ARMOR [New World Book 2] Read Free

inevitable; how a
person went was up to them—at least right now.
    “Walk away and I’ll let you
live,” Amy advised.
    The young man chuckled. “No
way, sweet thing.”
    Amy swung hard when the
largest of the three made a grab for her. She connected soundly to his head
with her weapon and he went down. The other two gaped in surprise until the man
on the ground bellowed in rage that he was going to kill her when he finished
with her. Once more, Amy swung hard. The second largest grabbed the branch and
Amy went flying. She landed painfully on the ground on her side. The wind was
knocked out of her. She crawled to her knees. They circled her like vultures.
She was scared, and held her fingers splayed before her to ward off the
inevitable attack.
    The largest of the three
stood towering over her, fists balled. “This is gonna hurt.” He sneered, pulling
back his fist.
    Amy gasped when a black blur
was suddenly before her. For an instant the blur touched her and Amy felt a
jolt of surprise.
    The man who was about to
attack her was off the ground, his feet dangling by a foot. His mouth and eyes
were open wide in shocked surprise.
    A creature the likes of which
Amy had never seen was standing mere inches from her. It was encased in black,
with fangs protruding from its mouth. For feet it had claws, five thick ones up
front and one at the back where its heel would be. On the side of the creature’s
face was a glowing green tattoo.
    One-handed, the massive
creature before her had the large man off the ground. Four of its five long
talons were sunk into the man’s belly. The creature growled showing more of its
ivory-white, inch-long fangs. Amy was too terrified to scream. It was like the
boogeyman meets the monster from the black lagoon all wrapped up in one eerie
creature. In one fluid motion, her would-be attacker was flung like a rag doll
into the wooden fencing. The toss had been so hard the body embedded into the
wood with a solid crunch.
    The other two men found their
voices and the second man screamed when he was gored with the talons next. A
vicious slice across the man’s middle and cloth mixed with blood and flesh. The
youngest, Leon, fled.
    Amy watched in morbid
fascination as her previous threats played out. They died in sequence.
    As blood spewed from the
second man’s mouth, he was sent spiraling into the returning circle of men. Six
were knocked to the ground when his lifeless body crashed into them.
    That’s when Amy found her
feet—or rather her belly. She dropped, rolled and was back in her hiding place.
She wiggled her way out and bolted.
    Behind her Leon was
scrambling over the fencing of debris. He raced to Amy, flung her backwards and
almost ran over her in his haste to get away from the terrifying creature. Amy
lay stunned on the ground. The beast-like thing jumped over the fence as though
it were a mere trotting post. It landed on all fours inches from her. Amy swore
the ground moved. A small spattering of dust rose then settled around it. The
skin of the creature was ebony and shiny. It cocked its head to the side
studying her. The thing was bald. Bumps were prominent where eyes should have
been. It growled and Amy shook, unable to move.
    Oh my God, it’s huge.
    “Run,” the creature demanded.
    The single word was a heavy
growl and hissed as it passed its fangs. It was a male voice.
    Amy scrambled up wondering if
it wanted to play cat and mouse with her. She ran for all she was worth into
the darkness. Her legs pumped madly beneath her. She chanced a quick glance
behind her. The creature wasn’t following her. To her left, she heard a scream
of agony. The creature had found Leon. Amy raced until she thought her lungs
would burst. When she fell, she remained motionless. Gasping sobbing breaths
were dragged into tortured lungs. She rose to her knees and began to crawl.
    What was she to do? She
couldn’t let the thing follow her back to the cave. If the men were defenseless
from the beast, her