Shadow Form (Dark Impulse Book 2)
Page 25
Seconds went by. Hal had never in his life felt so tiny, fragile, and weak. He’d already vomited up what was left of his dinner, and his stomach was threatening to suffocate him through the continued dry heaves.
The monster squeezed again. Hal screamed again. He shut his eyes, but that only made the reality of what was happening worse. He reached his weak hands up and tried to pull at the dragon’s claws. It was as though he was trying to put a bend into a sharp sword blade, and he only managed to cut one of his palms.
Hal felt the pressure against his chest increase for an instant as the creature leaned over him, and then he was pulled into the air. His head whipped back from the speed of it. He had an instant to see the true carnage wrought by the monster on his family’s home. Dozens of corpses lay scattered across the lawn, and the estate itself was in flames. It would be abandoned, though he didn’t expect to survive for long enough to be around to care.
The monster held him aloft for a few more seconds. Hal turned his gaze onto the rider atop it, hatred surging through his blood and bones for the man who’d orchestrated the deaths of everyone he’d loved.
And then, the monster leapt into the air, still carrying Hal. He could hear and feel the rushing of its wings, a sound that reminded him of standing too close to one of Roth’s drums while he was in the middle of a furious rhythm.
Hal got another look downward at what remained of the Kentar Estate as the creature flew off, carrying him like a predator after a successful hunt. It was his home, and it was now a funeral pyre, consumed by flames and thick with the smell of death.
Heartgem Homestead