Page 137 of The Shadowed Oracle
Neither Tyla nor Veston had an answer for that. They only stared into the distance. At the mayhem hurtling towards them.
Haxus was learning. He charged the archer, stopped short, anticipating the cracking strike of the whip from behind, then swiveled to catch it with ease. Peering down at it like he was going to pick his teeth with the whip, Haxus yanked it away from the gladiator and threw it into the crowd. Without his weapon, the soldier abandoned all reason and ran toward the gate. Before he could reach it, Haxus caught him, batted his body around like a chew toy with only two swipes of his enormous paws, and the soldier soared in the air before plummeting into the mud.
“I have to agree with Dean here, sis.” Raidinn pulled out the broken spearhead, getting used to the weight of it in his hands. “One thing at a time for now.”
Veston had gone silent, and Tyla took a deep breath, not able to bring herself to look back at Callinora. The realization was sinking in.
Haxus was closing in on the last gladiator standing, who ran at his far stronger opponent at full speed, shooting his arrows as he neared and then sliding under the legs of the great beast at the exact moment Haxus lunged for him. But even with the dozens of arrows stuck into the Haxus’ skin, he had barely slowed. Barely bled. One male would not be able to take the cursed former king down.
“I’ll distract him,” Raidinn said. “Dean, Ingrid, you need to get to that bow. I’m betting this ugly fuck won’t shake off an arrow to the eye that easily.”
Dean grunted his approval.
Tyla echoed the plan, announcing she’d help her brother.
“I’ll cover you,” Veston offered to Tyla.
The last gladiator made one last attempt to confuse the beast, varying his move slightly in fear that Haxus would adapt. He ran at a full sprint until he was just feet away, yet instead of going into a full slide, he attempted to stay in range as he rolled off, drawing Haxus in closer for a better shot.
He aimed at his grotesque head, and fired.
Haxus evaded, reached out, and pulled the gladiator up into a chokehold he would never get out of.
“Hey!” Raidinn called, already distancing himself from Dean and Ingrid. “Hey, ugly! Over here! Haxus! Oh Haxus! Come here, boy! Be a good doggy!”
The beast’s attention was drawn. He dropped the limp corpse to the mud and squared up to Raidinn, watching as the odd Viator waved his arms and screamed at the top of his lungs. An almost-human curiosity shone in Haxus’ stillness. He balked, snorting as he caught his breath, the vein-ridden chest muscles heaving up, down, up, down.
Then he burst into an explosive attack.
Ingrid held her breath as the two giants met, starting into her own desperate run after Dean had taken her hand. Theyreached the bow and quiver of the dead soldier. Dean threw it over his arm while Ingrid picked up a dagger lying at one of the gladiator’s sides.
And here they waited.
Watching for an opening.
Raidinn was nearing the arena wall as he retreated, giving riposte after riposte. Haxus inched closer. When it looked like Raidinn was seconds from being trapped, he got a running start and hurled that spearhead end-over-end, scarcely missing the outstretched paw of Haxus trying to catch it mid-air, and landing in the center of the beast’s chest.
“Too slow!” Raidinn called out. He laughed a lion’s roar, taunting his hairy opponent. He did not advance. Didn’t adjust his position. Only stood there, daring the monster to attack.
And Haxus did. Mud flew in the air as his enormous feet dug in with each step. He came flying at Raidinn at top speed. But still, Raidinn didn’t move. Haxus drew closer, and closer, and closer, until Ingrid couldn’t see anything but the monstrous rippled back of the deformed former king.
“Come on!” Raidinn boomed, laughing like a maniac. “To me!”
Haxus roared, inhuman and almost painful, then transitioned to running on four legs. The beast created divots in the ground with each plant of its hands and feet, lunging recklessly at the laughing Viator.
“Come on you fucker! Come on! Come on!”
Raidinn leapt out of the way at the last moment. The beast could not slow himself enough to veer away, and went crashing like a wrecking ball into the stone wall of the arena.
Those that survived in that section of the crowd scattered and shrieked, fleeing as Haxus pulled his head from the debris. Dust filled the air around him as he stumbled back into the mud of the arena. Raidinn appeared unharmed, and now from closerange he was able to slice at the ankles and hamstrings of Haxus, circling him in a figure-eight formation to evade the half-blind defensive clawing.
Tyla and Veston joined him. The general slashed at the beast’s back while Tyla scampered to Haxus’s side, waiting for him to expose the front of his neck before throwing her knife.
It landed, but just below and to the right of her target, sticking just under the collarbone. The arrows came next. From a distance, Dean sent near-perfect shots into the beast’s back. And finally, Veston pointed his trident and charged Haxus’ flank. The beast hadn’t regained his full vision but he heard the footsteps approaching, whirled around, already lashing out with his claws. Veston evaded by going into a dive, pointing his weapon upward and jabbing for the jugular.
Haxus batted it away, rearing back for a deadly strike.
“Veston!” Tyla called out desperately.
