Well, this isn’t ideal. That thing is incredibly dangerous at close range… and most of our group are frontline fighters.

  I mean… technically petrification can be cured… but not if you get shattered or broken. And given everything that is going on right now, I doubt the statues would remain intact for long. We’d have to get them somewhere safe… and carrying a heavy stone statue through the streets right now would not be helpful… especially since we are also carrying that injured monk and have a bunch of kids with us now.

  Chenowith: “Child, can you freeze that thing?”

  Johnny: “It’s too big for me to freeze outright. I’ll have to cover it in water first.”

  Chenowith: “We can work with that. You try to soak the thing. Dwynfel, focus on the imps. You two, make sure nothing interrupts the boy. I shall hold its attention.

  Shit… there are still at least ten of those flying fucks. I took up position a few steps to the side of Johnny and started picking the annoying little imps out of the sky. Wu and the hammer guy were batting away anything that got close to either of us.

  Johnny flung a large water ball at the cockatrice, it flapped its wing and the wind force deflected the water ball, which splatted on the floor.

  Chenowith: “Melt the wall so I can distract it.”

  Johnny: “I can’t melt it. I can only shatter it.”

  Chenowith: “Do it!”

  Johnny held his hand out in the direction of the wall. His hand started to shake, as though under strain.

  Johnny: “Raise your shield!”

  Chenowith hid behind his shield as a large crack appeared in the wall underneath the cockatrice. It flapped its wings and just as the wall shattered it lowered itself to the ground. The ice flew everywhere… some in large slabs… some in small shards. The imps had flown up high to evade it and Johnny was able to divert most of the ice around us so that we weren’t hit by anything significant. Chenowith however… he took the brunt of it.

  Even though most of him had been protected by his shield… a shard of ice had still damaged his foot and he had been heavily knocked back. He shook his foot briefly before stepping forward towards the cockatrice. He raised his sword and shield once more… beckoning the cockatrice towards him.

  One good thing about cockatrices is that they aren’t exactly known for their intelligence. It is probably due to the whole having the brain of a cockerel thing. Cockerels are generally pretty stupid creatures. Whilst a dragon or a wyvern would have continued to be wary of Johnny, the cockatrice focussed solely on Chenowith. It charged head first into his shield, flailing its wings and pecked viciously at him.

  The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

  I appreciate that the term pecking doesn’t exactly sound threatening… but as somebody who has spent most of his life on a farm with chickens… I can tell you that having your shins pecked bloody well hurts… so imagine the beak being as big as your head… being pecked by that thing is going to hurt.

  As it continued to ram into his shield, I shot three imps out of the sky and Johnny welled up another water ball. This time, the cockatrice didn’t see the water coming and the ball exploded all over the giant bird. It let out an awful screech and turned towards Johnny, kicking Chenowith over in the process.

  Wu: “Freeze it!”

  Johnny: “I’m trying!”

  It flapped its wing in our direction and a slew of feathers shot out. I was a suitable distance away from where it was aiming to be able to sidestep the feathers… Johnny was not. Wu stepped in between Johnny and the cockatrice and with a flick of her billhook was able to deflect most of the feathers. Unfortunately, one of the feathers imbedded in her left calf.

  Wu: “Shit!”

  She pulled the feather out of her leg and stood up tall.

  Johnny: “Oh gods.”

  Wu: “Focus!”

  Johnny placed his hands on the ground and the ground started to freeze in front of him. The ice travelled along towards the cockatrice. It decided to charge him… and as it did, the imps decided to take another run at us. The hammer guy stepped in and started batting the imps away and I was able to take out another two. As the cockatrice reached the icy ground its claws began to freeze… but it had built up so much momentum that it continued to advance… breaking the ice with each step. It got closer and closer to Johnny.

  Through the gaps in her armour, I could see that Wu’s leg was now grey up to the knee. She was determined to slow the thing down. She raised her billhook and threw it at the cockatrice. It spun in the air until one of the spikes lodged in the beast’s chest. The injury caused it to hesitate. It stumbled and reeled in response, causing it to lose its momentum, allowing the ice to take hold. In a matter of seconds, the beast was a towering block of ice.

  The few remaining imps once again flew away… clearly perturbed by the defeat of the cockatrice. The hammer guy looked at me.

  Knight 3: “You have explosives in that bag?”

  I reached into my satchel, removed my last explosive flask, and handed it to him.

  Dwynfel: “Here.”

  He threw it directly at the cockatrice’s chest and the icy beast exploded into a hundred pieces.

  Knight 3: “Won’t be a problem when it thaws now.”

  Wu: “Nice job, kid.”

  She turned… hobbled towards Johnny and put a comforting hand on his shoulder. Chenowith rushed over.

  Chenowith: “How long have you got?”

  Wu: “It was only one small feather. It’s spreading slow. I reckon I can make it a street or two if we hurry.”

  Chenowith: “Then we move. Now!

  Johnny should not be wearing trousers. He hates them, that's why he always wears a skirt. But ya know... AI sucks and doesn't listen to instructions.