Obsidian Ridge - Jess Lebow [77]
Then it tore into them like sacks of grain.
It bit down on one, wrenching away a mouthful of broken ribs, punctured stomach, and shredded bowels. The other it simply cut in two, jamming sharpened claws into its back, and ripping it open. Both of its victims screamed in surprise and agony, their hearts finished beating before their blood hit the floor.
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King Korox awoke to a blood-curdling scream.
His heavy wool blanket pinned his body, and a beast like he'd never seen was sitting atop his chest. He wondered for a moment if he wasn't dreaming-a jet black creature with the face of a bat, the claws of a tiger, and the teeth of a shark peering down on him with the eyes of a wizened old man. Surely this beast was a product of an overworked imagination.
The creature sniffed him, shifting its claws as it did. They punctured the blanket and bit into Korox's upper arm.
This was no dream. This was a beast sent by Bane himself.
"Alarm! Alarm!" shouted Korox, trying in vain to get loose.
The creature distended its jaw, opening its mouth wide enough to wrap its teeth all the way around the king's head. It let out a satisfied purr, as if it was enjoying the panic. Then it bent down, slowly lowering its teeth. The creature let out a breath, and the foul stench of rotten meat and blood wafted over the king, making him gag.
The door to his chambers burst open, and the room exploded in light. There was a heavy commotion and the twang of crossbows. Korox could feel the creature on top of him jolt from the impact, but if it was in pain, it didn't react.
The king heard running footsteps, and in the next second, the beast was torn from atop him. Suddenly free, Korox threw his blanket away and rolled out of bed. He grabbed the candelabrum from the nightstand and held it up like a club. But it was too late, the creature had been cut to ribbons by Captain Kaden and the dozen other Magistrates who had charged into the room.
"My lord, are you hurt?" Captain Kaden rushed to his side.
King Korox brushed him off. "No. No, I'm fine." He lifted his nightshirt to examine the puncture wounds on his upper arms. He bled some, but it was little more than a flesh wound.
The king turned his attention to the carnage on the floor of his private chamber. Four guards lay dead, two on the terrace, two inside the room itself. It was clear from the wounds that they had been dispatched by the two half-ores now also dead on the floor.
The assassins, however, had suffered a far worse fate. Their bodies were shredded, one with a huge bite out of its abdomen.
"It's a good thing we arrived when we did," said Kaden, eyeing the half-ores.
"I'm not sure it was a matter of timing," replied the king. "If that creature had really wanted to kill me, it had plenty of time."
"Do you think Xeries is working with the Matron?" Captain Kaden toed the creature's dead body. "That would explain why this beast and the half-ores are here."
The king shook his head. "I don't know. If the Matron kidnapped my daughter to turn her over to Xeries, then why hasn't she done that? What can she gain from all of this posturing? And why would she offer to help fight Xeries then send assassins to my bedroom?" He stepped over one of the fallen killers. "And from the looks of things, these two"-he pointed at the beast and at one of the half-ores-"didn't like each other much."
The king moved to a nearby table and poured some water into a basin from a clay pitcher. He dabbed a piece of cloth in the water and began wiping the blood from his arm.
"There is one person who I believe, with the proper motivation, can shed some more light on this." He looked up from his gruesome work. "Have Whitman brought up from the dungeon. I wish to interrogate him further."
Through the open door, the sounds of men shouting and fighting caught the king's ear.
"What now?" he growled.
King Korox and Captain Kaden burst out into the hall. Magistrates ran past, toward the entry and the audience chamber.
Captain Kaden grabbed a Magistrate as