Gathering Storm (The Salvation of Tempestria Book 2) by Gary Stringer (howl and other poems .txt) 📕

had to wear a mask to cover her face from small-minded people. It all built inside her, seeping into every muscle, every tendon. She was like a snake, coiled and ready to strike, but she needed to wait. The total was up to forty, but it still wasn’t all. She needed them all.

“Think of all the things you could do to me, all the things you want to do to me. You don’t want to miss out by holding back, do you?”

More stepped forward. Nearly all, but not quite. Mandalee was almost at Shyleen’s side now. Just a few more steps. Just a breath or two longer. Some of them had started jeering at her now. Rude comments assailed her. Wolf-whistles came at her. Many began to describe the things they were going to do to her. The many ways they were going to enjoy themselves with her. How long they were going to make it last for her. And a couple of particularly imaginative souls simply went with, “Freak!”

“You can see the leopard's injuries,” she implored them, ignoring the comments. “I know some of you are clerics like me. You know how drained I’ll be once I heal her.” She could see some of them nodding. “So, let me do it. Please!” she begged. “I can do nothing to you. You can watch my every move, you can watch everything, but if you hold back too much, you won’t be able to see. Think about what you’ll be missing if you can’t see.”

Fifty-two. That was all of them and not one of those assembled now considered Mandalee a threat.

Their mistake.

The mist deepened instantly to dense fog, plunging the area into darkness. Mandalee’s knives were in her hands in an instant, and before anyone could react, five demons and two humans died. Vital arteries were severed, tendons were cut, hamstrings were slit, bellies were sliced open, allowing intestines to drop out. Using her super-speed, she grabbed Shyleen and hid her out of harm’s way. She didn’t like moving her in her present condition, but she had no choice. If she left her in the clearing, she would be killed, whether by deliberate act or by stray weapon or magic would make no difference. Dead was dead.

Rushing back to the clearing, she ran up behind one of the two warriors she had seen carrying a crossbow. Reaching around him, she pulled the trigger, sending a bolt into the last remaining demon. She had so far avoided killing any wizards because she couldn’t be sure which ones controlled which demons. The last thing she wanted was loose demons. Now, with them all gone, the wizards became primary targets. As a demon hunter-turned-assassin, she had learned that lesson years ago. Always kill the demon first while its powers are limited and under control of the wizard, then kill the wizard before he can summon another. Otherwise, she would spend the rest of her short life, slaying a never-ending supply of demons until just once – for once was all it took – a demon killed her instead.

Spells began to ignite around her, but she was too fast for them to target her accurately. Conversely, a flash of magic lit them up nicely for her in the darkness. Three wizards died before her next heartbeat. They switched to area-of-effect spells, trying to blanket the clearing, but Mandalee was unconcerned because she had a secret: her combat suit was magic-resistant. Sara had told her that detail when she’d first brought up the subject – Catriona wasn’t the only one with a special gift for paying attention. She hadn’t had a chance to check it out on Earth, there being no wizards there, but this was as good a time as any for a field test.

Ignoring the wizards who were using conventional magic, she listened out for the tell-tale chanting of summoning magic. She heard them – directly behind her. Before they uttered another syllable, she was by their side, slitting their throats. As they hit the ground, the two warriors on either side, whose job had been to protect the summoners, got their reward for a job well done when Mandalee’s tiny, invisible knives severed an artery in their necks.

At last, one of the clerics decided to use her head and pray for sunlight to banish the fog. But Mandalee was a cleric, too. She felt the effect almost before it happened, and in response, she closed her eyes and prayed for even more sunlight. Her enemies cried out as one, as the bright light blinded them just as surely as the darkness had. Opening her eyes to mere slits was enough for the assassin to commit to memory the locations of her remaining enemies. She had cut them down by about half already.

The cleric who had cast the light spell died next, followed by the final sorceress – just in case she had any summoning powers – and three more warriors standing near her, before their eyes adjusted to the light. A trio of archers let arrows fly, but with a simple application of cleric levitation magic, she nudged their courses to kill three of their comrades instead. One of the archers, having not learned his lesson, nocked another arrow, but Mandalee slipped behind the still disorientated second crossbow wielder and helped the two kill each other. An Arc of Fire from the White Assassin’s fingers burned out the eyes of the other two archers. A neighbouring cleric stepped over to heal them, but Mandalee taught her about the consequences of helping her would-be murderers by levitating a spent arrow through her heart. Swiftly following the path of the projectile, she killed the remaining archers.

Only a dozen warriors remained, but the assassin could feel herself tiring from using her super-speed for so long. She decided her best bet was to cancel it, now, and use the trees as cover for hit and run strikes. None of her enemies possessed any ranged weapons, now, which