"No, no, no- wait, wai-, wait!" Paige stammered, dragging herself to the side, away from the humongous beast as it slowly crawled its way to her, towering over and casting a dark shadow on her.
"Please, please," Paige clasped her hands together and began to cry, a very wimpy cry, sputtering out saliva in between sobs. She looked up at it, with tears in her eyes and trembling lips.
Six bloody eyes stared with death at her, subsequent six triangular nostrils expanding and retreating with respiration. It positioned its bony and dusty mass with satisfaction and smug, like it was prepared to have a satiating supper.
It lowered its heads, bringing them up front to Paige's. Calm growling sounds could be heard from behind its drooling canine-filled mouths.
Paige quickly turned her head to the left, escaping its deadly glare, she kept on sobbing with her eyes closed as she felt its heavy, damp breath on her neck. She whimpered and sniffed, still trying to move away quietly, but she was already backed to the foot of the rubble slope.
"Please," she begged silently again, a bubble of saliva forming between her lips.
The three-headed gargoyle still stared at her, heavy breathing. Paige knew she was gone, what can her green ranked abilities do against such a creature? But she decided to give it a try, maybe she could be lucky. She struggled to hold back her sobs which were coming faster with what she was about to do.
Paige slowly raised her right trembling hand, a little ball of spectrum materialized and began to orbit it. What was she going to do? Blind a creature with six eyes?
The three-headed gargoyle quickly noticed her elevating arm, it rose up and surprisingly stood on its hinds. Paige thrusted her arm, but the creature slapped it away with its claws. Paige felt extreme pain as her arm bashed the debris, she thought it was ripped away from the rest of her body.
She fell to her side and screamed femininely, grabbing the arm. The gargoyle roared at her, causing her hair to rise up. It exposed its bony wings, casting a larger shadow over her as it took up a bigger space.
It reached for her neck with its large clawed hands, bringing back her gaze to its, resuming its terrifying and windy roar. It took its hand back and brought it forth with force, slamming her skull against the slope.
Paige saw her life flash before her eyes, the anguish was so painful, she couldn't let out a cry, just a soft moan. And again, it slammed her skull once more. The third time, the fourth time and the fifth had created a large dent on the rubble behind.
It screamed to her face furthermore, grabbing her by the collar and flinging her across the void land.
Sincerely, Paige was amazed to still see herself breathing, tasting the dust of the South Wing. She slowly dragged her sprawled body to who knows where, her view obstructed by her hair and the gushing blood from her broken skull.
A few smaller creatures had surfaced and wanted a go at her, but the three-headed gargoyle attacked and booted them away, displaying possession.
Paige felt the ground behind tremble as the gargoyle stumbled its way to her, step by step. It roared again and grabbed her head, slamming it downwards to the ground repeatedly.
It seized her once more, throwing her towards a rock. She hit her spine hard and dropped back to the ground.
What was this? Paige asked herself. Why wouldn't it kill me easily? At this point, there was no need to fight back, she decided to play dead or die for real. Maybe if she closed her eyes, she could really die and escape this agony.
Paige relaxed her eyes, as she lay disorientedly on the ground, feeling the same approaching rumble of the gargoyle and its roar. The thud of its footsteps reverberated around the area. There were three more ununiformed thuds that followed.
Paige lay still, expecting another bash of her skull. When none came after a while and everywhere was awfully quiet, she slowly raised her head.
With her hair and the blood painted face, it was difficult to see. But she could tell there was no threat aimed towards her anymore. Paige dragged herself up and relaxed on the rock she was flung to, she wiped her face with the back of her hand.
From the little vision provided to her, she could see the body of the three-headed gargoyle still standing. But it wasn't a three-headed gargoyle anymore, its heads were sliced off, splayed on the ground before it. A fountain of blood erupting from its three exposed gullets.
After several seconds of staying erect, the huge body staggered and dropped forward to the dust, inches away from Paige, who gasped.
Paige slowly raised her head up again to see Jamie kneeling down with both knees. She looked tired, weary and extremely white.
Paige panted, the atmosphere was pin drop quiet. She quickly crawled and scrambled her way to Jamie, with driving strength. Jamie was staring down, placing her hands on the ground and gasping for breath.
Paige approached and hugged her, flinging her arms around Jamie's neck. Jamie only responded with a tap on Paige's back.
"Told you not to come with me to the South," Jamie said, stroking Paige's hair. "You're alright now," Jamie whispered, her voice creaky.
They both looked at each other with scarred and teary faces. Though Paige knew she must've had a concussion, she could still tell the difference on Jamie's face. It wasn't scarred the way it should be after a fight. Yes, there were some bruises, but it was different. Her skin has always been pale, but it was blank white right now. Her face was veined with red, giving the impression it was made out of rocks. Her eyes, oxblood and large dark rings around them.
"Your face," Paige complained.
"It's nothing," Jamie added, sniffing.
Paige knew it wasn't nothing. Jamie is the strongest academic she knows, able to take down numerous ogres and a three-headed gargoyle. This wasn't just nothing, she looked weak now, like she had spent her last energy slicing the heads of the gargoyle at one go.
Paige looked around them, apart from the darker spot the gargoyle had emerged from, everywhere still looked alike. No end, no beginning. It was an abyss after all.
She held onto Jamie, who was passing out as they cuddled their blood covered bodies.
If Jamie dies, it would be the end of them all surely. And Paige knows that.