Born of Shadow - Book 1 (complete)

1st Chapter of The Bloodstone Prophecy

"Give me your light saber," she called to Chris. He tossed it to her. She trained both on one creature while Chris whipped the bat and forced it back into the cave. The other bat attacked. Kami focused on it and Chris whipped it. The shadow creatures flew back to the roof of the cave and stared down with hateful eyes.

Kami glanced back toward the cave entrance; Gedo and Samuel had made it out. She peeked over at Chris who was panting heavily from the exertion of whipping the bats and the run though the cave. It wasn't good that he was so tired already.

The bats flew at them at the same time. Kami tried to lock them with her laser sabers, but the shapeshifters were ready for them this time. The separated and circled them. She turned, frantically trying to pin them but having no luck. The bats dive bombed them and Chris tried to crack them furiously with the whip, but they pulled up before the stinging energy strands could touch them.

Kami could see what the shapeshifters were doing. They were trying to wear them out, to divide them so they could pick them off one by one. Chris coughed and the bats took advantage of his distraction to swoop in.

"Chris!" Kami screamed. He heard her and whipped them. This time the green strands nicked one of them. It yelped and retreated. Chris leaned over with his hands on his knees, winded.

Kami looked around. There was nowhere to hide in the cave. There were a few large stalactites that they might be able to hide behind, but she remembered what had happened to Liam when he touched one and shuddered. No good. They needed to make it out of the cave, see if they could find shelter on the outside. She leaned in close to Chris.

"Let's get out of here," she said. He nodded.

They backed away from the creatures and ran out of the cave into star-filled night. The moonlight illuminated the sand, the brush, the rocky surface of the cave. Kami could see Haji up ahead, running toward Gedo and Samuel who were moving in the direction of the vehicles. She heard another whoosh and glanced back. The bats were already out of the cave. She needed to warn the others.

She ran hard with Chris at her side. She looked up, expecting to see the bats swoop down on her Gedo and the others. Strangely, there was nothing flying above them. Kami heard a whipping sound and felt the ground shift near her feet. She jumped to the side and watched as a stream of sand flew past to her left. A hand covered her arm and she looked over at what Chris was pointing at. A similar line streaked past on their right.

She turned toward the cave. That bats weren't there.

Then it hit her. The shapeshifters must have shifted into a puddle and sunk beneath the surface of the sand. They were burrowing their way to the others!

"Samuel!" she screamed. "Haji! Watch out."

Kami ran toward them, cursing the sand that grabbed her feet and slowed her every step.

The streams of sand converged in front of them all. The sand shook; the ground split. Two columns of sand shot into the air. The sand fell away to reveal long, shadowy forms that swayed and writhed as they grew. At the tip, glowing red eyes and gaping mouths appeared on each shadow. Shadow fragments whirled around the head and formed into hoods.

She gasped.

The cobras towered over her injured grandfather and friends, hissing menacingly and weaving back and forth.

Kami pressed harder. Her lungs were on fire and the muscles in her legs were killing her, but still, she pressed harder.

One of the shadow cobras lunged toward the men. Samuel and Haji leaped to the side, dragging Gedo with them. The snake barely missed them and smashed into the sand and underground. Then it popped up through the surface next to the other cobra.