The Brimstone Network (Brimstone Network Trilogy) Read Online Free Page B
Author: Thomas E. Sniegoski
grotesque, bronze-armored trolls crawled up from gaping holes that had been burrowedbeneath the Network’s headquarters. Wielding swords and battle-axes, they attacked with bloodthirsty fervor.
Other things followed the Hollow Men, lowly beasts long believed banished from this plane of existence. Whoever was responsible for this heinous attack clearly wanted no survivors.
“Defend yourselves!” Elijah yelled over the din of battle, unleashing the full power of his magickal knowledge, scattering swarming trolls with blasts of elemental fury.
Alarm bells continued to toll, but no one came to their aid, and Elijah had to assume that the entire facility was under siege. But he couldn’t worry about that now. The trolls and other nightmare monsters continued to flood the room from the yawning fissures in the floor.
Those who survived fought on, although their numbers were dwindling rapidly under the relentless onslaught, and Elijah could feel the first signs of fatigue. Conjuring a sword of eldritch energy, he turned his attention to a gang of Jokao, large, fur-covered beasts with a hunger for human flesh. They were attacking an agent, who was trying to protect a coworker who had been gravely injured. Elijah could see that the strength of her magickal defenses was waning, and charged into the fray to assist her.
The Jokao leader, his chest adorned with a necklace of human skulls, roared his disapproval, commanding his soldiers in their primitive tongue to dispatch this latest, human nuisance.
The commander of the Brimstone Network was more than happy to show the towering beast men how much of a nuisance he could really be. His blade of magick passed through their flesh, fur, and bone with ease, their cries of surprise as their lives were taken providing him with the strength to continue.
In seconds the five Jakao were dead, their powerful forms reduced to hairy pieces of bloody meat upon the violence-strewn floor. Elijah paused to collect himself, the stink of magick, blood, and violence hanging heavy in the air.
The Brimstone commander looked around at his surroundings, seeing it all unfold in slow motion. Even more of their numbers had fallen, the last of the communications operators fighting hopelessly against innumerable odds.
But that was what the Brimstone Network was supposed to do, what it had always done, since the very first of them struck out against the things that lurked in the darkness.
They fought.
The floor beneath his feet began to shake again, exploding upward in an eruption of rock and dirt that threw him backward to the floor. His magickal blade was knocked from his grasp, and dissolved in a hissing flash.
An enormous creature with the head of a bull jumped up from the new hole in the floor, bounding toward him, murder in its dark, watery eyes.
Elijah was exhausted. No longer having the strength to summon another magickal sword, he barely rolled out of the way as the Minotaur smashed its fist down onto the floor where just moments before he had lain.
The Brimstone commander looked around for something to use in his defense as the Minotaur spun, a blast of moisture-filled air exploding from its dilated nostrils as it charged him.
The bull-headed beast almost upon him, Elijah spied a chunk of the floor. With a burst of energy fueled by desperation, he grabbed the piece of concrete and let it fly into the monster’s face.
The Minotaur stumbled back, snorting wildly as it brushed concrete dust from its large, hate-filled eyes. It roared, lunging at him with incredible speed. Elijah jumped away, but this time wasn’t fast enough.
The Minotaur’s four-fingered hand grabbed hold of the front of his uniform jacket, pulling the commander toward him. Elijah began a spell of defense, but the monster shook him so violently that it was difficult to focus, the words of the intricate incantation jumbled inside his head.
Then the beast wrapped his other hand around the man’s head and began to
Other things followed the Hollow Men, lowly beasts long believed banished from this plane of existence. Whoever was responsible for this heinous attack clearly wanted no survivors.
“Defend yourselves!” Elijah yelled over the din of battle, unleashing the full power of his magickal knowledge, scattering swarming trolls with blasts of elemental fury.
Alarm bells continued to toll, but no one came to their aid, and Elijah had to assume that the entire facility was under siege. But he couldn’t worry about that now. The trolls and other nightmare monsters continued to flood the room from the yawning fissures in the floor.
Those who survived fought on, although their numbers were dwindling rapidly under the relentless onslaught, and Elijah could feel the first signs of fatigue. Conjuring a sword of eldritch energy, he turned his attention to a gang of Jokao, large, fur-covered beasts with a hunger for human flesh. They were attacking an agent, who was trying to protect a coworker who had been gravely injured. Elijah could see that the strength of her magickal defenses was waning, and charged into the fray to assist her.
The Jokao leader, his chest adorned with a necklace of human skulls, roared his disapproval, commanding his soldiers in their primitive tongue to dispatch this latest, human nuisance.
The commander of the Brimstone Network was more than happy to show the towering beast men how much of a nuisance he could really be. His blade of magick passed through their flesh, fur, and bone with ease, their cries of surprise as their lives were taken providing him with the strength to continue.
In seconds the five Jakao were dead, their powerful forms reduced to hairy pieces of bloody meat upon the violence-strewn floor. Elijah paused to collect himself, the stink of magick, blood, and violence hanging heavy in the air.
The Brimstone commander looked around at his surroundings, seeing it all unfold in slow motion. Even more of their numbers had fallen, the last of the communications operators fighting hopelessly against innumerable odds.
But that was what the Brimstone Network was supposed to do, what it had always done, since the very first of them struck out against the things that lurked in the darkness.
They fought.
The floor beneath his feet began to shake again, exploding upward in an eruption of rock and dirt that threw him backward to the floor. His magickal blade was knocked from his grasp, and dissolved in a hissing flash.
An enormous creature with the head of a bull jumped up from the new hole in the floor, bounding toward him, murder in its dark, watery eyes.
Elijah was exhausted. No longer having the strength to summon another magickal sword, he barely rolled out of the way as the Minotaur smashed its fist down onto the floor where just moments before he had lain.
The Brimstone commander looked around for something to use in his defense as the Minotaur spun, a blast of moisture-filled air exploding from its dilated nostrils as it charged him.
The bull-headed beast almost upon him, Elijah spied a chunk of the floor. With a burst of energy fueled by desperation, he grabbed the piece of concrete and let it fly into the monster’s face.
The Minotaur stumbled back, snorting wildly as it brushed concrete dust from its large, hate-filled eyes. It roared, lunging at him with incredible speed. Elijah jumped away, but this time wasn’t fast enough.
The Minotaur’s four-fingered hand grabbed hold of the front of his uniform jacket, pulling the commander toward him. Elijah began a spell of defense, but the monster shook him so violently that it was difficult to focus, the words of the intricate incantation jumbled inside his head.
Then the beast wrapped his other hand around the man’s head and began to
Readers choose
Al Sarrantonio
Candice Owen
CJ Bishop
Kris Fletcher
Allie Blocker
Kallista Dane
Audrina Cole
Holly Bennett
Abby L. Vandiver
Nora Roberts