A Darker Shade of Sorcery (Sample of now published novel.)

Chapter Seventeen

His scaly hand clamped down and snatched a handful of her hair. Screaming in both pain and anger, Brooke balled her fist and punched the were-lizard as hard as she could.

Merak's reptilian head recoiled and he let go of her, but her hand was in searing agony, as if the bones had been smashed to fragments.

Arantay's red eyes blazed brighter than ever as he reappeared, seized Merak by the throat and threw him through the air with unparalleled strength.

"To us," Tyrell called out.

As she and Arantay retreated, Lok and Tyrell appeared to be working their sorcery together as a truck rose into the air with a huge groan.

The wounded Shifters fled from the scrapyard as the truck crashed to the ground, where they'd stood mere seconds before.

Brooke gasped, spotting the deep gouges across Arantay's chest knit together as he moved towards her.

"Well, they won't be coming back for round two," Lok grinned maniacally. "Did you see this girl's punch? She's got some big balls, metaphorically I mean."

It took a second for Brooke to realise Lok was talking about her.

"Can't you get through one mission without a fight?" Tyrell berated him.

"Hey, this one wasn't my fault; you saw."

Tyrell sighed, checking what looked to be a broken nose with his hand. "Maybe we should've worn armour after all," he said. "Padrake did describe this mission as low-risk, right?"

"He didn't count on the Shifters," Arantay said. "We'll have to tell him a pack has allied with Dark-Venators."

"Let's go then," Tyrell agreed. "Hopefully we can still land in the forest; the Masters are sealing off portal access soon."

The strange instrument Tyrell produced in his hand lit up with an eerie blue light.

Brooke opened her mouth to scream for help, hoping someone would rescue her from these madmen, but Arantay took hold of her face with both hands and looked into her eyes.

"It's okay."

Brooke trembled beneath his grasp, shivering with fear.

"We're not the bad guys," Arantay whispered.

"C'MON," Lok shouted, his voice distorted for some reason.

As Arantay stood and helped her up, she saw the blue light had changed into a portal that crackled and sparked, like contained fire and lightning.

Brooke noticed Tyrell and Lok had vanished. Lok's voice must've distorted when he jumped into that...thing.

And Arantay intended her to be next.

Without a word he hurled Brooke before him, throwing her head-first into the swirling tempest.