Magi Saga Bundle | EBOOKS

Continuing on her way, Amanda lost herself in thoughts of what clothes she would pack and take with her to Ireland when she left in two days. As she walked past the next alleyway along, something large and dark shot out from the shadows and wrapped around her, pinning her arms to her sides and crushing her body. The force of the grip compressed her ribcage and pressed the air out of her lungs. The moment it had her, the dark shape yanked her into the alleyway, whipping her head to the side with the sudden movement.
And then it let go of her, and she was flying along the alley. Weightless for a second, Amanda watched as the concrete below her whipped past, and then rose up to meet her.
Amanda hit the ground hard. It bit into her skin, spinning her around, and suddenly she was rolling sideways, splashing through puddles of dirty water, getting bashed and bruised as she went.
Without warning, a brick wall brought her to a bone-crunching stop as she banged her head against it and rolled back, face down into a puddle.
“Ugh,” Amanda groaned as a hundred cuts and scrapes screamed for attention. Placing her hands on the ground in the shallow puddle, she pushed herself up, hissing at the pain. Her lank hair fell about her face into the water that rippled with drips that fell from her body.
What the hell had happened? She got a leg beneath her and sat up.
A deep bass growl, and the dull thuds of something big stalking towards her broke through the fog of pain and confusion. Amanda looked up, straight into the face of a nightmare.
Silhouetted against the comparatively bright main street, a huge black figure, easily twice the height of an ordinary man, stepped nimbly towards her. It looked humanoid in shape, except enormous, and… furry?
Thinking her eyes were deceiving her, Amanda blinked, but the horrific vision didn’t go away. The creature looked like it was made of muscle—layers and layers of it—beneath pitch-black skin covered in patches of matted sable hair. But that wasn’t the worst of it. As it stepped into a weak light cast by the glow of a lone, bare light bulb hanging over a back entrance to one of the shops along the alley, the thing’s inhuman face came into view.
It looked bat-like with its enormous ears, but that’s where the similarity ended. Two huge tusks sprouted from its wide, drooling maw and a long, cancerous-looking horn jutted from its forehead.
Amanda’s eyes went as wide as dinner plates. She scrambled back along the ground, trying to get away, only to hit a wall. This wasn’t real. This couldn’t be real. It was impossible.
“Where are you going, Witch?” The thing rumbled. Its voice was like thunder.
“What? What the feck… shite, what do you want?” Amanda stammered as panic rose up within her. There was no way she could be calm and logical about this. Being attacked by a man was one thing, being assaulted by an impossible creature that shouldn’t exist was something else entirely. Her heart pounded like a drum, threatening to burst forth and make a run for it. This had to be a nightmare of some kind. It was the only explanation. Things like this just didn’t happen.
“Amanda!” called a voice from the street as Stuart sprinted around the corner. The creature turned. It was as if Stuart didn’t quite register what stood before him—like his brain couldn’t quite comprehend it as he ran towards her. Shock brought him to a stop right next to it as he realised the size of the thing.
“Holy shit!” Stuart called as he looked up at the creature and stepped back. With a lazy movement of its colossal arm, the thing slapped Stuart into the wall. Amanda heard the crack of bone as his head hit the concrete.
“Stuart,” Amanda called. “Run!”
He looked up at her and touched his fingers to the back of his head. They came away a glistening crimson.
“Stuart,” Amanda called again, only for the creature to pull back its fist, and as Stuart looked up at it, the thing punched him.
Its fist was as big as Stuart and ended up buried a few feet into the now-ruined concrete ground and wall of the building, with Amanda’s friend crushed beneath it. The beast withdrew its fist from the rubble. Amanda noted the bloodstain that covered it as more debris fell on top of whatever remained of Stuart.
“You won’t best me again, witch. This time, you will pay,” the thing growled at her. Amanda had no idea what it was talking about, and honestly, wasn’t paying much attention. Instead, a single thought ran through her mind, over and over.
I’m gonna die, I’m gonna die, I’m gonna die…
The creature lowered itself into a more threatening pose, its claws held wide as it looked at her.
Panic and fear filled her as she took in the scene. Then, as she looked at the rubble that covered Stuart's body, a spark of anger ignited deep within her chest. That spark caught and, and a fire grew.
The fear she had been feeling was washed away by her white-hot fury as she thought about the events of the past few months.
Her life was pretty shitty.
She’d come to America as a stowaway looking for a new life. Looking for hope. She’d convinced herself that her life and her future were here. Instead, she’d ended up on the street—cold, hungry, and alone. Even the pity of strangers hadn’t saved her.
This wasn’t the life she’d hoped for. But what else was there? She was stuck.
Her life sucked and if that wasn’t enough, now fate was taking her friends from her as well. Georgina’s illness, and now this thing from one of the darkest corners of hell had just killed Stuart.
She clenched her fists over and over again as her breathing sped up, riding the wave of rage inside her. She wanted to lash out. She wanted to kill it. To tear it apart limb from limb, screaming in defiance at the hand she’d been dealt.
Her fury built to a crescendo as the creature lunged, rushing forward with its sword-like claws slicing at her. Squeezing her eyes tightly shut, Amanda thrust her arms out, her palms facing the creature, fingertips pointing to the sky in a futile effort to protect herself and screamed with all her might, releasing that rage and throwing it at her attacker.
It felt like a wave of energy exploded out of her, rushing along her arms and out of her palms. An almighty crash and explosion rocked the alley, and even though her eyes were closed, she could make out a flare of white light beyond her eyelids.
The anticipated feeling of ten-inch claws ripping into her flesh never happened, and as the sense of rippling energy continued to flow over her arms, accompanied by hissing, banging, and flashes of light, Amanda opened her eyes.
Electrical energy in the form of huge arcs of blinding light flowed down her arms and shot out at the beast that stood before her, blasting it in the chest. The energy leapt about in great electrical arcs with branches slamming into walls and puddles, evaporating them with an explosion of steam. The rush of air kicked up papers and trash that were burnt by the energy as they wheeled about before her.
The creature staggered, struggling to keep its balance as Amanda gazed in awe at the power that was flowing out of her. Was there golden mist hanging in the air around her, as well? As she watched, her concern grew, accompanied by a healthy dose of doubt. To her dismay, as her doubts increased, the energy weakened.
As she watched, the intensity of the lightning faded. The creature found its balance again and brought its head forward to look right back at her with its beady red eyes. The monster was fighting back, recovering from the effects.
As its inhuman eyes focused on her and pierced deep into her soul, it took a menacing step forward. Fear and anger flooded right back in as she let the doubts slip away. She would not die today.
“No!” she yelled.
Summoning up all her strength once more, Amanda dug deep, finding reservoirs of anger and frustration and she threw it all at the beast.
The energy more than doubled in ferocity, and with a final scream of unadulterated rage, Amanda let loose entirely.
With an ear-rattling boom, the creature was blasted against the wall with a final, powerful flare of lightning. As the last reserves of anger flowed out of her body and the energy faded away, she found herself alone in the alley.
The creature was gone, obliterated, and only a vaguely humanoid scorch mark on the wall remained.
Having risen to her knees for that final push, Amanda sat back down, nearly collapsing from the strain of what she’d just done. After taking a few moments to catch her breath, she looked at her hands as the last spluttering vestiges of energy sparked between her fingers and then disappeared.
What the hell had just happened? she wondered, as she turned her hands over, inspecting them for marks or burns. But there were none.
Looking around, bits of burnt and blackened paper floated to the ground, as the last vestiges of the golden mist that hung in the air faded from view.
Had she been attacked by a monster or a demon? But such things shouldn’t exist. They were impossible. Monsters weren’t real. Dragons and Vampires were myth and legend. It was one of those truths you learnt as a child along with there being no Easter Bunny or Santa Claus. There were no such things as werewolves or zombies. They were old myths, stories, and not real. And yet, here she was, sitting on the wet concrete of a Manhattan alley, cold and damp, having just been attacked by one. But not only that, she’d somehow thrown lightning bolts at it and killed it.
The world had gone mad.
Her eyes drifted over to the pile of bricks and rubble beneath which Stuart was buried. She spotted a foot sticking out of the debris, and recognised the pristine white sneakers that Stuart had been wearing.
Amanda’s heart sank. There was little trace of the Magic or the beast, but the aftermath of the confrontation was all too real.
Picking herself up out of the puddle, cold water dripped to the concrete as she approached the remains of her friend. She went to reach for his hand but pulled back before she touched it. She couldn’t bring herself to take it in hers.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered to him. “You didn’t deserve to die like this.”
In the distance, police sirens wailed as they approached. She could hear voices and shouts on the nearby street, too. People had noticed, and called for help.
“Ah, crap.”