth, but backed down.

This larger one was scarred on the face with bits of flesh hanging off its sides. An eye had been scratched out, revealing the metal skull beneath.

Two more creatures came out, surrounding the humans and fleebeeron. They growled and snapped their teeth at one another. The largest approached first, followed closely by the other three.

"Fucking hurry!" Ruby screamed.

"We're trying!" Ianisse shouted.

Ruby began ascending out of the dirt. He pulled as hard as he could. Ianisse had taken his end of the vine and pulled it around the trunk of the tree. With the extra tension, Ruby managed to get out, narrowly avoiding a pounce from one of the creatures.

He swung back and forth, still holding on tight. He needed solid ground. More importantly, Reaper was still stuck in the dirt. He was about to jump off when the larger creature leaped for Reaper.

He kicked out as hard as he