Praetorian Rising, стр. 61
"Are you sure we can handle this? I'm down to run," Charlie said, drawing closer to the pair. She neither appeared afraid nor worried about the incoming attack. Despite a steady line of sweat breaking across her brow, the beads like spots of dew on a flower at dawn, she appeared formidable. For the first time, Camille saw the soldier in Charlie. She held her sword like it was a well-known friend, her grip solid yet at ease.
Theo's boots crunched on the hardened snow as he drew his sword, moving a slight pace in front of Camille and Charlie. It was meant as a protective gesture, she knew that, but she proceeded to step beside him in kind. His attention flicked to her face for a mere moment, and she could swear his lips flickered with the hint of a smile.
"Never doubt a Praetorian, Charlie. We were made for this," Theo said in a low warning growl. "But as an Asperian, you need to watch your bare skin. Don't get bitten—that's an order, soldier."
"You have no authority to give me an order," Charlie snapped back.
"Just don't get bitten Charlie, got it."
She huffed an exaggerated breath before acknowledging his request.
Camille's face warmed with blood, and she focused her Praetorian-enhanced vision to the forest. The beasts crept through the crosshatch of trees, their muscles bunched and ready to pounce. They appeared slowly through the chilly mist one and then another, a slow wave of monsters dusted in snow edging toward the trio.
Her gaze floated up toward the massive purple clouds and she cringed at their ominous appearance. It looked as though a million buckets of water hurtled toward them as the sky broke into a violent storm. The three of them were soaked in seconds.
With one last glance at Theo, Camille adjusted her stance before peering into the distance toward the pack of monsters anxious to attack. There was a slight shift in the atmosphere—like the silence in the eye of a storm crackling with energy before breaking into complete chaos—and then the Chimera charged.
Chapter Twelve
The Green-Eyed Man
"Brace yourself!" Theo bellowed over the sheets of water separating them. Nothing could have prepared her—Camille had never fought in such conditions against so many predators at once. Each step and turn were taken with as much care as she could manage, but it was difficult to focus her attention on the swift movements of the Chimera while maintaining her footing on the frozen ground.
The monsters attacked randomly and in jerky motions, which was troublesome to fight yet easy to evade. Just as Camille was beginning to gain confidence in her strength, she stumbled over a jutting rock. Camille's body crashed to the icy ground, her arms lifting her sword just in time to slay a Chimera seconds before it clamped down on her bicep.
"Ugh," Camille snorted when the dead Chimera slumped on top of her, covering her chest with blackish blood and gore. The weight of the beast pressed into her chest bone, making it difficult to breathe. She wiggled like a flopping fish out of the water, desperate to escape the insurmountable pressure.
"Camille?" Theo cried out, sounding much further away than Camille expected. Between the sudden downpour and intensity of the attack, she'd completely lost track of the others.
"I'm here!" she yelled back in a wheeze, shoving with increased urgency at the downed Chimera.
With a hefty shove, she wriggled free of the matted, bloody mess. Her legs and chest were now a sickly black, her clothing soaked through. Spotting Theo in the distance, she took a step toward him but was immediately headed off by another Chimera. The beast snapped its menacing jaws at her, its lips curling upward as it growled. It didn't attack her. Instead, the creature herded her backward away from everyone else. Once she'd retreated considerably, he left her alone, keeping her stationary with a steady growl any time she tried to make a run for it.
"Cam, where are you?!" Theo barked across the distant expanse crawling with beasts.
Camille opened her mouth to yell a response, but her body froze as her Praetorian awareness crackled with sharp attention. Tiny jagged knives of apprehension zipped like lightning through her system. She whipped around to face the dense shadows of the forest, unsure of what lurked in its depths. The heavy clouds cloaked her surroundings in shadow, with the heavy blanket of rain camouflaging everything that lay beyond her line of sight.
"I'm not here to fight you, little dove," a voice said clearly, ringing out from the shadowy trees.
"Who's there?" Camille yelled back, blinking rapidly against the downpour. Icy rivulets ran down her face and neck like pricking needles, but it didn't chill her blood as much as the silky voice drifting to her ears from the shadowed forest line. "Show yourself!"
"Camille, honestly—I'm not here to fight," the voice went on, this time a little softer. A man emerged from the misty shadows, his face obscured by a cloak and hood. "I'm here to talk, that's all." His gloved hands stretch out before him in an honest invitation to converse, but Camille noted the sword at his waist and remained on guard.
"You've picked a hell of a time to want to talk. Who. Are. You?"
The man chuckled, a jingling sound that would have implied merriment if it wasn't for the grating needle-like effect it had on her eardrums. "Always with the attitude. So much spark, my little dove."
Camille's mouth filled with bile at the sickly-sweet way he said, my little dove. She felt as though she could practically breathe fire at this man. He radiated evil; she could smell the pungent scent of malevolence billowing from his every pore. "I am not your anything."
"I always said you had more personality than you knew what to do with." The man edged closer, bringing his overtly pale skin into view. His rounded yet firm jawline, the color of fresh snow, blended perfectly upwards to the shockingly white