Art Pact 4


Moreover, there were scorpions in the way. A writhing bed of the little black creatures, crawling over each other and forming waves and dunes of bodies in the depression. It was about a foot deep and lined with some enamel substance, slippery enough to prevent them from just crawling out. We stood there, dismayed, imaging all the ways in which we could die on our way out of the temple.

"If only it were snakes," Bostick grumbled. "I could deal with snakes."

"It's never snakes, though, is it? They know all about you." said Lal.

I thought it was more likely that the prohibitive cost and effort required to feed so many snakes was the limiting factor. I nudged Lal, pressing on her shoulder.

"Yes yes," she said irritably.

I could see from the map that the temple guards were perhaps a minute away from us, gliding smoothly along the marble-floored corridors that led here from the main chamber. Their response had been unusually quick. Was it possible that someone had alerted them?

"What if I threw you over?" Lal suggested. I didn't like the idea.

"You couldn't throw him that far," Bostick told her. "Here, let me do it."

He lifted me out and hefted me from one hand to the other. Now I /really/ didn't like the idea.

"How are we going to get across?"

"Can't it do something once he's over there?"

"Look at it!" Lal said, pointing. I wasn't sure if there was something I could do, although I liked the abstract concept of being on the other side of the scorpion pool and having it between me and the oncoming guards. I estimated the distance, trying to work out whether I thought Bostick could actually do it and whether I would survive hitting the other side if he did. It didn't look likely, given that he'd have to throw me in a perfect arc to avoid the other obstructions. I pushed at his hands, but he was too strong.

"It seems pretty lively to me," he said, holding me up. "Can you do something from the other side?"

No, I gestured, no. But either he didn't understand or he just ignored me. Taking a step back from the edge, he hefted me into one hand and raise me up over his head. It was too late to struggle - I would never get free, the only thing I could do would be to put him off his aim and ensure that I ended up in the arachnidarium.

"Here goes!"

A sudden rush of acceleration, and suddenly I was flying. I tumbled as I went, rolling over and over so that I could see everything in turn: scorpions, more scorpions, Lal and Bostick and Mosh (looking horrified, hopeful and stunned respectively), spikes, more spikes, yet more spikes, the exit, and scorpions.

I hit the opposite platform with a force that knocked the sense out of me for a second, so that I could not stop myself from rolling - off the edge of the platform and through the doorway. I began to accelerate, and it took me a few seconds to realise that I was on a ramp. My limbs flapped uselessly around me, hitting the floor with every revolution: left arm, right arm, left arm, right arm, leg, left arm-/wait a moment,/ I thought, /leg?/ I stretched out everything as far as I could, and with an abrupt clump I came to a stop.

There, sure enough, was a leg. A spidery-thin, brass-coloured leg, protruding from my shroud. I tried to wiggle my toes. They wiggled. I tried to bend at the knee. It bent. Rolling over, I marshaled my hands beneath me and pushed, and a second later I was upright, hopping crazily on the new limb.

It was surprisingly strong, but unsurprisingly difficult to control. As I hopped back up the ramp to the doorway I veered like a drunkard one way and the other, only managing to stay upright due to my outstretched arms and the narrowness of the corridor. Each landing threatened to send me toppling backwards, and each jump sent me on one of several wildly differing arcs towards my goal. At one moment I might be strong enough to hop several yards, at the next only barely enough to get my foot off the ground, landing almost within its own previous footprint.

I eventually wobbled into the doorway, and immediately saw two things. One, that this was designed to allow people in and keep them there - there was a platform, hidden from the other side, that could be lowered into place to allow incomers across.

Two, that I was too late for that to be of any use. The others were surrounded.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Art Pact 176 - In Memory

Art Pact 115

Art Pact 123