Read Online The Wrath Of the Forgotten by Michael Ignacio - Free Book Online

struck, the bones in the man’s skull shattered. The head deflated like a rotten melon.
    All at once, the men and women yelped out and tried to draw their weapons. Nori crushed the life out of another thug as his war club smashed the tissue that made up a woman’s neck.
    A particularly gangly fellow with a thinning out hair line stumbled back. His weasel like face contorted in disbelief. “Raise the alarm! We’ve got intruders.” He took another nervous step before turning around and fleeing the group.
    The thugs tried to stab and slash at him, but Nori drove them back with a series of wide and powerful swings. They retreated slightly, and Nori positioned himself in the middle of the intersection. One of the thugs got a little bolder and lunged. Nori thrust his tetsubo into the man’s chest. The man’s face blanched and he fell to a knee.
    Apisa landed beside Nori, but she appeared different. Where once she possessed slightly rough, but soothing hands, Apisa now had vicious tiger like claws at the end of her fingertips. Thick dark green scales covered her hands and forearms. A brilliant pink glow emitted from her leg tattoo.
    “Are you ready to lose? Cause I’m itchin’ to whoop your butt.” Apisa gave Nori a wink.
    A woman swung her axe at Apisa, but Apisa slammed her scaled forearm against the axe blade. A loud ting resounded, but Apisa didn’t appear the least bit hurt. While the woman stared in open confusion, Apisa reached forward and gripped the woman’s throat. Quickly, Apisa pulled her hand back and then tossed a bloody mess against the wooden floor.
    Nori dodged out of the way of a man’s sword, and then smacked him in the side of the head. Apisa pounced on another person. Screams echoed out. The brief fight ended when Nori crushed the spine of a thug trying to get away.
    Nori rested his tetsubo on his shoulder and turned to survey the scene. The thug who Apisa had leaped upon had deep lines carved into his cheeks and nose. Compared to the woman who had her throat torn out, the man must have died with much more anguish before he passed. For a low lander, Apisa was quite… savage.
    Nori turned around to check on the other girls, but then jumped in fright. The most grotesque figure that Nori had ever seen stood right behind him, eye to eye. Nori swung with all of his strength. His tetsubo sailed through the man’s body and splintered the corner of the intersection.
    “Ah! You could have hit one of us, you incompetent buffoon!” Rayko said. “This is another one of my masterpieces. Flara and I are BEHIND it.”
    Rayko got up from a crouching position behind the illusion and gave Nori a stern glare. Flara had been well out of Nori’s range, but she eyed the damage Nori had created in the wall with apprehension none the less.
    Nori winced. “I’m sorry, but this… thing surprised me. What is this horrid creature anyway?”
    The figure possessed a pair of oversized giant lower teeth, pimple marked cheeks, and crazy eyes that hinted at murder and bloodlust. The longer he studied the figure, the more ire that Nori collected in his cheeks.
    Rayko flashed him a smile of pure amusement. “It’s an Onistan. You of all people should be able to identify one of your own kind when you see one.”
    Apisa pointed a clawed finger at Rayko. “Now isn’t the time for jokes or petty insults. Let’s get on with what we’re here to do!” Blood dripped down her hands and claws.
    “S-she’s right,” Flara said. “We h-have to find the downstairs steps.”
    Nori’s hands tingled with red hot vibrancy. He breathed in and out several times and even whirled around to avoid looking at either Rayko or her horrible expression of his people. The image of popping her skull blinked within the blackness of his mind, but Nori batted it away like smoke from a fire.
    He moved in the same direction as the man who fled, and came to a set of stairs going up to the second floor. Nori grunted softly before turning toward the