Garden of Stone - Chapters 1-4

Chapter 4 - Medusan

“You think he’s up to something?”

“I know he’s up to something. I’m just not sure what. Not yet.” He glared at Arthur Edgerton one last time. “Enough talk. We’ve got a medusan to tangle with.” Sevrin the Arboreal flipped a few switches on his forearm bracer. Energy washed over his form like a flash of lightning. Seconds later, Sevrin the orc was transmogrified into Sevrin the headless horror.

“Nice choice,” the minotaur said.

The headless horror was a gorilla-sized brute encased in overlapping triangular plates. Its long forelimbs were tipped with long claws that could cut through bone and armor. As the name suggested, it had no head. While it likewise had no eyes, a headless horror could navigate its surroundings just fine. No one was quite sure how.

Everyone froze when they heard the medusan’s tail rattle.

Brock’s blindfolded head snapped toward the sound. He nocked an arrow, drew his bow and listened.

Tonk, Richard and Sevrin took positions behind the statues they’d arranged earlier for cover. Octavius remained by Arthur’s side. The clockwork man was the technomancer’s last line of defense.

Richard Brokehorn poured out a flask of water and began chanting. His spell formed the water into a disc that hovered in front of the minotaur’s face. It obscured Richard’s vision just enough to betray a medusan’s killing gaze, allowing him to see shapes and forms beyond. Arthur thought it was a clumsy solution to the medusan’s stare, but so long as it kept the minotaur from being turned to stone, who was he to criticize?

Leaving his defense to the others, Arthur Edgerton returned to his task. He was almost done. The engine and frame were complete and twin propellers were attached on either side, but there was still more to do to make his creation functional. He was aware of how crucial his job was to the success of the expedition, but he was having trouble concentrating. All he could think about was Alice. Alice was coming!

At that moment, the medusan sprang into view. Arthur couldn’t help himself. His periscope goggles allowed him to note two things: the medusan was strikingly beautiful and --

“That’s not Alice!”

“What?” Brock asked.

“That’s not her!” Arthur shouted. “There’s another medusan!”

The Blind Huntsman reacted instantly, firing at the medusan naga. Lucretia reacted by twisting around and spreading a cobra-like hood partially hidden beneath her serpentine hair. The arrow bounced off the scales of her hood harmlessly.

Wasting no movement, the medusan drew her longbow and fired back at Brock. The blindfolded human batted the arrow away with the back of one gauntleted hand as he drew a hatchet.

Richard Brokehorn took that moment to chant a spell, causing lightning to strike the medusan from the heavens. Lucretia was momentarily stunned by the electrical attack, giving Sevrin a moment to charge at her. She recovered quickly, knocking Sevrin the headless horror down with her serpentine tail. While Sevrin dutifully got back to his feet, Brock threw his hatchet at the medusan.

Lucretia drew a spear out of her back harness and used the shaft to deflect Brock’s weapon. Noticing that the minotaur was chanting another spell, she hurled the spear at Richard. The spear lodged itself in the minotaur’s thigh.

The metal box containing Copper’s render began shaking frantically as the first drop of blood spilled to the earth. Acting quickly, Arthur chanted a spell that turned a few metal rods into links of chain. He caused the chains to bind the box in place.

“Lord Edgerton,” Octavius said. “We need that metal.”

“There’ll be no one alive to fly out of this cursed place if that abomination breaks free,” Arthur said. “Without Gallows here to command it, it will kill everyone here.”

“Then why did you insist on separating it from Copper?”

“To keep Copper from using it on Alice!”

Bellowing in pain and outrage, Richard wrenched the spear out of his leg and broke it in half over his knee. Chanting a spell, he caused a whirlwind to form. The miniature cyclone swept into Lucretia, lifting her off the ground and slamming her into the walls of the courtyard before dissipating.

Sensing she was down, Brock began closing in.

___________________________

If you liked this chapter, be sure to Vote it up! Leave a comment to let me know what you thought of it.

You can order the entire story at http://www.amazon.com/Garden-Stone-Otherworld-Tony-Breeden-ebook/dp/B00NECHYB4/ for just 99 cents!