Jacob’s world fell down around him. The feeling of numbness was just as powerful as the return of sensation, if not more so. His body now sluggish, he almost froze in a stupor of thought. Another burst of warmth flooded over him—Early must have given him extra juice—and his thoughts became crisp again.
The outline of the dinosaur reappeared—much, much larger than what he and his friends had been fighting. Jacob looked up. The bright red emotion was twenty feet, at least, in the air. Why had it looked so short and weak before?
Then it dawned on him—there were six traps, not five. The very last trap wasn’t the loss of hearing. It was their senses being distorted. Everything they felt and saw was a lie. They’d been given a false sense of superiority and in turn, it made them much more vulnerable.
The dinosaur advanced on him and he backed up quickly. The sensation of falling hit him—he must have walked into a pit of some sort. He felt it when he landed—he was no longer standing. Jumping to his feet again, he hefted his arms—his right was heavier than the left. Good. He still had his sword. He drew a little power from Early—not too much—and molded the air around him with his left hand, creating another shield.
The dinosaur pounced at him, pushing him to the ground with the force of the strike.
“How do I defeat it?” he yelled, getting to his feet and dodging the next attack.
The emotions of the Shiengols in the fortress didn’t change, and there was no response.
Jacob swung his sword at the Cerpire’s leg. As expected, it didn’t do anything to the beast. “Come on, Shiengols! I know it was you!”
One of the colors burned redder.
“Oh, sure! You’re angry about this? Me demanding help instead of you offering it? Ridiculous!”
Several of the other emotions changed to a bright red.
He backed away from the Cerpire, holding the shield in place, repairing the damage the beast had done to it. He was careful with the amount of power he pulled from Early. He couldn’t have her go unconscious—that would be really bad.
The dinosaur lunged, and Jacob barely got out of the way. It was so tall, it hurt his neck to look up at it, and he had to keep an eye on the long forearms as well as the huge jaws.
The Cerpire bit at the shield again. Jacob repaired it. He couldn’t do this forever. He ran between the creature’s legs, banged into something hard—probably a wall—and fell to the ground, then rolled to avoid being hit by the long tail he could barely see.
Jacob jumped up, whirling to face the Cerpire.
He decided to try a different tactic with the Shiengols.
“You obviously want out of the fortress—otherwise, you wouldn’t have helped me earlier. I’m the only one who can get you out. So, I ask again. How do I defeat the Cerpire?”
No response, then finally, The side, below the arm, is the soft place.
Relief—along with some irritation at how petty the Shiengols were—flooded over Jacob. “Thank you!”
He realized this would probably be the only help he’d receive from the temperamental creatures, so he put them out of his mind and concentrated on the task at hand. The spot they’d mentioned was fifteen feet high. How would he get up there, especially without his vision and the sense of touch?
The Cerpire batted him with its long arms, and Jacob again dodged the attacks.
He raised his sword and charged the dinosaur, running between its legs at the last minute. Knowing it wouldn’t work again if he failed, he let the shield flick away and grabbed the creature’s tail, then pulled himself up. He hung on as the beast whipped around, trying to find him. He couldn’t feel his sword in his hand, but knew it was still there by the weight on his arm.
Jacob climbed, making sure he kept the fingers of his right hand tight, hopefully around the sword’s handle.
The Cerpire figured out where he’d gone and flipped its tail back and forth, but by then, Jacob had already reached the beast’s mid-section. He held on as tightly as possible, inching farther whenever he could.
Finally, he made it high enough. His first attempt to stab the Cerpire failed, and he nearly dropped the sword. The creature tried to knock him away, but he held on. The dinosaur’s emotions were so bright, Jacob would have shut his eyes if he’d had his normal vision. The red swirled around, confusing him.
A spot on his shoulder heated up—Early! Yes! He didn’t even realize she’d released her magic from earlier.
A violent tremor passed through the creature. Had it just roared? Jacob didn’t know, but he was glad he couldn’t hear.
He told his left fingers to hold on to whatever they could find. It was impossible to know if they’d grabbed anything, but he didn’t fall, so they probably had. He swung the sword as hard as he could with his other arm. It met some resistance at first, then a sucking sensation reverberated through the handle to Jacob’s arm, and the sword drove faster for a moment before abruptly stopping. Jacob knew he’d reached his mark, and he cringed at the idea.
Nothing happened.
Then Jacob felt himself falling. The Cerpire flickered in and out of view underneath him. An immense jolt shocked him through—they’d hit the ground. He tried to move, but didn’t feel his limbs obey. Had he been trapped somehow? But the Cerpire was under him!
Panic flooded through his mind—he’d be stuck there forever! No one would be able to find him! He pushed the hysteria away when he noticed something about the Cerpire below. With fascination, he watched as its emotions faded slowly. The creature’s outline dissolved along with the bright red, then both disappeared completely. It was dead! It was dead! Yes!
He struggled even harder to move, but something about his position wouldn’t allow him to do so.
All of his sensations were returned with a rush—sight, sound, smell, touch.
Jacob screamed when the pain hit him. It flooded over his whole body, enveloping him like scalding bath water.
He looked down—he’d been slashed across the stomach. And his leg. It was broken. No wonder he couldn’t move! There were gashes on his arms, too. He watched the blood seeping through the fabric of his clothes. He was losing too much blood. He needed help now!
“Hello!” he cried out. “Early? Someone! Help me! I can’t move—I’m hurt! Bad!”
A dizzy spell hit him and everything turned black.