Shield [New World Book 1] Read Online Free Page B

it.”
    “We need to make a shelter of some kind,” Adams said, looking around at their surroundings. “Who knows what’s out there.”
    As if on cue, Grace screamed when something appeared behind them from the bush. It was huge. It took a step toward her and Chase. Grace screamed again.
    Adams struck at it, then howled and gripped his hand tightly when he connected with the creature. It picked Adams up and tossed him against a tree like he weighed no more than a child.
    Grace’s eyes widened when she heard a sharp snap as his back bowed connecting with the trunk. With a hard thump he landed on the ground, bounced then settled, the side of his face resting against the spongy turf. His eyes remained open and fixed. Adams stayed down.
    Chase bellowed like a bull in full charge and attacked the creature. Chase was a large man, but even he was dwarfed by it. Grace cried out when the creature punched Chase in the face. She heard a sickening crunching sound as bones broke. Chase went down; the solid blow had killed him instantly. The creature had literally smashed his face in. Grace choked on her vomit then gasped in air.
    The being turned and looked at Grace standing there shaking and whimpering. It was at least six and a half feet. It looked like some mutant man-beast or man-machine. Its skin was ebony black and looked hard and shiny like solid armor. The eyes were nonexistent, only black protruding bumps. If Grace had thought Chase had the body of a machine, she was mistaken. This man-beast was broad and powerful. Muscles bulged and flexed. Its fingers were long and thick and curled into sharp talons. One slice across her delicate flesh and she would be disemboweled.
    On the ground where it stepped, huge bare feet sank a small way into the spongy ground. The sharp claws on the ends of its toes dug into the yielding turf. Except for one that tapped in wait. The thing before her used the ground to get a strong grip. Instinctively she knew nothing would ever knock over this creature. It stalked her. Its movements were those of a predator’s. Imprints of its talons made an impression in the ground for a brief second which then sprang back into place.
    The closer it came, the more distinct its features became. Two white inch-long fangs hung down past its lips like a vampire. There were strange green glowing intricate markings across its forehead and cheeks that pulsed with color as they dimmed and brightened. Its nose was thicker and broader than a man of her planet. The nostrils flared and she knew it smelled her as it breathed in deeply. It blinked at her and cocked its head. It growled low in its throat. It then threw back its head and howled the most god-awful noise she had ever heard. Goose bumps dotted her arms. Her hair stood on end. She thought her heart stopped. Grace screamed and fled for her life.
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
    Chapter 2
     
    So the little being had seen enough? Did it really think it could escape from him? Rask chuckled low in his throat and gave pursuit. His claws dug into the ground and he jumped to a tree. Talons and feet gripped the massive spongy trunk for a moment studying the direction the being fled and he jumped again quick as lightning, cutting off the creature’s path, and crouching before it on all fours. He growled as menacingly as he could, spoiling for a fight. The small creature howled and raced in a different direction. Rask leaped to a high moss-covered stone and was again before the wailing little being. Its arms were raised high over its head then flailing, as though it didn’t know what to do with its limbs. The being stopped, its mouth gaped wide and it spun again, racing for safety.
    The creature wouldn’t get far. It wasn’t very fast or graceful. Obviously stealth wasn’t its strong point. How dare they try to storm his planet? Their invasion was thwarted by Rask’s security beams. Their cloaking device on the craft was nonexistent. Their shield was pitiful. Now they