Filed To Story: Cursed Legacies Series Free PDF by Morgan B Lee
“Wait until I make a few kills,” I murmur. “Then I can get your collar off.”
They all glance at me like they want more explanation, but I’m not about to expound on that when other legacies might overhear. Besides, they should have been paying attention to Professor Crowley’s lecture on revenants and the kind of magic I can use. It’s nothing but destructive, which means I can shatter powerful spells easily as long as I have enough fuel.
And I’m confident I’m about to get a lot of fuel in there.
The thought makes me smile, which makes Everett sigh.
“Please don’t tell me you’re actually looking forward to this, Oakley.”
“Very much.” Legacies vanish in droves ahead of us, off into whatever fun awaits. But as we get nearer to the forest’s edge, a new concern blooms in my head, and I frown. “If I lose control in there and begin berserking, you four need to abandon me and run.”
Crypt snorts. “Good one, love.”
“I’m serious. In that state, I have no idea if I’ll be a danger to you?—“
“There will be plenty of targets in there,” Silas says quietly, his crimson eyes darting all over the place as if the voices in his head are working him up even more. “So if that happens, we’ll stay out of the way and watch you gleefully slaughter our opponents once again. But we’re not leaving you, sangfluir. I’m insulted you would even suggest it.”
I scowl. “Fine. But if I kill any of you, I’m going to…”
Huh. What’s a good threat for after death?
I don’t get to think of one because it’s finally our time to step into Everbound Forest, and the transportation magic sweeps us into First Placement.
SILAS
The maze is filled with the echoes of screams.
As soon as the transportation magic fades, we find ourselves inside a massive stone hallway, the top of which is left open to the dark, cloudy winter sky that lightly scatters swirling snowflakes from above. The hallway is so wide that if we all stood side by side with extended arms, we would barely bridge the length.
“This must have taken their minions days to build with magic,” Everett mutters, moving to stand protectively behind Maven as we all take in our surroundings.
Vibrant red magic flares around my hands when we hear a scream around one of the nearby corners, but Maven shakes her head.
“Wait. That wasn’t from a shadow fiend.”
Everett frowns, his glacial eyes sweeping over the empty maze hall we’re standing in. “How can you tell?”
“I can sense them. That was probably a rival quintet.
A rival quintet to finish the job for us, one of the voices in my head coos.
One to slit the pretty revenant’s throat.
“Shut the fuck up,” I grit.
Maven is also analyzing our surroundings. “Fine, I will. Gods.”
Damn it. “I wasn’t talking to you, it was?—“
I’m interrupted when an incomplete group of matched legacies round the corner and charge toward us. Some of them are bleeding heavily, but their keeper refuses to back down even after she sees who they’re up against.
Soon, we’re locked in combat—only this time, Maven’s personal training has paid off because our quintet works together far more smoothly.
We’ve knocked out a siren, and things are going well until the remaining two get too close to Maven. As soon as they do, Crypt’s markings light up, and suddenly, the rival legacies turn on each other, brandishing fangs and magic. The rest of us watch in surprise as they tear into each other, and soon enough, they’re both dead.
Maven tips her head, looking far more curious than alarmed. “What was that?”
“Mania,” Crypt shrugs. “It’s useless against shadow fiends or monsters and does little against powerful legacies, but it’s quite fun whenever weaker legacies are in question.”
“I can see that.” Then she turns her face to the sky, shielding her eyes from the falling snow. “If you can fly in Limbo, can you get above the maze to look for a way out?”
The incubus tries Maven’s idea but returns a moment later, explaining that they have magic wards in Limbo to keep all incubi within the maze. He’s barely had time to report back before a fucking wendigo rounds the corner, its howl splitting the air when it sees us.
I’ve only seen wendigos in pictures. For a moment, I gawk at how intimidating they are in real life. This malevolent, insatiable monster has a huge, skeletal wolf body, bony human-like arms and legs, and a ram’s skull for a head with the horns twisted at odd angles. Its eyes glow green as it launches toward us, snarling.
Turn and run like the coward you are, a voice in my head whispers.
No, fight! Cranes do not run, my father’s voice snarls.
Fight and die. Do not shame our family even more than you already
?
—
“I said shut up,
” I snarl, pricking my finger to draw from the magic in my blood.
Everett throws up an ice shield while I send a wave of malicious magic toward our fiendish foe. It howls in pain but leaps over the thick ice shield, whirling to bare its sharp teeth. Bloodied saliva drips steadily from its hideous snout.
As Everett and I continue to fend off the wendigo, Maven shouts a warning that more shadow fiends are coming. We barely have a moment to process that before a group of vile-smelling, moldering Undead are suddenly upon us, launching themselves with gaping jaws and jagged teeth. Pain flares in my shoulder as one of the fiends digs its broken, rotting teeth into my shoulder.
Before I can even cry out, Maven beheads it with her dagger.
She moves with blinding speed, and as Everett manages to trap the wendigo in an impressively strong cage made of ice, Baelfire and I gawk as we watch Maven in her element. With perfected agility, she slashes, kicks, snaps necks, and leaves the ground littered with the remains of our Undead enemies.
Crypt is enjoying himself, too. He pulls a godsdamned sword out of Limbo and uses it to cut through several of the Undead horde.
When they’re all dead on the ground, with nothing remaining but twitching limbs and severed body parts, Baelfire grimaces. “Those things are fucking nasty.”
I glance at Maven with an inkling of suspicion. “You killed those all easily.”
“It was fun.”
Still…
“That time when we all sparred you at once. You weren’t even giving it a real shot, were you? You were taking it easy on us.”
She shrugs almost sheepishly. “Sue me. It was just fucking adorable that you all wanted to fight me at once.”
Baelfire lights up, turning to Maven. “Hey, if you killed a lot of them, does that mean you can break me out of this collar so I won’t be a fucking deadweight?”
“Unfortunately, no,” she sighs, kicking aside a twitching leg. “I can only wield life forces. The Undead have already died once, and they’re only kept alive by necromancy, so they’re useless to me. Aside from them being fun to take out,” she adds.
“Agreed,” Crypt grins.
“Where did you get that thing?” Everett frowns at the gleaming sword in the incubus’s hands as he seals the wendigo’s cage. The creature is trapped in a solid block of ice, still howling and clawing to get out.
“This? I’ve always got it with me. It’s enchanted to be both a sword and a lighter, whichever I need more.”
We follow Maven’s lead further into the maze. She pauses occasionally to determine whether she senses shadow fiends before proceeding down each new path. Screams still resound throughout the sprawling maze, and various roars and inhuman shrieks join the chorus now and then.
New Book: Returned To Make Them Pay
On her wedding anniversary, Alicia is drugged and stumbles into the wrong room—straight into the arms of the powerful Caden Ward, a man rumored never to touch women. Their night of passion shocks even him, especially when he discovers she’s still a virgin after two years of marriage to Joshua Yates.