The Sixth Life of Medusa

38. Three-Clawed Hands

Wind whistled past Medusa's ears as her tunic rustled on her way down. I'm falling. Her short hair whipped against her face. That burst of chilling panic as her belly dropped to the depth below.

I'm falling. I'll die and—No. I won't. Calm came, and along with it, crystal clarity on what Medusa must do next.

Just like her trial with the black heron, Medusa exhaled and pushed against aether in the second before impact. Though aether cushioned her fall, it didn't shield her from the tearing feeling of her bones rattling and joints popping.

"Ugh." Shaking off the feeling of disconcertion, Medusa dusted debris off her clothes as she peered ahead.

Arke stood a good five meters away, hunched and panting. What was even more curious were her arms. Blue lines flashed in and out of sight, forming an outline of much larger three-clawed hands.

Medusa sensed a crowd gathering. And whispers.

"...Will Arke dare?"

"It's against the rules to harm with abilities."

"Aren't you curious? I've never seen her ability."

Medusa tuned them out. Standing straighter, she loosened her shoulders as she prepared herself. So far, she had faced only beasts who acted on instinct. No calculation. No animosity save for the drive to tear through whatever was before them. Arke had threatened to kill her; it only made sense to expect the—

"Let the Dogs bear witness!" Arke cried in an enraged voice amplified with aether. Though light from the corridor spilt into the quadrangle, her face remained hidden in shadows, and her hair moved as if disturbed by a fierce breeze. "The one called May dared to insult the divinity of my ancestors."

At her words, even more dogs rushed out of their rooms, and the murmurs increased. Please, keep coming. Medusa hoped that every dog would witness what was about to go down. From the nobles' perspective, Medusa would easily appear the villain. After hearing about her clash with Eristes, they'd be eager for retribution.

Arke glowered at Medusa. "May the goddess forgive what you've forced me to do."

She moved in a flash, arm slashing upward as three blue crescents ripped through the earth, growing in size as they neared Medusa.

Sucking in a surprised breath, Medusa twisted to the side and narrowly escaped getting split in half. As the lines sizzled past, loose earth and dust rained down on her.

Would you look at that? Medusa's eyes reduced to slits. The girl intended to kill her.

Judging from the sudden hush, the dogs were also surprised by Arke's attack. If her ability hurts Medusa, would Demeter's roots be triggered? An external interruption would be bad, especially when she had yet to teach a proper lesson.

The cloth strips around Medusa's arms loosened as she tightly drew air around them. And she only just realised she had failed to collect the beaded band from Vyron. Crushing the rise of panic at the realisation, she emptied her mind of every thought save for how to attack and dodge. Defence was beyond her in the face of Arke's ability.

Arke gave another slash, but this time Medusa darted out of reach and flung a needle ahead. The resulting explosion echoed with a force that surpassed her attack on Eristes. Twice as powerful and loud.

Amidst the chaos, a flicker of motion caught the edge of Medusa's vision. She noticed too late that Arke had not only escaped her strike but was fast enough to cover the gap between them.

The flickering claws were pressed to a sharp point, and as Arke slashed at Medusa's face, there was a crackling sound. Twisting away wasn't enough. The cut burned a line across her cheek, but she managed to bind Arke's arm, stopping her from piercing a hole through her head.