Hybrid (Book 1, The Hand of God Series)

Chapter 3: Sofia

Drake

I broke through a tree with a crack as the monster threw me off its back.

I heard more than I felt my broken ribs snapping back into place. It hurt, but I could bear it.

My ears rang, and I could faintly hear Selena shouting something at me. I shook my head and pushed myself from the ground back to my feet. I still had my sword, and I tightened my grip to ensure it wouldn't be knocked away again. Would it be enough?

Time to find out.

The monster roared furiously and swung its tail at me. I dodged the blow by jumping over the massive appendage and swung my sword towards its snout. My blow connected and a few of the beast's scales shattered from the blow.

It wasn't even enough to be considered a wound.

The monster opened its mouth in an attempt to bite me.

I narrowly dodged it, but I wasn't able to completely dodge the follow-up tail swipe. My sword flew from my hand, and I just barely managed to land in a crouch.

"Drake! Are you okay?" Selena asked worriedly after sending another bolt of lightning at the monster.

"I'm fine." I wasn't, but she didn't need to know that.

"Focus on the prize."

She shot me a concerned glance, but in the end, she relented.

"Fine."

A roar rang out as the monster shook off the stun. I picked up my sword as the monster roared once again and sent a wave of water crashing down on us. We jumped out of the way before it got too close. I ground my teeth and gripped my sword tighter. Suddenly, the monster started thrashing around like it was in pain. It stopped a few moments later and slammed its tail onto the ground before it slithered into the water.

The monster resurfaced with a screech after a few momenta and a massive wave of water came barrelling towards us. I dashed over to Selena and her before sprinting towards the forest. The water rushed towards us like a miniature tsunami, breaking down small trees in its path.

Selena yelped as I jumped up a massive tree. The water crashed against it and I leaned back on the tree. She closed her eyes and clung to my shirt as the flood passed by. The monster hadn't moved yet. I jumped out of the tree and set Selena down.

She was quick to start chanting a spell, although her face still had a burning blush. The monster, however, wasn't about to let her finish as it sent another blast of water at us. I raised my sword with both hands and slashed at the wave.

"Sivl."

My sword glowed faintly the moment before it hit the wave. The water rushing at us was cleaved in two and continued on its way, destroying several large rocks. It was very fortunate that I knew that spell, otherwise, both of us wouldn't have survived. Selena froze and stared at me in shock for a moment before she recovered and finished the spell.

"Votlr alvrn: Thunder-strike."

A bright glow surrounded her as a monstrous bolt of lightning descended from the heavens and struck the creature. It took the bolt head-on and released an ear-piercing screech that had me wincing in pain as the lightning coursed through its body. Convulsing violently, it finally dropped to the ground, charred and smoking. Selena swayed on her feet and started to fall backwards.

I dropped my sword and caught her just before she hit the ground.

"Finish it." she said weakly. I nodded in understanding and gently laid her down. I took up my sword and walked towards the downed beast. I raised my sword and the monster gave a feeble roar. I looked into its eyes—almost pleading—with my own empty ones, and brought down my sword, spattering the ground green with its blood.