John Jackson - The 9th Fortress

Harmony winced at the petrified face of Napoleon Bonaparte staring back at her. Disgusted, she kicked the head aside then passionately embraced her champion. "I will marry you!" she cried. "Of course I will!"

The cloud of sand settling, the rest of us saw their fused lips and all but John Curtis rejoiced, utterly astonished at the last man standing. "He did it?!" yelled Kat, uncharacteristically leaping. "How could he?"

Prisoners of the 9th Fortress were in similar awe at their windows. Unsure what to make of it, unsure what this would mean for them. It was only when one timidly clapped, when this tense wall began to topple. A second man applauded, followed by another — stronger this time — then another and another until the sound of wonderful ovation dominated the courtyard, a wave of hysteria, praise and wholehearted thanks to one individual, one hero.

The angel and knight returned hand in hand under this overwhelming music, and Eddinray unashamedly milked it for every drop, punching the air with his fists and taking theatrical bows.

I embraced the pair on their arrival, whilst Kat's subtle nod showed his appreciation for Eddinray's efforts. Yuki meanwhile, wearing a brief smile, appeared to be coming alive with every passing second.

"What happens now?" asked Eddinray, casting a satisfied eye over the courtyard. "I enjoy an adoring audience as much as the next fellow, but would it be wise to dwell here?"

"We're not staying." I agreed, tightening the rope around my forearm.

The arched door over my shoulder was our way out, but before I could order a sprint toward it, an abrupt jolt knocked us all to the ground. It was a jarring and unnatural displacement of the earth, some brooding beast pounding from underneath.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

BANG! BANG! BANG!

The crowd of watching thousands and masked hoods scampered from windows and formations — the quake causing our bodies to vibrate as if sat atop an out of control washing machine. This was the warden's furious retribution, and I expected the entire 9th Fortress to fall in on itself at any moment.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

Our bodies were scattered like marbles over the sand, and clinging to one another, Curtis arose my attention to the 9th Fortress, its squirming towers and squiggling spires like the arms of a raving octopus.

"What's it doing?!" he bawled.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

An almighty crack now opened the centre of the courtyard, followed by an explosion and eruption of billowing gas.

"There's something horrible down there!" cried Harmony; she and Eddinray arriving at my side as the words "lurking surprise" flashed into my mind. Napoleon said escape was impossible, and we were about to discover exactly what security measures he had put in place here.

The dust and sediment creating an obscure orange cloud, the courtyard surface resembled shattered treacle as we six ran like mad for the walls. A final crack, like the breaking spine of a Diplodocus, came from that courtyard centre. There was a sudden and huge collapse of earth, and there, from a smoking new crater, the thing climbed free from its cage.

"We should vacate the premises!" gulped Eddinray. "It's…it's…huge!"

I saw it only as a collection of rising skin and bone through the cloud, a body growing like a beanstalk.

"Look at that!" cried Curtis, spotting a hand with fingers longer than all of us combined. That hand made a fist of flesh, and then hammered it down onto the courtyard.

SMASH!

Shock waves hit like an atomic blast, blowing us off our feet in a gale of dust. The Fortress wall put a thumping halt to both my prisoner’s flight and me. We lay dazed but conscious on the broken surface as the monster opened its salivating mouth -

"ME…WANT…BODIES!"

"Alright?" yelled Kat, arriving with wife beside me like a powdered orange ghost. I nodded back then followed them along the wall to the rest of our companions.

"Look!" bawled a boggle-eyed Eddinray. "There!"

The monster stood, free from the crater and clear of any smoke. Easily reaching two hundred feet tall and dressed in shabby rags, it yawned with a jowly face and a mouthful of crooked yellow pincers. Head bald and egg shaped; it had two baggy arms and legs, and a single, all Seeing Eye in the centre of its forehead.

"A Cyclops!" declared Harmony, petrified. "It is!"

The one eyed monster now reached into the crater and removed a pit headed stone club, resembling a miniature moon.

"WHERE'S…ME…BODIES?!" he demanded, its spit coming down like rain.

Worryingly, Kat shunned his katana at the reappearing masked soldiers, a dozen or more coming at us. Kat cut down the four closest, then, with weapons armed and soldiers pursuing, we moved along the edge of the devastated courtyard while the creature's eye adjusted to the new light.

John Curtis stuck like a rucksack between my shoulder blades, screaming as I swung my sword at enemies on route. Ahead, more robots swarmed over our door and exit, leaving us no option but to fight through the lot. Harmony fired several arrows and frustratingly missed all her chosen targets.

"Hateful thing!" she exclaimed at her bow.

"Give me a weapon Fox!" Curtis begged. "Anything!"

"BODIES! WHERE?"

"You hear me Fox? A weapon! Any weapon!"

"I am your weapon!" I howled back, slicing my sword cross the mouth of one foot-soldier.

"He sees us!" yelled Eddinray. "He bloody sees us!"

Adjusted now to his environment, a delighted Cyclops witnessed his many bodies rushing along the courtyard edges; and making no distinction between friend or foe, he demolished his club through a collection of hoods, bursting them to blots of blood and cloth.

"SMASH BODIES!" he boomed. "SMASH! SMASH! SMASH YOU!"

The freckle-cheeked giant was in ecstasy, like a child let loose on the parents ornaments, his club collided into the 9th Fortress to send chunks flying out of the structure. The eternal prison wobbled like a tower of jelly but remained steadfast under his barrage.

Killing the last remaining soldiers, we reached our arched door under a shower of falling rocks. Kicking and cursing, Kat pulled and pushed at the locked door handle. "Over there!" cried Harmony, pointing beyond Cyclops to another arched doorway at the far end of the courtyard — this door open for all to see.

Bringing us to a huddle of faces, Curtis included, I yelled at the top of my voice, "We stick tog — "

"RAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHRRR!!"

The monster's scream caused all living things in proximity to seal their ears shut, and I could well imagine prisoners in cells ducking for cover.

"ME WANT…BODIES!" bellowed the insane, attention starved wild animal.

Glancing again at the open door, to the returning multitude of sabre wielding soldiers and a stomping Cyclops, I took command. "Stick together!" I exclaimed. "Move fast! Faster than your legs can carry you!"

"Where?!" asked Eddinray.

"Through those legs!" I roared, pointing under the Cyclops.

Before any answered back, I started running over the unstable courtyard toward the super-sized legs of the monster; Kat at my rear, Curtis beside, and others trailing.

Seeing his fodder, the giant enthusiastically bashed his club several times into the dust, decimating soldiers and throwing us to scraping knees and palms.

"GOT YOU BODIES! GOT YOU!"

"Up!" Kat yelled, pulling Yuki closer. "Move!"

We stumbled to run and run for those lofty legs.

"Can't see where I'm going!" wailed Harmony. "Not a thing!" Immediately, Eddinray collected her wrist and guided her clear of the crater and directly under the giant.

"MORE!" It demanded. "MORE BODIES!"

The dust settled while we went like mice between those two blubbery skyscrapers. He was awesome, stink potent, and the power of his eye substantial.