Free The Guardian: Paranormal Fantasy New Adult Young Adult Angel Romance (A Fight for Light Novel Book 1) by Nikki Landis Page A

refocus. I wish they hadn’t. That’s when I saw it. It came slowly out of the forest edge, a dark shadow hovering on the edge of its body. Hunched over in a crouching position, it leered at me. I froze dead to the spot and looked into the menacing face of the assassin.

Chapter Five
     
    My eyes were frozen open in terror. I couldn’t remember how to blink. I’m not sure if I was even breathing. The shaking was so bad that my vision was blurred. I saw through my hazy eyesight what that evil thing was. Up until now, I wouldn’t have believed in mythology. It was a little hard to ignore it right now while it was staring me in the face. I recognized the creature from an old storybook of fairy tales from my childhood. It was large, imposing, and frightening. A demonic creature that reminded me of a Minotaur.
    The creature was made of black shadow, twisting and turning in a foggy haze that seemed to pulse in the air. The murky black substance was unnerving. An evil presence pervaded my thoughts again. I sensed a presence, so vile, so disgusting, that I felt the need to rub my skin and push it away. In my mind I felt it searching, looking, and invading my conscious thought. The storybook filled my mind again. Suddenly the shape in front of me switched from a shadow to flesh and blood.
    My thoughts got that far when I saw it take a step forward. My eyes widened in total and complete horror. Panic gripped my chest and made my heart rate accelerate even more. My fight or flight response kicked in and I started to pivot on my left foot. I was going to run for it. There was no other choice. I had to get away from here now .
    I turned around and took off running as fast as my legs could carry me. I could hear my pursuer behind me, getting closer. The sound of the ground shaking under my feet was deafening to my ears. I ran through the forest, passed trees and everything else. Branches tore through my skin causing crimson scrapes of thin blood to run along my exposed arms and cheeks. I heard the shred of fabric as one ripped into my shirt in multiple places. I had no idea where I was and didn’t care. It was gaining…faster and faster it ran after me.
    I saw more bright light ahead of me and burst through a line of trees. I panicked when I saw the cliff face in front of me. It was a straight drop down, probably about fifty feet. I ran to the edge and spun around, knowing it was behind me. The creature stopped about twenty feet away from where I stood. It resumed the same crouching, hunched position as before. It slowly circled around in front of me, taking its time. I was cornered and we both knew it.
    I stepped back against the edge of the cliff. I felt small rocks give way beneath my feet and tumbled down below. I was still so scared that I suddenly couldn’t move. The Minotaur started circling forward again, slowly stalking me. He growled again and I tried not to cry out in fear.
    The evil presence filled the air around me, like icy fingers of torturous agony. I could feel the shadow pressing in, pushing at me, and forcing me against my will. I felt its hunger, its desire. It wanted me, my surrender, and my acquiescence. My soul . It wanted my death.
    As his prey, I had nowhere to go. I faced certain death, either by this demon or at the sharp drop below. I was considering actually jumping when the ground gave out beneath me. I started falling, my hands waving in the air above me, clawing at the nothing that surrounded me. I screamed as I suddenly realized I was going to fall to my death. My body grasped at the air, reaching, but nothing would rescue me. I heard the evil chuckle of the creature as it realized victory was near.
    Time seemed to stand still all around me. I had to be dreaming. My body felt so light and weightless. Wind blew my hair all around me in swirls of brown silk. My clothes were billowing softly against my skin, the ripples gliding across, gently brushing.
    All around me the air felt different and new. My