Jim Armstrong and the Goblet's Curse

Chapter 16: Everything Goes According To Plan

   Cecily and I bolted towards the bathrooms, looking to see what had caused Noah's yell of panic. We got to the narrow hallway where the bathrooms were located and saw that Noah hadn't even made it into the bathroom. Why?

Because four panther were in the way.

The panthers were a scaly, reptilian blue-gray colour and they slunk low against the ground, slowly coming forward. They were foaming around the lips, snarling and growling softly. I could see long fangs coming out of the mouths of the Sphalnirs. They were sharp and at least the length of my middle fingers, and I knew I didn't want to get to close to them. Noah had FloppyDisk out in his hands and he and the panther were carefully circling each other.

"Shit, Sphalnirs," Cecily muttered. "Okay, Noah, don't make any sudden moves. We most definitely can't afford to get in a fight with Sphalnirs right now, especially because of its poisonous claws and fangs-

"Cecy, I know what the characteristics of a Sphalnir are, please stop quoting the textbook at me." Noah said, not taking his eyes off of the Sphalnir.

"Where did it even come from?" I asked.

"You know that family that you bumped into before coming to show us the information you found? Yeah well, he turned out not to be a family at all," Noah replied.

"Well, we can't stay here all day," Cecily said. "Back away slowly Noah, we need to get out of here." Noah obeyed, stepping back carefully.

"That's it, keep going," Cecily encouraged him. We were almost at the end of the narrow hallway, leading back out to the main restaurant. It looked like we were actually going to get out of this one unscathed and alive.

But of course we didn't.

At the last moment, the Sphalnirs growled and pounced on us. Noah, Cecily and I all dove different ways, away from each other, the Sphalnirs soaring between us. They wasted no time in getting up and charging at us again. The Sphalnirs were fast, in the blink of an eye they moved from one place to another. A Sphalnir dove at Cecily who ducked and rolled. Another Sphalnir went for Noah, which left the last two coming straight for me.

Great.

The first Sphalnir lunged at me and I swung Lumière at it. The Sphalnir dove away, but the next one came at me, extending a jaggedly sharp claw in my direction. I ducked under it and rolled, slamming into the wall. This hallways was really way too narrow to having this fight in. I had barely gotten up off the floor when ii saw one of the Sphalnirs racing at me. I backed away and slashed the side of the Sphalnir with Lumière. Black blood flowed from the gash but the Sphalnir showed no sign of slowing down.

Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Noah hit the ground hard and Cecily no longer had Revlon with her. We were clearly on the losing side of this fight.

I was jerked back to my own problems when a Sphalnir lunged at me, sinking its claws deep into my shoulder. I tripped backwards and fell as the Sphalnir tried to get near my throat. I kicked at it, swinging Lumière wildly. Just like that, the Sphalnir stopped moving. When I got a good look at exactly what I'd done, I saw that I had beheaded the Sphalnir. Well, I guess I knew how to kill one now.

I staggered to my feet and instantly almost fell again. I was starting to see black spots and I was finding it hard to breathe. We most definitely can't afford to get in a fight with Sphalnirs right now, especially because of its poisonous claws and fangs-

I shook my head trying to clear it, and just in time too. Another Sphalnir launched itself at me, and I ducked. When I went to stand back up, I stumbled. My vision was blurry. I took a step, but almost lost my balance. The next thing I knew, more claws were in my arm, as the Sphalnir hurled me across the narrow hallway. I hit the wall and fell to floor, a jarring shock going through my knees as I landed. I could barely see, but I could make out the prone body of Noah, who lay on his side, FloppyDisk knocked out of his hand. Cecily was still up, but probably wouldn't be for long.