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Zenobia glared
at Sokurah with her marble-sized cat-like eyes, their vertical pupils
widening as the eyes narrowed. Sokurah knew what was coming, but before
he could prepare for it, the sabre-tooth leapt atop him and began
clawing away at his chest. The magician screamed as he was being torn
limb from limb. In the corner of his eye, he saw a severed rib from the
skeleton of the ampithere. Sokurah grabbed a rock and hit the tiger in
the face with it. As the mammoth feline staggered backwards, Sokurah
rolled over to the rib and grabbed it, holding it like a sword in his
hands as Zenobia turned to face him once more. The two were in a dead
stand-off, neither wishing to strike first as they stared each other
down, their eyes flaming in hatred. Suddenly, Zenobia broke the silence
by batting a rock at Sokurah with her paw, striking him in the leg. Her
nemesis paused for a mere second at this, during which time the feline
charged, knocking him down. But this time, Sokurah was prepared, and
lodged the rib's pointed end into Zenobia's hind leg. The smilodon cried
in a combination of shock and excruciating pain as it abbed backwards,
having lost all function in it's left leg. Zenobia knew that this body
wouldn't hold up much longer, and changed back into her human form.
Seizing the advantage, Sokurah grabbed a vial of potion and hurled it at
her. The vial exploded upon contacting Zenobia, and the witch fell
backwards from the force of the blow. Sokurah drew a knife and ran at
his foe to end this battle once and for all. But as he prepared to
plunge it into her stomach, she grabbed his arm, and a contest of
strength ensued with both combatants grappling to gain control of the
blade. The struggle began to turn in Sokurah's favor, for he was
stronger than his opponent physically. Realizing this, Zenobia used all
her might to push Sokurah away from her, sending the knife flying as he
struck the earth. High above, she saw a live ampithere circling like a
vulture, possibly attracted to the smell of Kourah's corpse. Suddenly,
her body began dissolving into a cloud of green smoke, and as Sokurah
watched, the cloud approached the dragon and entered it through the
mouth. The ampithere shook violently for a moment, and then looked down
upon Sokurah as it barred it's seven-inch yellow teeth.
Zenobia had inhabited the monster, and was ready to end this once and
for all.....
**********************************
Sokurah watched
in horror as the gigantic reptile loomed ominously above him. With a
reptilian surge of speed and ferocity, Zenobia flew head first at him,
mouth agape, teeth barred. Sokurah threw himself to the right to avoid
being swallowed whole. The beast passed him and gracefully turned back
and flew head-first at him again. This time however, it intercepted
Sokurah's attempt to escape, and grabbed his robes in it's teeth. The
wizard looked down as he was being lifted higher and higher into the air
by Zenobia. Suddenly, the ampithere stopped ascending and released it's
grip on Sokurah, sending him plunging to earth. But as he fell, the
sorcerer grabbed the monster's tail, breaking his fall.
Zenobia instinctively tried to shake him off, whipping her massive tail
wildly in an attempt to rid herself of him so that he might die. But
Sokurah clung on, not willing to let go. Then, a plan formed in his
mind. As Zenobia gave a massive crack of her tail, he let go just as the
tail created an ear-splitting crack, sending him flying forwards and
landing squarely on the monster's head. Sokurah clung to one of the
horns atop Zenobia's head, and soon a fierce rodeo ensued. Zenobia
thrashed violently, desperate to throw her nemesis off, but Sokurah
would not let go. She flew wildly in all directions, but her relentless
enemy refused to give up his hold. Suddenly, Sokurah drew a second blade
from his cloak and with all the force he could muster, plunged it into
the skull of the beast. The blow however failed to kill Zenobia, for the
ampithere's skull was too thick to be penetrated so easily. However, the
attack stopped zenobia's wild thrashing for a single but crucial moment
as she released a hellish howl to attest to her pain. Acting quickly,
Sokurah leapt from the head and grabbed on to one of her leathery,
bat-like wings. The additional weight suddenly added to the wing knocked
the dragon off-balance, and it plunged to earth, carrying Sokurah with
it.
The two landed hard atop the pile of rocks, setting off a miniature
avalanche. Huge boulders shifted and crashed to the ground, carrying the
two still-battling combatants with them.
When the dust finally settled, it revealed the aftermath of the battle.
Sokurah survived, but his leg was pinned to earth under a horse-sized
rock. Zenobia was completely covered in massive boulders, slowly
suffocating her under their weight. She knew it was time to once again
change form. Her vision was disrupted and fuzzy, making it difficult for
her to notice anything in detail. Suddenly, in the corner of her eye she
saw something un-natural jetting from the pile of rocks. It was
relatively large, about seven feet in length, and was a dark black in
coloration. At first, she thought it was a scorch-mark left by one of
Sokurah or Kourah's blasts, but as her vision cleared, her yellow
reptilian eyes widened with realization.
She was looking at a feather of the Thunderbird.
********************************
Summoning all
her last reserves of strength, Zenobia slowly began to break free of the
rocks that had piled atop her. As she did, Sokurah pulled out various
potions and hurled them at the rock that had pinned him, desperate to
free himself. Above him, Zenobia was free from her imprisoning boulders,
and began searching, not for her foe, but for her quarry. She had seen
the Thunderbird's massive feather and knew the monster had to be nearby.
But where?
Meanwhile, Sokurah was getting desperate. He simply could not free
himself, no matter how hard he tried. Every potion he wielded was
ineffective against the gigantic rock. Suddenly he stopped working,
Every potion, he thought,
spare one. With that, Sokurah
reached down into his deepest pocket and drew out a bottle of 'dragon
fuel', the common name for a liquid formed in the mouths of dragons
which was combined with methane from their digestive system to form
fire. The stuff was highly corrosive and similar in almost every respect
to acid in it's effects. Sokurah slowly began to pour the liquid on the
rock that had pinned him, but he worked very carefully, for he knew that
dragon fuel was highly flammable, and the slightest provocation could
cause a devastating explosion.
Elsewhere, Zenobia had begun unearthing the feather she'd seen,
revealing it to it's true length of over nine feet. But the rest of the
monster was nowhere to be found. Zenobia cried out in frustration, her
screams echoing in the walls of the temple. In her fury, she kicked a
stone with all her might, as she cursed audibly about her fortune. The
stone began rolling down the side of the pile, generating momentum as it
fell.
Below it, Sokurah had nearly freed his foot from the rock by covering
the stone with 'dragon fuel'. Suddenly, he saw the rock Zenobia had
irrationally hurled in her anger falling down to earth. He cried out in
terror, but it was too late, and the rock fell directly atop the vial of
dragon fuel.
A massive explosion of white-hot flame engulfed the temple, sending both
combatants hundreds of feet into the air as it raged on. Massive
boulders were thrown from their resting places and hurled against the
temple's walls, knocking them over and destroying the structure. The
rocks flew high into the air, coming down all over the island. Trees
were knocked over, nearby ships sank, creatures crushed, and waves
upraised as the massive eruption of flame consumed the island.
After the devastation, much of Tethys was in ruins. Scattered flames
still burned all over the ground as blackened trees stood stripped of
their leaves, shadows of their former selves. Woodland creatures cried
out in sudden death as they were burned by the fires or slowly crushed
by falling boulders.
Zenobia lay beside the base of a tree, her head propped up against it's
black bark. The smoke from where the explosion had begun continued to
billow, marking where the event had occurred. Suddenly, a massive dark
shape began moving behind the smoke. As the dust settled, Zenobia
looked in terror as the shadow of the giant form overlapped her.
The Thunderbird had risen....
To be continued....
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