The Twice-Enchanted Blade: Part 21

The story was rapidly approaching its climax.

Spiridon: “I immediately ordered Civet to retreat towards the maze of corridors, while Iocasta and myself distracted the monster with gunfire. The initial plan was for Iocasta to then follow, while I covered her, and then she would provide fire support from the doorway while I made my move. Any less organized retreat was as likely to get us killed by traps as it was to get us eaten by the creature”.

Iocasta: “As it almost always tends to happen, however, things didn’t go quite according to plan. Dropping our torches to the ground, we briefly let the creature, leaping from pillar to pillar, go after the running Civet, before opening fire. A few of our shots seemed to connect, and it turned around to focus on us instead. It was our intention to stay in the relative safety of the elevated tone around the pedestal, evading the attacks as best as we could. This plan was immediately ruined by the monster’s first attack, coming at me diagonally from above with frightening speed, and I ended up tumbling backwards, straight into the danger zone”.

“What ensued was a mad dance. There was a slight click any time you would step on a trapped tile, and then you had a fraction of a second before you got impaled by spikes. It took most of my focus to keep narrowly managing to avoid this kind of death, and on top of that, the serpent would occasionally swoop from above, making my situation that much direr. It was a matter of seconds before I slipped up”.

Spiridon: “It was obvious I had to act quickly. I moved, torch in hand, to a suitable position for executing a plan I had just conjured up. The spot I chose had two safe tiles with a trapped tile in between. As soon as I got there, I opened haphazard fire in the creature’s general direction and managed to get its attention. Its first attack came slightly from the side, so I couldn’t set my plan into motion. Instead, I drew my sword, ducked, and cut off one of the monster’s arms while it was passing above me. Next attack came from a suitable direction, so I met it head-on, grabbing the creature’s head in a bear hug and made several steps backwards, deliberately stepping on the trapped tile in the process. The creature, meanwhile, managed to bite into my torso, causing severe bruising even through the armor. Before it managed to crush my ribcage, however, it loosened its grip as four spikes ejected from the ground, skewering it”.

Iocasta: “One source of pressure taken away, I manage to stumble my way onto safe ground. The creature was now incapacitated, though not dead yet. It was flailing madly around, so any attempts to get close and finish it off would be way too risky. Instead, we picked up our torches and left. We walked back into the maze-like corridors and started making our way back towards the exit”.

Civet: “About halfway through, however, a skittering sound came from up above, and a moment later the creature, having freed itself from the spikes and moving between the walls near the ceiling, swooped down. I somehow managed to avoid a direct hit by ducking, but the human-like hands picked me up and lifted me into the air”.

Iocasta: “The monster was overtaking our fast, so I reacted quickly. I raised my rifle and aimed at one of the hands that was holding Civet. It was a risky shot, made possible only because Civet had enough presence of mind to keep his torch, which he used to bash his kidnapper to no avail. Still, it was a small, moving target, and a mistake would end Civet’s life. His fate would’ve been even grizzlier if we let him get taken away, so I took a deep breath and made the shot. Luckily, it connected, and the creature dropped its prey. Nixon made a dash to catch him and break his fall, and Civet’s life was saved”.

Spiridon: “The corridors were too narrow for the creature to comfortably turn around, so it had to find some roundabout way to attack us again. We picked up the pace and were on our way again”.

Iocasta: “It didn’t catch up to us until we were almost at the exit. We heard it coming and, since we knew there weren’t any traps in this last stretch, broke into a sprint. It was faster nonetheless. Nixon got out first, followed by Civet. The creature, however, caught up to me and rammed me from behind at full speed, sending me flying through the gate and knocking me unconscious”.

Spiridon: “I heard a loud crash as I was rushing out of the temple. Turning around, I spotted Iocasta lying prostrate on the ground, and the serpentine beast thrashing around. I wondered initially what made it go berserk, but quickly realized it was the sun. The monster had spent untold centuries in darkness, and the sudden influx of light must have been painful to it. Once again, I had to act quickly. I shot at it to direct its spasms towards me, and then started carving it up with my sword while its random attacks failed to connect. From the corner of my eye, I could notice Civet dragging Iocasta to safety, allowing me to give the fight my full attention”.

“At first, it seemed I was getting nowhere, but then I noticed the monster gradually began to slow down. It had, by this point, lost quite a lot of blood from its numerous wounds, and it was beginning to show. I baited it into a particularly slow attempt to ram me, then thrust my sword into its eye, jamming it to the hilt. The temple guardian briefly shuddered, then stopped moving. The fight was over”.

Iocasta: “Neither Nixon nor myself were seriously hurt, so we began our return journey at first light tomorrow. Finding our way back was a simple matter, and, once we reached the grassland, tracking down our rhinoceri wasn’t too tough either. We returned to Orion’s Watch and found Rhombus waiting for us with a smug grin, saying ‘Took you long enough!’”