An Addictive Past Time Scarlett burst through the opening of the temple into the sunlight, throwing a glance over her shoulder. The beast gave a roar. It was still in pursuit, and was gaining on her. She darted along the temple walls, scooping up what gold she could as she ran. The walls of this ancient fortress were highly treacherous. They crumbled beneath her pounding feet in places, at some points barely wider than the span of her shoulders. Parts of the walls had low hanging awnings and brickwork that she had to slide beneath. The beast still followed, showing remarkable speed and agility for its size. Clenching her teeth determinedly, with her eyes set ahead, she continued to run. Every so often she would reach the end of a wall and would have to turn sharply to the left or right to avoid running straight off the edge. Sometimes she had to duck under a stream of flames which spanned the wall, spurting out from a hole on one side. Treasure was strewn everywhere in this temple. Gold coins were scattered all along the ramparts, and as she ran further she began to find rubies and sapphires too. There was not always a chance to snatch them from the walls as she tried to stay ahead of the bloodthirsty monster still giving chase. She had to stay focused and make sure she did not trip over any of the vines that crawled over the walls. Sometimes the outside edges of the ramparts had collapsed in on themselves, leaving a pile of rubble that she had to dart around or hop over. In other parts the wall fell away completely, requiring her to leap across or fall to her death. Sometimes these gaps had ropes to aid her by letting her swing across. One time she leaped slightly too early and only just made the other side. She stumbled as she landed, her knee buckling, and the beast gained a few yards on her. She could feel it behind her, she could hear the pattering and slapping of its massive feet. She could feel its hot breath as it puffed and snarled while chasing her. She could almost see it there in her peripheral vision as she continued her mad dash along the roofs and walls of the temple. Sweat broke out across her forehead and the gold and jewels were completely forgotten as the importance of outrunning this blood-crazed monster became paramount. Every step became crucial, every jump and side-shuffle was #life and death. She ran for her #life and felt a power building up in her, reaching a crescendo. She found and extra burst of speed and steadily she began to pull away from the hairy beast again. she could still hear it but could no longer feel the warmth of its heavy panting. Up ahead was an archway leading into a dark cavern and a mine cart which sat at the top of a steep incline. Panicking slightly, she assessed her options. She was approaching rapidly, there was no where else to go. She jumped into the mine cart and began rolling forward, down the slope. She picked up speed fast. The beast followed, undeterred. The mine cart flew round corners and rocked to either side in a terrifying manner. Several forks in the track existed, and she had to use her body weight to steer the cart to either side so as not to travel down any dead ends. Her heart almost stopped when half of the track fell away and she had to throw her weight to the left to prevent the cart from tumbling off the right hand side of the track. There were some low beams too which threatened to take her head off if she didn't duck under them as the cart hurtled onwards. Blessedly, she reached the end of the track and she could leap out. She had managed to put a bit of distance between herself and the beast. She burst out of the gloomy mine onto a forest path, and continued to run. She had to avoid tree roots, low branches and fallen trees. She leapt across a stream and hurtled onwards when inexplicably she jumped up towards a fallen tree lying across the path. Everything seemed to slow down as she flew towards the massive trunk. She had meant to slide under it, it was much too big to jump over. Why had she attempted such a thing? She smacked into it head first and fell back down to the forest floor with a crash. The beast jumped on her, clawing and pawing in delight. 'Do you want to run again?' flashed before her eyes. 'Just once more,' she thought.