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

“Lieutenant Jackal?” A question mark.

Jackal’s head snapped around, looking for something.

“Can you hear that?” He asked.

“Hear what?” Mjolnir stepped over to him.

“That howling. I can hear howling. It...it sounds like Fenris.”

“That’s not possible.” Mjolnir raised a brow. “Fenris is still on the ship.”

“Fuck. It hurts.” He groaned, hitting the ball of his hand against his head.

The lights and colors faded away from his vision. Wrapped in darkness, Jackal turned around in search of anything familiar. Nothing. He called out, but could see no one, nor hear his own voice.

A hollow, bony nose poked out from the shadows. Jaws lined with wicked teeth haphazardly grown in.

“Fenris?” Jackal tried to say.

Open your eyes! Its voice snarled in his mind.

“What? They are open!”

Open your eyes! It repeated. This time its jaws snapped shut.

Within a blink, Fenris had faded from his sight. The darkness turned red and through it, Jackal could see a blackened silhouette in the distance quickly approaching. At first he thought it was Fenris somehow, but it moved unhindered. It moved with a different purpose. Hunched forward, with three massive claws thumping against the ground.

He blinked again.

The lights returned. He could see the colors of the chem lights dotting the cavern.

The warmth of Mjolnir right next to him.

Eyes glowing red, Jackal looked away from the ardrizi and back into the darkness. The tint of red clouding his vision seemed to have given him the sight into the shadows he desperately needed.

Wide, heavy jaws of bone crushing teeth reached from the shadows too close for comfort.

Jackal grabbed Mjolnir’s arm and pulled on him, stepping backwards.

“What the fuck is that?!” Yaaranam shouted.

“Run!” the bichani screamed. “Run for your lives! Those creatures are back!”

The growl rumbled the cavern. Its thumping feet shaking the stone around them. Softer shrieks echoed from out of sight. It sounded as if a dozen were crawling out of the rocks.

They turned and ran, following the tunnel back out into the daylight. All the while those creatures on their tail. It felt as if no matter how fast they ran, the creatures were inches away from snapping their jaws around their heads.

The bichani nearly jumped off the cliff when they broke into the light. Mjolnir went for the rope, tossing it over the edge. He waved for the others to follow. Yaaranam was first to grab the rope and jump down. The bichani followed.

Jackal hung back for Mjolnir to go. He took his pistol from his hip and fired it into the darkness of the cave. He wasn’t sure if it would do anything. Hopefully it would delay those creatures.

As they descended, preferring to suffer the burn of the rope than be eaten alive, they looked up to see a massive beast barely able to fit within the cave staring down at them.

A bipedal creature made of flesh and machine. Massive jaws that could crush through anything. It snarled, unable to follow them down.

“What in the Emperor’s name is that thing?!” Yaaranam shouted.

“Is that really---” Mjolnir was cut off.

“An eos.” Jackal took a breath. The aching of his head ceased. His eyes no longer glowed and he no longer saw in that odd tint of red.

“I cannot believe we got away!” The bichani dropped to his knees and kissed the dirt. “Oh, thank the great cosmos we’re alive! I will never doubt you again, God!”

“Liam!” Reaper called over the radio. “Liam, come in!”

A shadow crashed into the ground a few feet from them. Jackal and the bichani actually lost their footing. They hit the ground on their rears and looked up. A shuttle still a mile high was coming down for a landing. The shadow rose from the small crater.

“Looks like the cavalry's here.” Mjolnir grinned.

“F-Fenris?” Jackal choked.

The valkyrie paid no mind to any of them. Its eyes focused on the creatures up on the mountainside. More of them piled out into the light. Smaller ones of the giant one, each with extra appendages and the lack of arms. Spider like limbs, attached to their backs, made threatening gestures at them. Some snapped at each other.

“H-how did you know?” Yaaranam asked.

“Ask Fenris how he knew.” Reaper answered.

The largest of the creatures reared back. Its jaws split apart, even the lower jaw snapped in half to open its mouth as wide as possible. Its roar made their blood stop flowing. Their hearts stop beating. They could feel the rage and hunger boiling inside of its very soul. Even the shuttle shook from the sound, nearly losing control of its stabilizers.

Its roar lasted for several seconds. Its jaws snapping back into a proper resting place as it finished.

Fenris would not let the challenge go unanswered. It took a step forward and roared right back. A mechanical flair just the same as the creature’s only Fenris’ was like that of multiple voices. A howl, the guttural scream, the equivalent shriek. Its own call made the others recoil and cover their ears. The ground trembled. Their souls jumped out of their bodies.

Perhaps its roar was louder due to proximity, but it certainly lasted much longer. The snapping of its jaws resonated in the air when it finished.

The smaller of the creatures shrieked and fled back into the cave.

The shuttle hit the ground rough, Reaper hanging out of its side.

Fenris’ fur ruffled up at its neck and its body shook to make it relax.

“Fuck yeah!” Jackal cheered.

“Could we tone down the roaring?” Willis called from the pilot’s seat. “I can’t believe I’m saying this, but that shit fucking sucks when you’re flying!”

The large creature was the last to slowly turn and walk away. When it did, Fenris approached Jackal. It held its hand out to him to help him back up to his feet.

“Jackal hurt.” It grumbled, its voice now much softer, though much hoarser than normal.

“I’m all right. It’s nothing bad.” He smiled, using the valkyrie’s fingers to pull himself up.

“They truly are afraid of you, Fenris.” Mjolnir crossed his arms. “Is it the roar? You must teach me to roar like that!”

“You must