Janice arrived and pivoted a staff against him, Maks's throat. His adam's apple bobbed. "Should I kill him?" Her mad face said."Sure!" Maks plunged back before she stabbed him. He glanced at the statue of a screaming man. "Noted." He gripped his Medusa shield blocking her swings and stabs. It dented at her powerful blows and he punched her midsection with his shield given the chance. Janice groaned and he smashed the edge against her face. He grimaced when the shield flew out of his grip. She hit him from different angles in three different places at the same time.He tried to stab her and it refracted."Haha!"He ducked her staff and slashed the side of the fake sword against her faces. Maks bashed her with the side of his sword and it broke in half. Janice nudged him into the next cavern, he rolled over in the dust and she drifted toward him. Raising her staff. "Did I hurt you?" "Please say yes!" Her mad face said. He lunged backwards, gained momentum and blitzed her with his
He tapped the beams, Alec set his snout over the rim. He hesitantly gave him one last rub and he turned to leave. Kirsta held on to his jar. Irma stared wistfully at the ranch. Her throat was clogged. "I wished I listened. I wished things happened differently." She brushed her eyes."It's fine, you wanted different things. I think he cared enough to take the fall." He was back home, his insides were in a knot. He stocked up what he needed for college and he hefted up his bag. Dragging it to the front porch. The Dorm at Griffin University was all set. Melvin was having a brisk conversation with Doreen outside, they seemed to be in a fight. He looked from one parent to the other and grimaced. He glanced at Emily coming with an evil grin on her face and he stepped back."Dora!" Emily said and Doreen cleared her throat. "Em, you made it, early." She nudged Melvin and he groaned."Mom? What are you_""Hey, champ. You didn't think I'd miss your going away party for the world, did ya?
Jason laughed. Aaron snorted. "I'll tell ya later...Did I also mention that I'm a man of mystery?" Maks snorted at Aaron. He was eager to fall back into routine. He wiped his eyes and collected his stuff arranging them. He was off the city district now alone. Not that he had a problem with it. His circadian rhythm manipulation had been on hold for weeks. He spent time learning the school's routine on the handbook. Drinking substitutes for coffee. Not knowing what extracurricular activities to pick from, he was no whiz at music, although he sang once in a while, the sports club seemed too time consuming but he wanted to keep in shape. He hated to leave tasks behind. He worked like an ant. He strolled around and met freshmen at the gazebo. The students made some serious complaints about snack shortages, damaged furniture and erosion on school grounds. The weather was nowhere near warranting any landslides. He signed a petition and let it slide. He scaled down the hills, past a dom
Artemis stepped back, she opened the door and Aaron heard buzzing sounds. "Keep em distracted."He turned to Artemis who went into the room already and the sky flooded with ants."This is not how you treat your guests!" He looked alarmed at the swarm coming. Their wings flapped and their mandibles clicked. Aaron pushed himself against the door and Artemis sprayed her doorstep. He ran for his life. He ducked the flying squadron and shot red hoops at them. Maks crawled out of the hole, with sand pouring off his arms. The place was infested by ants. The flying ants kept in motion, to cover their own forces and to keep the humans in continual alarm. He was not surprised that he was back to where he started. The dune trails were worse now. He gazed at the construction site with eroded soil. Their antennas stirred aggressively, the ants did look too happy about him blocking their way in. Some of the food they were carrying on their backs looked too big to move through the complicated
He stepped back from the next big threat. Everywhere it stepped, the grass died and the land became barren. It took literal earth-shaking steps toward them."Fei?" His eyes were wide. No, it was not Fei Long, however, he wished it was... Fei was a bull with a white face. "That's a cow." Aaron pointed out. Artemis had not come to terms yet that it was just a "cow". He narrowed his cat-like eyes at it, it had an eye on its forehead, a scaly, brown fur coat, and a scaly jade green snake as its tail. Maks growled and he lunged. The Fei throttled towards him, bellowing, it had fangs in place of molars and powerful limbs. Steam seeped out of its hooves and it whipped its tail like a lasso coming after them. It charged and the blighty trail surpassed it and the blight spread under their feet. The earth quaked and the ground sunk, dust accumulated. They dropped into a hole. Artemis held on to the edge, and Aaron crept up the hole dizzy. He was out of energy. She sought her old swiss arm
They clapped hands and Maks left. He had no way of deciphering how or why Meg would go to such lengths for a cat. He brushed off that thought His eyes lit up when the blue panel materialized. He saw the numbers were running.You have been allotted the Giraffe! And the Kangaroo!The Giraffe is plausibly prey in the food chain, it can also pose to be a dangerous animal when threatened. The Kangaroo is not afraid of predators but is still very wary of humans and dingoes....Aaron Branch heard from his uncle in the wee hours of the morning. His hand clenched on the phone. His fingers tapped on the surface of Jason's reading desk"Hello, Aaron." His uncle Richard Dawkins said, he had a big afro, mixed skin color and blue eyes, gap teeth, and a soul patch.He wore a suit with white loafers and he crossed his legs. "Wassup Uncle." He said, his stomach did a backflip."Did you make any friends lately..." He said in a baritone voice."Not that I can think of...But I've got the target in
Maks was retrieved from the boulders under the bridge. He shuddered at the massive burns on his face, his skin felt like warm adhesive. He couldn't feel anything except for the pain deep down. His arm was blistery. He could barely swallow. His head reeled from dizzy spells, up was down, down was up, and phantom pains on his missing finger. The room he was in didn't paint a very pretty picture, he spilled his guts. With a shaky breath, he assessed the room, his chest tightened, there were lemon-green walls, and the floors were covered in an ugly beige rug. A rickety old red nightstand was there too. "Help!" He glanced at the walls and the ceiling, he clutched his stomach with his good arm, he ground his teeth at the sudden pain mounting in his stomach, and he jolted up at the terror on every side. He broke out in a sweat, short of breath at the cage, as the dog seemed to take on a more fantastic appearance. It grew gills and shadowy skin. It approached him. The walls came up in flame
The monsters were agitated He gazed at the cages rattling and the monsters who looked like rhinos with the head of worms segmented into four parts like flowers with sharp teeth. They rammed against the bars. "Run."Maks rolled away from centerstage and Aaron grinned. He turned to him wondering how he managed to pull it off. He rolled down the labyrinth, and the guards and awakeners glared at him. They threw all sorts of objects at him and they laughed hard to add to the cobblestone of his humiliation. He rolled slowly to the entrance and looked back. Hoping he didn't make a mistake, they all hated him for one thing he did or the other. He fought without thinking about the consequences and now he had to pay the price. He swallowed hard and he rolled out. The house was rickety and isolated, he had a photo of Artemis in his pocket. He looked left and right on the road. Where was he going to begin? The bounty hunters would be on the lookout, he knew people who would be eager to get hi