The Arks: Over Heaven (by Ben)

Chapter 45: Manticore

Part 2/2

“Because he never joined the team, surprisingly. The coach begged him to after seeing his performance, but he insisted he didn’t have the time to, and he had already signed up for some book club that took a lot of time off his schedule. Shame too, I really wanted to figure out his technique…”

“Ah, what a bummer to abandon sports for some lousy books. Now THAT’s a wimp,” the stranger added, “Reminds me of this giant seven-foot kid, Alan. Lot of people wanted him to join the football team, he had lots of potential. But he chickened out.”

The silence washed over the room again, and Loki could hear the wind whistling outside again.

“You know what’s funny?” Loki laughed, “I never got your name.”

“What? Really?” the stranger groaned, “Aw man. Well I guess I should tell you, huh? It’s Maddox. Some people like to call me the Manticore, but I’d prefer it if you called me by my real name. Maddox. Has a better ring to it.”

“Maddox… That’s a cool name,” Loki said, “And so is that nickname. How’d you get it?”

“Ehhh, I just got it from my performance in football. Strength of an elephant, speed of a cheetah, and the cunning of a wolf, or something dumb like that.”

“I think you’re forgetting one more thing, Maddox.”

“And what would that be, Loki?”

“The heart of a dog,” Loki answered, thumping his chest with his fist. Maddox let out a soft chuckle. A few seconds later, and he let out a yawn, “Alright I’m sleepy. You’ve kept me up long enough. See you in the mornin’, Loki.”

“See you in the morning.”

Loki closed his eyes, his mind at rest.

He could rest easy knowing that at least one more person was on his side.