Dark Passions at Death's Door

45 - The Prey

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She had just begun opening her mouth to unleash a tidal wave of frustration on her sisters when Danii's horrific scream pierced her eardrums.

Nїx turned just in time to see her Icere half-sister falling away from a massive clawed swipe from an eight-foot-tall wendigo.

The sight had her armoring in an instant, and she launched herself in, her sisters only scarcely a step behind her. The first wendigo bull-rushed them, howling, drool and spittle flinging from its slavering lips while it swiped at them.

"DANII!" Terror choked her while she picked her sister up and dragged her clear.

Murdoch Wroth traced in, vampiric strength bulked.

The second he saw his wife on the ground, his eyes flooded black with emotion, and he was cleaving the head from the wendigo that had been about to land a blow on his wife. He howled rage at the dead thing.

Three more of the monstrous creatures clambered out of the jungle and were going after the vampire, shrieking death. More shrieks filtered from beyond the jungle.

Dozens of the things were coming. Fast.

The rest of the Valkyries on this side of the mirror were shrieking hate. Danii was throwing out several ice grenades in rapid fashion, freezing two of the wendigoes in their path while Murdoch dealt a cleaving blow to the third that severed its leg.

Her sister was already beginning to overheat.

"Are you injured?" Nïx asked.

"Just a bruise..." her sister gritted.

"Murdoch!" Lucia shouted, unslinging her bow and firing an arrow into another wendigo's face.

The vampire turned and traced to his wife's side in a second. His eyes had turned wide, fearful. "Kallim?"

"I'm fine, love," Danii whispered.

"No," Murdoch growled. "Your breaths are not smoking any longer."

One strike had done this? Danii would overheat and she'd crumble apart if that hit had taken that much out of her.

The other Valkyries had picked up their short swords and charged the wendigoes that had their feet frozen to the beach. They sliced off the pair's heads with relish.

"Ugly-ass bastards!" Regin screeched.

A half-dozen more of the macabre monsters appeared, but these were... wrong.

"What the hells are these things?!" Kaderin shouted.

Nїx inspected closely. "Wendigoes."

"Not like I've ever seen!" Lucia shouted.

On that, she could agree. These weren't the average garden variety of wendigoes. Those were creepy enough being humanoid, typically fallen mortals or weakened immortals.

These were thicker, less emaciated, and more muscled. Twenty-five of them were pouring out from behind the jungle canopy. Over two-thirds had four muscled arms that would have rivaled a Pandemonium hell demon in its ancient prime.

Their gaunt faces had fallen apart in most cases. Rotten flesh hung loose, exposing skull, teeth and jaws, and eye sockets. Their eyeballs glowed a sickly pus-green hue. It sounded as though more were on their way.