The Soul Eaters (The Thin Hex Line Book 1) by Gwyndolyn Russell (e reader txt) 📕

a bite at the geihildra. It sidestepped, swinging its tail back and forth to tease the beast.

It took the bait, but was caught in the act by the reldul leaping out of the crowd of monsters. The largest of them and one of the smaller ones dug their claws into the giant’s snout. They kicked their feet against its jaw and bit down into its brow. The others circled around to leap on its side and destroy the weapons attached.

The soldiers fired upon it, careful not to hit their newfound comrades.

The skaginvar attempted to flee and shake off the reldul, but a well-timed smack of the tail from Tunaaka sent the beast toppling head first into the dirt. Dragged down to its side, the smaller reldul bit and pulled, distracting its feet and occupying its head. That left the alpha to attack the weakened area and tear its way through its chest.

“Captain!” Jackal called, getting himself up from the ground. “Fucking hell, you know how to make an entrance.”

“Are you two all right?” Reaper grabbed his shoulder.

“Banged up, but we can still fight.” He looked over to Yaaranam who was on her way over.

“Captain,” She said, panting. “Did you see? They rose up from the dead!”

“They weren’t actually dead.” Reaper said. “Fucked up, but not dead. You have to destroy the cores.”

“Yeah,” Jackal nodded. “It’s their soul. Something about setting it free.”

“Soul? Those aren’t meant to be tangible.”

A red glowing orb rolled across the ground, thumping against Reaper’s boot.

“That’s it.” Jackal pointed.

Reaper picked the orb up, and rolled it around his hands.

“This...is a soul?” He raised a brow.

“He’s gifted it to you!” Vactubstein shouted from atop Tunaaka.

“What? Why?”

“The alpha of the pack eats the soul,” He explained, “They grow stronger when they do.”

The eos shrieked. They started to run away from the cavern. They ignored the soldiers once more, choosing to run past them in quite a frantic hurry. They looked to see what they were running from.

Fenris was not much further away, in the middle of bringing down a giraffe sized beast. Its back covered in scutes and twin barrels aimed upwards, the creature let out a song of terror. It kicked and thumped its tail to try to get back up, but the wolf tore into one of its legs, climbing up on top of it.

Right behind him, was a creature unlike any of the others they had seen. Well over twenty-three feet tall at the shoulder, its spine was elongated into ten foot tall, metallic dorsal fins. Each spine had a series of crimson lights that glowed with fire. Its head was nearly six feet long with long, narrow jaws sporting conical teeth haphazardly grown in.

It rushed forth on all four limbs, the knuckles of its hands bent inwards to keep the razor sharp claws from dulling in the dirt. When it neared Fenris, it reared up on its hind legs and gave a single swipe that sent the wolf flying into the face of the cliff.

FORTY-SEVEN

The beast with the overgrown sail upon its back let out a hellacious shriek. Everything shook as if an earthquake threatened to rip the ground apart. Many of the eos ran away, but those brave enough swarmed the downed valkyrie. The remaining humans stood together with the few operational trucks pulling up behind them. In their panic the eos ran right through them and climbed up over the trucks. They wanted away from the beast now that it had revealed itself.

The valkria bit into Fenris and dragged it from the wall. It took their combined strength to move the wolf. They clawed and snapped their jaws around its limbs and pulled in opposite directions.

“We have to do something.” Jackal said, looking at Reaper.

“He is struggling out there,” Vactubstein stated, pulling the reins to keep his beast steady through the charging eos. “He is not at his full strength.”

“It’s those chains.” Jackal said. “He can’t move right with them.”

“We need to help him. He won’t take that skuladr down alone in his current state.”

“What are we supposed to do?” Reaper asked.

“Something! Anything! That thing will eat him!” Jackal swung his arm.

Reaper looked down to that crimson orb in his hand. Eos are soul eaters. They get stronger when they eat another’s soul. Maybe...maybe Fenris needed a boost.

Before Reaper could get his thought out into the open, that skuladr began to speak so that all could hear it.

“Pathetic!” It spat with a voice like that of nails scratching down a chalkboard. “The Great Dragon said you would devour this planet!”

Its head lowered down to better look at the wolf held down by the dozens of valkria. They held onto each of its limbs and pulled them back. The more Fenris pulled against them, the tighter the chains dug into his flesh.

“They said you were fearsome.” The skuladr continued. “Look at you. Weak. Pathetic.” Its long jaws snapped shut. Bones snapped. The metallic skeletons hanging from its sectioned sail rattled with its movements.

“You can’t even fend for yourself! All I see is a sniveling little pest. A waste of a good soul! The Great Dragon will pay me well for your head.”

Fenris’ snapped its teeth, yanked on one of its larger arms only to reel back in pain. It was true. The valkyrie had weakened over time. Stuck on the Syndicate with no source of good food. The chains hindered its every move. It had only done so well thus far due to the fear of its presence and its ever growing hunger driving it forward. Now anger was boiling inside its chest. The insults dug deep into its flesh.

It would show the skuladr why it was called the Devourer. Why it was feared by all.

These valkria were like hatchlings compared to the wolf. It ripped its body from their grasp and leaped into the air. Biting back the pain, its bigger claws bent backwards and dug into the stone cliff face. The wolf climbed upwards, growling all the