Something horrible happened as Rodrick and Hansel entered the alley. While the Miakkyra they were chasing waited for them, another just like it jumped from the roof and landed in front of Victor and Sam, cutting them off from the others. “It was a trap!”
The beast in the alley dodged Rodrick’s running blow with the hatchet and knocked him hard against the wall. Hansel was given more luck, and stabbed the enemy in the back, causing it to raise its arms and howl like a savage wolf. As Rodrick recovered he took yet another glass vial from his coat. When the perfume shattered against the creature’s pale skin it began to boil and blister, and it fell writhing to the dirt. “Is that your only weapon against these things?” said Hansel.
“Sometimes some strong perfume is all you need!” Rodrick replied. “Now, we must kill it before it recovers!”
“Help me!” Samantha’s cry suddenly rang from afar. Victor was nor faring well against the other Miakkyra, and having thrown the boy aside, it now began its pursuit of Sam.
Hansel watched this and then looked to Rodrick for guidance. “Go!” said the Slayer. “She needs you more than I!”
Hansel helped Victor to his feet and together they rushed to Samantha’s aid, as she was now in desperate flight. The chase took them to a newly developed part of the town where many incomplete buildings were hugged and held up by towers of wooden scaffolds; Sam had stumbled into a deadly maze but she knew she couldn’t not hide, so she began to climb. Higher and higher she went until she stood on the windy roof of an unfinished church. The Miakkyra stood at the bottom and gazed up. Sam felt dizzy just looking at it. “Oh goodness gracious!” she cried, as the enemy took hold of the scaffold and hurled itself up, creeping like a spider towards her.
It was clear to Victor that he would not make in time, but on the edge of misery an idea came to him, from the sledgehammer on the ground and the way the scaffold wavered against the wind. “Sam, get off the scaffold!”
“What are you doing?” Hansel said, as Victor placed the heavy hammer in his hands.
“Destroy the base of the scaffold on that side,” he explained. He propped himself against the right side and pushed. Hansel shrugged and smashed one of the wooden beams with the hammer. The scaffold groaned and trembled. “Again!” The other beam was knocked down and the scaffold leaned heavily to the left.
Unfortunately, Victor had not considered the neighbouring building; it was empty of course, but the destruction was great as the tumbling scaffold collided with that of the other building. Together they crumbled under a cloud of uplifted dust and debris. Victor watched the display in terror. “Rodrick is going to kill me!”
But Samantha was now safe, thanks to his doing, and when they dug through the rubble they eventually found the Miakkyra buried and lifeless. The creature had at last been slain.
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