The Path of Giants by B.T. Narro (best novels to read .txt) 📕

vulnerable spots and impaled me in the same left shoulder, this time in the front.

“You’re missing this on purpose!” Valinox yelled at Eden.

“I’m not,” she said. “The girl!”

Hadley was about to drive her dagger into Valinox’s back, but Eden grabbed her with dteria. Hadley swiped wildly as the dteria pulled her away, nicking Valinox’s shirt before Eden wrestled her away with the clear energy. Soon Hadley fell and started to roll away from all of us as Eden’s dteria gained momentum.

But she had given me enough time to remove Eden’s second dagger and heal not only that wound but my broken wrist as well.

Valinox glared at me. I knew he had the capability to kill me on his own. He could throw me against any of the nearby trees, and that would be it. It looked like he was thinking about it, like he was risking waking Gourfist just to get rid of me.

Eden must’ve felt the same thing from him. “It’s not worth it,” she said. “He’s just one healer.”

“You are going to kill him right now, or I will make sure you suffer.” While still suspending me in the air with a ring of dteria, Valinox wrapped a smaller ring around the hand I was using to hold the dagger.

With a sudden twist, he broke my wrist all over again and forced me to drop the weapon.

The shock of it ruined my concentration—the spell I was preparing—as I screamed yet again. Eden ran toward me as I was in too much shock to heal myself, snatched up the dagger, and was about to stab me in the chest, but I finally gathered my thoughts and blasted her back with dvinia.

I didn’t bother healing my wrist. Having the spell ready in my mind, I hit Valinox with an even stronger version.

The spell still struck him—demigod or not—with a huge amount of force. He flew backward and tumbled over himself.

I fell to my feet and healed my wrist. Then I took out my sword and charged Eden. I knew I would have no hope of reaching Valinox before he had another spell ready, but Eden was closer. And Valinox might actually let me kill her.

She tried to get to her feet in a hurry, but she slipped. Suddenly I was over her, close enough to run my sword through her spine as she tried to scamper away with a shriek.

I hesitated. I couldn’t do it.

She looked over her shoulder and found me frozen. She stopped.

My muscles were tense. “Goddamn you, Eden.”

“I’m so sorry, Jon.”

I heard Valinox scream. I looked over to see Hadley on his back, her teeth in his neck. He reached over and picked her off him with one hand, then threw her to the ground with immense strength.

She bounced off the dirt, a look of horror on her face. Her legs couldn’t seem to move as she squirmed with her torso. I ran to Valinox and hoisted him up with dvinia. I knew it was pointless, but I couldn’t bring myself to kill Eden, so I had to try to slay the demigod, or at least get him away from Hadley so I could heal her.

There was a distant roar, so powerful and fearsome that it took all the fight out of me and replaced it with dread. My spell came to a sudden end. Valinox peered to the faraway forest, his eyes wide.

Oh my god. Was that Gourfist?

Valinox took off into the air, leaving the rest of us, including Eden.

I shot her a look over my shoulder. She started to run away.

I would deal with her in a moment.

I bent down over Hadley.

“Mmm!” she groaned, gesturing at her legs that she couldn’t seem to move. I didn’t know why she wouldn’t open her mouth, but I couldn’t worry about that right now. I figured the demigod had broken her spine.

I put my hand on her stomach and reached the other one around to get in between her back and the ground. The damage was severe, but localized. I had cured that young man of a deathly infection, and now I felt like I could heal anything.

It took a solid minute of healing, with one break halfway through to check on Eden—still running and weaponless—but I repaired all the damage the demigod had done.

There were no other roars from the forest. Eden was quite far by now, but I could catch up to her on my horse. “Stay here,” I said, as I made a run for my mount.

But then Valinox came down from the sky, landing next Eden, and soon he was taking off again with her in his arms.

I let out my breath, then went back to check on Hadley. She was rushing toward her bag of ingredients that had fallen off me earlier. She opened it up in a rush as I walked over curiously.

I watched her pull out an empty vial and spit a mixture of blood and saliva into it. Then she put on the stopper and tilted the vial upside down over her hand to make sure it was sealed.

She looked at me with a bloody grin. “I have some of his blood now.”

I couldn’t care about that right now as I was too worried about further danger. “Come on,” I said as I got back on my mount. “They might return for it if he realizes.”

Her face fell. “You’re right. Let’s get out of here.”

We rode for a little ways without speaking. The more time that passed, the better I felt about making it to the castle without another incident.

“I don’t think he knows you’re a witch,” I said as we rode beside each other. “To him, you’re just some girl who bit him on the neck.”

“I was thinking the same thing,” she replied. “I believe we should be safe, especially because he’s also scared of Gourfist.”

I noticed that she had her bag of ingredients with her now. I didn’t see any reason to take it from her after she