Again, I don't own these characters, never have, never will...okay, let's just write now.
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Shadow attacks had become more frequent than ever, not allowing Sakura any time to rest. She was very tired now, but she would die before quitting. She rubbed her tired eyes and looked up at Glow, who appeared to be very tired as well.
"I'm very sorry I have to put you through this" she grinned sadly at the Glow Card "I'm tired too. But I really need you...to help me. We can't give up now"
The Glow seemed to become even brighter after Sakura's little speech.
"Thank you" she whispered.
Another shadow attacked from around a corner, and she destroyed it just as easily as she had before. This was ridiculous. It was starting to feel like a video game, or something really stupid like that. She reckoned it had been about an hour and a half since she'd last heard from him...or more...time passed really fast in here. Or could it be that she was so worried about the deadline that it seemed like an eternity since she'd been thrown into this maze.
Sakura felt something coming her way. Another Card? What could he be up to now? She could now actually hear it. It sounded like a million beasts were running her way. What the hell kind of card was that? The noise was really unnerving, as it got louder and louder, and Sakura didn't know what she would be up against now. It would probably be tougher than the card she had destroyed a while ago. She was beginning to become familiar with Goran's ways, she recognized with a bitter grin. She tightened the grip on her wand, thinking of how he must have been enjoying her little predicament. Damn him.
The sound had become unbearably loud by the time Sakura got a glimpse
of what was making it. It was a huge monster, a sort of giant bull. Its
wiry black hair stood up from his back, eyes flashing in anger. It had
two enormous horns that looked as if made of iron, and strong claws that
looked perfectly able to rip her apart with one single blow. She felt a
void in her stomach as the weird bull like thing locked eyes with her.
She started calling the Sword Card but she didn't even have the time for that, as the beast struck her in the blink of an eye and sent her flying against a wall. Sakura hit her head hard, and fought back the feeling of dizziness to get on her feet before that animal killed her. She managed to dodge another attack closely, but one of the horns cut cleanly through her thick winter coat and sliced her arm. She let out a pained cry and clamped a hand to the open wound. She managed to call the Sword forth and just waited until the beast, too heavy to turn around that quickly, attacked her again. She wasn't able to dodge the attack this time and she was whacked against a wall one more time. This time she wasn't sure she'd be able to get up.
"Fly!" she called, tiredly, and escaped the beast into the air. Sakura felt a chill travel down the length of her spine as she saw the strong horns dig deep into the wall. To think she would have been mercilessly nailed to the wall made her stomach turn in abject horror and shock. But wait...it was stuck now, and even if it was for a few seconds, now was her chance and this might have been her only one. She let herself drop down towards the beast, sword in hand, and with a exhausted cry she pierced it from side to side.
The Beast Card landed on her hand, only allowing her a glance before it self destructed like the Ghost Card had. She dropped down to her knees feeling battered and exhausted. If this kept up, she would be killed in no time. Her wound throbbed now with overwhelming pain. She took off her ruined coat and dared take a peek at the cut. She immediately wished she hadn't. It was really awful looking. She would need some stitches when she got back home. If she ever did.
Oh, she had to stop thinking like that. Goran could do anything to hurt her, but he would never break her will. She had to do this for all of her friends who were in great danger right as she sat there defeated. No, she wasn't defeated. Even if bruises and cuts covered her whole body she would go on.
*****
Sakura walked as quickly as her tired legs allowed her. She'd been awake for too many hours, she was cold and had a really nasty cut on her left arm, and yet she managed to destroy as many of those shadows as the despicable Goran sent her way to weaken her even more. She kept reminding herself of her friends, prisoners of the wizard, to keep herself awake. But her body screamed at her that it couldn't go on anymore. She couldn't let her guard down because monsters came out of the woodwork every thirty seconds, but she just couldn't do this anymore. Just as she had this thought she felt something else coming. Great. Just perfect. She heard an eerie wailing cry that chilled her to the very bone.
She couldn't see anything. Her senses were extremely alert, even though she could barely stand on her own feet. Even with the help of the Glow Card, she could see nothing. She started feeling a deep fear rise inside of her, a fear she couldn't control, she didn't see coming. A fear she didn't feel in her brain, a pure, physical one. And that's when she saw it.
It was a wraithlike woman, dressed in white robes, with snakes where her hair should have been. Her eyes were totally blank, the expression on her face reminding her of one of those ancient Greek statues she had studied at school. What was this? Somehow it wasn't totally unfamiliar. Sakura squinted her eyes in near recognition, and jumped back when the phantom woman's eyes started to glow. She didn't even have time to brace herself for what was coming, as a horrifying howl filled the air and a bright light flashed briefly. What had happened? She hadn't felt any pain or discomfort...or even fear...
Sakura gasped when she noticed what the effect had been. Her right arm had been turned into stone! She tried unsuccessfully to move it. It was like it wasn't there. So this was her attack. She turned you into stone bit by bit, slowly killing you. And to top it all, the monster was nowhere to be seen. She heard the horrible howl again and turned around. As a result of this her left leg had been turned into stone. She remembered this monster, but she couldn't quite...
It was obvious that it could only turn more of her into stone if she looked directly at it, so she supposed that while she remembered the way to beat this the best would be to keep her eyes closed. The monster kept wailing but it couldn't harm her as long as she kept her eyes closed. Sakura was in clear disadvantage now, her arm and leg useless, her mind unable to focus with that awful noise...what was the name of that monster!!
Sakura drifted back to the day she remembered she'd been in that history class. The teacher wasn't even supposed to be teaching about that, but he had found this amazing book on Greek mythology and he thought he'd share it with the class instead of the same old chit chat about warriors and weapons...she thought it would be a great moment to relax in class, and apparently Syaoran, sitting behind her, did too, and tapped her lightly on the shoulder to let her know he was slipping a little piece of paper to her. She'd opened it and found a little sketch of the sensei, babbling tirelessly about winged horses, and satyrs, and nymphs, and gorgons...
A Gorgon! That's what its name was! She remembered now that that particular monster had peaked her attention, and Syaoran had later explained her on the way home that this man called Perseus, had stumbled upon this woman monster, who had the capacity of turning everyone who looked directly at her into stone. He had beaten her by using his shield as a mirror, so that he wouldn't look directly at her, and chopping her head off.
"Mirror!" she called forcefully. The wailing soon turned into desperate screaming, as the monster looked into her own eyes and turned into stone. With one powerful blow of her wand she destroyed the statue. She sighed as the Gorgon Card landed softly on her hand, turning then into the now familiar pile of dark dust.
"Once again you've saved my life, Syaoran" she smiled, thankfully "Even though you're not here with me"
*****
Well, it's OVER!!! It took me two days to write this. It's saturday
morning and I don't know why I am awake, I haven't slept at all this weekend,
but well, at least this one's done. Who would ever imagine Sakura would
have to deal with a gorgon? And Syaoran...he's so smart right? He didn't
even know that his little story would help her someday...I bet he'll be
happy when he finds out.
But time is running out! Is Syaoran dead or alive? What does Goran
have in store for our heroine? Will she be able to find the enchanted throne
room in time to rescue her friends? What new and horrible monsters will
Goran send after Sakura? Find out in chapter 16 (I should definitely write
for TV right?)