Blood of Earth
an excerpt

He raised the blade, closing his eyes with apparent focus. Unable to move, all Chey could do was gape at the strange boy before her, shock paralysing her every muscle. Then, before she could scream out, he had plunged it right into his right thigh. It stuck there, all wonky and wrong, spilling red blood all over his hands. Chey continued to back up, feeling her back connect with the table. No matter how far she tried to get away, she could still see the oozing blood from his wound, still identify the look of agony on his face.

Her vision of him was quickly surrendered to white light once again, as the boy began to shine. It took only a few instants, but the transformation that had occurred during this momentary pause must have felt terrifyingly long to him, she pondered. Estimating his height at about ten feet, all Chey could see were his huge hulking legs outside the door. All her fear vanished, though, because now she felt completely and utterly cheated.

For a minute or two, she had entertained the possibility that, somehow, this world had to be real in some twisted manner. Now this jerk had to go and prove the contrary. It was such a depressing notion that she actually felt her body sagging (or was that a combination of fear and nerves?). But she wasn't given much time to dwell on the daunting prospect of returning to routine. A giant hand had smashed through the roof.