Young Writers Society

"Larrel?" said Adamina. Her hand reached out and met someone's arm. But at that moment, the fight with Apophis escalated, and she jumped.

Edwin asked, "Larrel, is your brother with you? We need everyone we can get to fight the beast."

Larrel nodded. "Yes he-"

"I'm here," James replied, stepping forward, in front of them all with sword drawn and ready as the creature slinked forward.

"What is that thing anyways?" Edwin lifted the dagger, not too far behind James. Although he was prepared to do anything to defend Adamina, he could feel his jaw tensing at the expectation of having to leap into battle at any moment now. At least it's not a human I have to fight, I guess.

"Apophis, don't attack him!" Maahes called out, trying to get her attention away from Raiden. "I'm the one you want to fight, right? I'm the one who has been polluting your dear vessel's head with all that 'nonsense', aren't I? So why are you going after that human boy?"

She turned on Maahes in the darkness, not replying as she began to stalk towards him. She's an ambush predator, and now, in the shadows, she takes full advantage of that.

"Apo, they're the key!" Auryon cries, voice strained.

Maahes paused when he heard what Auryon said, eyes widening at the realization that she had just come up with the perfect reason for why Apophis shouldn't fight them. "She's got a point," he said, not quite sure where Apophis was in the darkness. "You need us if you want to get out of this place, don't you?"

The lights came back on, and when they did, Apophis was gone, leaving them with only the beast to deal with until further notice. Auryon was still in her place on the ground. Her breathing was shallow, fast, and uneven, and she was shaking.

As soon as the lights came back on, James could see the whole beast in its entirety. It was just as big as he'd estimated, but still rightfully just as terrifying. With a focused gaze, he took a few more steps forward as the lizard-like creature lunged towards them, dodging to the side and slicing the side of its face with his sword. Larrel ran out of the way to the other side, and threw her axe at its front arm, lodging it in the space right between the shoulder and it's body. The lizard let out an angry cry and twisted its head around towards Mina and Edwin.

He was torn between running over to where Auryon was and fighting the monster, but he ultimately decided that Mina and Edwin needed his help more urgently than Auryon did. He could go to check on her after this whole battle was over. For now, she would just have to stay where she was and hopefully keep a stable condition.

"Hey!" he shouted to the monster. Even if it wasn't that smart, it would likely turn when it heard a noise. "Over here!"

Her eyes flashed with that luminescent red as Apophis took over her body and she stood, summoning her daggers in her hands and turning to face the beast as it turned towards Maahes.

"Great," muttered Edwin. He raised his dagger and began to creep forward towards the creature, which was now turned away from him. His gaze flicked from the lizard and Maahes to Auryon.

James flanked the lizard on one side while his sister mirrored him on the other, leaping at it's leg and yanking her axe out of its flesh.

The action only caused the beast to be more distracted, as if unable to pick a focus, but ultimately still settling on Maahes as it thrashed the rest of it's body and it's tail in a scrambling motion. Larrel hopped out of the way, with her heart beating quickly as she looked under the beast to the other side see her brother get whipped by its tail. She cringed, but was surprised when he hopped back up - clearly hurt, but persistent.

She shook her head, reminding herself to focus. She started to run and follow it, hoping to get there in time to help Maahes.

The trick to fighting something in such close quarters was to not use his magic, but the urge to do so was growing stronger with every passing second. Especially as the monster came barreling towards him. He finally succumbed to instinct and let a Detonation loose, green fires springing up from the floor in both a defensive and offensive attack.

The beast roared in surprise, fury, and pain as the fire singed its skin. It's beady eyes fixed on Maahes with heightened intensity, the look of a hawk as it made the decision to kill - untamed instinct that drove it towards a single goal: tearing these beings apart.

The Viper raced forward, her eyes glowing ever-brighter as she charged it. Her form shifted as she went on the offensive. The body of her human vessel was largely unchanged, but her teeth began to elongate into serpentine fangs, a wicked mix of a boa's backward-facing teeth and a viper's hollow fangs.