Anya Bast

Happy Halloween! Today’s excerpt for Snippet Saturday is in the spirit of the day — horror. I love writing icky, gorey, scary scenes. They’re a ton of fun. In an alternate reality I’d lay money that I’m a horror writer.

Here’s a scene from Witch Fury in which my heroine is battling one of the almost impossible to kill daaeman. Enjoy!!

Excerpt from Witch Fury, by Anya Bast

Just as she reached the small lane that led from the main part of the land to the road, she heard a whoosh, pop, behind her. Suddenly Bai was there. He’d jumped from his last destination to here, probably figuring where she’d be headed. His face and arms were badly burned, the fabric of his shirt curled and melted. Yet she could see he was already healing.

The bastard.

He reached for her, but she swung her sword first. The tip of the blade sliced his throat. Acidic blood gushed, but it wasn’t deep enough of a cut to send him down. All it did was piss him off.

Bai stood for a moment, stunned, his hand to his throat and blood seeping between his fingers. Then he fixed his gaze on her and growled low.

Sarafina stepped back and tripped on a fallen branch. Using the tip of the sword on the ground to maintain her balance, she continued backward. Bai advanced on her, power gathering around him like dark clouds.

Daaeman magick sizzled and sparked in the space around his body. Sarafina was certain it was enough to kill her where she stood. Perhaps he’d decided she was more trouble than she was worth.

The power exploded and Sarafina dove to the side, literally leaping into the air as though she thought she could fly. She came down hard on her side and rolled away from the daaeman, coming to her feet still gripping the sword. Thank god for all the training Theo had given her.

Every square centimeter of her body ached.

She’d missed the killing blast, but Bai still leapt on her. His blood dripped onto her chest and she screamed, fighting against him. It was like trying to beat up a brick wall. She gouged his eye and that was not a brick wall–it was soft, squishy and vulnerable. Digging deep, she took advantage.

Bai yowled in pain and pushed away from her. She sprang to her feet and swung the sword, cutting deeply into his side. The daaeman roared in pain and back handed her. Sarafina went sprawling to the ground again, pain exploding through her face.

The Atrika followed her, looking as though he intended to simply rip her apart and bypass magick completely.

Seeing an opportunity to end this right now, Sarafina angled her sword upward. Bai fell heavily against the tip, his momentum driving the hilt deeper into his body than Sarafina could have ever hoped to achieve on her own.

She let go of the handle as Bai rolled away from her, the sword still deeply embedded in him. He came to a rest on his side in the deadfall. His body twitched and shuddered, low moans coming from between his thin, white lips. His blood coursed from his wounds, making a dark and smoky puddle in the dirt.

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