by Billy Wong

Before Rose could do anything, a serpentine tentacle reached out, coiled around Timmy's waist, and snatched him into the air. As it dragged him towards Azatharaxus' waiting mouth, Rose stumbled up and slashed at the tentacle. But her blow failed to bite deeply, and in response it wrapped around her and lifted her high as well. She managed to keep her sword arm free, and sliced into it again and again. Finally, the tentacle's grip slackened and failed. She fell through the air, only for Azatharaxus to catch her in its mouth.

"Rose!" Timmy cried from where he'd been dropped on the ground, clutching his arm.

Her only response was a scream of pain, for Azatharus' smaller teeth had clamped down around her lower thighs, digging into her flesh. Really, they were only small considering the monster's size. What was worse, though, was the scythe-like mandibles, one of which had pierced Rose's thigh and the other her hip.

She flailed her arms, hacking desperately at her captor's huge face. Her sword bit into a multifaceted eye, and Azatharaxus opened its jaws to roar in agony. Rose slid backwards out of its mouth, landing awkwardly on the stone. Half-blind, Azatharaxus bent to bite at her. She hopped to the left, avoiding the attack, and clove away one of its mandibles. It threw its head back and screeched.

Rose charged in, stabbing at its exposed belly. Her sword pierced the smooth hide and sank deep, so that Azatharus' screech turned into a gurgle. Nonetheless, its remaining tentacle reached down and slapped her, launching her away. As she lay stunned, it grabbed her in a viselike grip and whipped her against a thick pillar. Her ribs creaked. It smashed her against another column, squeezing all the way. As she felt her bones crack, she threw her sword desperately at the monster's neck, transfixing its throat. The tentacle released her. She stood sluggishly, hugging her tortured body, and realized the monster was now grabbing at one of the pillars of the temple, trying to keep itself from falling.

"Watch out!" she cried to Timmy, who was still down. Just then Azatharaxus' body toppled back into the pit, still clutching the pillar in a death-grip. The column broke, and with it gone two more weathered supports gave way under the weight of the roof, which began to collapse. Rose lurched towards Timmy as he struggled to stand, and shoved him out of the way of a great chunk of masonry. An immense crushing pain engulfed her back as the stone drove her to the ground.

#

Setting her palms on the smooth stone floor, Rose grunted and pushed, raising her upper body off the ground. The heavy stone slab which had lain atop her slid off and landed with a crash. She sat up, rubbing her back as she surveyed what remained of the temple of Azatharaxus.

Rose limped to the edge of the pit into which Azatharaxus had fallen and breathed a sigh of relief. The monster lay still at the bottom, its body twisted and broken. The cultists had picked the wrong virgin to try and sacrifice. Rose was hardly one to give up a friend. She took deep, slow breaths, trying to clear her spinning head.

Timmy walked up to her now and pressed a rag into the hole in her chest. She had almost forgotten the pain of that injury, considering the wounds she had suffered since. "How are you?" he asked as the cloth turned red nearly instantly. Shame weighed down his gaze. Rose hoped it was for the danger he had brought them into, not his revelation about his virginity.

She smiled, though she knew the cultist's knife had nicked her heart. It wouldn't kill her, she didn't think--this wasn't the worst she'd ever felt. "It's nothing I haven't taken before. Could you carry me, though? Azatharaxus' bite messed up my legs."

"Carry you?! You must weigh as much as a small bear!"

Well, that was true. Nonetheless, Timmy draped her arm over his shoulders to support her and Rose stood, swaying as pain shot through her mangled thighs. "Come on, then. Let's get back to the company--I'm going to need more than a few drinks!"

#

Timmy retrieved her sword from the pit, braving the monster's corpse at her insistence that she needed it. She didn't want to leave the trusty blade which had seen her through so much. They had barely gone down the steps of the temple when he asked, "So there's no treasure, is there? These guys must have made my treasure map to lure victims here . . ."

Rose thought about it for a moment and shrugged. "Maybe--you did say you found it today. But why would that knight have it?"

He blanched. "Actually, Rose, I found it a few months ago. I lied--sorry."

She glared at him. "Why? Well, if that's the case, I doubt the cultists drew it. It's not exactly an efficient method of catching virgins."

"Are we going to check out the base of that tree, then?"

Injured as she was, Rose was in no mood to dig. But Timmy could handle that. "Fine, let's check it out."

They returned to the ash, and Timmy went to work. A foot below the ground, he struck something hard. They got the chest out soon enough, and opened it eagerly. Inside was a black-handled mace with a skull over its head, an old scroll, and a few vials of liquid. Timmy began to unfurl the scroll.

"Don't do that!" Rose said. He looked at her, and she added, "Were you lying about finding the map on a dark knight?"

"No . . ."

"Well, this passes for treasure for a dark knight. Not for us. Let's just leave it, okay? Before we awaken another Azatharaxus."

Timmy dropped the scroll back into the chest. "Okay . . . geez, this sucks."

Rose nodded and sighed. "Less for you than for me, though. Let's go back to camp--I've had more than enough adventure for today."

"Okay." Looking at the ground, Timmy did not meet her eyes as he tucked himself under her shoulder and they began the trip back together.

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