She turned and ran to the pieces, suddenly hearing a clicking behind her. She reached the pieces, bent, picked them both up, one in each hand and instantly turned and swung the sharp break of one pole round. The Manticore was behind her and the stick stabbed into its shoulder. It gave a shout, as Scorpio wretched the pole out and drove the other pole up through the Manticore's chest. The Manticore drew back taking the pole with it.
Scorpio took a few steps backwards, her back had flared up from the fall and hurt more than ever.
She watched as the Manticore tore the stick from its chest and threw it to the side. Then it spiralled towards Scorpio, “run!” It grinned, Scorpio did so.
She turned and sprinted from the plateau, dodging around the stalactite that blocked her way, behind her she heard some sort of rumbling, she turned to look. The Manticore had twisted, revealing its back face, several spikes emerged like quick growing teeth.
“Shit!” Scorpio yelled, focusing on where she was going to go. She heard something whistle by her, slamming into the stalactite beside her, shattering the rock into pieces. Instinctively she ducked, felt something nick the top of her head. There was a jolt of heat at the back of her head and the force of the thing made her stumble. Another spike whizzed by. Stone shattered all around her. Heart pounding she ran, ran and ran.
Vision blurred, legs burning, blood pumping she ran.
She felt a stabbing heat in her arm. Looked down, the spike had punctured through her forearm. All the way through, blood streamed down her arm and dripped off her hands. She screamed, turned, the Manticore had dropped behind. She stopped and crouched behind a stalactite. She grabbed the spike, flinched, eyes streaming, lips trembling, with a horrific scream pulled the spike form her arm. Her vision flashed white, the heat overwhelmed her, she screamed again and again. Tears dripped from her eyes.
Her voice cracked, and she fell into a lonely silence.
Grabbing at her shirt she pulled, ripping a strip from it. Looping it around her arm, she twisted the material and pulled it tight with her hand and teeth. She tied it off, squeezing her arm tighter. She stayed crouched. The heat of her tears warming her cheeks. She glanced down at the spike, grabbed it with her good hand.
She stood, turned, began back towards the plateau.
The Manticore patrolled back and forth in front of the portal. It turned its head to look towards Scorpio. It opened its mouth to speak but Scorpio beat it to it.
“I see you,” she said, wiping the tears from her eyes, “I've seen you over and over throughout history, throughout the timeline, throughout my mission. I know what you've done. I see you! Do you see me?”
The Manticore froze, turned its body to fully face Scorpio.
“I do not see you,” it said, “how can I?”
“You don't know my journey, what I've done for my country, for my people.”
“Your people are all the same, murderers. I was employed to kill the worst of those.”
“Then you are the same,” Scorpio replied, “a murderer!”
The Manticore shook its giant head, “no. I save your kind, you destroy yourselves. For what? Peace? Religion? Science?”
“We protect our own, we do our jobs for the good of the people around us.”
“You sicken me,” scowled the Manticore and leapt at her. It was suddenly on top of her knocking her to the round. Her head cracked on the stone, her back jolted, spasms through her whole body.
She glanced to the side, the spike had rolled from his grip, she grabbed it and as her hand closed around the spike her world exploded. Stabbing pain, over and over white hot in her body. Her mouth could only gasped and she lay in stoic silence, the immensity of the pain paralysing her whole body. A coldness in her stomach. She looked down, saw the Manticore pull away, taking her legs with it. The floor was flooded with blood. Her head registered none of it. Her legs were gone! The Manticore's head loomed in large, Scorpio raised her arm, the feat made her arm strain, she swung it upwards. It stabbed into the Manticore, she didn't know where, but the Manticore shrieked, and shrieked. It tried to pull away but Scorpio twisted the spike further into the Manticore, and held on tight. She felt her body being lifted into the air and being thrashed around. Then she started to bludgeon it with her elbow. On the second blow she felt something squash slightly under the pressure. She pushed down, felt the surface give way and plunged her arm into it, her arm touching warm, sticky, slimy things. Reaching in she flailed her arm around, grabbed something and pulled. The shriek deafened Scorpio and with a final shake of the Manticore's body she was flung through the air and landed on the ground, tumbled head over body and then came to a stop.
She lay there, her vision scarred, her body blurred. There was a thump behind her, and then silence. Slowly she stretched open her eyes and saw the air ahead of her twist and curl through waves of shapes.
Reaching out her right arm, and then her left, she grasped at the stone and heaved. Pulled, strained. Her body slid forwards an inch. The effort made her sight flash, and made her cry out, scream, tears down her cheeks.
She felt a wave of amazing heat flow over her, cooking her. Roasting her.
Heaving herself forward, she felt her strength leave her, her energy drain. She was nothing. For the final time she stretched her left hand out and felt a coolness over her hand.
And then she fell limp, and blacked out.
Chapter 17: ...But Monsters Tear Us Down
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