The Joining: The Cycle of the Shards Book One

40: Clash of the Titans

     Two giant creatures, the likes of which had not been seen on the planet since the advent of the Dinosaurs, came together in a crunching sound as Critock launched himself at Pt'ron. He had quickly decided to sacrifice any sense of finesse and strategy in favor of brute force, hoping to catch his enemy off guard. Pt'ron would most likely be completely out of practice when it came to an actual fight, especially one where he didn't have his precious Shards with him, still held by Daniel's unmoving body. Pt'ron staggered back, teetering before he caught himself with his back appendages. Critock kept the attack up, punching and clawing with every available bit of energy he could summon.

Pt'ron was indeed surprised by the attack, as he maneuvered to block Daniel's body, along with the precious Shards. But the surprise didn't last long. As he had fallen back, he had reached back with his left clawed leg, and found a wooden board that had not broken from his earlier assault. As Critock paused briefly to strike with his right claw, he was instead caught from the left by the plank, slamming into his orb body and sending him flailing, more shocked at the unexpected attack than hurt.

Critock hit the ground hard, but quickly rose to his 'feet', helped by the extra appendages that moved in conjunction with each other. He saw Pt'ron come towards him, swinging the board he still held between his claws, and quickly moved out of the way, finding a loose board of his own as he clambered over it. Quickly grabbing it, Critock lifted it up, pointing it directly at Pt'ron's eye, which narrowed from its vantage in the middle of the orb body. Neither moved for a moment, until almost simultaneously, both letting out an unearthly roar, they began to come at each other, each swinging their board.

Together, swinging, dodging, and grunting from swings that found their mark, the pair danced around the room, narrowly missing and in some cases actually hitting and bouncing off the largely decorative pillars. There was nothing else to them, no shards, no people, no planets, only millions of years of Marconian instinct working in concert against an enemy they had to defeat to reach their goals. Only one thing stood in their way: each other.

As the fight went on, a rogue swing from Pt'ron succeeded in knocking over a heavy stone pillar that would have fallen directly on Mr. Phelps if not for Shanna breaking from staring at the unworldly fight in shock to notice it teetering and pushing him out of the way. The force of the push sent both of them directly underneath what their minds could only process as 'creatures', who seemed to have forgotten that they were even there. For a few terrifying seconds, as Shanna clutched Phelps' arm with one hand and Claire's with the other, everywhere they seemed to move was blocked. A clawed leg here, a dangling appendage there, everything seemed to thwart their attempts to escape the field of battle that used to be their school. Finally, Critock moved a giant leg to sidestep an attack, and Shanna saw her opportunity. Grabbing Phelps and Claire with one hand each, she pulled them under Critock, oblivious to the teenagers and the teacher, and made a mad dash towards the exit door. Not stopping, she threw her weight towards the push bar on the door. It swung open with the force, and they made their exit without looking back. Shanna hoped Critock could defeat Pt'ron, but she knew there was nothing else she could do. They were on their own.

Out of the corner of his one gigantic eye, Critock noticed the light from the outside door as it closed, and realized that the humans had escaped the arena. Knowing that they were safe, at least for the moment, seemed to feed his energy, and he began striking with newfound vigor, swinging his board, occasionally connecting, and driving his enemy back. Knowing he didn't have the advantage any longer, Pt'ron attempted to roll past Critock to try and get to Daniel's body. To regain his Shards, and end this pointless exercise. Critock was ready for him though, having kept the location of Daniel at the front of his mind as they moved around, and Pt'ron's move caused his guard to be lowered just for a moment. This was the moment Critock needed. He blocked him with a swift kick from a clawed foot, slicing across Pt'ron's eye. As a bellow came from the Marconian, Critock struck next with the board, slamming it into his body, and with the weight of the strike Pt'ron flew across the room, crashing painfully into a wall, on the other side of the lobby from the Shards.