Judgment Day (Templar Chronicles Book 5) by Joseph Nassise Page B

earth below and he could smell the stench of the grave as he ran past. Cade didn’t know what lived in those holes and he hoped he never had to find out. The corpse hounds and spectres were bad enough; he didn’t want to know what kind of creature made its home in holes that seemed to even devour the light that spilled across them.
    When he reached the trees on the far side of the lawn, some four hundred yards from where he’d started, he glanced back and was just in time to see the first of the corpse hounds charging around the corner of the house.
    It was a big beast, half-again the size of a Great Dane. From this distance he couldn’t see the flesh hanging off its rotting frame, but he didn’t need to. He knew it was there; nothing living made its home in the Beyond. He could see the reddish-yellow gleam of the unholy fire that burned in the creatures eye sockets, however, and apparently those strange orbs were good enough to see him as well, for the moment the creature’s head turned in his direction, it issued an ear-splitting cry and came charging across the lawn toward him.
    From somewhere behind the house, several other hounds answered their leader’s call.
    Cade turned and headed into the woods, running as fast as he could.
    The trees were like skeletal creatures, their branches hanging down to the ground as if in search of something to grasp and rend and tear. More than once Cade thought he saw something lurking behind one of the massive trunks, but he dashed past without stopping to look. He’d deal with them if they showed their faces, but for now, he knew that what chased after him was more dangerous than the things watching from the shadows.
    As he ran past a bit of deadfall, Cade took a few seconds to snap off a thick branch that he could use as a makeshift weapon. The branch was about three feet long and about as thick around as his wrist, with a jagged spike at one end. It wasn’t much, a makeshift hand spear at best, and his chances of holding off a pack of corpse hounds with it were slim, at best, but it was all he had.
    Gonna have to do , he thought and ran on.
    The baying of the hounds was louder now, closer, and he knew they were gaining on him. If he didn’t find that portal soon, things were going to get ugly.
    To be certain that he was still headed in the right direction, Cade pictured his destination in his mind once again and then triggered his Sight a second time.
    Just as before, a brilliant shaft of light shot out before him, lancing through the trees a few feet to his left until, in the distance, it met the glimmering surface of the portal he was searching for.
    The hounds couldn’t follow him through the portal. If he could reach it, he would be safe.
    Cade dropped his Sight and hurried forward eagerly.
    He was only a few yards from the portal when something rushed toward him from his blind side. If it hadn’t been for the snapping of branches as it burst out of the undergrowth, it might have caught him completely by surprise. As it was he barely had time to turn and brace himself for the impact as a corpse hound hurdled toward him like an NFL linebacker intent on sacking the quarterback. It plowed into him, its claws scrabbling for purchase against his body and its jaws snapping shut mere inches from his face as it bowled him over backward.
    Those few seconds of warning were enough, however. Cade used the hound’s momentum against it, thrusting it over his head and away from him as he crashed to the ground. Miraculously he didn’t drop the makeshift spear he held and as he rolled over into a kneeling crouch, facing his opponent.
    The hound scrambled to its feet even faster than Cade thought possible and was already charging back toward him as he got into position. Cade had just enough time to slam the base of his weapon against the ground behind him and brace himself for impact when the creature leapt forward, jaws snapping and claws extended.
    The tip of Cade’s spear caught the