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Back The Night and Its Moon
Chapters (64)
  1. Front Cover
  2. Title Page
  3. Copyright
  4. Contents
  6. Pronunciation Guide
  7. Prologue
  8. Part One
  9. One
  10. Two
  11. Three
  12. Four
  13. Five
  14. Six
  15. Seven
  16. Eight
  17. Nine
  18. Ten
  19. Eleven
  20. Twelve
  21. Thirteen
  22. Part Two
  23. Fourteen
  24. Fifteen
  25. Sixteen
  26. Seventeen
  27. Eighteen
  28. Nineteen
  29. Twenty
  30. Twenty-One
  31. Twenty-Two
  32. Twenty-Three
  33. Part Three
  34. Twenty-Four
  35. Twenty-Five
  36. Twenty-Six
  37. Twenty-Seven
  38. Twenty-Eight
  39. Twenty-Nine
  40. Thirty
  41. Thirty-One
  42. Thirty-Two
  43. Thirty-Three
  44. Thirty-Four
  45. Thirty-Five
  46. Part Four
  47. Thirty-Six
  48. Thirty-Seven
  49. Thirty-Eight
  50. Thirty-Nine
  51. Forty
  52. Forty-One
  53. Forty-Two
  54. Forty-Three
  55. Forty-Four
  56. Forty-Five
  57. Forty-Six
  58. Forty-Seven
  59. Epilogue
  60. Excerpt from The Sun and Its Shade
  61. The Night and Its Moon Playlist
  62. Acknowledgments
  63. About the Author
  64. Back Cover

Time was not an easy ask when facing the ag’drurath. They didn’t have the luxury that one might find while battling any normal beast, for the serpent’s neck could swivel with the unnatural grace of something born only from the depths the goddess had cursed to her hell. Still, their plan was working. It was not a good plan, and it had no end game, but every second they bought on this earth was one more moment that they defied the queen. They would not go down as willing meals to be cursed in the infinite, pin-like fangs of the ag’drurath. The dragon swiveled its neck and looked to its stomach where Amaris still slashed.

She slid against the sand, kicking up a cloud of dust as she plunged her blade once more, grunting against the effort as she thrust upward into its belly a second time. The general was near the coliseum’s wall. As long as she drew the dragon to the space beneath its stomach, he’d be safe for a few more moments.

Gadriel beat his wings against the clear hurt it caused him as she watched him find the barest of lifts from the ground. It wasn’t the flight he should have been capable of, but the general took full advantage of his opportunity. He plunged into the monster’s neck, stabbing the ag’drurath’s elongated throat with the throwing knife. The pair would have had no hope of a killing blow even if the beast could have been slain. Nevertheless, the knife made purchase. Gadriel plunged the small steel into its neck while it flailed, once again drawn from Amaris to a new and more horrible attention as Gadriel’s knife bit into its long, reptilian throat. The creature thrashed savagely in its desperation to shake him off.

Whether this was a good thing or bad, Amaris couldn’t tell.

But they were still alive. Though Gadriel grunted through the pain of his shredded wings as he gripped the demon’s neck, Amaris knew he would give everything he had until the moment the ag’drurath clamped its jaws around the general. They would fight until the very end.

Blood pounded in her fingers, her toes—even her throat swelled with her exertion. Her muscles ached. Her head rang from the screaming audience and the eardrum-piercing wails of the monster. Her senses were not her friend as she forced herself forward, deadening herself so she relied solely on muscle memory and instinct.

This game had no end. There was no victory here. Gadriel clung to the ag’drurath with unshakable fortitude, blade embedded in its gray-black amphibious skin while it writhed. She could continue to hack and slash, trading places with him for as long as they could muster their stamina.

They couldn’t keep this up forever.