Dragonhold (Book 2) by Brian Rathbone Page B

never known it could be so complicated or rewarding.
    When Strom stopped without warning, holding up his hand again, Durin wasn't prepared and walked into Strom's back. He grunted loudly from the impact, and both Strom and Osbourne cast him scathing glances, demanding silence. When Durin recovered himself, he understood why. Voices came from not far ahead. Who in the world could possibly be at the bottom of this forsaken place, Durin asked himself, liking none of what his imagination conjured.
    Strom quietly led them deeper into the nightmare forest, the pool of light giving them away to anything with eyes. Durin, too, felt compelled to move in silence. Someone or something else was there. The odds of its being friendly were decidedly slim.
    No more voices came. Low rumblings and something akin to a growl were all that could be heard. Highly alert, all three jumped upon hearing a sudden intake of breath. Startled, terrified, and confused, Durin searched for a tree to hide behind but could find none that didn't bear some creature from his nightmares.
    A mighty growl split the air, followed by a grunt, but Durin saw nothing. He exchanged confused glances with Strom and Osbourne but then remembered the tales of keystones. Sinjin had told him about them and had used them himself, so Durin knew such things really existed.
    Grunts and cries filled the air but no words. Still, Durin felt some sort of connection. Even across the distance, he knew, even before Pelivor shouted, "Look out, Cat! Behind you!"
    Though Durin was not there in physical form, Catrin's foes didn't know that. He made up his mind. "For Catrin!" he shouted with all the authority he could muster. Strom and Osbourne took a moment to understand his goal, but then they charged into the empty darkness, shouting battle cries that reverberated through the Black Spike.
     
    * * *
     
    Stopping cold when Catrin grabbed his arm, Pelivor held his breath. A hulking, shadowy form stepped into the light and did not shy away. Another approached from a different direction. Pelivor grabbed Catrin's collar and turned her back the way they had come. A third demon stepped into their path. There was a chance they could retreat through the stone forest, dashing between the trees to lose the enemy, but there were likely more where these had come from. Without their most potent weapons, they were in serious trouble.
    His grip on Catrin loosened, and she darted away from him, dividing the monsters' focus. Charging toward the first one they'd seen, which wasn't far away, Catrin leaped into the air, executing a flying kick at the demon's knee. Too slow to react, the demon went down with a loud crack. The dark monster growled and thrashed in anguish but would pursue them no farther.
    "Look out, Cat! Behind you!" Pelivor shouted. A mace made from a small tree trunk missed Catrin's head by a hair's width, but Pelivor had his own problems. The demon closing on him carried no weapons; instead, the foul beast wore twisted ironworks more like hammers than gloves. One soared past Pelivor's head, crashing into a stone tree, desecrating the eons-old masterpiece. Even as he sought to save his own life, Pelivor was aware of the beauty around him. What had seemed like a miss proved an effective attack, when a heavy branch came crashing down on Pelivor. Her eyes defiant, Catrin stood in the mace-wielding demon's path. Having no time to process what he saw, Pelivor rolled away. Two mighty hammers raced toward him, and there was little else he could do to defend himself.
    "For Catrin!" came a sudden cry. Pelivor could hardly believe it. More cries split the air, and the course of the battle shifted. Pulling himself out from under the stone branch, he came away with cuts, scrapes, and bruises but little more.
    The demon cast about, searching for this new threat. It was all the opportunity Pelivor needed. Following Catrin's example, he struck the enormous creature from behind, buckling the knee to take the