Read Online Misfortune Market: A HASEA CHRONICLES STORY (BOOK 1.5) by Stuart Meczes - Free Book Online

themselves together. The pain of the bones repairing was so intense I had to take deep gulps of air to stop myself from being sick. A moment later it was done.
    That was a bad one, I thought as I climbed back to my feet.
    “Alex, help!”
    I glanced up to see Grey doing his best to avoid Purple, who was swiping and butting at him with the ferocity of the insane. He skipped from foot to foot, shooting flames at the beast, but his opponent no longer seemed to care. Even as the fire caught and started to spread, he was determined to take Grey down.
    Both arms working again, I sprinted towards the Skinshifter, jumping and landing on his back. The whole front of him was a raging inferno and I had to grab a patch of fur that wasn’t alight. The leader bucked upwards with his hind legs and the sheer force sent me flying off and colliding with Grey. The Guardian staggered backwards and through pure luck managed to keep us both on our feet. Next to us, I could see the wide, terrified eyes of the Shinroba Elf staring at us from the shallow followed my gaze with his flaming head. His eyes stared into the narrow home and then narrowed.
    No!
    The Skinshifter turned his head sideways and snapped his jaws into the space. There was the sound of teeth meeting flesh and a piercing scream. Grey and I rushed forward together, slamming our bodies into the creature, neither caring that it was like running into a pure ball of fire. The shifter stumbled sideways and tumbled to the floor, with us piling on top of him. Fire jumped onto my overalls and started to lick my skin with its acid tongue. Wrenching up one of the walkway covers, I grabbed Grey and threw us both into the water. There was a lingering hiss and the flames went out.
    Scrambling back to my feet, I moved around the semi-conscious, burning shifter towards the shelf home.
    “Oh god.”
    The Elf girl was shivering in shock, her hands hovering above a deep, seeping wound in her side. The wound was bad – fatally bad. The Goblins were holding her and talking to her in an effort to keep her conscious. She was trying to reply, but her words came out as nothing but short sharp gasps. I can’t heal her without Gabriella.
    “Shit! Grey go and find something for her wounds now!”
    “But the Skinshifter!”
    “I’ll deal with him. Go!”
    He didn’t try to argue twice. Instead he jumped to his feet and sprinted back towards the market.
    “What’s your name?” I said, placing a hand on her arm.
    She took in a few gulps of air. “Edeline,” she managed to say.
    “Listen to me, Edeline,” I said, placing a hand on her arm for a second. “You’re going to be okay…I promise.”
    She nodded, the shock making the movement harsh and erratic. I stared up at the Goblins. “Don’t let her go. Keep talking to her. Do anything you can, just keep her alive. You hear me?”
    The father - a wizened Goblin with tufts of black hair - nodded back. “We’ll do what we can.”
    I turned back from the recess and glared at the Skinshifter who was staggering back to his feet, somehow despite everything, still ready for a fight.
    No more.
    I spun the sword around and squared my feet, crouching down and holding the blade horizontally out in front of me. “Come on you son of a bitch, let’s finish this.”
    The Skinshifter was only too happy to oblige.
    He rushed towards me, the flames that still ravaged his body making him look like a wall of flame with a head – as of he were some damned creature bursting from the depths of hell itself. We both attacked at the same time, him swiping out with a claw and me swiping upwards with my blade. His claw sank into my chest and I felt the hot splash of my own blood hit my face. A second later I was pinned on my back, roaring from pain as the searing creature swept over me.
    Once it had passed by, I rolled over into the foul water once more, putting out the flames. I stood up onto shaking legs as smoke curled from my ruined overalls and prepared to fight.