"The air rushed from Shadow?s lungs as her foe slammed her into the ground. His teeth flashed towards her throat." Another shadows of stormreach chapter two is available.

The air rushed from Shadow?s lungs as her foe slammed her into the ground. His teeth flashed towards her throat.

I?m not going to be killed by a ... a ... white rat!

Adrenaline burned in Shadow?s veins. She smashed her forehead into his nose, deflecting the bite and earning a surprised yelp. The strange creature was holding her wrists, but in that moment of distraction she was able to twist in his grip, digging a deep furrow along his arm with her sword.

The rat didn?t even wince, and the wound closed the instant the blade passed through the flesh. He tightened his grip, pinning her against the ground. His jaws opened wide...

A brilliant blue light flared. The ratman stiffened, and the light flowed out of his beady red eyes as the smell of scorched fur filled the air. Flesh twisted, and a moment later he was just a pale halfling, wisps of smoke rising from his back. Shadow shifted her weight, and the corpse tumbled to the ground.

An elf stood over her, a tall woman with skin as pale as the dead ratman?s fur, though her hair was midnight black. Arcs of blue energy flickered around the headpiece of the staff, remnants of the power she?d unleashed.

Petra helped Shadow to her feet, her expression calm and distant. Shadow hated the way the elf never showed emotion. "Couldn?t you have done that before he reached me?" she said.

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