Isabel could feel her hands bleed and her feet digging deeper into the ground as the Scorpula's pincers tried to crush her. Behind her, she could hear her mother crawling to safety, crying out her name and trying to encourage her to escape too. However, Helen could see clearly that Isabel was struggling to push back against the giant monster despite her powers. It wasn't until other Vipers grabbed Helen and pulled her away, otherwise she would have tried to dive in to save her daughter.

''Shit!'' Isabel grunted, feeling her arms go numb.

Suddenly, she glanced up to see the monster's tail rise above her. The sharp stinger gleamed under the intensity of the sun's light. Isabel held her breath because what she was about to do next was going to give her an advantage and leave her without a head. The stinger struck at her. At the same time, Isabel dived to the ground, releasing her grip on the pincers. She could feel strands of her hair being chopped off with a harsh snap, but her head was still attached to her body. She rolled out of the way as the monster's large, hairy legs stomped all around her. After giving herself a bit of distance, she rose to her feet and saw the creature turn to face her. Isabel could see a mark from where the Scorpula had stung itself on the arm trying to get her, however, the creature appeared to be unaffected by its own venom.

Isabel cracked her knuckles and stared into the creature's eight dark eyes. Blood trickled from the palm of her hands onto the ground. ''I didn't come all this way to be decapitated by a bug.''

Before the creature did anything to her, two of its eyes turned to where the other Vipers and Helen were running to gain some distance. The monster shifted its whole body around so that it was facing away from them. Isabel had no time to react as she suddenly saw a huge strand of web blast out from the creature's rear towards the group. Three Vipers were ensnared in the web and blasted against a tall rock. They cried out for help and struggled beneath the web, but they could not break free.

''Damn it!'' Cruise cursed and rushed towards the rock to help. Other members of his Crew and Helen followed him and tried to use whatever weapons they had on them to cut the web.

But it was taking too much time. The Scorpula drooled and surged towards them. Isabel hurried after it. While it had the size and possible strength advantage, Isabel was much faster. She clattered into the side of the creature but was unable to knock it down. Once it regained its balance, it focused its attention back on Isabel and jabbed its stinger at her. Isabel ducked and weaved away, evading its attacks before leaping out of range. The Scorpula seemed to be in two minds on whether to pursue Isabel or go after its already trapped prey.

''Come on!'' Isabel shouted as loud as she could, waving her arms. ''I'm tasty! Come and get me!''

Isabel saw its two pincers come at her again. She dived out of the way, falling on top of something buried in the sand. She grabbed it, hoping it would be of some help. It was a metal pipe that must have belonged to one of Angelique's people. She clutched it tightly in her arm and raced around the creature, hoping to attack its blind spot. However, with eight eyes and pincers on one side and a tail on the other, there weren't many places for Isabel to catch it off guard. Moving as swiftly as she could, she moved between its legs and swung the pipe against the Scorpula's body. The pipe broke on impact, snapping in two. Meanwhile, the creature looked hardly effected.

Isabel grunted in frustration, throwing the broken pipe away before resorting to attacking the old-fashioned way. She ran under the creature's body and punched its stomach as hard as she could. She saw it had been lifted off its feet for a split second and it howled in pain. Isabel grinned. For the first time, it looked like she had finally left her mark. But she needed to move quickly as the Scorpula stomped around and trashed its pincers and tails in all directions, trying to catch her when she ran out from underneath it.

Away from the battle, Helen desperately pulled on the web that kept three Vipers imprisoned against a rock. Some were trying to use knives and machetes to cut through, but it was a long effort, especially as they tried not to become trapped themselves against the sticky tissue. Helen looked over her shoulders, watching on as Isabel continued to lead the monster away from the others. Her heart stopped every time the creature came close to hitting her daughter. She feared that it would only be a matter of time before Isabel is struck. And she didn't want to know if Isabel would be immune to the effects of the creature's venom.

''How do we stop it?'' she called out to Cruise.

Cruise cut away at the thick thread, pulling one of his Crew closer to freedom. ''We can't! The only thing you can do against a Scorpula is run. And even then, that's mission impossible. Once those buggers set eyes on you, they won't rest until it's feasting on your flesh.''

Helen was wrought with worry. She saw Isabel stumble and fall as it closed in on her. She rolled along the ground as its stinger jabbed over and over again, missing the young woman by inches. Isabel wasn't strong enough, and she was probably concerned about the others too. As Helen tried to think of a plan that would help save her daughter, she noticed someone else to her side. She turned and saw Thane cowering behind one of the rocks, watching the fight as she was. Then her eyes turned to what was behind Thane in the distance. There was a valley of tall rocks that seemed to stretch up towards the sky, held together by leftover scaffolding and debris from ancient buildings. The pathways seemed to twist and curve between the structures, creating a metallic maze that could result in someone getting lost if they were not careful.

Helen rushed forward and took a deep breath. ''Isabel!'' She cried out, hoping that Isabel could hear her while evading the Scorpula. ''Run to those buildings. You can lose it in there!''

Isabel lifted her head to look over at her mom and saw her pointing into the distance. With only a fleeting second to see what her mother was gesturing towards. Isabel nodded in agreement and began to run as fast as she could to the buildings and the rocks holding them together. She didn't need to look back to know that the creature was chasing after her. She could hear its legs scurry quicker. She wasn't sure if she could lose the creature in the maze, but right now, it was her best strategy. Either way, it would give the others enough time to free the trapped Vipers and run away. All that mattered to Isabel was that her mother and the others were safe. Although, she couldn't stop the anger burning inside of her with the fact that she was running away from something much smaller than a Dragon. How could she be expected to fight them if she was running scared from one of their experiments? Part of her wanted to turn around and try to fight the Scorpula again. But she batted away those rash thoughts for now.

It didn't take long for Isabel to reach the first tall building. It was shorter than the rest behind it, so Isabel believed that as long as she ran quickly and weaved through the turnings, she could lose the creature. But she didn't get very far, as she suddenly felt something sticky encompass her arm and flung her against the side of the building. Her whole body shook violently and when she glanced down at her arm, she could see that it was covered in web and stuck against the brick wall. She tried to pull her arm free, but the building was so old and worn that she could hear it crumble above her. If she wasn't careful, she could risk bringing the whole thing down on top of her, and she wasn't sure if she was durable enough to survive that. Looking over, she could see the Scorpula gaining speed and closing in.

''No,'' Helen gasped, watching on as her daughter was unable to break free and was seconds away from being cleaved in two, much like Angelique.

That's when Helen remembered Angelique's weapon. Her sniper rifle would be the only thing that could hit the Scorpula from this range. She frantically searched for it. She saw the bloodied remains of Angelique's body first. Beside the still twitching hand was the slave trader's rifle. Helen sprinted to the weapon and picked it up. She looked through the scope and aimed. The Scorpula was almost within striking distance. Helen pulled the trigger, hoping that her aim was close, but the weapon didn't fire. She panicked and tried to fire again, but nothing happened. Learning about guns from history texts could not prepare her for actually using one. She couldn't save Isabel.

''Give me that!''

Helen heard Cruise's yell before she felt the rifle being yanked out of her hands. She watched Cruise kneel down and aim the rifle. Before she could blink, Cruise got the gun working and took the shot.

Just as the Scorpula raised its tail to strike the still trapped Isabel, a bullet scratched against the side of its exposed flesh. It wailed in pain and circled around a few times, searching for what caused its momentary pain. It stopped when it spotted Cruise and Helen.

The Viper leader turned to Helen. ''You got its attention. Now what?''

Helen paled. ''I didn't think that far ahead.''

Cruise sighed. ''Yeah, neither did I.'' He aimed the rifle at the Scorpula again and fired.

This shot bounced off the protective shell above the creature's head. It bared its pinchers and tail and started to rush back towards them, leaving Isabel alone.

Isabel's eyes widened upon realizing what was happening. Her mother may have saved her, but now there was no way for her to defend herself with the creature running back to them. Isabel was overwhelmed with fear and anger. She was going to watch her mother die because she wasn't strong enough to fight a hybrid created by Dragons. The Dragons who had left the world in ruin around her. She gritted her teeth. Anger and fury radiated from her body as she pulled her arm free, damning the consequences that would befall her. All that she cared about was saving the only family she had left. Saving the love of her life.

The building cracked all around her. She pulled the wall to pieces and could hear the terrifying rumble above. It reminded Isabel of the thunder she had heard a few days again, only this one kept going and going. A huge shadow loomed over her. She glanced up to see the building was now tilting in her direction, coming down faster and faster. She rushed to the side, hoping to get out of the way in time. The building continued to fall forwards, stretching across the landscape. Before long, the shadow was cast over the Scorpula. By the time it looked back to see what was happening, it was too late to react. The building crashed down onto the ground, right on top of the Scorpula. Sand and dust exploded in all directions, clouding the area, leaving Helen and Cruise blind to what was going on.

''Isabel!'' Helen called out. There was no response.

Cruise looked through the rifle's scope, but it was useless with the sand cloud. If they weren't careful, the Scorpula would come upon them if it wasn't dead. He grunted in frustration and grabbed Helen's arm. ''We have to go!''

''I'm not leaving without her.''

''We're sitting ducks out here! If that thing isn't dead, we soon will be…''

They both froze when they heard something moving. Out of the dust cloud, a large shadow advanced towards them. Helen and Cruise didn't know where to run as the shadow got closer and closer. It had to be the Scorpula, yet, the silhouette looked off. It wasn't until it moved out of the cloud that they could see what had happened.

Helen felt tears of joy running down her cheeks as she saw Isabel, alive and well, dragging the flattened remains of the Scorpula to them. The young woman was panting heavily and she had to release the creature from her hold and stop to catch her breath. ''We got it!''

Isabel was nearly knocked off her feet by her mother rushing to her and hugging her tightly. ''My babygirl, my babygirl,'' Helen sobbed, planting dozens of soft kisses all over Isabel's blushing face.

''Mom…I'm okay,'' she said bashfully.

The dust was finally beginning to settle. All of the Vipers could find each other and regroup. They crowded around Cruise and stared at Isabel and Helen in disbelief. Beside them was the dead body of a hybrid. It was almost too good to be true.

Pitt brushed the back of his hand against his sweaty brow and turned to Cruise. ''It wasn't pretty, but they actually did it.''

''That they did,'' Cruise said with his smile growing. ''There might be hope for the human race after all.''

XXX

HELLO MY SWEET SUPERSTARS! I REALLY HOPE THAT YOU ARE ALL KEEPING SAFE AND WELL. I AM HOPING THAT THINGS GO BACK TO NORMAL SOON. UNTIL THEN TRY TO TAKE CARE OF YOURSELVES. I AM VERY SORRY THAT UPDATES HAVEN'T GONE TO PLAN RECENTLY. THERE HAS BEEN UNFORTUNATE DEVELOPMENTS IN MY PERSONAL LIFE WITH MY JOB THAT HAS TAKEN UP MOST OF MY TIME. I AM WORKING THROUGH THEM AND TRYING TO GET NEW CHAPTERS TO YOU ALL AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. I PROMISE TO KEEP YOU ALL UPDATED ON HOW THINGS GO. I HOPE THAT YOU LIKED THIS NEW CHAPTER. THE NEXT ONE WILL BE COMING SOON. WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING FORWARD TO SEEING IN FUTURE CHAPTERS? DON'T BE AFRAID TO LET ME KNOW.

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