Book Eight: Chapter 44

{A clawed hand burst out of the soil and grabbed her ankle. When Sofia leaned forward to attack it, another hand shot out from the ground and struck her in the face, blinding her. As she stumbled back, she could feel her flesh being opened in a dozen places as if with razor blades.}

The hand burst out of the ground and grabbed her foot. Sofia leaned forward and severed the second hand at the wrist with her sword. The severed hand flopped around on the soil for several seconds before hopping up onto its fingertips and scurrying away.

“I can do this all day,” she said. “So why don’t we speed things along? I’d be happy to end your miserable existence for you right now.”

The cyclops watched as the entity stepped out from behind a distant tree. The severed hand leapt up and rejoined with the main body. The entity hissed at her like a cat, and then crouched down on all fours and bolted away.

“Fuck,” she muttered as she attempted to jog behind it and keep up. She go