Page 28 (1/2)

She could do that

"Keep a close eye behind you, too"

So her that they weren’t out of the woods yet

Drake turned to Thohtened his face shield and gripped his heavy blade with both hands "Go"

Boththe distance quickly Tho a watchful eye on the two mosquito-like creatures they’d called haest Drake moved directly toward the sword

Helen looked over her shoulder every three seconds, but nothing was there

Drake saw the blackened tip of the sword and nudged it with the toe of his boot The s scurried out in every direction

The haest heard the sound and turned their fanged heads around toward the noise

Tho his heavy shoulders for attack

Drake bent down to pick up the sword

So, engulfing the e and the sword inside it Drake hissed and jerked his hand back Helen could feel her own hand burning where the tar had touched hi, but it was too late A second tar-thing dropped froround toward Helen

Helen stared at it, trying to figure out what to do Her legs felt heavy and her brain spat out terrified coht and tried to fight them She wasn’t sure whether she was supposed to do that now, too The tiure it out made the decision moot

A thick, oily tentacle shot toward her

She jued it, but Thoed toward her on powerful legs and pushed Helen back She stu hit Thos Tho with his sword It did no good His blade sliced right through it, only to have the cut close up as if it had never been there

The black stuff oozed up Tho hied cries of agony

Helen felt Drake’s panic--soinnings of her own panic and she had to struggle to remain coherent

Drake took a step toward Thos The twosounds and skittered over the dirt floor on skinny insect legs

Drake was caught between them

Helen tried to screas had seized up and all that came out was a thready squeak

Drake held his position until the last second and jumped out of the way The , which pro noises and struggled to get free of the sticky beast, but they were no match for the slow advance of the oily lance to see that his plan had worked and rushed to Thomas’s side

Helen didn’t knohat to do or how to help Her mind raced for a way to save Thomas, but she could think of none

Helen felt that wavering tendril of power floating between they flooded her, but she had no idea what to do

The second e had absorbed the twobehind only the spindly insectoid legs Noas looking for a new target

Drake was closest and the thing headed right for hi mound of slime

She had to stop it She had no clue what she was doing, but she couldn’t just stand there She had to do so in her mind, but if Drake heard her, he didn’t respond He was too busy pounding at the thing eating Thomas

Helen pulled more power from Drake Tooover in pain The energy flowed into her in an agonizing rush It stretched her insides until she thought her ribs would explode out of her chest Her body heated until her eyes and mouth went dry It was hard to think with all that pain Hard to breathe She had to get rid of the power before it killed her

She sent up a quick prayer that she was doing this right and focused on the sludge thing headed for Drake She pushed the energy out of her and built an invisible wall around it She ether until a se

Helen didn’t knoould happen if she relaxed, so she held her focus, drawing more power from Drake to keep the barrier in place

She was breathing hard and her vision grayed around the edges The luceria buzzed and heated until she was sure blisters would forer, but she could feel his desperation to save Thoood against the kajround Thomas’s screa He wasn’t going to last er

Tho it by the blade and using the hilt in an effort to pound the thing away from him His hands were slick with his own blood where the sword had sliced through his pal as Tho eating hi that could kill a kajmela, and Helen was the only one who couldat his power, but still there was no fire Not even a spark

Drake swung the stick at the kaje disconnected froain, tearing chunks of the kajmela off, but there were always more to fill in the holes