As I duck under another rock, I see Marina cradle Adam’s head and press her hands against his face. Her Legacies must be working! Now I just need to keep playing cat-and-mouse until—
Oof.
The backs of my feet hit an object and I fall over backwards. My landing is cushioned by something soft and it takes me a moment to realize that it’s Ella’s body I’ve tripped over. She’s pale, completely still, and there’s a coagulated trail of black ooze leaking from both her nostrils. She still looks very much dead. I don’t have time to check for a pulse. Setrákus Ra stands right over me.
He actually pauses. Ella’s body has thrown him off his game. I’m not good at reading that wrinkled face and empty black eyes, but if I had to guess I’d say Setrákus Ra is feeling some creepy mixture of remorse and disappointment. He cared about his granddaughter in the grossest way possible, wanting to turn her into a monster just like him. I hope it eats him up inside to know how badly he failed.
“She hated everything about you,” I say, then bring the sword up point-first for Setrákus Ra’s groin.
Setrákus Ra tries to pivot away. The blade grazes across the armored cup he’s wearing, but then I get lucky. The sword’s point grinds to the side, finds a gap in the armor plates and digs deep into the inside of his upper thigh. Setrákus Ra barks in pain as I gash him, viscous black blood spraying down his leg.
“You little bitch!” he bellows. In response, I grab a handful of dirt and sling it into his eyes.
I’m already on my feet, running again, looking for more gaps in his armor. The spots are mostly around his joints to allow for flexibility—his elbows, his knees and of course, his head and scarred neck. That’s where I have to aim for.
“This has gone on long enough!” Setrákus Ra yells, and I don’t think he just means this fight right now. Hunting us for years has frustrated the old man, and now we’re trying to thwart his carefully laid invasion plans. He’s losing his temper. I can use that. It makes him fight stupid.
Setrákus Ra grows. In the space of a few seconds, he goes from an eight-foot-tall behemoth to a twenty-foot-tall giant who completely towers over me. The thing is, his armor grows with him, and that just makes those gaps at his joints look like bigger targets.
Now, I only have to avoid getting crushed to death. No big deal.
I can’t run from him anymore. He can cover way too much ground. I turn to face him as he comes barreling in, trying to stay light on the balls of my feet. My plan is to dodge his strike, maybe run under his legs and slice out the back of his knees.
Setrákus Ra’s fist is the size of a cinder block. It sails down at me. I’m not sure I can make this dodge.
I don’t have to. At the last second, Setrákus Ra recoils and grabs at his face, howling in pain. A lion with the head of an eagle, razor-sharp claws and beautiful feathered wings just flew by and slashed the hell out of him. A griffin. A griffin just came to my rescue.
Bernie Kosar. God bless BK.
Setrákus Ra wheels around to face the Chimæra, who’s a much closer match to him in size. Bernie Kosar roars and slashes at Setrákus Ra with his talons. Strong as he is, Setrákus Ra is stronger. He clenches BK’s talon in one hand, then pulls him forward, wrestling him into a headlock. Bernie Kosar yelps, obviously in pain. With a feral yell, as much animal as Bernie Kosar if not more so, Setrákus Ra tries to snap the Chimæra’s neck.
I don’t let that happen. With all my might, I jam the sword into the soft tissue at the back of Setrákus Ra’s knee. It slides in easily and he howls with pain, loses his grip on BK and stumbles forward. The sword gets yanked right out of my grasp. He kicks backwards and even though I try to dive out of the way, his big boot glances against my side. I can feel ribs break as a result.
“Get him, BK!” I scream as I land hard in the dirt.
Bernie Kosar’s about to pounce when a sharp gasp from behind us catches our attention.
Ella sits up. She takes in another breath that sounds raw and painful. Her eyes are mostly back to normal, except there are still sparks of Loric energy popping out from the corners. That black goop continues to ooze from her nose and she spits some out of her mouth.
Setrákus Ra pulls the sword from the back of his leg like it’s a thorn. The weapon looks comically small in his huge hand. He hurls it towards Bernie Kosar, propelling it with his telekinesis. BK manages to dart out of the way at the last second, but the blade still carves a bloody gash in his side. He’s hurt and his powerful griffin form begins to revert back to normal. BK whips his head back and forth, snarling, fighting to maintain his form and stay in the battle.
“Granddaughter!” Setrákus Ra bellows, his voice thunderous in his huge form. He limps towards Ella. He actually sounds relieved. “I’m coming for you.”
In response, Ella pukes more black soup into the dirt. She’s out of it. However, whatever crap Setrákus Ra injected into her, it sure seems like her body is rejecting it now. I can’t let him get hold of her again.
“Bernie Kosar!” I shout. “Get her out of here!”
The wounded Chimæra glances at me with his sharp eagle eyes, but doesn’t hesitate. He swoops towards Ella just ahead of Setrákus Ra, gently scoops her up in his talons and flies her towards the jungle.
“No!” Setrákus Ra screams. “She’s mine!”
Setrákus Ra gives chase. He pulls at Bernie Kosar with his telekinesis, managing to slow the Chimæra down. Setrákus Ra almost has him when a jackhammer-sized icicle flies down from the crater’s rim, gouging the side of Setrákus Ra’s face and ripping off a piece of his ear.