Tower of Paradise

Chapter 10: What’s To Come (2)

POV'S ARCEUS PENDRAGON

The dust storm hit me violently while the thunderous roar made the earth tremble. The air became dense, almost unbreathable.

—Kuheuk!

I coughed violently, feeling the dust entering my lungs. My throat burned, but that was the least of my concerns at that moment. The centipede was lunging at me, and I knew I was going to die.

This is the end, I thought, closing my eyes tightly, waiting to feel the searing pain that never came.

Instead, I felt strong arms wrapping around me, and a woman's soft chest against my face. I knew that embrace, that scent, that warmth.

Mom...

I opened my eyes and looked up, finding her face tense but determined. My heart shrunk when I saw the two scythes —which it had as jaws— so close that I could distinguish the mud pieces stuck to their shiny surface.

My mother fell face down with me in her arms, barely avoiding the blow that could have killed us both.

But that moment of calm lasted barely a breath. Reality was much crueler: we were lying on the ground, completely vulnerable, and a huge blade was suspended above us like a guillotine ready to fall.

I saw the exact moment when my mother realized our situation. Without hesitation, she rolled to one side with me still in her arms.

The sound of the blade hitting the ground was deafening, causing small tremors that I felt down to my bones.

If she had taken one second longer... I didn't want to finish that thought.

Adelaide tried to stand up, but the blade swung towards us like a deadly whip. My heart stopped when, instead of dodging, my mother used her own back to cushion the blow.

I heard her muffled groan of pain, and felt how her body tensed around mine as we were sent flying through the air.

Why, mom? Why do you sacrifice yourself like this for me? The questions tormented me as we flew through the air.

I saw how she prepared her body for impact, protecting me with every fiber of her being.

The impact against the rocks was brutal, but she rolled with mastery, dispersing the force of the impact while keeping me safe against her chest.@@@@

I screamed with all my might, refusing to abandon her. I saw the pain cross her face, mixed with guilt that reflected my own.

That's when I noticed it: drops of blood near her feet. My mother was wounded.

Rage invaded me, an anger so intense that it burned inside. It was an indescribable feeling, more terrible than anything I had experienced in my short life.

In the next instant, the space where we had been was destroyed by the monster. My mother's arms moved at a speed that my eyes could barely follow.

Was I dead?

That was all I could think when my small body didn't even register the moment the centipede accelerated.

I watched in horror as Adelaide was violently thrown backward, the sound of her arms breaking and her ribs cracking was forever etched in my memory.

Before I could do anything, the sharp tip of a scythe hit her in the chest with the force of a siege ram. The force of the blow was enough to make her rib cage cave in and send her body flying through the air like a rag doll.

I struggled to stand up, my entire body protesting against every movement.

When had I fallen?

My mother had knocked me down when they threw her backward, but the shock had prevented me from realizing it at that moment.

My mind worked at full speed while evaluating the situation: she had managed to defend herself once, but it was painfully obvious that she couldn't do it again.

I turned my head and saw her... my heart stopped for a moment. Somehow, my mother lay on the ground, her body twisted at an unnatural angle.

Something wasn't right, I observed how she struggled to breathe. A dark, thick liquid flowed from her mouth, and horror invaded me when I realized it was blood.

She's choking... my mother was choking on her own blood.

Tears blurred my vision while I watched how the person I loved most in the world sacrificed herself for me. The pain in my chest was unbearable, as if each of my mother's broken bones was a dagger stabbing into my heart.

Everything was too real, too cruel.

I saw her try to move, her limbs barely responding to her commands. It was like watching a puppet with cut strings, and each of her weak movements tore my soul apart.

The centipede's strength had been devastating, and the cruel reality hit me like a hammer: winning wasn't even an option in this battle.