Page 22 of Burn of Obsidian

He heard a clash of teeth. The air shifted, oxygen forced from his lungs when a heavy weight connected to his chest. Brick crumbled against his back, the Veyn snarling and hissing as it jumped back out of reach. Blood feathered the air, an intense burning sensation building from where the Veyn’s claws had pierced through his fighting leathers.

Thoughts of Thea had distracted him – a mistake he wouldn’t make again.

‘Don’t engage without me!’ Axel snarled inside his mind, only for Jax’s beast to roar his protest.

Jax grit his teeth, circling the Veyn while fighting for control, only for his beast to add pressure.

I FIGHT. YOU SLEEP.

Not now, he growled, but his skin still rippled, fur threatening to break through before he forced his beast back. Enough!

Jax shoved himself to the side, grunting when he landed harder on his shoulder than he’d intended. Another claw raked across his stomach, luckily only ripping his shirt.

The Veyn snarled, green spittle splattering the surrounding cobbles. It hissed as it landed against the brick and stone. Jax braced, hand gripping his sword tight as it stepped further into the light.

Fuck.

It wasn’t a hound like he’d expected. The majority of its body was glamoured within the shadows, half braced against the brick wall with four legs each side. It was backed against an office building, at least twenty floors. So unless the Veyn could scale the wall like a spider, it was stuck.

Jax sent a mental image to his brother. “Where the fuck are you, pretty boy?”

“Is that a lizard?” came the quick reply. “Or a caterpillar?”

Jax didn’t bother responding, not when he needed to concentrate.

Most of the Veyn were hellhounds, a canine shape with a few extras that made them far more dangerous than any wild wolf. He didn’t even have a name for the new one, its body long, almost stretched. Its head was a little ursa shaped, with its jaws and slope of brow. There were no ears, or even holes like the other Veyn he’d taken down. Nothing but smooth obsidian scales with a few tufts of blackened fur, and spikes protruding along its spine.

Red eyes rolled freely in deep sockets, dark vapour floating across its skin like a protective mist. Unlike the others, Jax saw no exposed bones other than the spikes, the scales creating protective flaps over its vulnerable points like armour.

Heavy footsteps echoed, but Jax didn’t turn to welcome his brother.

“Fuck me,” Axel grunted. “Classification E?”

Jax shook his head. The Veyn had been caught at the dead-end, yet Jax hadn’t immediately seen it. All the Guardians could see through their invisibility glamour, it was part of their strengths. One of the reasons the Archdruid negotiated their curse in the first place.

It was his beast that had sensed the Veyn, not the man.

“Classification F.”

Axel’s head whipped to the side. “You can’t just make up classifications, J.”

The Veyn watched them, a gentle hiss vibrating its throat. It didn’t make a move, but it wasn’t running away either. Its body was already halfway up the wall, the back four legs each side gripping the bricks.

Beast roared inside his mind, the pressure causing a headache.

Fangs flashed, and Jax brought up his sword just in time for the Veyn to clamp down on the blade rather than his arm. With all his strength he shoved, the sword barely grazing before he was tossed to the side like a doll, and not a man of six five.

He landed on his back with a grunt, but before Axel had even landed with a thud beside him, he was back on his feet, sword swinging. The sharpened blade caught the Veyn along its scaled flank, and shattered.

The Veyn’s tongue flicked out, split like a snake’s.

“Fuck!” he grunted, dropping what remained of his sword. He’d never had a weapon shatter, especially not one he’d made himself.

“You good?” Axel shouted, skidding beneath the Veyn to try and stab at its stomach. But even that seemed to be of no use, the blade unable to penetrate the scales.

Jax called arcane to his fist. The magic sparked, pulsating along with the lines of his tattoos. He felt his chi stretch, fuelled by the Ley Line that ran like veins throughout the city.

The Veyn turned, and Jax released the carefully constructed ball. It shot across the short space, collecting mass before it connected with the Veyn’s snout. Blood spattered, his power breaking through the scales to score the flesh beneath. It went deep enough that bone flashed.