The Paradox Corridor

Chapter 49: A Royal Execution

As soon as they saw the rocks heading for them, both Arthur and James knew that they had to book it. They ran straight for the distant mountains, James slightly ahead of Arthur, who struggled to maintain pace because of Amber's added weight. Still, he kept up, and they both watched as the first rock sailed over their heads and crashed with a BOOM right in the middle of the footprint. The robot picked up two smaller boulders, one in each hand, and threw them at Arthur and James. Because the robot was far away, they had plenty of time to avoid the rocks. However, the rocks were so massive that they had to run top speed to avoid them. The first rock crashed to their left, as they had moved to the right to avoid it, but the second rock almost hit Arthur, who had stumbled over a piece of the debris from the first rock. James turned his head.

"Arthur! Are you ok?!?" he shouted, worried.

"Yes, for now!" Arthur responded, choosing not to talk much for the sake of conserving breath. The robot began picking up and throwing rocks faster and faster, to the point where it seemed like it was raining boulders. Arthur and James weaved left and right, stopped in their tracks and bolted, and everything in between to avoid the deadly shower. The earth shook as more and more rocks slammed into the ground, creating craters and debris wherever they landed.

A mile away, the remaining men in Arthur's keep had all crowded into the keep's chapel. As soon as the fight between the monstrosity and their leader had started, they began fervently praying to God, for their own safety and the safety of their leader and future king. They didn't stop even when the earth began to shake, not one man.

The robot, somewhat surprised that its adversaries were able to avoid so many large boulders, redoubled its efforts to destroy them. It began throwing larger rocks at a faster pace, not once slowing down: it didn't need to, after all: robots don't get tired. Its efforts seemed to be taking a toll on them, as they had both slowed down, both because they were tired and because they were forced to run around the many large boulders that now obscured their path. They kept running straight towards the mountains, though to what end the robot had no idea. Instead of wasting its time, it picked up the biggest boulder of the bunch, and hurled it straight at them.

James saw the robot heft up the biggest boulder, and he yelled;

"Arthur! Look out!" he yelled. Arthur looked up, saw the boulder, and veered to his left. James decided to go to the right, hoping to confuse the robot by giving it two targets instead of one. But when he rounded the 'corner' of the rock he was running around to go to the left, he saw that it was blocked off: there were boulders already in the way that robot had under-thrown. James skidded to a halt, and ran to his left, hoping that he had enough time to avoid the giant boulder.

He didn't.

He saw the shadow of the rock quickly grow in size, and he knew that he wasn't nearly fast enough to get out of its way. But that didn't stop him. He poured all of his energy into his legs, charging as fast as he could, trying to get out of the shadow. Suddenly, the presence went crazy inside of his head, and James knew that he only had one option. He leaped forward, crying out;

"FULL ARMOR!" his helmet quickly grew around his whole body in midair, doing nothing to slow his speed. As he was about to land, he remembered what the robot has said;

"Let me show you how quickly you can be brought down to earth."

He landed on the ground right as the rock did: directly behind him. He had avoided the main impact, but all of the debris buffeted him. Smaller rocks and clumps of earth fell on top of his body, covering him from head to toe. He tried to get up, but every time he did another rock would strike his back and he would be pushed back down. Finally, though, it stopped coming, and he tried to move, while the presence assessed the situation.