Chapter 8 – Flower from Paradise, Part II

"Flowers lure me, rocks ease me. Day suddenly ends.
Bears, dragons, tempestuous on mountain and river,
Startle the forest and make the heights tremble."
--Li Po

Each time the monster attacked Chrono or Coppelia, the walls of the room shook. Debris chipped off and scattered across the floor, making slipping a real danger if either made a careless attempt to dodge a fireball or swinging claw. With each attack, the monster reduced the margin for error in avoiding the next.

The exploding light beams were the worst of the bunch. The monster's claws would leave scratches across the floor or wall, and the fireballs threw a few stone chips here and there, but the explosions wreaked havoc upon Chono's vision, his footing, and any part of his body pelted with the shards of rock that bounced around the room after each blast. The pain alone was beginning to add up, but the other complications made the situation almost unbearable.

He had to escape somehow. Chrono signaled to Coppelia and began a mad dash to the left side of the room. If Coppelia went around on the right, perhaps the monster's divided attention would give them a brief respite.

She didn't go right, though. As soon as she saw Chrono waving, she ran to his side and tossed her scarf back over Disenchantment's light.

"What are you…? I wanted you over…" Chrono leaped to his left to avoid being roasted alive. Coppelia followed him.

"Say something!" Chrono implored.

"I am counting," said Coppelia.

She then pulled the cover off the light, gripped Chrono's arm, and pulled him to her right before the monster could incinerate either of them.

Chrono pulled back, but Coppelia refused to let go.

"We should go for the exit," he told her.

"No. If we do, then the monster will be able to guess our moves. It will have the advantage, and then we will be dead. Do you wish to die?"

"No." Chrono dodged a furious slash from the monster's claws.

"Please listen to me, then," Coppelia continued. "Do as I tell you. For now, cover your light again. I intend to attack."

With no time to think, Chrono did as he was told. The light went out, and everything became invisible. He heard the shuffling of some feet followed by a high-pitched scream from Coppelia, and then something made a loud cracking sound. Before he could interpret any of the sounds, he felt Coppelia's hand on his shoulder.

"Mister Chrono, it did not work. Remove the scarf and jump to your left."

Chrono pulled the scarf off of the light and began his dodging maneuver, but before he could get his feet off the ground, Coppelia once again pulled him to his right. This time, the monster's explosion hit to the left of where he had been standing.

"Good," said Coppelia. "We tricked it. Now I shall attack again."

Chrono watched as Coppelia charged the monster unarmed. His hand moved instinctively to where his sword would normally hang from his belt, but it came up empty. All he could do was hope she was stronger than she looked.

Apparently, though, she wasn't. Before she could get within ten feet of the monster, it backhanded her with its claws, and her diminutive body went flying across the room into the wall. Crack. Chrono's head hurt vicariously.

"Coppelia!"

The monster ignored him and stepped toward the body slumped on the floor. Chrono winced, but before the monster could maul Coppelia, she collected herself and ran across the perimeter of the room.

"You're…?"

"I am fine, Mister Chrono. However, I have been unable to devise a winning plan. If you know anything I do not, now would be an ideal…"

Another fireball interrupted her.

"I don't have a sword. If I did, I could try to kill it."

"I could not approach it. Its defenses are too quick. Breaking through would take a feat of magic."

"Magic!"

"I did not intend that as a serious suggestion."

Chrono dodged yet another fireball then waved Coppelia away. During the brief interval between attacks, he chanted a spell. Above the monster's head, a pocket of air began to glow bright yellow, and charges in the surrounding air ripped apart with a bang. Several bolts of magical lightning struck the monster's head.

The monster snorted. It looked a little surprised by the development, but it hardly appeared hurt.

"Rats!" Chrono stomped his foot, and he slipped on a loose rock. Coppelia immediately ran over to pick him up.

"If I cover our light, it will no longer be able to charge its explosion attack. I believe it powers that attack with energy from…"

"We've been over this!" Chrono complained.

"Look." Coppelia covered the light again. After a pause, she uncovered it and pushed Chrono aside.

"Did you notice?"

Chrono shook his head.

"I have our answer, Mister Chrono. Take off the scarf when I tell you to."

Chrono barely had time to nod his head before Coppelia threw her scarf over the light and dashed off into the darkness.

Chrono's head hurt from the fight, from the rocks hitting it, and from the lights going on and off. He could hardly move his feet. He could hardly feel his hands. He could hardly hear when Coppelia called out to him.

He still heard, though. He heard, and he pulled at the scarf. By now, his eyes closed automatically when exposed to the blinding brightness, so he almost didn't see Coppelia.

But he heard her. He heard her feet, and he heard a cracking sound. This one was different, though. Following this crack, the monster let out a pained roar.

"I hit him," said Coppelia. "Look, Mister Chrono."

Chrono, eyes hardly adjusted to the light, could see the monster in front of him, howling at the ceiling. Beside it, Coppelia pulled her arm out of the side of its cracked shell.

Chrono saw Coppelia punch the monster again. As she did, her fist lit up with a light green aura. Coppelia, it seemed, knew a little magic of her own.

The second blow shattered the entire left side of the monster's skull, sending it into a rage. An undirected rage, at that. Coppelia immediately ran behind the monster's back and began pummeling it from that angle. More fragments of its shell fell to the floor, in pieces. A few hits later, its roar sputtered out, and its head sank to the floor.

Chrono leaned against the wall and breathed the deepest breath he'd had all day.