Book 7: Murder of Crows - Demon Slayer Set 2 Read online

  De

  Demo

  m n S

  on

  o l

  S ayer

  by

  b Dax

  y D V

  ax a

  V rle

  arl y

  e illustrated b

  illustrated y

  b J

  y o

  J n Pr

  on P octor

  roctor

  De

  Demo

  m n S

  on

  o l

  S ayer

  by Dax Varley

  illustrated by Jon Proctor

  Spellbound

  An Imprint of Magic Wagon

  abdopublishing.com

  For Sixx and Pearl —JP

  abdopublishing.com

  Published by Magic Wagon, a division of ABDO, PO Box 398166, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55439. Copyright © 2018 by Abdo Consulting Group, Inc. International copyrights reserved in all countries. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without written permission from the publisher. Spellbound™ is a trademark and logo of Magic Wagon.

  Printed in the United States of America, North Mankato, Minnesota.

  052017

  092017

  Written by Dax Varley

  Illustrated by Jon Proctor

  Edited by Megan M. Gunderson

  Art Directed by Candice Keimig

  Publisher’s Cataloging in Publication Data Names: Varley, Dax, author. | Proctor, Jon, illustrator.

  Title: Murder of crows / by Dax Varley ; illustrated by Jon Proctor.

  Description: Minneapolis, MN : Magic Wagon, 2018. | Series: Demon slayer ; #7

  Summary: Max tracks Runt to a gathering of demons in hopes of finally finding his mom.

  Identifiers: LCCN 2016961885 | ISBN 9781532130083 (lib. bdg.) |

  ISBN 9781624029622 (ebook) | 9781624029776 (Read-to-me ebook) Subjects: LCSH: Mothers and sons¬--Fiction. | Kidnapping--Fiction. |

  Demonology--Fiction.

  Classification: DDC [Fic]--dc23

  LC record available at http://lccn.loc.gov/2016961885

  Table of

  Contents

  c h a p t e r 1

  Collared ....................4

  c h a p t e r 2

  Tracked .....................16

  c h a p t e r 3

  Floating ....................22

  c h a p t e r 4

  Crowing .....................36

  c h a p t e r 1

  Collared

  Darkness comes.

  Those words haunted me.

  But wait . . . I had an

  .

  Snatching up my pack, I hurried

  off to the cemetery.

  4

  5

  I perched,

  , on a

  tree branch. Poe perched beside

  me. We didn’t have to wait long.

  6

  Four nasty demons crept in. I

  only needed one. But these were big and beefy, with daggerlike claws.

  Too risky.

  Then I got lucky.

  7

  Runt! The smal demon with the

  injured leg I’d

  with before hobbled up. Perfect!

  I aimed my slingshot and . . .

  Whap! Whap! Whap! Whap!

  8

  Four tokens.

  Four dead demons.

  Runt’s eyes grew as

  large as

  . He tried

  scuttling away, but Poe swo ped, touched down on his head, and

  began pecking.

  9

  The puny demon flailed,

  trying to bat Poe off. That’s when I came up and kicked Runt in the

  backside. He went sprawling—

  OOMPH!—facedown on

  the ground. I rolled him over with my foot, my sLinGsHot drawn.

  He blinked up at me. “Max.”

  “Yep. I’m back.”

  10

  11

  Runt sneered. “I told

  you before; I’m not giving

  you any information.”

  I grinned down at him.

  “Want to bet?”

  12

  I reached in my pack

  and retrieved a dog collar.

  A special dog collar. I’d glued

  tokens side-by-side

  around it. No way Runt, or any

  of the others, could remove it

  without—boom!—exploding

  into demon dust.

  13

  “What’s that?” he yelped.

  “Your new choker”.

  Poe flittered onto my

  shoulder as I buckled the collar around Runt’s neck. Once it was

  secured, I scooted back.

  Runt eased to his feet like I’d

  strapped on a bomb. Of course,

  for him, that’s exactly what it was.

  I scooped up some graveyard

  dirt and let it pour out of my

  hand in front of him. “Here. Eat up.”

  Then, after plucking up the four tokens I’d fired, I walked off.

  15

  c h a p t e r 2

  Tracked

  Away from the cemetery,

  I took out my phone. What Runt

  didn’t know was that I’d planted a device inside

  that collar. I opened the GPS app to his every step.

  16

  17

  It wasn’t long before he was on

  the move. I didn’t hurry to catch up. I swear, he was the s l owe s t demon alive. I could almost see the blip on my screen going step . . . drag . . .

  step . . . drag.

  Keeping

  , I followed.

  S low ly.

  Runt teetered along, his chin

  poked up high to avoid touching the collar. We finally came to a familiar spot. The old gas station.

  19

  “Demons ”, Poe said.

  Boy, was he right! The parking

  lot was overrun with them.

  Why here?

  20

  I watched, waited. Then one big, nasty bruiser squatted on

  one knee. That’s when it hit me.

  I know where Mom is!

  21

  c h a p t e r 3

  Floating

  A warrior needs

  .

  Mine was stashed in my hideout.

  First, I shrugged on my jacket.

  Next, I worked a spiked glove

  onto my right hand. Adjusting the ring on my left, I said, “Hang on, Mom. I’m coming.”

  22

  When I got back to the gas

  station—Whoa!—the demon count

  had doubled. Maybe fifty or more.

  With my best warrior

  , I

  raced toward them.“Ahhhhhh!”

  I picked off six with my slingshot. The rest scattered and ran.

  That was easy.

  24

  26

  I wasted no time. I pRiEd off

  the cap to one of the station’s

  underground tanks. Inside, black ooze. It had a smoky scent, like a freshly sharpened pencil.

  I shone my flashlight in. Wow!

  The fluid lit up like a glow stick.

  27

  Red-haired women floated

  by. An elbow here. A knee there.

  Way too many people for me to

  pull out on my own. I started

  to dial

  .

  But the glint of a wedding ring

  caught my eye. Then
a face came

  into view.

  ÒMom!

  I reached in and grabbed her

  wrist before she floated away.

  “Mom, Mom, Mom,” I chanted as

  I fished her out of the demon goo.

  28

  29

  I carried her to a gas pump and

  set her down. “Mom?” Nothing. I

  patted her face. ÒMom, wake up.

  She was breathing, but barely.

  I took out my phone, ready to

  dial

  again.

  “Demons,” Poe warned.

  I turned. Holy molehills! A

  herd of them stampeded

  toward us.

  31

  Grabbing my sLinGsHot, I

  picked off two. This time, they

  didn’t scatter.

  32

  I charged, shouldering into them.

  Whap! Whap! Whap!

  One grabbed my neck, but I got

  him with a right hook.

  33

  Poe dive-bombed a bunch,

  but they just kept coming. More

  and More and More. Far

  more than we could handle.

  34

  Suddenly, Poe flew up and away.

  “Caw! Caw! Caw!”

  “Poe!” I screamed.

  He’s deserting me?

  35

  c h a p t e r 4

  Crowing

  A demon grabbed a hunk of my

  hair. I popped him with my ring, but another took his place, yanking hard. I backed into him. Whap!

  ÒGah! Something bit my leg.

  Runt!

  36

  I grabbed Runt by the ankles, lifted, and swung him. We kNocKEd

  out nine demons as they connected with his collar.

  38

  Whap! Whap! Whap!

  Whap! Whap! Whap!

  Whap! Whap! Whap!

  But Runt’s head tilted and—

  whap!—he exploded too. The

  collar dropped on the pavement.

  39

  Two sly ones snuck up behind

  me and grabbed my legs. I

  elbowed them. Whap! Whap!

  More came. I was swimming in

  a sea of

  demons. I

  powered at them, but how could

  I keep this up?

  So many.

  41

  A demon clawed my calf. I

  buckled. Another backhanded

  me. I fell, still struggling.

  I was wearing down. Flat on my

  back, I swung and kicked. But

  a claw sank into my thigh. Another sl ashed my cheek. I tried to

  shield myself with my arms.

  I lost

  . Pain ripped through

  me. Blood warmed my skin. The

  stink roiled my gut.

  42

  I can’t do it. I can’t.

  Then the sky darkened. A

  storm cloud covered the sun.

  43

  Wait . . . not a cloud. Crows!

  Hundreds of them! And

  Poe was leading the way!

  They swooped , clawing and pecking. The air filled with the w h oosh of batting wings.

  44

  The demons thrashed and

  howled and wildly

  .

  But they were no match. The crows were out for blood.

  Demons fell. Others ran. And

  when there were none left, the

  crows took wing . . . flying up and away.

  45

  All but Poe. He’d always

  have my back.

  “Thanks,” I mumbled.

  I rol ed over, feeling like I’d been through a meat grinder. On elbows, I crawled.

  46

  “Mom,” I uttered as I got

  near her.

  Her eyes fluttered open. I was

  flooded with relief.

  “Max,” she croaked.

  “Shh, Mom, don’t talk. I’m calling for help.” I reached for my PHONE.

  She hugged herself close.

  “Max, you must find it.”

  “Mom—”

  “You have to find it.”

  “What, Mom? Find what?”

  Her eyes filled with fear. “The

  SCAR LET PORTAL. The

  door of doom. It’s ready to open.”

  How on Earth can I stop it?

  48

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  8

  Document Outline

  Cover

  Title Page

  Copyright Page

  Table of Contents

  Chapter 1: Collared

  Chapter 2: Tracked

  Chapter 3: Floating

  Chapter 4: Growing

  Back Cover

 

 

  Dax Varley, Book 7: Murder of Crows - Demon Slayer Set 2

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