🏆 THE AMBY AWARDS 2023 TOP PICK - DIVERSE LIT 🏆
It's Rin and Hye-jin against the world. Or so it should have been.
Nagara Rin and Joon Hye-jin, college sweethearts and passionate gamers, have lived a fairytale marriage. Not even a decade after did...
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I ducked, throwing my arms over my head as I ran for cover. Unfortunately, being on top of a spire with nothing between me and the sky, I didn't have much to go on.
The thing screeched at me, opening its bony beak wide enough to swallow me whole. My heart pounded in my ribcage, going all the way to my ears. The wind, if possible, began blowing even harder. What—where did these things come from? They weren't here when I climbed up!
An alcove formed by a fallen chunk from the frieze lining the temple's gable sped into view. Not enough for a decent shield, but it'd do. It's not like I have any other choice.
I dove for it, summoning my sword just as claws swiped for my head, grazing the ends of my hair. Whirling, I swung. Embers colored the blue sky red as my blade slammed against the creature's head. Reverberations traveled up my arms and down my spine as the beast ground against my blade, its beak snapping up and down.
It gave me a good look at it. Razor-sharp wings made of nothing but tattered splotches of feathers, empty eye sockets that could still somehow tell where prey was, claws curved and sharp enough to gleam against the setting sun—it's a bird skinned of everything save for bones. What the fuck were these things?
I grunted, my arms straining against the bird's quivering shoves. My blade, despite being made of dragon scales, creaked against its weight. Not long. I didn't have long. All the more reason to get out of here before all my hard work retrieving the Book became for nothing.
With a yell, I pushed against the bird. My feet dug into its ribcage, using it as a jumping pad as I flipped backwards. I landed on my feet, and before the bird could recover from its recoil, I dashed towards the steps leading down the ruins. Probably not a good idea to run on stairs not wider than my arm span with steps barely the length of my foot, but I'd take that over being dinner to a creature that didn't even have a stomach.
I was close to the rim of the spire when a blur of ivory zipped to my right. My side erupted in pain as it collided, the force driving my feet off the ground. That's the third time in a span of a week!
Gritting my teeth, I stabbed down with my sword, the blade's tip hitting the dirt with a distinct thwack. I tightened my grip as the inertia enveloped my body and stopped my flight. The soles of my boots skidded against the cobblestones marred with blades of grass and splotches of moss.
That's close.
Another screech made me turn. Dive-bombing from the sky was another bird, screaming its bloody head off. I scrambled back just as its talons clawed the ground where I was once at. Both birds turned to me, and I leveled my blade. Then, we met halfway.
My movements blurred in my periphery. All my brain focused on was to make sure I had all my limbs attached to my body and I wasn't leaking my guts out in a random spire with nothing but a ruined temple to witness my demise. That's not the best way to go, honestly.
