Chapter 44 – Heartache

The gecko sized up the three intruders that had awoken it from its slumber.

Irritation at being prodded awake by Adam's dagger was apparent in its ferocious gaze.

If its thoughts could be put into words then it would be something along the lines of 'Puny creatures! What gave you the audacity to intrude upon my lair? Die!'

Adam on the other side was sweating buckets. The fight had barely begun and he had already lost 1 of his 6 weapons. Not to mention the fact that his weapon's barely harmed the creature and was more of a nutritious snack to the thing.

'This is not good from any angle. Screw it. Go all in and find a way.' Adam thought. The gap in strength was too large. Any small tricks he could play to gain an advantage were lost. This was the might of having an overwhelming advantage.

He and the girls were now attentively watching every move of the monster.

Luna condensed 3 balls of water that quickly froze into ice and they went forward and hit the head of the monster. The fight had been initiated.

Frost began forming on the maw of the creature.

An enraged hiss left its mouth and its four feet scuttled. The gecko was unfazed by gravity as it circled up and down on the floor and ceiling to arrive atop Elaine and Adam that stood in the front.

Adam was shocked. What was this speed? This creature was almost as fast as him even with its humongous body.

Not allowing any more time to think the gecko pulled out one of its four limbs that came smacking down like a thick whip.

Elaine reacted. Her shield went up and met the five padded fingers that came down from atop in a swinging motion.

Thwap!

The metal on the shield rang with a resounding voice. Elaine's feet that were dug into the ground were pushed back almost 5 feet from the residual force and 2 long lines of her feet carving the hard rock as she was pushed back could be seen.

Black glossy blood splattered on the shield and Elaine's face. Completely overshadowing the brilliant purple of the metal.

'Its pads on its limbs are its weak point! That's where its skin is the thinnest.' Adam leapt and his two daggers slashed at the monster limb that was still in its swing.

2 slashes ran across the fingers pads of the gecko. His blades could not penetrate past the bone.

More blood sprayed and sprinkled down as the monster quickly pulled back its limb.

Hissss!

The monster never expected to be injured by these small creatures that it considered as nothing but pests.

Luna cast an earth territorial spell. Rocks jutted out from the ceiling and hit the underbelly of the gecko.

This was not harmful at all to the gecko normally but with one of its limbs incapable of being used to hold on to the ceiling, the monster was already very uncomfortable with staying on it.

With a twist of its body in midair, the gecko landed on the floor. A cloud of dust was kicked up from the immense weight.

Adam and Elaine would have been pulverised because they were right underneath the gecko but Luna cast her wind territorial skill to push the two. They used this momentum to escape the gruesome death by crushing.

Taking advantage of the cloud of dust, The three changed positions. Luna increased her distance from the creature as much as possible while Adam and Elaine stayed close to each other acting as a gate that would not allow the monster to pass.

The dust settled.

The gecko looked around for a bit to find its targets. Realizing that its targets were now behind it, its tail swept out in an arc toward the two front guards.

The tip of the tail was as fast as lightning but the wider portion's of it really slowed down the total momentum of the swing.

The two easily dodged the tail and closed the distance. A hind leg came to intercept but Elaine's shield was there again. She was pushed back and Adam continued stepping forward. Hoping to slice the exposed leg.

The gecko was not an unintelligent monster like the goblins. It had suffered under his blades once and knew it would be targetted again. It did not mind the shield as it's horns were small and didn't hurt much but the blades cut deep.

Without warning its body agilely twisted and turned in an incomprehensible fashion. Its spine was like a rubber ruler that had been contorted.

What Adam faced now was the slightly frozen maw of the creature that once again opened and it was aimed at his arm. The monster was hell-bent on chewing it off.

Its speed was swift but Adam was swifter. Just like last time, he had to sacrifice his dagger but he would be able to get away.

The gecko as stated before was not one to fall for a trick twice. In its throat, a soft glowing light could be seen if looked at closely. The bumps on its whole body began glowing a yellow that was slowly turning tangerine.

Adam had enhanced sensory and immediately noticed these changes but it was too late.

Magma spewed out of the creature's mouth and sprayed on his retreating forearm.

Adam had his sleeves up to his elbow and as such received the magma with his bare skin at that part.

The gear was able to withstand the magma as long as it was wiggled off quickly.

His skin was not so fortunate. Severe burns that almost exposed his bones were visible. His arm most definitely had been put out of commission in this exchange.

"Young master!" Both girls screamed in anguish.

Elaine completely lost her cool, she rushed up and her shield bashed into the left eye of the monster that was still spewing magma

Luna condensed 5 balls of ice that attacked the tail that was coming back for a sweep. Frost condensed and slowed down the tail. The tangerine bumps on its tail were slowly melting the frost but that would take a few seconds. This gave the two at the front enough time to sidestep the attack.

Her other hand that didn't hold the staff pointed to Adam and a white soft glowing light was released. The light bathed him in its soothing embrace and his arm recovered a bit. Enough to ensure that he wouldn't lose his arm and allow him to move it slightly.

Adam with his right arm dangling had his mind race. In that second, hours seemed to pass. Seeing the frost and the orange bumps on its tail tussle, He had an image flash through his mind.

"Luna! Freeze all the bumps on its back!" He yelled.

Luna who had already gone berserk began condensing one ball of ice after another that continuously rained down on the back of the contorted gecko. No regard for her depleting magic power reserves.

Elaine's brute strength should not be underestimated. Right then she had put her whole force into that slam. The monster had been able to avoid its eye being pierced by the horns by closing its eyelid but the blunt force had rocked its head.

Dizziness rocked its senses. For the next few seconds, the monster most probably would not be able to tell up from down so it maintained its stance, unmoving.

Elaine took this opportunity to climb onto the head of the monster as balls of ice rained down all over its back and tail. With a crouching jump, the girl propelled herself higher in the air.

She came down like a comet. Placing her shield under her knees, the shield aimed at the flat top of the gecko's head in between its two rounded eyes.

She knew Adam had come up with a plan. Now her only job was to stall for time. Seeing her first shield bash being efficient enough to daze the monster she thought of this stunt.

The alarm and pain they felt when they saw Adam's arm had led to this crazed situation. Everything happened in the span of a few breaths.

Adam ran around slashing incessantly with his one able arm.

He slashed the head, tail, underbelly… Basically, any part that was open was being slashed. He was looking for another weakness.

Bam! BAM!

Elaine's shield connected with the head of the creature and then the creatures head was pushed into the rocky floor.

The whole room rumbled as if an earthquake had occurred.

Hisss! Hisss! Hisss!

If the gecko at first did not want to open its eyes because it was afraid of having the shield bash into it, then now even with its eyes open all its saw was darkness.

That shield had directly struck its head with enough force to ram its head into the ground. It would've been a miracle if it didn't receive trauma to its senses.

The creature went berserk. Its limbs and tail flailed while its head snapped left and right with it chomping and spewing magma all over the place.

Elaine was thrown off the head and landed with a heavy thud almost 5 metres away on a wall. The monster had pushed her off with so much force that she was embedded into the stone wall and her mouth spewed a mist of blood.

Adam was struck by a wild limb and almost had his other hand break.

He retreated after successfully blocking that one hit.

Luna continued to bombard the exposed back of the creature with balls of ice that would shatter and form frost on the whole back and tail of the creature.

The Tangerine bumps on its back were the only thing that was keeping the frost at bay and melting it.

A pool of water was forming at the feet of the gecko that mixed with the blood from its feet. Its blood was like tar and the monster began losing grip and falling over every once in a while. Unable to Advance.

Realizing that it could not move conventionally the gecko began bouncing around the room, hoping to squish the pests that had enraged it to such an extent.

Elaine was able to move by herself albeit with a bit of difficulty. The only problem was Luna who was exhausting herself to cast spells. She needed to maintain complete concentration to continue on in her effort.

Adam ran up to her and knelt down.

The girl understood his intention and putting one arm around his neck and her feet around his waist she clung to him. Her other arm held her staff as she waved it around casting her spells.

With Luna on his back, Adam began running around to escape the frenzied pouncing of the creature. His one capable arm supporting Luna by her bottom. Ensuring that she wouldn't slip off.

Rumble. Rumble. Rumble.

The ground continued vibrating every time the gecko landed.

Crack!

When the gecko landed this time a resounding crack was heard in the entire room.

A huge crack ran down along the back of the gecko on its hide.

"That's it. Luna, you can stop now. Elaine pass me your shield! Luna, I need your staff." Adam yelled. This was what he had been waiting for.

Luna passed her staff over, disembarked from his back and started avoiding the rampage of the gecko by herself.

"My shield is stuck on its head!" Elaine Pointed at the monsters head. Adam followed her finger and sure enough, the shield had been stuck into the monsters head. It would be beyond hard to retrieve it.

'What do I do now?' He needed the shield. His daggers would not cut it for what he had in mind.

"Give me your breastplate!" Adam improvised.

"What?!" Elaine was shocked.

"Just do it! quick!" Adam did not have the time to explain to her.

She took off her purple breastplate and tossed it over to him.

Woosh!

Like the wind, Adam pushed off the ground. He moved faster than he had ever before. With the breastplate and staff in hand he arrived above the spine of the monster with a leap and using the breastplate he began whacking the semi-frozen hide of the monster while his barely functional hand swung the staff up and down.

With each whack came the crystalline sound of cracking.

Within a minute the monster had regained its eyesight but it was too late.

It whole back lay exposed with no skin protecting parts of it. It organs could be seen beating and squishing around inside. The brittle skin of its hide lay all around its feet. Some pieces frozen and others like warm flat rocks.

There was no way this monster could survive any longer.

The fact that it could still stand in this condition was a testament to its robust body.

Two black daggers like the scythe of a death reaper came slashing down and cut into the two beating hearts of this creature.

The monster was slain.