Chapter 12

Maximus had never held such a weapon like this in his life. The thing was humming slightly and when he held it he just knew that it could do some damage. With new found confidence he charged at the manticore. He aimed for one of the back legs and as he slashed he expected to cut off the entire leg, but sadly things didn't exactly go according to plan, and even though the blade made a huge slash in the armour it wasn't quite enough to slow it down; never mind cutting the entire foot off. What it did manage to do was get the manticore's attention, and it turned to bear its bloody teeth at Maximus. Its roar alone pushed him back a few steps. Rex tried to help but he was in no shape to even get up, much less try to take on a manticore. He managed to land his hammer on to one of its knees, but a casual swat with the manticore's tail sent him flying. Soon, he was on the ground unconscious. Maximus was still able to dodge its shots –with its size the claws were much slower than Maximus. The tail on the other hand moved like a whip. The only reason it hadn't turned Maximus into a human shiskabab was the fact that it was too large not to see coming. But he knew it would end soon, he could feel his body tiring. Also, the Manticore had pushed him into a corner. Maximus couldn't run anymore, he just didn't have the energy. He was down on one knee and he stared up to see the manticore's tail aimed right at him. He knew he couldn't dodge it this time. He knew this time it would kill him. Only a miracle could save him now. And the miracle came in the form of a blue slash.

Just when the tail had been above the manticore's head a blinding beam of blue light shot forward in the shape of a crescent. The tail was slashed right off and the acid-like poison started spilling everywhere, and most of it was landing on the manticore itself. Maximus ran for cover from the rain of poison that was spilling around him. The manticore started to roar again, only this time it was in pain. It began scrambling around, confused, trying to find what had brought it such pain. And then it found him. Because walking towards the now tailless manticore was the hooded man. And in his hand was his sword, but this time it was significantly bluer. There was a blue energy surrounding the blade, but unlike Max's sword, which merely had energy around it, this one was enveloped in it. It was almost as if the entire blade was covered in an enormous blue flame. Only the hilt of the blade was spared. Maximus knew now from where the crescent shaped blast had come. But now, what he really wanted to know, was what kind of monster that man was.

The man charged at the manticore. But even without its tail the Manticore was still a fearsome beast. It tried to slash the man with its front claw. The man, instead of dodging it decided to block it, which would have been impossible with an ordinary sword. But the man not only blocked the claw but he also thrust his blade further. Soon the claw lay beside him on the ground. Another roar of pain came from the monster. In its struggle some of the acid spewing from its tail landed on the man's cloak, and it began to burn it away. The man then finally decided to throw away his cloak and hood, and Maximus saw that he was wearing black armour underneath it. Maximus couldn't help but feel that he had seen that armour before, but he couldn't quite place it –and he still hadn't gotten a good look at his face. It seemed impossible now because the cloak seemed to have been really slowing him down. However, now that he had got rid of it he was moving like a blur, and the manticore was making sure that he didn't stand still for long. But the man easily dodged and blocked all of the monster's attacks. By now the entire floor was filled with acid, but it didn't seem to have any effect on the armour, although it did manage to burn away the wraps around his legs. That was when Maximus saw it. The man's left leg was bionic. His left leg ended at the knee and from there on it was an artificial leg made of metal. That's when it hit Maximus, and suddenly he knew why the armour looked so familiar, the armour that did not cover the left leg. But that's impossible Maximus thought to himself – he was supposed to be dead.

The man had finally found an opening with the manticore. When the beast tried to take a bite out of him the man ducked under its head and was now below the manticore's stomach. Maximus realized what he was doing. The underbelly of the manticore had no armour, it was its weak spot. Right then, the man thrust his sword upward into the beast's belly and with a final slash ripped a gaping hole in its stomach. Blood spewed from the wound. And the manticore was dead before its body hit the ground.

For a moment Maximus thought that the man was trapped under the corpse. But then he saw the man walking up to him, putting away his now normal- looking sword. He came right up to Maximus and said, "Just because you get a powerful weapon, does not mean you know how to use it, kid." Maximus was trembling now worse than when he had seen the manticore. After all, Achilles had just called him 'kid'.