​     Estelle reached Adam at last. ​

     She got a quick look around. 

​     Shawnacy still looked disoriented. She'd taken a real hit. 

​     Noel still struggled to crawl free from the stone wall he'd been embedded in. 

​     Brock, in his wheelchair, head down, eyes closed, looked like he fought to regain some modicum of his azure strength. 

​     Thirteen seconds. Twelve. 

     And no way could Estelle run Adam to the cauldron and up the side of it to drop him in, not in time.

     Seven seconds. Six.

     Aw, fuck it, Estelle thought. She grabbed what was left of Adam by what she hoped was his shoulder...

     and then she tossed him. 

     She threw him high so that he'd arc up and, hopefully, plop into the cauldron.

     Adam flew through the air.

​     The Silver Centipede rose to grab him. Estelle snatched Hoby's left ankle to rise with him. She smacked the Centipede's knee where she'd bent it before. 

​     "Yeow!"

​     Hoby flew crazily like a balloon that had been blown up, then let loose. To keep from taking the crazy flight with him, Estelle let go of his ankle. ​     Momentum caused her to continue to rise. 

​     Four algrim'd risen to take Adam out, and Estelle found herself right in the middle of them. Twelve feet in the air, no weapon besides her soul weapon, no anti-gravs, and Estelle smashed faces and snapped bones.

​     Adam continued to arc up one side of the cavern. 

     Belle Strom took a shot at grabbing Adam. She rose. Then,

​     Bap! 

     Belle herself took one right on the skull. What the...

​     It was Shawnacy.

     Shawnacy with blood running down her face and shock sweat coating her body and furious as hell.

     BAP! BAP! BAP! BAP! BAP! BAP!

     Shawnacy beat on Belle with that battle staff of hers, hard BAPs and plenty of them. 

     Adam continued to rise.

     Shawnacy spun away from Belle, daring Belle to chase her down.

     She flew up through the hole.

​     Belle went right after her. 

​     Shawnacy waited for Belle up where the sidewalk was, and where the exhibits and what visitors remained were. 

     She swung at Belle's skull like a major leaguer hitting a home run.

     Shawnacy broke something inside of Belle's armor that time, and now her scorpion tail didn't respond to her mental commands the way it...something was shorting out and...

​     Like a whipped pup, Belle had no choice but to get the hell out of there.

CONTINUE