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.Already pounding its quickened rhythm, his heart grew even more tempestuous.Heglanced about as he heard the girl approaching around the corner, his eyes landing onthe rope.He dashed across the alley and snatched up the rope s silvery end, runningback to the corner.There was just enough slack so that the rope lay flat across the trash-strewn ground.He could see its silvery sheen, but there was no time to cover it up.Hiscourse had been set.He prayed to Ree he had made the right choice.His plea barely formed, the young girl bolted around the corner and stepped lithelythrough the collected debris.She missed the rope by inches and Cael whispered thanksto Ree as she flew past.She glanced over her shoulder a few feet beyond the trap,perhaps spying him as she went by, and stumbled to a stop.The dark pits of her eyesstared at him, her cheeks flush with fear and the silver of her tears.She stood still as ifstunned by his appearance.Cael waved her on as he heard the grunted snarl of the Grol, almost upon them.Shestared for an instant longer before she seemed to realize what he intended.Her leadhaving fallen away in just that short time, she dove for the meager cover of the trash.Cael had no time to second-guess his plan because the Grol appeared around thecorner, jagged yellow teeth and fiery red eyes leading the charge.It loped with fury,coming fast.Cael did his best to time the beast s movement, pulling hard on the ropejust before it reached the line.A cold terror washed over him up as the rope snapped upward.He bore down,ignoring the stripped flesh of his palms, when he felt the first tug, the rope drawing aline across the Grol s throat.Its eyes went wide and its clawed hands reached for therope as it realized what had happened.It was too late.Cael crouched low and dug his heels into the sodden ground as the Grol s weightpulled hard against the rope.The beast s head was snapped back by its sudden shift inmomentum, its feet taking the lead as its hind quarters were flung into the air.Head265Tim Marquitzover heels it spun, hurtling through the air like the acrobatic bards he d seen in Nurinas a child.Only there was no graceful landing at the end of its spin.Tossed upright, the Grol crashed face first into the white stone of the wall.A muffledcrack resounded as its snout was bend downward at an odd angle, its weight onlycontorting it more as the rest of its body collided with the wall.It loosed a wet grunt atimpact and fell backward.Showers of dark blood and yellowed teeth spewed volcanicfrom its mouth as it landed hard on its back.Its red eyes whirled in its head as though itwere blind before coming to rest on Cael.Despite the viciousness of its fall, the Grol rolled over onto its belly and pulled itslimbs beneath it into a crouch.Blood spilled from its broken-toothed snarl and ithunched low, ready to launch at Cael.Frozen by fear, his arms and legs in rebellion, he stared at the beast, unable to flee.An ear-piercing scream drew his eyes and he saw the girl hurl a fist-sized stone at theGrol.The rock slammed into the side of its head with a solid thud, bouncing away todisappear in the mounds of trash.Seeming more angered than hurt, the Grol spun andleapt at the girl who scrambled away with a shriek.Cael knew she stood no chance.Her courage having ignited his own, he flunghimself at the beast.Without conscious thought, he reached into his waistband and duginside the bag stashed inside.His fingers closed about the rod and he dismissed it,digging deeper until he felt the cool surface of the crystal orb, remembering what theSha ree had told him of it.He pulled it free as he dove at the Grol.The beast saw him coming and turned to face him, giving him a feral grin of ruinedteeth.Despite the tremors that rattled his body and the voices inside his pounding skullthat screamed of the stupidity of what he intended, there was no turning back.Heducked low as he barreled forward, stepping beneath the sharpened claws that waitedto tear his flesh from bone.As he did, he whipped his arm overhand, his fist and the orbcrashing into the cheek of the Grol.266Tim MarquitzThe crystal orb shattered as it struck and he could feel the razored shards wreakinghavoc upon his palm, hundreds of tiny wounds opened all at once.His knuckles sangout, the stout skull of the beast like punching stone.Unable to slow his charge, Cael slammed into the Grol.Through the blur of histhoughts, he imagined he knew how the beast had felt when it had crashed into thewall.He being the smaller of the two, Cael was bounced backward, falling away from thebeast.As he fell, he spied the sharp claws that hurtled toward him, their tips stripingthe flesh at his chest, just below his collarbone.He hit the ground, his head snappingback into the trash, agony burning at his hand and torso.A horrible, inhuman screech tore at his ears and drew his attention from his wounds
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