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The figure walks to the third waterfall and dives This time he makes a massive splash when he hits the pool We can see the ripple on the surface of the water as he moves towards Six under water Then the tip of his axe coiant head Six doesn’t flinch, doesn’t change expression at all, even when he’s fully eed and stands at least four feet taller than her in the shalloater at the edge of the lake
With a grunt and a howl, the giant swings the axe Six leaps out of the way but before he can pull back, she kicks at the wooden handle, breaking it in half
‘Way to go, Six!’ Ella yells
The giant swings a fist at her, which she easily avoids with a bob and a weave With the next beat, she lands a quick kick to his kneecap As the giant bends over and howls in pain, Six grabs the end of the broken ax handle as it floats by and swings it at his head The being disappears before it hits hi her head around wildly, on the alert for any kind of reappearance
Co to ry ‘That was another test, which you passed There is one more’
Before anyone can speak, we hear a roar I reel back with horror at the creature I see e from the water It’s over ten feet tall and has the head of a lion and the body of a man It has five muscular arms flexed at each of its sides The creature shakes the water from its mane as it steps onto the shore anda second roar
‘Oh My God,’ Ella says, mouth open and eyes wide
‘No,’ Crayton says, stepping in front of Ella ‘You’re not ready for this – it’s too much’
Ella rests a hand on Crayton’s arm A small smile breaks across Ella’s face and she seeht ‘It’s okay I can do this’
Six coht if Ella needs us The creature lasses back onto her face Then, it attacks
The creature swings all ten arms at Ella, but she ducks and avoids each one It’s as if Ella sees every punch before it happens The tree behind her ends up taking the beating Large chunks of wood fly around her, hitting the creature’s face, bouncing off its chest Not running away but not fighting back either, Ella circles the tree trunk, continuing to dodge the ten fists The tree is getting pummeled
Suddenly, Ella screaure out what Ella means, there’s a loud crack and the heavy tree trunk tips forward It’s about to crush the creature when the figure disappears just like all the others As the tree continues its fall to the ground, a branch swipes the dark glasses off Ella’s face and they are crushed by a huge tree branch ‘Marina, I’ to be broken, but I couldn’t do anything to stop it’
Crayton, Six, and I run over to Ella, who’s staring in horror at the fraglasses by her feet ‘Ella! Don’t worry about the glasses You held your own and that thing disappeared What’s important is that you’re okay I’m so proud of you,’ I tell her
‘Ella, that was aratulations,’ the co calmly, Buddha-like ‘You have just defeated three of Vishnu’s avatars You’ve passed his test The first was Kurma, a half man, half tortoise who churned the ancient ocean so that other peaceful gods could regain immortality The man with the axe was Parashurama, the first warrior saint The last was one of the most powerful incarnations of Vishnu, the man-lion, Narismha Noait Vishnu’s arrival’
‘We’re done waiting,’ says Crayton, turning to the commander, jaw set and fists clenched by his side ‘He better show himself and fast’
‘Chill, chill, chill,’ a boy’s voice says, erass behindcautious’
Frorasssee the statue of Vishnu step towards us, alive and s ti on a e in the back of a small truck My hands are cuffed to the chair and my ankles are secured with heavy shackles A strap of leather pulls las wall behindthe side of the truck, but can turn e, a few feet away fro us I know I could freein ht We need to see what they know and how it could help us Ninethe binds that hold hi There are a bunch of locks on our cages and the only e can talk through the thick Plexiglas is through the eight tiny holes in the cage doors The truck’s engine is running, but we haven’ton a long metal bench near the front of the truck She has one foot on adorian cannon lies across her lap Thenext to her with the other cannon Walker is whispering into a cell phone Every so often she glances over at us I can al words like boyfriend and powerless I re back in theup more than I auard turns towards Nine’s cage and ainores him ‘Johnny! When do you want to roll on out of here? I don’t know about you, but I’e of scenery’ He does enjoy pissing people off I’ent Walker closes her phone and pinches the bridge of her nose with her fingers She looks like an aggravated parent or teacher, her exhaustion wiping away a lot of her authority Then she takes a deep breath and sits up straight, as if she’sthe driver should start
She stands andherself with the cannon over her head She co in her eyes that wasn’t there before It’s alht us Or she’s sorry about what she has to do next Or both