Captive Of The Warg, (Wargs of the Outland #2)

Blue Blood

Bayne stiffened, his jaw clenching as he took a step forward.

"What...what is that?" There was a tell-tale wobble in Saska's voice.

"It's..." Mangart flinched suddenly as the warg brushed up beside him. "It's...skin."

Bayne's ears pricked back, the side of his nose curling. This place smelled like an old grave. A subtle rot tainting the air. "A molt," he clarified, keeping his tone level.

The Spindrath's ghostly molt shivered against the base of an old larch. The wind nudged it further into the larch's black claws.

Bolrus stepped closer with a shudder. His eyes scanned the vast, tunneled web. "Just how big is this fokken spider?"

"Big," was all Bayne said. The molt was parchment-thin, but the head alone was immense enough to fit three warriors inside. His gaze cut to Nork as the warg poked his javelin against the web. The sticky filaments cleaved to the weapon, but he freed it with a sharp yank.

Reia's gasp had them all turning to glare at her.

Bayne's brows pinched together as he watched her eyes flicker with blue flame. A preternatural blue. Like a wargs!

"Don't touch the web," she hissed at Nork. "You as good as knocked on her door!"

Nork stumbled back with a loud swallow.

Bayne tore his gaze away from Reia's eyes. He was used to seeing yellow flame in each warg's eyes. But Reia's was glacier blue. Bright and unearthly. Immortal.

Tension gathered in his limbs, swift and sharp as the web of funnels juddered under the force of some enormous, barging weight.

A panicked shout pierced his ears. Pain erupted suddenly over his neck and shoulder. A needle-sharp, skittering pain. Air hissed between his teeth, a growl rumbling in his chest.

Nork bellowed a sharp cry, and the web flailed and stormed with greater menace.

Bayne darted a look at Nork, his fingers biting into the throat of his ax. The side of the warg's face was covered with needle quills. They impaled Bayne's shoulder, too, sticking out of his flesh like stiff hairs. He started forward, a primal rush of ice and fire sweeping through his veins. But Bolrus was already yanking the quills out of Nork's neck and cheek. One quill jutted out inches from the younger warg's eye.

Bayne's stomach clenched as he scanned the others for damage.

The same hair spikes protruded from Reia's back, but she'd uttered little more than a gasp. Flekki was yanking out a quill from his forearm, but Saska and the rest were untouched.

"Bayne!" Reia's eyes flashed wide as she gaped over his shoulder.

The buzzing of earlier was back, full force. The web juddered violently again. With rampaging dread, Bayne spun around.

Revulsion seized his gut as a large funnel disgorged its maker. Eight insidious legs extended from the funnel like a hideous birth. The waxy legs were thick, bristling with quills. They splayed out as the rest of the spindrath's distended bulk crawled from the funnel.

Bayne readied his ax, shoving Reia to the back of the group. Mangart dragged her further back, then Bolrus. And so forth. She snarled in frustration, but Bayne had ears and eyes only for the spindrath. Fur prickled on the back of his neck and his fangs filled his mouth. Growling, the others formed a shield at his sides, their heartbeats galloping alongside his.

The spindrath's eight black eyes glinted with menace, its low buzzing hiss flooding the woods. Small, glassy eyes crawled along his skin. Bayne planted his feet wide and the creature reared up. Its front limbs danced up in a lethal wave. A vicious welcome of bony claws.