Chapter 11: Chapter 11
For a moment Maximus was very confused. He even thought he might be dreaming. He had just seen a giant scorpion's tail shoot out from the ground and kill a soldier. It was safe to say he hadn't quite seen anything like that before. But it wasn't long before he understood what was going on. He looked to his side and the look of sheer terror on Hedger's face confirmed what Maximus had already realized. The ground began to shake underneath them. Then the creature erupted from below, towering over the transport truck. The manticore had finally showed itself.
It was easily bigger than a bus. And it stood there like an immense statue. It had six legs, all of which ended in paws with very large and sharp claws on all of them. It had really hard-looking armour on its back, legs and tail. Like the armour of a scorpion. It also had a huge scorpion's tail complete with the stinger and everything, and it was oozing a green poison which was burning the grass below as it fell. It also had yellowish brown fur covering its entire body below the armour. But its most impressive feature by far was its head. It was a huge head of a fully grown male lion whose mane seemed to be as thick as its armour. And the manticore just stood there staring at the transport truck like it was a chew toy.
"Mant... manti... ma...MANTICORE!" Hedger screamed. As a soldier, Maximus was trained not to falter in the face of danger. But it was really hard not to cry and run away screaming like a three year old in the face of that thing. Maximus tried to draw his sword, but of course the only thing he had was the stupid cursed blade that wouldn't come out of its sheath. That's when the manticore slammed the truck aside with its tail. The truck landed on its side with Maximus, Hedger and the old man still inside. Maximus had hit his head pretty hard in that fall, but luckily it wasn't bleeding. He looked outside to see the manticore staring at the soldiers, Rex, and the hooded man. Everyone had stopped fighting to look at the beast. "No sudden movements," the hooded man said, "it's a predator so it enjoys the chase." Then suddenly the manticore took one of the unconscious soldiers from the ground, snapped him in two and threw him to the side. Well, at least he died in his sleep, Maximus thought to himself miserably. The manticore now had blood dripping from its mouth, which just added to its scare factor. Then it let out a roar. A roar so loud that it shook the trees around them, and could probably be heard for miles around. At this moment, one of the satyr soldiers decided to run, but before he could take five steps the manticore slashed him with one of its claws and he was dead too.
The captain slammed her spear on the ground and shouted "We are soldiers of Ares, the god of war. And we do not run. So let's kill this abomination and bring its head as a prize for our king." Saying this, she readied her spear into battle position. The other soldiers also yelled in unison to show their support and came to her side. Soon a battle began between the manticore and the soldiers. Even the hooded man was helping the soldiers.
"What the hell is going on?" Hedger said, his face looked like it was about to burst into tears.
"Well, I would theorize that the manticore sensed the vibrations created due to the fighting done by the soldiers while it was still underground. Being a very territorial and predacious species it most likely decided to confront and attack the unknown threat, which had encroached into its habitat," the old man said. Maximus and Hedger just stared at the old man with their mouths open. The guy who was blubbering nonsense just a few moments before had suddenly just spoken to them like a science professor, and just when Maximus had begun to think the day couldn't get any weirder.
"So you're not crazy then?" Maximus asked.
"Not at the moment, no," the old man said, "but in another fourteen minutes and eleven seconds I will return to being the blubbering fool you first encountered. But I do suggest that we get out of here well before then my boy, unless you plan to die a rather horrific and painful death at the hands of a fully matured, male ground manticore."
Rex had just reached the truck as well. He put his head in and said, "I think that's enough scavenging for today don't you?"
The old man said, "Well, would you look at that – a Minotaur with a broken horn. You should consider yourself lucky for being born in this era my friend, a century ago that was considered as a sign of great shame among your people. Thank the gods that we have moved past such savage discriminations." The look of panic on Rex's face was replaced by one of utter confusion. "Who the heck is this," he asked.
"No idea," Maximus said. "He was a blubbering pile of mush a few seconds ago but now he seems to be the human encyclopedia." The old man put up his finger and said, "Well, there's a very simple explanation for that."
"Well it will have to wait, professor crazy-pants, because right now we need to get out of here," Hedger said.
The old man seemed to be a bit offended by this, but he decided to let it go. "I'm afraid I won't be going anywhere thanks to this," he said, holding up the chain around his leg. Rex looked at the chain then at his two friends, and said "Well do we take him with us?"
Maximus thought for a few seconds, and then said, "We can't just leave him like this. Not with that thing out there."
Rex nodded, then he took out his hammer and said, "Alright old man, stand back. "Then he started hammering away on the chain. It took a few shots but in the end it broke. "Much obliged," the old man said, "but I must warn you within three minutes and fifty two seconds my mind will begin to wander again."
Then the four of them stepped out, and the sight they saw was not comforting. Behind them the battle between the manticore and the soldiers was still going on, the only problem was that the soldiers were losing badly. Even Captain Sharp was wounded and on the ground. "Come on, let's get out of here before..." Rex didn't even have time to complete the sentence because the manticore had already turned its head towards them. The soldiers, seeing the gap, were retreating. Those that were still alive made a run for the remaining armoured car. Lod the Minotaur managed to pick up Captain Sharp before heading for the car. But the manticore didn't care, after all it had just got a new batch of chew toys. It looked at the group with hunger in its eyes. "Ok Hedger, you and the old guy get out of here. Me and Maximus will try to slow that thing down," Rex said.
"But..." Hedger began to say, but Rex cut him off. "No buts, just listen and do as you're told," Rex said angrily. Maximus knew it was harsh, but it was the best decision. They would only be in the way.
"Well this is it Max, we always did dream of fighting big monsters didn't we?" Rex said. Maximus managed to pull off a smile to this and said, "Yup, everything is exactly as planned." Then he picked up a sword, which one of the soldiers had left behind, and charged at the manticore and Rex was right there by his side. They tried to go for one of its legs but within seconds he had gotten swatted aside by its tail.
Maximus actually blanked out for a few seconds there. When the manticore had attacked him it had hit his head pretty hard. But when he finally came to his senses what he saw was worse. The manticore had cornered Rex. He was still holding off his attacks, but just barely. Unless Maximus did something Rex was going to die. At that moment Maximus felt something inside him. It wasn't fear or despair like he expected. It wasn't disappointment either. What he felt at that moment was nothing less than pure and unrelenting rage.
Rage, that was the only word to describe it. Maximus had never felt so angry before in his life. He was so furious at the fact that he did not have the power needed to save his friend. At that moment all he knew was that he would kill that manticore, even if it meant going down its throat and ripping it apart from the inside. "Interesting..." a voice said suddenly.
Maximus didn't quite understand from where he heard the sound at first. Then again it was like he hadn't heard it at all. More like the words had just appeared in his head. "On further analysis it seems you might be worthy of using my power after all," said the voice. Maximus felt a vibration on his back. As he looked over his shoulder he noticed that it was coming from the sheathed blade. "Who are you?" Maximus asked.
"Someone who could lend you the power to save your friend. The question is will you take it?" Maximus didn't know what was going on but without a moment's hesitation he answered "Yes."
"Good, not a doubt in your mind," the voice said, "there is a price of course, but we will speak of the details later. For now draw your blade." Without a second thought, Maximus tried to pull out the cursed blade, and the talisman on its sheath broke, and in his hands was a sword that was glowing red like his anger.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone