Chapter 683: Gravecoils
The first Gravecoil reached Liam before he reached the swamp.
Its armored body tore through the air with a wet, grinding hiss, jaws opened wide enough to swallow him whole. Liam twisted mid-fall, his eyes narrowing as he read the angle of its attack in the space of a heartbeat. Its scales were thick, layered over one another like natural armor, but the moment it lunged, the muscles beneath its head stretched.
'There it is.'
Just below the skull, along the neck was the soft point.
Liam's dagger flashed.
A short burst of flame erupted from beneath his feet, not enough to send him flying wildly, but enough to shift his body out of the Gravecoil's direct path. The creature's jaws snapped shut where his torso had been a fraction of a second ago, and in that same motion, Liam carved his flaming dagger across the exposed flesh beneath its head.
The blade sank in cleanly.
Then fire followed.
The Gravecoil's shriek split the air as flames poured into the wound, burning through the softer tissue under its armored hide. Its massive body convulsed, crashing sideways through the branches as Liam kicked off the side of its head and propelled himself toward another tree with another controlled burst of fire.
He landed against a thick branch, boots scraping against bark for less than a second before another Gravecoil came from his left.
Liam didn't stop.
He lowered his center of gravity, pushed Myst into his legs, and released a sharp burst of flame from behind his heel. His body shot forward just as the demon's jaws slammed into the branch where he had been.