Saved

Afanasiv groaned under the weight of the ceiling as it fell. He stood in the center of the cave, legs wide apart, knees slightly bent, both arms raised, hands palms up to keep the tons of rock from coming down on top of Damonq as he fought to extract the heart from the master demon.

Leon calmly raised both hands, his nails lengthening into sharp daggers. He slammed them into either side of Damonq’s neck, burying the nails deep, piercing the artery on both sides.

Damonq didn’t waver, not even when Leon slowly pulled the nails loose so the ancient’s blood spurted out. Leon opened his mouth to catch the treasured blood. He gulped as his army of scorpions swarmed up Damonq’s thighs.

Get it done, Afanasiv snapped.

It wasn’t easy extracting the demon’s heart. His blood was acid, burning through skin to penetrate bone. It felt as if each individual finger was burned off.

Damonq couldn’t feel the heart, only excruciating pain as he closed his fist around what he perceived to be the organ. He