Flashback ( PDFDrive )

The ogre’s sword clanged uselessly off the beast’s thick skin, and
the two went tumbling out of the clearing, rolling farther and farther,
until all Sophie could see was the faint outline of their thrashing limbs
in the darkness. The grunts and growls grew more feral—more brutal
—until they cut off with an earsplitting screech and a horrific crunch.
Slurping sounds followed, and Sophie turned away, not wanting to see
the newborn as it began to feed.
She focused on other sounds—a tangle of snarls and growls—and
caught a glimpse of Tarina on the opposite edge of the clearing,
wrestling one of the beasts with her bare hands.
The third newborn was stalking back and forth around Umber, who
was still buried under the heavy door. A glowing force field kept
Umber safe, and the beast kept shocking itself again and again, trying
to tear its way through the white energy. And Sophie couldn’t
understand why it was so relentless, until she saw the red staining the
ground.
She couldn’t see enough of Umber’s body to tell how badly she was
injured. But . . . Umber wasn’t moving. And she’d lost a lot of blood.
If Gethen, Vespera, and Ruy cared about their fallen Shade, they
didn’t show it as they stood under their own force field, which was
positioned much closer to where Tarina and the newborn were waging
their battle.
And there was no sign of Alvar anywhere—but Sophie couldn’t
blame him for hiding.
“Stay back!” Tarina shouted when Sophie and her friends ran over
to help her. She kicked at the newborn’s stocky legs, trying to knock it
off-balance—but the newborn was much too strong. The beast twisted
free, leaping for Sophie’s throat—and Tarina grabbed its feet and