The Hearts of Goblins

Chapter XV

Gwen blinked but she could see only a cloudy white and gray haze. She sat up and tried to breathe. A fine dust choked her and she ended up on her hands and knees coughing and sputtering, trying to get clean air. 

"Gwen!" Lee's voice rang in her ears, seeming far off. In her mind she could see him, the imaginary image of Lee was clear in her head. Him standing on a hill, above her, healthy and strong with shining eyes and clear skin. Standing tall and looking like a storybook hero. 

Gwen choked and coughed, feeling suffocated by the very air around her. Frantically she looked around, still she only saw a blur of gray and white, in the corners of her vision shadows danced. Every shadow seemed to be shaped like men.
She looked around, her head darting from side to side as she stumbled around in circles.

"Gwen!"

She looked for Lee frantically.

"My Lady!"

"Didymus!" Gwen coughed. The little knight ran up and took Gwen by the hand in a flash.
"Quickly!" He yapped. Gwen stumbled after him, out of the cloud of dust. She fell to her knees. She was still dizzy, and the rays of the sun seemed to shine in bright strings of white light making it difficult to focus on any one thing.
"Gwen!" Lee shouted. Gwen looked up and Lee came running to her. Covered in fine white powder, they embraced. Lee held onto Gwen as though he'd never let her go again.

The burn on Gwen's shoulder flared with pain as Lee's forearm pressed tightly against it. It made Gwen's eyes water, but she said nothing and only held him tighter.
Gwen glanced over to the dizzying cloud she had just exited. The dust seemed to be settling rather slowly. She watched for the Sphinx to emerge from the rubble, angered and more terrifying.
There was nothing, and the sphinx never got back up.  

They were safe, at least for the moment. 

Gwen and Lee sat down upon a large slab of alabaster rubble. Didymus sat next to Gwen and leaned his fuzzy little head against her thigh.  he looked up at her with beady orange brown eyes, full of concern and admiration. 

"Rarely have I seen such valiance, my lady." he admitted. Gwen placed her hand on Didymus' head.  He then turned to Lee. 

"Truly I hath seen a remarkable feat, from the both of you."

  They stayed there, unmoving until every last bit of dust had settled onto the stone floor of the labyrinth.  Gwen stared at the broken statue husk of the now dead creature's exoskeleton. The white stone face lay in five broken pieces. The black gem eyes still gleamed. 
"Are you okay?" Lee asked. He cupped Gwen's cheek in his hand and gently moved some of her messy hair out of her face. 

"I'm okay." She said, although her voice shook. The Wavering of her words  still showed the fear behind them. 

She stood and walked over to the fallen creature. Tiny bits of stone rubble jabbed at her bare feet, making her walk awkwardly to avoid them.

Didymus hopped along side her, growling at the rubble carcass of the defeated creature. He bravely prepared to attack any movement of the sphinx. 

Lee followed close behind. He looked around at everything around. His gaze was caught by the slimy green body that the statue had contained. Its anatomy was a mystery to human eyes. Lee couldn't figure out what part of its body he was looking at. It was mostly covered in the remaining pile of stone. 

A coppery smell came from its wounds, soaked with its blueish green blood.  

A choking laugh stopped them all in their tracks. 

"Defeated?" it laughed. It was the Sphinx's voice. It was different now. Sounding choked and yet seeming  not to be as distorted as it had been. Sounding more human than it had ever been heard before.