Chapter 43: Medusa

I stood in the threshold to the next arena. I could feel Angandriel's presence behind me. It felt huge and ominous, but also full of light. I pulled my mind away from his distracting aura. Ahead of us stood another circular arena. At the center was another stone statue, but this one was closer to our height. I walked forward with Angandriel at my back. This arena was lined with mirrors on holders. They could be tilted up and down. They all pointed at the figure in the center.

As we got closer I could see the figure more clearly. Snakes protruded from the head with their mouths open showing their fangs. The figure had a female bosom and a snake like tail. Her fingers were raised with claws sticking out at them. In front of her another pedestal held a new weapon. I looked down the shiny edge of the axe blade. I remembered the stories of Medusa from Greek mythology. Don't look directly at her or you turn to stone and cut off her head to kill her. This was going to be fun.

I grabbed the axe and ran to the side. I looked in the mirror back at the snaky bitch. She sprang to life. Instead of staying stone like the last monster, her snakes turned black and her body turned green. She hissed and slithered towards me. Angandriel took to the sky. In the reflection I saw her shoot snakes up at him. I hoped he was okay, but I needed to watch out for myself. She slithered towards me incredible fast. I ran along the mirrors keeping my eyes glued ahead. I needed to figure out how to come in at her.

She chased after me. This wasn't getting me anywhere. If she tired me out before I got a chance to even swing, then the battle would be lost. I skidded to halt and held my ground. I kept my eyes on the mirror as she approached. I raised my axe and swung, but I wasn't practiced at using depth perception in a mirror. My blade missed and cut a few of her snakes off. Their heads flew. As they did, giant snakes grew out of them. When they landed, I was looking at two ten-foot tall snakes in the mirror.

I took off. That was bad. That was very bad. The snakes chased me as the medusa look-a-like cackled. I hoped they couldn't turn me into stone. I gritted my teeth and spun. I whipped the axe around at the nearest one chasing me. I looked it right into its red eyes. I didn't turn to stone and it almost looked surprised as I split in two down the middle. The other snake snapped at me, but I danced out of the way. I brought the axe around, but it dodged. It went in for another strike, but Angandriel was there, pulling me up into the air.

I let go of the breath I was holding in. That was a little too close.

"Don't you ever have a plan before you just go running into things?" He asked. He dodged a snake projectile flying at us.

"Shut it. I killed the last monster, didn't I?"

He readjusted me in his arms so he could reach into his pocket and hand me back my knife. With my free hand, I slid it into my pocket. The axe I carried in my other hand hung over his shoulder. I was doing my best to keep it from cutting off his wings. As much as I got the sense that he didn't like me, I reveled being saved by him. There was something in his presence that made my insides kind of jump. He was well built for a fifteen-year-old and I assumed all that jumpiness was just my hormones when I was pressed against his hard body. I fought against that now as I tried to focus on the gorgon.

"Any ideas on how to fight her?" I asked.

He leaned back to look at me. His face told me everything I needed to know. He couldn't interfere.

I huffed out a breath. "Just put me down. I'll figure it out on my own."

He swooped low and set me on my feet before flying off. Medusa slithered towards me as did her giant pet snake. I ran towards the snake first. I at least had a fair chance of taking it out before they teamed up on me. I sprang into the air and did a flip to avoid the lunge I knew it would take. I swung the axe out as I flipped over the top of it slicing into its black scaly skin. Dark blood spilled out where it's back split open. It tottered forward before falling in a pile.

I looked in the mirrors at the snake bitch. She was headed for me. I needed to be careful not to make any more snakes. I had to be precise. Running from her and then spinning hadn't worked. How could I get in behind her? I darted behind the mirrors. She followed after. I couldn't see her in the mirrors anymore, but I could hear her slither across the ground. I slipped between the mirrors once more doubling back. Just as she poked her head out, I slashed down with the axe. It caught her tail.

Her cry pierced the air. I pulled the axe back, looking at her through the nearest mirror. The skin healed, but as it did it stretched. The gorgon grew larger. She was twenty feet tall now. The mirrors all tilted to include her new height. I stumbled back away from the snake woman. That wasn't good. Not at all. I got my feet back under control then turned to run.

Obviously, attacking her up close wasn't working. I ran across to the other side, keeping her in the view of the mirror straight ahead of me. She started slithering towards me. I could still see her shooting snakes off at Angandriel.

I had one more idea up my sleeve. I held the axe out and started to spin. I went round and around like an ice skater. I watched her in the mirror and tried to time it right. I let go of the axe just as I came around to her. The axe flung through the air straight at her. She put her claws up to stop it, but the axe went straight through cutting off both her hands and her neck. Her body toppled to the ground followed by her head.

From the mirror I saw the snakes break loose and come straight for me. They grew in size until there were a dozen ten-foot tall snakes. More grew up behind them where the snake projectiles had landed. Twenty more of them started towards me. I didn't know what to do. I spun to face them then I froze. My hand gripped my little silver dagger. I would have to fight, that's all I could do.

Just before the first snake reached me, Angandriel flew in from behind them. He gripped the shiny axe in both hands as pumped his white wings towards me. Snake heads flew in every direction as the axe separated them from their bodies. Black blood spurted up in geysers as he passed until he was scooping me up in his arms again. He held me with one arm as my arms clung to his neck. I didn't realize how scared I was until now. Gratitude filled me, but I would never tell him that.

We flew above the arena. The remaining snakes looked up at us. Angandriel pushed the weapon into my hands then spun me around to face them. He held me out in front. I hefted the axe up in both hands and hacked at their stupid snake heads as we flew by. In just a few minutes, all of the snakes were dead.

He set me back on the ground. I righted my shirt, which seemed to have two giant holes near the shoulders. I didn't realize how close that first snake had gotten. Both of us were spattered with dark bits of blood. I couldn't seem to level my eyes at him.

"Thanks," I muttered still looking at the ground.

"It's my job," he said.

"Right. You're just doing your job."

"Right." But his answer didn't sound truly convincing. Maybe that was just my imagination.

I brushed off some of the sand from my hoodie then turned to the next threshold.

"Last one, right?" I asked.

"Let's hope so."