Chapter 8: The Timeless Foe
A piece of bark had been dropped at the foot of the trunk, and all along the tree heading upwards, were small scrapes. She underestimates my tracking abilities! She thought with amusement. She crawled up through the drooping branches and spotted the older girl easily. She had a grin on her face, and her emerald eyes glittered, however she held up a finger to signal her to be quiet. "We'll give Jay and Archie the biggest scare of their lives." She giggled quietly. Atlanta joined her then cut herself off mid-giggle as she listened to the rustle of tents and then the frantic shuffle of footsteps. Four, by the sound of it. Within thirty seconds of shuffling and a frantic search there were sounds of panicked voices.
"Atlanta!" "Theresa!" "Where are you guys?" Archie stopped to look around the camp. He stopped, staring directly at the tree. "Crap! I think he may have found us." Atlanta murmured. Archie walked over and knelt at the base of the tree. "Quick Theresa Cover your hair" she muttered "too late." The older girl replied as Archie looked up into the green leaves, spotting them immediately.
"Over here Jay." He said, twice as calm as the girls expected. He looked up at them again and then climbed up and sat in one of the low branches. "So, what'cha talking about g--" he was cut off as Jay pulled himself up into the tree. At this point, it was rather crowded, despite the many hanging branches.
"Alright. Now, what were you saying?" Jay asked, brushing loose a few leaves from his hair. "Oh. Nothing really, just..." Atlanta stumbled over a few words and sighed. "Theresa you cover this one. Obviously I didn't realize I need more sleep." Theresa grinned. "Whatever you say." She paused before continuing from where Atlanta had attempted to explain. "Well, after Atlanta got changed, I wanted to see how well she could track. I told her to find someplace where she couldn't hear or see me and then I hid. She came out of her hiding spot, tracked me in five minutes flat then we giggled. After that we started talking about the newest movie coming out, X Men III, and then you guys started yelping like lost puppies, probably woke half the forest, and then Archie, being he smarter of the two," She grinned at Jay, letting him know she was teasing, "Caught sight of the flaming red-hair of hers...or mine, and found us."
They were interrupted by a large tremor. The tree shook, its leaves shuddered and the four yelled in fright and surprise as the tree itself dislodged itself from the ground below. The four teens jumped from the tree and bolted quickly. Moments later the tree was hurled away, revealing the problem. The huge henchman, Agnon, the giant and one of Cronos' followers, stood, hands curled as if he was still holding the tree.
"Atlanta, Go get the others." Jay instructed. He knew the time had come to fight Cronos. But it wasn't Saturday. That had been two days ago, and Cronos hadn't agreed to fight one of them at a time on Monday. She nodded and bolted, her super speed carrying her quickly toward her destination. "Up, up, up. If you already are get moving. We're going to have a blast today because CRONOS is ATTACKING our camp!" she yelled sarcastically announcing their problem to the other three. From behind Neil's tent flap there was the frantic yelp before his chicken-like girl scream. Herry dashed from his tent, practically ripping the poles from the ground and Odie pulled on his socks, jumping in random circles as he did so.
"Where are they?" Herry asked. Atlanta pointed in the general direction before heading off. "Follow me." She called over her shoulder, bolo's already swinging in her hand, her laser wrist crossbow ready for firing. As they reached the wreckage of a battle site she yelped involuntarily. Cronos had his scythe blades in hand, the very ones that had injured her so badly. She brought a sharp intake of breath as they narrowly missed Jay and hit Archie with the blunt end. Behind her she could faintly hear Herry cursing under his breath, madder than taunts could ever make him. He charged past her, with twice the strength of a bull.
The clouds began to cloud over. It had started to create a terrifyingly cold rain.
And so it began. Atlanta raced in to help, ignoring her regular weapons and beginning to fight with her sword, as she and Archie had practiced so many times before. Cronos avoided all blows. Finally as they took a break, catching their breath he sighed. "Now, what happened to fighting you all separately?" he mocked.
"That was Saturday Cronos. You agreed to Saturday. No other day. You agreed for the past Saturday. You aren't holding up your side why should we?" Jay snarled. "Yes, yes. About that. Well truth is, I lied. I wasn't in the mood for Saturday." He grinned before attacking again. Jay yelled with anger, leaping forward to connect his own weapons with Cronos'.
Slash, block, dodge, leapt, attack, slide, attack, slide.
Jay rolled his eyes. Cronos had gotten his way after all. He had somehow caused the others to stand perfectly still on the outskirts of the battle. Theresa was the first one aware of her immobilization and began to fight it. She knocked into Herry, who also began to fight it.
Snarl, attack, slide, duck, slide, attack.
It was never ending. His arms were sore with the effort of keeping pace with his mind, which was directing him to attack constantly. Even Atlanta would have had difficulty keeping up with him.
Jump, duck, attack, strike, lash out, roll, side, side, back, launch again.
His legs were shaking as he darted forward, back, as he slid and leapt, as he dodged from side to side. There was no time for resting. The leader stepped back. Taking a deep breath he ran back to Cronos again, a grim determination having set in. His feet didn't move. Neither did his arms, nor his head. He was stilled!
"NO!" he yelled angrily with hatred not one of the teens had heard from him before. Atlanta was loosened from the icy grip. She glared at Cronos, watching him carefully, waiting for him to strike first. "Come on girl!" the God taunted. She continued to glare, watching his movements cautiously. His steps were measured and slow, his breathing was calm as if nothing had happened. His hands were grasped firmly against his blades, knuckles white with the need to hold on, never to let go. Come on. Stop stalling and lets do this. She thought.
Finally the sinister God leapt forward. She sidestepped, brought up the sword, blocked a golden edge, slid away, jumped, attacked, and retreated.
Her chest heaved as her breathing came in ragged gulps of the sweaty air. Her hair was stuck to her face where the sweat had soaked it thoroughly. Her face glistened with perspiration.
She attacked again.
Jump, hit, back, side, hit, side, forward, strike, yell, strike, dodge, strike, back.
She grimaced as he turned to face her again. Her shoulder was bleeding, her face bruised in several places, bleeding near the corner of her ear. Her legs shook as blood appeared across it. She yelled. Hatred summed up in a single wordless scream. It was over, her turn was done. She yelled again. "COWARD!" She snarled.
Herry's turn. Her eyes darted from friend to friend as they took their turns to fight. Odie, Neil. They were finished. Cronos could see they worry and hate as he pondered which of the two titans left to mobilize. They were both dear to the first two. He decided on the fiery redhead.
Up, down, left right, strike, pause, jump, duck, hit, strike, dodge, strike, miss, strike, strike, duck, hit.
It was the same as before. Her sides heaved, her eyes glittered with exhaustion. Somewhere she found strength and continued. In places of her hair there was deep red stains in the orange glow. Her leg was cut and bleeding, her cheek was smeared with red, and her arm was bruised and purple. Jay wanted to kill Cronos at the sight.
Right, up, left, strike, hit, duck, hit, hit, duck, left, strike, jump, down, hit.
She was done. Jay seemed relieved, yet it wasn't over yet. Archie was still up. The moment Theresa had finished he'd rushed forward with the same hate and determination that had taken over when the God had struck down Atlanta. He could feel her eyes on him, as she stood by helpless to do anything. She prayed silently to herself. Please, let him be safe.' She felt a cool drop of rainfall on her cheek.