Losing Troy, Part 6

"Are you serious?! She's got the core?!" Jolie snapped.

     "I thought it was planned," the warrior hissed, and Jolie couldn't tell if he was genuinely confused or mocking her.

     "The scheming, manipulating, genius part of me is happy, but the prideful, dangerous part of my brain is screaming this shouldn't have happened," she replied cooly. "Don't doubt me--ever."

     "Is that a threat?" the warrior responded evenly.

     Jolie shrugged. "Take it anyway you want. You know what I'm capable of."

     "And you know what I'm capable of," the warrior warned.

     Jolie smirked. "Sure. If that lets you sleep at night."

Audrey landed easily, letting her knees bend to absorb the shock. She quickly straightened up and checked for...well, what you would expect to make up a supercomputer. 

    She couldn't see anything but metal walls, curving over her head. No control panels, no wires, no circuit boards, no keypads...

     Her eyes adjusted gradually, as the scrape of scales and claws overheard set her heart beating faster. She needed to hurry.

     Finally, she could distinguish what the strange shadow in the center of the room was--a pedestal holding a crystal-like object. She knew it was the core, the thing she'd come for. Quickly, but keeping her ears alert, she approached the column and viewed the clasps holding the core. She couldn't bend them herself...she quickly drew her energy sword, and brought it carefully up against the clasps, letting its searing heat cleave the metal.

     Claws and scales scraping metal...a thunk as a large, muscular body hit the metal floor opposite of Audrey. She grabbed the core and backed up against the wall. She couldn't get out quickly. She probably should have thought about that, but too bad. She had the core. The only problem now was getting out. 

     Something was nagging at the back of her mind, something about the amount of time it took the Scav to get down here. It made her wonder...did they want her to get the core? Whose side was Jolie on?!

     She didn't have any more time to think about it before the Scav lunged, sailing around the pedestal with the speed and grace of a panther. Audrey barely had time to leap out of the way, swinging her energy sword in a wide sweep. The Scav swung one of its tails up, the scythe like blade deflecting the blow. 

     "C'mon on," she hissed to herself. "You have to do better than this."

     The Scav turned around faster than she could blink, all three tails and a pair of legs swiping out at her. She jumped back and to the side, swinging her energy sword to block one of the tails and both legs. The second tail swiped her legs out from underneath her as the third one barely missed hitting her left side.

     She managed to flip back to her feet pretty fast, but not fast enough. Another tail swiped her legs out again, rubbing her ankles raw, causing them to sting. She could feel it constricting even more, and she knew the tail could potentially break her bones. Audrey swung her energy sword down with all of her might towards the tail.

     Another tail whipped out to block it, but Audrey maneuvered the blade deftly so that it cut right before the scythe like blade formed, cutting the blade off all together. The Scav shrieked in pain, releasing its hold on her ankles while jerking back. She could feel blood on her fingers, strangely slimy and sticky at the same time. The foul smell of charred flesh assaulted her nostrils as she scrambled a little less gracefully than usual to her feet. She almost fell over again, the pain in her ankles was so immense, but it passed quickly.

     The Scav tucked its wounded tail up under its belly, and charged towards Audrey again. She leapt upwards, letting the one tail pass beneath her, while bringing her sword up to block the other. So hard was her blow that pain traveled up the blade and tail, causing the Scav to roar in pain again, before leaping forward.

     Audrey had anticipated the move, and dodged to the side, but her speed was no match for the lightning fast reflexes of the Scav, who somehow managed to maneuver his jump just right so he landed on top of her, crushing every ounce of air out of her lungs.

     Audrey gasped as the scales ground into her body through her armor, and she could feel her fingers going numb as she held onto the energy sword with all of her might. It was the only thing that was going to save her.