Free Magi Saga 1: Epic Calling by Andrew Dobell Page B

bloody fist from the ruined wall and the pulped remains of Stuart, before it roared its defiance at the heavens.
    She had to get away, run from this place and save herself from what must surely be certain death. But her whole body ached, she could feel scrapes and bruises all over her. She had landed badly from being thrown, hitting her knees and arms and ribs on the unforgiving floor and then her head on the wall that had brought her to a stop. She shook from the pain and the fear she felt, and knew instinctively that she wouldn’t be able to stand, so she planted her hands on the floor and pulled herself along, not looking back at the demon, the thing behind her.
    She scraped her thighs and knees on the rough floor as she moved, her fingers slipping over the wet asphalt. She had to escape.
    ‘Going somewhere witch?’ the thing behind her rumbled.
    The voice of a demon, deep and powerful, it filled her mind with nightmare images, and froze her to the spot.
    She twisted herself round and looked upon the walking death machine once more as it stepped casually after Amanda, closing the gap between them to just ten or fifteen feet. She could smell it now; its stench filled her nostrils. It smelt like a fetid, rotting dogs musk, a thick and revolting stench, and it made Amanda feel like vomiting.
    ‘You can’t escape me this time witch, this time I make you suffer,’ it said in its deep bass voice that made Amanda’s rib cage vibrate.
    Amanda wasn’t really listening though, her breathing came to her quickly in terrified gasps, tears filled her eyes and pain filled her mind. The physical pain of her injuries and the mental anguish she felt over the death of her last friend in New York.
    Amanda’s mouth hung open, she wanted to scream and shout for help or plead for mercy but the terror she felt gripped her in a vice that wouldn’t let her do anything. One thought went through her head over and over again, she mouthed the words silently, repeating it endlessly as this thing approached.
    I’m gonna die, I’m gonna die, I’m gonna die…
    The fear and tension in her body were nearly unbearable, it roiled around inside her like a storm. She felt filled to the brim, like she wanted to explode and kill this thing with her feelings. She realised she had been holding her breath for god only knew how long now and she desperately needed to breath. She wanted to scream at this thing, scream all her rage and anger out at this beast, this Grim Reaper before her that had taken another of her friends. If she killed it, maybe she would feel better, maybe she could stop the killing; stop her friends dying one by one. Her head swam and her arms shook violently, she had to do something, she needed to do something, but what could she do, how could she stop something like this. All her rage, her unspent tension filled her up; she needed to release it, to expel it from her body in a great wave.
    The thing spoke again, as it advanced upon her and roared its triumph, but it just wasn’t registering for Amanda. She hadn’t been listening before and she wasn’t listening now. Then it moved like black lightning, lunging for her like death itself, its great talon reaching for her with heart stopping speed.
    Amanda screamed.
    Her hands shot up and out to protect herself as she screamed. The wail ripped from her body, it seemed to come from her very soul and blasted from her lungs at the thing before her. Her whole body was tensed, her muscles so tight it hurt as she threw out her rage at this thing.
    The feeling of it taking hold of her and crushing the life from her never came; it was as if the whole world was paused all of a sudden, her life on hold for the moment at least. Instead, her world became instantly filled with an intense new noise and a blinding light. The noise sounded like a thunderclap, but endless, as if she were at the centre of an explosion that left her untouched. The wind gusted about, streaming past her and forward while