Paintshark

by Kingsley Pilgrim

  Cassandra made a chewing motion with her mouth before spitting her new deadly venom at the Cyclops’s eye. Again it protected it well but the venom burned the flesh from its hand, this pain was greater than any it had endured that day and Hammersmith wailed in agony. Cassandra clawed her way quickly up its leg and bit hard into the thigh; Hammersmith, in pain, ripped Cassandra from its leg and threw her as far as it could and stumbled backwards.

  Apollo vented his anger out on the giant. “YOU BUMBLING BUFFOON, YOU LET THAT SILLY GIRL GET THE BETTER OF YOU.”

  Hammersmith roared again as its single eye saw from the distance Cassandra charging yet again, flying at him with speed as the giant let out a tired sigh and ran towards his oncoming opponent.

  As the dragon, Cassandra flew straight into Hammersmith, knocking him over but he held tight onto the dragon’s body and they rolled on the ground.

  Cassandra bared her teeth and fastened them tight onto Hammersmith, punching and clawing at each other, Apollo managed just to hold on, Cassandra hissed and craned her head sideways knocking into the Cyclops, he in return grabbed her wings and began to crush them.

  Cassandra’s tortured scream shattered the heavens as she tried to wrench herself free, she managed to free one talon and slashed at Hammersmith’s unprotected face.

  As the giant Cyclops and Cassandra struggled on the ground, from beneath the dragon, Hammersmith drove its knee right into her stomach, doubling up in pain the dragon rolled off Hammersmith who mounted it and rained blow after blow onto its hide, each one harder than the last, until it failed to move.

  “ENOUGH!” shouted Apollo. “SHE’S LEARNED HER LESSON.”

  He turned around and looked at Kimberley who had exhausted her powers and had watched Cassandra in battle for the last few minutes, on command from Apollo, Hammersmith stomped forward through the broken ground the departed crabs had made, towards the remaining people.

  And just above them climbing the rocks he saw Elias and a few more prisoners, he smiled knowing that he’d take great pleasure in killing them all, after he’d finished with these two, he rubbed his hands in glee.

  “RIGHT…WHO’S NEXT?”

  Before he could take another step, something big came from beneath Hammersmith and sent it tumbling to the ground, landing unceremoniously on its back. A huge rock-like humanoid creature about fifteen foot tall climbed from the rubble, its body was massively built and the texture of the jigsaw-type rock formation was incredibly smooth, its rocky head was small in comparison to the rest of its hide and it held out two oversized fists to the giant, but under closer inspection, it’s body wasn’t made up of rocks, it was clay, hardened clay…and milk.

  “ME!” the giant clay creature boomed.

  “WHO DARES–” said Apollo.

  “WINS,” interrupted the clay thing.

  Hammersmith clambered to its feet and shook its thumping head and stared at this new creature that stood before it.

  Not knowing what to make of the bizarre-looking beast, Hammersmith tilted its head quizzically to try and understand. The clay monster bashed both fists together spoiling for a fight and Hammersmith was now only too eager to give him one and charged at it, the clay creature ran too and punched Hammersmith hard into the ribs as he ran into him, Hammersmith fell back as the creature leapt into the air and leading with an elbow came crashing hard onto the Cyclops’s chest.

  Apollo rolled out of the shoulder harness and collapsed into a heap as Elias and the others continued to scale up the mountain, just about being able to multitask; watching the fight and climb.

  Elias could also see Hammersmith get to his feet but from his viewpoint couldn’t see the monster start salivating and licking its lips. Yet again making a charge, the impact sent the clay creature crashing against the rocks and Hammersmith was on him in an instant, pounding him with a number of heavy blows, the clay creature protected its face and gave a Hammersmith a mighty shove, giving him enough time to grab the monster’s hands, pausing slightly as if to remember something…and then with one leg, he swept it under one of Hammersmith’s own, tripping the giant up, he then put a huge foot hard on to Hammersmith’s stomach, he stayed away from kicking Hammersmith in the eye, the creature wasn’t so callous.

  The clay creature thought he had the upper hand until Hammersmith rolled over to his side and whipped his club-like tail into the clay man.

  The blow knocked him off his feet and gave Hammersmith the chance it needed to finish the job, it ran right up to the clay man and sent him reeling with another blow to the chest area with his tail, it didn’t let up as the club came smashing down on top of its clay opponent, bringing him to his knees and further down into the ground it alternated between smashes with its tail, and by using scaly fists to keep beating on the clay man. Pieces of rock hard clay were shattered and lay all around the crevice as the clay man took a terrible beating.

  Hammersmith stopped when the clay man had stopped putting up any resistance. The Cyclops let out a victorious roar and trudged towards Apollo who was on his feet and applauded his partner’s efforts. “HEY CHUMP,” came a shout from behind the Cyclops, who glanced over his shoulder to see the clay man emerging from the hole in the ground.

  “ONE LAST DANCE?”

  The Cyclops came running in and swung its tail round to make contact, but the clay man had anticipated this attack and ducked, which left Hammersmith exposed and the clay man took full advantage of the fact and hit hard and then low, continuously with a combination of lefts and rights, uppercuts, shots to the mid-section, driving Hammersmith backwards. It was trying to retaliate but was being beaten savagely by the clay giant who now reached for Hammersmith’s tail and with a superb effort began to swing it around, lifting him higher and higher and faster with each revolution. The clay creature wasn’t dizzy yet and spun for a while more before breaking the cycle by hurling the giant high into the rocks, the clay man yelled defiantly, “STILL THINK I’M A NERD, GEEZER?…THE NAME’S FELCEY…REMEMBER IT.”

  He then whispered, “I’ve got milk.”

  The impact was so strong that some supports connecting the mountain came free and the platform wobbled, as did Elias and his friends who had just made the jump to the first level. Hammersmith tumbled down the mountainside, the guardian and one of the feared mighty seven prison guards fell fast, everybody on the ground stood rooted to the spot as they heard Apollo for the very first time scream in fear. A scream was the only thing he had time to do as the gigantic body of Hammersmith came crashing down on to his own, Hammersmith groaned, but Apollo didn’t.

  Elias didn’t have time to watch the demise of Apollo, the stanchions holding up the platforms were breaking due to the unintentional target of direction that Felcey had hurled Hammersmith in.

  Elias turned to his companions, “IS EVERYBODY OK?” Some said ‘Yes’ whilst the others nodded. “Jago, are you ok?” The old man cleared his throat and nodded also. “We have to get up that top floor for the ship.”

  Elias was still concerned for his older companion. “Do you think you can make it, my friend?”

  Jago looked up. I’ve just climbed half a mountain, so a few flights of steps should be–”

  An explosion caused by tumbling rocks above landing on flight equipment just above, rocked their stanchion and cut Jago off in mid-sentence.

  “Easy,” he finished. “I just hope Nayan got to that ship, if he didn’t then that’s it, the mountain is crumbling apart before our very eyes…we can’t go back.”

  That was the first time since the prisoners planned their escape that they heard a moment of doubt in Elias’s voice, Jago put a hand on his shoulder and squeezed. “We will reach that ship and you will get back to Olympia.”

  Elias sniffed hard and exhaled. “OK LET’S MOVE IT, UP THOSE LADDERS.”

  The whole station was falling apart, explosions everywhere.

  “WHAT’S HAPPENING? WHERE ARE THESE FIRES COMING FROM? Elias yelled as Jago looked around.

  “THE LANDSL
IDE MUST HAVE FALLEN ONTO THE MAIN FUSION REACTOR, THAT’S MY ONLY GUESS, BUT IT MEANS THAT THIS WHOLE COMPLEX IS GOING TO GO UP IN FLAMES.”

  Less time Elias thought. “GO, GO, GO!” he shouted to the men.

  The metal ladders weren’t strong but the held firm as they ascended each level, Level 20 was where the ship was and the struggling pack were only at Level 5.

  So the men raced through every platform and climbed for their lives.

  They lost men on some levels; Janson was blown away by an explosion on Level 8 and Mente failed to hold onto the ladder, Elias held on to him, but he could not pull him up and he fell to his doom.

  “NO!” Elias shouted in defeat more than grief, Mente was one of the men who pulled him to safety in the tunnel.

  The heat was beginning to grow unbearable now as the flames licked all around them, but higher they climbed still.

  “WE’RE ALMOST THERE.”

  Elias was determined to make it, the ash in his eyes wouldn’t stop him and his lungs ached from inhaling all the smoke, he could feel the hairs on his hands burn and his face was turning dark, but then his heart jumped to his throat at what he saw above him, the thrusters from the supply ship glowed and then were ignited, the ship was airborne.

  “SHIP’S LEAVING, MOVE IT, COME ON.”

  There had been causalities but tired and burnt the men reached the twentieth level; Elias panicked and tore with what strength he could muster to the ship, but he was too late, the supply ship, the only thing that could have taken him back to Olympia and back to his daughter, rose into the air, hovered to its left and then was caught in a tremendous blast blowing off most of the gantry.

  The huge ship plummeted through the landing bay and Elias and the teachers held on to their ladders attached to the rock face as the flames tore through what was left of the very top floor and the rescue ship, engulfed in flames, narrowly missed their own floors as it hurtled down to the base of the mountain.

  Bursts of flame fell from the top stanchion, and debris fell striking some more teachers on the way down. The whole loading platform was falling apart and with it was their only form of escape. The ship had already hit the bottom of the mountain and exploded into a ball of flames at the foot.

  Elias screamed from the bottom of his soul, a cry of utter despair and suffering. With no ship they were all doomed; their fate was to burn with the rest of the prison.

  “NAYAN, WHERE ARE YOU?” Elias cried. Even in the intense heat Elias was shivering with disappointment more than fear. “I’VE LET YOU ALL DOWN,” he said to the group and then had a coughing fit. Prisoner Hoult stepped over and patted him on the back and began coughing also. “You’ve let nobody down, we all had a choice and we chose freedom, we chose to come with you.”

  “But we’ve lost good men today, for what?”

  Hoult rubbed the ash from his eyes. “I believe we’ll see them soon.”

  Elias mouthed ‘sorry’ to him.

  Sympathising with his anguish and despair, he gave him ‘thumbs up’.

  The platform the men were standing on began to quake and everyone knew death was inevitable.

  “Let’s get in to a huddle,” Jago said. “If we fall or if we burn…we will be together and die together.”

  Terrified cries were now replaced with silence as the remaining prisoners bunched together waiting for death to come. Hoult raised his head from the huddle and cupped his head in his hands, removing his fingers slowly his eyes bulged in their sockets at what he saw.

  “LOOK!” he screamed.

  Another ship flew into view at the other side of the platform with less debris falling from the explosions on that side it hovered with the entrance ramp open.

  Elias took a step back in shock and then the huddle disbanded. “COME ON,” Elias roared.

  He put Jago on the ship first, and then he made sure everyone got on before him and then the platform gave way and fell in on itself, so the ship was right to move. Elias just about managed to hold on to the landing ramp for dear life, remembering Mente’s fate moments before.

  “HOLD ON!” screamed Hoult, pulling frantically on Elias’s sleeve.

  He pulled with all his might on the man who stood tall in the arena and the man who gave them the chance of freedom at Gommerstall, the man who taught him to stand tall in the face of danger. He would not die now, with one almighty heave, Hoult pulled Elias in through the top of the entrance ramp, pressing the button that closed the hatch and turned to whoever was flying the craft.

  “WE’RE IN…WHO THE HELL ARE YOU?”

  Everybody turned to see who had grabbed Hoult’s attention and as Elias got to his feet, he did a double take at the person behind the controls.

  “KAY? KAY, IS THAT YOU?”

  Elias’s younger sister who left him a year ago to go travelling around the world, was now at the helm of the cockpit. Kay wiped her sunken red eyes, she had been crying from the moment she had seen her brother and the other prisoners on the monitor, but couldn’t leave her seat until they were well away from danger; Elias could see she was having trouble in keeping the ship steady.

  The ship swayed, making Elias’s run to his sister even shorter, his arm snaked behind her neck and held her tight.

  “Where did you go?” he asked, his head rested on her shoulder as the ship’s hull rumbled.

  The makeshift pilot had words, her eyes now fixed on the fires outside.

  “Well Bruv, I did go the airport, but my plane was delayed for hours, so as everybody waited in the departure lounge the television screens were showing the game show and that’s when I saw you being dragged around that arena–”

  She started to lose herself with emotion and wiped her eyes and quickly regained control of the wheel.

  “Those sick bastards…so I left and headed to the arena but when I got there it was in ruins and nobody would tell me anything, so that’s when I stated travelling the country trying to find you.”

  An image flashed into his head. “GEMMA, WHAT ABOUT GEMMA, WHY ISN’T SHE WITH YOU? HAVE YOU SEEN HER?”

  Kay looked at her brother for the first time and noticed the scars. “Your face–”

  “I’m fine… but what about Gemma …Kay, where is she?”

  “Well obviously I couldn’t bring her along with me, so when she’s not with me she’s with a foster family.”

  Elias snapped. “YOU HAD HER FOSTERED?”

  “WHAT COULD I DO? I’M ALL OVER THE PLACE TRYING TO FIND YOU, GEMMA NEEDS STABILITY, SHE NEEDS A HOME…SHE NEEDS A FATHER FIGURE, everyone thinks you’re dead, including Gemma. But we’re going home now so it doesn’t matter.”

  Elias remembered to ask her the obvious question. “How did you find me?”

  “I’ve been trying to find you for a year, travelling to Big Man’s hangouts and prisons, nobody knew you existed, nobody was speaking.”

  You can’t get flights to Morremkos, so I stole a ship from Spizer Airport and flew myself here, and picked up a few waifs and strays along the way.”

  “So what was that first ship?” Jago asked.

  “That must have been the unmanned supply ship, we were lucky to miss it.” Kay wasn’t finished. “Hangar doors won’t open and I don’t know how to use the main guns on this war ship, I can’t get through that debris from the supply ship so we’re going to have to go back the way you came, through the prison.”

  The engines roared and the ship shot forward, throwing everyone off their feet as it raced through the burning prison chambers, it was going to be tight as burning debris fell hard on to the ship’s body as it sailed through the prison and then turned around.

  “What are you doing?” asked Hoult.

  “We’re going through the hangar doors,” said Kay. “HOLD ONTO SOMETHING.”

  With a tremendous lurch, the ship regained its composure and began to surge forward. Elias rolled around on the floor, too tired to hold on but knowing he was safe within the confides of the ship, his eyes focused on the many passenger compartments
in the ship and noticed that they were all full. Nayan must have done it and released all the prisoners in that section, but he couldn’t find the man himself.

  The thrusters kicked in on full power and the prison supply ship hurtled towards the hangar doors with flames trailing close behind. If all else failed, all Elias wanted was a quick death.

  “HERE WE GO,” yelled pilot Kay. She steadied herself in her harness as the ship hit the hangar doors, a blast of orange flame hit them from behind them, propelling them through to the other side.

  “YEHAHHH!” Kay punched the air and raucous laughter came from the prisoners behind.

  Elias was weakened by the fires and his rescue on the landing ramp, he held onto the support ropes hanging from the ceiling as the ship moved away from the burning docking bay.

  “DON’T FORGET THE KIDS, KAY.”

  He slumped to the floor and whispered, “Don’t forget the kids.”

  As the ship spun around and headed back towards the mountain the unconscious body of Hammersmith lay partly buried by rocks caused by itself, probably still beneath him lay the body of Apollo. The Giant Cyclops unsteadily rose to its feet.

  Felcey and Kimberley had powered down and come out from their hiding place, carrying a tired Cassandra who too had returned to her human form, whilst Faris helped Aubrey to his feet.

  They watched Hammersmith and were uncomfortable standing too close to it, Hammersmith roared to the sky and sank to the ground, shrinking and bellowing in pain, the green scales had disappeared only to reveal white skin, the howls turned into wet, rasping breathing, until a teenage naked girl stood in the reptile’s place.

  It was Sabrina, the scales on her arm that she received long ago at the nightclub had mutated and her new form was a grotesque beast of a giant. She too was beaten by Apollo and the guards and remained in her reptilian form during her time in Gommerstall.

  As she wobbled on her feet, Apollo shook his head as he picked himself up from beneath the rocks.