Chapter 242 (1/2)

Book 2, Chapter 99 – Mortal Coils

Gabriel twitched a finger, and the ground split open

Again, and stones crumbled

Cloudhawk juked between the the line between life and death with every step His life literally hung by a thread

Gabriel, meanwhile, as calm as could be His confidence was deserved, for threads hovered over every part of their battlefield Attacks could come from any directions, and no matter where Cloudhaent there were sten as Gabriel claimed, one shuddered to think what they could do to a human body

What could Cloudhawk do, besides rely on his phase stone?

“You think you can just hide?” Gabriel's smirk widened “Let's see how you handle this,” he warned

He very siers

Cloudhawk sensed a hundredThey started to close in like a dragnet Like a hawk in birdcage, he was caught With a flick of his wrist Gabriel tightened the net Stones caught in its path broke apart with frightening vigor

The rest of the camp watched from a safe distance

The edges could be seen because of the round Ten meters away on all sides A hundred tiny fissures started to extend toward hih the others couldn't see what Gabriel was using for the attack, the unsettling realization that it was closing in on all sides was obvious His seamless, inevitable assault on Cloudhawk's last defense seemed unavoidable

The net wasn't closing in very fast, but that justhis way through, he would have to contend with at least ten of those threads He was certain that would only serve to slice him to ribbons, even with the phase stone' power Gabriel already had his second attack planned as well in the event Cloudhawk so prison

Shadestring's wires crept closer, thin as silk and without reflection Most frustrating was the precise control exercised by Gabriel They et No matter how he moved, there seemed to be no way for Cloudhawk to avoid critical injury

“You think you can tie s? Watch me break 'em!”

Cloudhawk threw his cloak around hiold sword into the net and pulling The strings offered string resistance, but ultih opening for hih

Gabriel's eyes widened “How?”

Cloudhawk slowly reappeared “It wasn't hard to see that the strength and length of the threads depends on how es frosten are the strongest few Far as I can tell, I can't get through those But the others? The weaker ones? My sword is h”

Demonhunters with common perception couldn't pick out the threads because they were extensions of Gabriel's body He moved them as easily as his own limbs Meanwhile, relics like Claudia's torque could mark the enough interval that Gabriel could change the whole tapestry before the next pulse came

For Cloudhawk to be capable of knowing exactly where they were at all times was unthinkable But he could doable to read the whole pattern, he also knehich threads eak and which were strong

Gabriel had anticipated that Cloudhawk h the net Thus he interspersed the strongest threads throughout it to avoid just such a thing

The result? Cloudhawk found the weakest point and neatly cut a hole Gabriel'sdemonhunter could do what he did!

Stern concentration hardened Gabriel's face He poured his focus through the woven threads and they began to move The whole network of threads hu his next offensive wasn't going to be as easy

Showyou can hold out!

All ten fingers rose, galvanizing a hundred deadly wires!

Gabriel's tapestry was invisible to the audience They could only guess its intensity based on the rifts appearing along the ground They watched as it descended on Cloudhawk like a strange, iale Cloudhaould vanish and reappear, but everywhere he went stones and trees were being sliced apart

There was no doubt that this attack would be fatal if Cloudhawk could not find a way free But it was completely silent and completely unseen!

Cold sweat rolled down the back of all atched They couldn't help but iine the Gabriel's tyrannical assault? How long would they last? Within seconds they would be sliced to pieces! Cloudhawk, on the other hand, wasthat cath, preparing his counterattack A mass of sand had appeared over his head Granules whirled around each other for a handful of seconds like a gathering storm cloud, until it blotted out the sun Wide-eyed, the trainees gasped

“Go!”