48

Felicia’s face darkened when she was informed that the leader of the Evil forces had somehow managed to vanish.

“I’m sure she escaped during the commotion of the battle,” she said. “But I’ve known Claudia a long time and she would never just lay down her arms and retreat. She must have another plan in mind.”

“Like what?” Leiko asked.

“I’m afraid that she’s lurking somewhere near Domus, waiting for the chance to steal the Flame and release the Titans. Perhaps the whole battle was no more than a decoy. We can never know what Claudia has in store for us, if she is actually alive and waiting.”

At that moment, a breathless General Hunter rushed in. “Princess, Claudia has killed the guards, grabbed the Flame and is now running towards the Gorgons’ lair! She intends to create some sort of portal by using the Flame in order to go to Tartarus and set the Titans free!”

“I’ll go!” It was Turgoth, who had appeared suddenly, immediately leaping onto Pegasus without waiting for Felicia to answer, and disappearing from their sight.

He arrived seconds later outside the Gorgons’ lair. All was still and silent as he carefully made his way through the entrance, wincing at the unpleasant odour of mould that seeped up from the depths below on slow moving clouds of spores. The dark path he was on split into other smaller paths, making it harder to follow.

He took a deep breath and walked further into the stinking blackness ahead. A terrible coldness seeped into him as he travelled farther from the sun and light. Occasional movements in the stale air brushed against his skin, making even him jump with surprise. Darkness as thick as black fog wrapped itself around him. The walls were no more than damp dirt, the same as the ground that he could feel beneath his feet. The place was one huge catacomb filled with corners, steep grades and slopes.

He crossed several openings. Some were small and forced him to crouch in order to pass through them, while others were high enough to allow a monster entry. His inability to see made the minutes seem like hours. As he stumbled on, he felt invisible hands brushing against his skin, but when he went to grab them there was nothing there. Occasionally, he touched something soft and repulsive before it slid silently from his grasp but he could not see anything in the darkness surrounding him.

“If Claudia has the Sacred Flame in her hands, then she will already be virtually invincible,” he thought, but still, he pressed on because there was now no alternative.

Eventually, a faint glow penetrated the darkness and he found himself being led by the maze into a large circular cave. A silent, frozen army of stalagmites and stalactites surrounded him and as his eyes accustomed themselves to the gloom, he realised that Claudia was standing among them, as still as a rock.

“Turgoth!” she growled. “At last! Now, you will know what terror really feels like. The Sacred Flame of the White Sun is mine now and once I have dealt with you, I will be giving the Titans back their freedom, as this had always been my plan.”

Turgoth realised that the flickering light in the room was emanating from the Flame that she held captive in her hand like a trophy.

“The Titans will betray you,” he said calmly. “All they want is to kill the Gods and destroy all of their worlds.”

“It is you who have betrayed me!” she screamed, the rush of her foul breath making the Flame dance. “And now you shall die!”

“Give up, Claudia,” he commanded. “You stand no chance!”

She laughed sarcastically, genuinely amused that even a King should think he could defeat the powers of the Flame.

“It’s too late for your bravado now,” she roared. “It is you who doesn’t stand a chance against me. I possess the Flame of the White Sun and I can easily defeat you and all the others! I am so looking forward to the moment when I will strangle your sweet, precious Rebecca’s neck with my own hands and feel her life drain away.”

Turgoth let out a bellow of rage and threw himself at her, unable to control his temper a moment longer. With a twisted smile of triumph, she stepped to one side with such speed that he hurtled past her, propelled by the terrible animal force of his own anger into a jagged stalactite behind her, thus cutting himself on the sharp spikes of the rock.

Her derisive laugh rang in his ears and he heard the sound of her unsheathing her sword, feeling it enter his shoulder before he felt the pain. Dazed from his injuries, he forced himself to roll out of the way before she brought the sword down again to deliver her final blow. It struck the rock with a jarring clang that shook her to the core, forcing her to lose her grip on the Flame for a second. As the Flame fell to the floor, the shadows of the cave danced into different shapes and, for a moment, Claudia was confused. Turgoth leaped quickly from one stalactite to another as she desperately stooped and grabbed back her fallen prize.

Drawing his sword despite the pain, he attacked her as she was bent over with a ferocity that had never been seen before, not even in the kingdom of the wild animals. He jumped on her and, with one blow, he nailed his sword into her right arm and then into the left, so that she dropped both her sword and the Flame.

Claudia recoiled in shock, allowing the King another second in which to gather his power to deliver one more mighty blow - this time, ripping open her belly. Despite the damage he had inflicted, she drew back, seeming to rise to double her previous height before launching herself at him once more, coming down like a fire breathing dragon. Turgoth thrust his sword upward into her exposed throat.

With a blood-chilling scream, she fell on top of him with her whole weight, pinning him to the ground and tearing into him with her teeth and claws like a wild cat destroying its prey, her black blood mixing with the red that flowed from his wounds. Holding the Flame had given her even more strength and stamina than she had had as a mere demon leader. With her weight still on top of him, he felt his own strength ebbing beneath the demonic force of her attack as she tore into his flesh, biting off great chunks.

When she felt him losing his strength beneath her onslaught, she seized the opportunity to climb off him and grab the Flame once more, mustering all her remaining strength for the task of liberating the Titans. From where he lay on the ground, panting for breath, Turgoth could do nothing but watch as she turned towards the depths of the maze and hobbled away to open the secret portal. But suddenly, she began to stumble, knocking the Flame against the walls and making it dance and gutter, its light illuminating the terrible wounds that had been inflicted on her in the fight.

Mustering the last of his own strength, the King pulled himself up onto his feet and gave chase. She was slowing down, her legs giving way beneath her and was on the verge of dropping the Flame when he finally managed to catch up and grab it from her. He could immediately feel the power of the Flame seeping back into him, as surely as he could see the strength seeping out of Claudia, as she crumpled in front of him.

“The power of the White Sun is now back in our hands,” he cried. “Return to Hell, where you came from!”

Lifting his sword with the renewed strength of the Flame within him, he brought it down on her already wounded neck and severed her head completely, falling back against the wall and panting as he watched her shrink to a pile of ashes and vanish at his feet.