I grabbed ahold of his arm before he could go anywhere. “We aren’t going back,” I said, my voice just short of full-on rage. “I am not leaving.” My wolf snarled her agreement, teeth flashing. “Tell me what a Mahrac is and then we’ll figure out how to defeat it.” As I spoke, the thing hoisted itself to its full height. It towered at least fifteen feet high and six feet across, completely massive. Its whole upper body was made up of a series of rocks hanging together in space. “The rocks don’t look connected. What’s holding it together? If we can disconnect the parts, it falls apart. Correct?”
“Wrong,” Eamon snapped. “It’s a spirit being made entirely of the rocks from its environment. If it loses one, it pulls another. It is not sentinel. I told you, there is no way we can defeat it. We do not have the right skills,” Eamon said with confidence. “We must clear the area. It can sense us better than a troll.”
The thing let out a deafening howl. From someplace other than its mouth, because it didn’t have one. Then it leaned over and grabbed hunks of stone from the ground, like a child scooping sand from a sandbox. It started to pace toward us, the mountain shaking under its weight in a seismic vibration. “We have to split up,” I yelled. The thing arched a stony arm and launched its booty. Rocks and boulders crashed into the trees, breaking them perfectly in half like some sort of cartoon. A huge boulder raced straight toward Danny. “Danny,” I screamed. “Move!”
“Already a step ahead of you,” Danny called. Using his preternatural speed, he dodged it no problem. “No need to worry about me. Get yourself under cover.”
I turned to Ray, who appeared to be in shock. “Ray! Wake up! We might recover from a crushing blow, but you have zero chance. Run back to the Humvee and wait for us there. Crawl under the damn thing if you hear it coming down the hill.”
Ray didn’t move. The spirit monster turned and lumbered toward my voice. “There’s no getting away from that thing,” Ray said quietly. “Its parts aren’t even fully connected. How is it moving?”
“It’s enchanted in some way,” I heard myself yell as I grabbed on to Ray and ran. “Selene is using it to do her bidding, like a golem. If there’s a way to break her mind control over it, it might fall apart or lose interest in us.” I shoved Ray behind a big tree, pinning his back to the bark, and ordered, with a finger up, “Stay here. If one of those rocks hits you, you’re dead.”
I didn’t wait for him to answer. I slipped behind the trunk and sped for Tyler. The Mahrac turned slightly when it noticed me running through the trees. It didn’t seem overly hurried in its assault on us.
I reached Tyler, leaping behind a mass of earth to land next to him. Danny darted through the trees toward us. Naomi started doing a little jig in front of it to keep its attention.
“She’s going to distract it as long as she can,” Danny said, joining us. “Anyone know how these things operate?” There was another deafening sound as a boulder exploded into the trees. “I’ve never even heard of a bloody Mahrac before. Golem, yes; Mahrac, no. It must be regional to some faraway land. Where does she come up with these things?”
I looked around. “We need Eamon,” I said. “None of us knows what it’s capable of besides him. Eamon!” I yelled, glancing around me. “Where did he go?”
There was wind in my ear one second before he landed in front of me. “I’m here, but I will not stay for long.”
“Does Selene have mastery over it completely?” I asked. “Or does it have its own soul?”
Eamon’s lips curled. An expression I currently wanted to slap off his face. Hard. With an open palm. My fingers twitched. “I do not know. I have already told you, I don’t know how to best this monster. Mahracs live deep in the Altai Mountains. They were created by Mongolian shamans centuries ago to protect their people. They defend what is theirs, to the end. I know this only because Selene bragged about learning spells as a young witch from a very powerful shaman. The technique shamans use is very different from a witch’s magic. It took her years to perfect it.”
“It’s like brain control, then,” Danny urged. “The shamans control the monsters that way and now Selene does.”
“It takes trained power to manipulate them,” Eamon said in an exasperated tone.
“How do they do it?” I asked. “Come on, Eamon. You know more about this than anyone else. Think!”
“I know of a sorcerer who wrested control of a golem,” Eamon finally said. “I witnessed him dip his hand into the clay body and physically grasp its mind. But none of us is a witch or a sorcerer. It’s doubtful the Vampire Queen could even achieve it. We cannot defeat this being. We must leave here.”
And go where? The only option was to go back down the mountain. But there was no guarantee the Mahrac wouldn’t follow us. Likely, now that he had us in his sights, we wouldn’t shake him. We had to stay and fight.
My wolf brayed in my mind and showed me a picture of us glowing. I know we have power. I can feel it—especially since we came together—but nothing like what Eamon is talking about. Even if we could put our hands inside, how would we know what do once we had it? We aren’t skilled in wielding magic. She barked and then scratched at the ground. Slowly something appeared in my mind. It was a box of some kind. It had a lacquered top, inlaid with some kind of Scripture. I didn’t have time to see what it was because the Mahrac turned and bellowed, done with Naomi’s dance.
The thing flung a huge piece of earth the size of a couch at us.
It took out everything in its path. I dove to the side, my wolf fueling me with a big dose of adrenaline. My claws extended as I flew through the air, my canines dropping to points. We’re going to need more if we’re going to defeat this thing. I rolled once and was on my feet. I turned to see where Tyler and Danny had gone right as the Mahrac let out a cry of joy.
A prone figure lay on the ground.
Tyler.
The Mahrac headed toward him gleefully, each step sounding like a trash compactor crushing everything in its path. If it reached Tyler, it would step on him, crushing him and his spinal column.
Before I could react, Danny shouted, “Come here you pansy-arsed piece of shit! Why don’t you come and get me? Don’t bother with that one; he’s already dead. I’m still alive and ready to nail your rocky bum to the wall.” Danny launched the canteen we’d used to douse the venom at the Mahrac. It hit him in the side of the head with enough force to knock a small piece out. It had no physical, weakening effect on him, but it was enough to gain his attention.