Half A Hero

3

“Run!” The old man shouted. “Everyone, run! That is a monster we couldn’t handle!” He pushed away a man blocking his path and made a run for it.

As they saw the old man made his escape, everyone panicked and joined into the chaos. They ran away, throwing their spades and pushing each other to make their way first into the passageway exit. A foolish and amateur move to do.

Despite the panic, Ghwyr remained calm and tried his best to hustle out of the nudging crowd, but his height proved to be at a disadvantage as the bigger men pushed him away. The last man who pushed him, knocked too hard and got him off balanced. He fell into the mucky waters of the waterways just as a powerful current pushed him further away from them

The murky water was unpleasant. His clothed masked didn’t help him as he drank a few ounces of the vile liquid as he got smashed against the surprisingly powerful waves of the waterway. The dark water was slowly swallowing him. He could feel the muck and every mysterious thing brushing against his body. Some were hard, while others gel-like, the thick water was embracing him to his demise. The vile liquid inched down his throat as his eyesight faded into the looming cold.

If he wanted to, he could’ve just surrendered to the vile water’s deathly embrace. However, he knew deep inside him, that this wasn’t his time yet. He hasn’t fulfilled his dream on becoming a hero yet. He opened his eyes and scoured the muddy waters for something to hold on.

Holding his breath, he fought the vile waters from going further down his throat until he finally held a stable stone for him to lift himself up from the murky waters. Ghwyr held on to the slippery stone, wounding himself as he tried his best to pull his way up into the surface.

The young halfling wasn’t eager to embrace death yet, and thus with one more desperate pull, he was able to resurface into the dimly lit corner of the tunnel. He gasped for air as he desperately spewed the vile water out of his body.

In the distance he could hear the agonizing screams of the other men, and other horrifying sounds much worse than that of the beasts he heard from their dense forests. Ghwyr had no time to rest. He stood up and tried running away. Unfortunately, he couldn’t ignore the wiles of those other men.

Although limping and in pain he walked through it as he picked up a bloody sword lodged by the wall. He took a deep breath and held the sword hilt as strong as he could. Using all his might, he pulled the sword from the stone wall.

Ghwyr stumbled as the sword slid out from the wall. His body was heavy, but even with that condition, he stubbornly dashed towards the danger after taking another deep breath and a quick prayer to the goddess of luck, Salidas.

“Oh, goddess of luck and second chances, Lady Salidas. I ask for your mercy. Grant me your favor and help me of this upheaval. May I live to pray again to you, after my ordeal.” He whispered under his breath.

And with that prayer, he dashed towards the gore. He followed the trail of blood and scattered intestines, and the screaming men. When he got there, he was horrified to see that there were only five of them left. The rest were already dead, mutilated and squashed under the monster’s feet.

Old Man Logue was still alive, but barely moving. He was carried by the other two wounded men while the other two well-bodied men, went to attack the monster with the broken weapons they had. However, their attacks led to nowhere. The monster easily evaded their attacks and quickly countered them with its tails.

“Hey you!” He blurted out. “Why not pick someone your own size?!” He shouted.

The monster turned to him. Its shadow-cloaked appearance began to unveil as it stepped out of the shadows. The monster had a grotesque appearance by all accounts. It had a smooth, slimy, and mossy green skin. Its head was perfectly round, devoid of any hair, save for a few hanging mosses at the back of its head. It had no eyes, a thin skin covered its eye sockets and nose, while its mouth opened from ear-to-ear.

The monster’s body was made up of writhing flesh covered by a thin layer of membrane, that enabled him to see its blood flowing from its veins. Its chest, shoulders, and arms seemed to be covered by a thick mossy substance, that oozed a green rotting goo that kept its body slimy and wet.

Its talon-like fingers looked like daggers attached to its long bony arms. It crouched as screeched at him, showing its sharp rows of razor-like teeth. Its tentacle-like tails stiffened at the sight of him. It pointed to his direction and before he could utter another word, the two tails were already attacking him like rocks being hurled towards him.

Ghwyr dodged and ran towards the creature. Seeing his bold attempt, the beast also indulged him and met him halfway with its talons and fangs pointing towards him. He jumped to his left as the monster’s claws were about to skewer him. He readied his blade and tried stabbing the monster on its gut, but it quickly evaded his counter and leapt out of his range.

The monster immediately climbed to the wall and used its tails like projectiles. Although mismatched and a little slow, he was able to avoid the attacks once again while tumbling on cold concrete. Unfortunately, he lost his sword in the process and the weapon slid into the dark waters of the waterways sinking it into oblivion.

He looked around for another weapon, but the ones scattered on the ground were either broken or mangled. He had no time to choose, the monster was already going for another attack. He picked up something and headed went for another attack.

Ghwyr dodged another series of attacks coming from its tail. He moved in closer and hoped for the best. He looked at his lucky bracelet and shook it a little as he dodged another swiping claw. He was able to position himself beneath the monster’s left rib.

His bracelet lit up as he held the broken weapon in his hand, the head of the spade. The broken weapon glowed along with it. Ghwyr clenched his jaw as he placed all of his might for that one single attack. Without blinking, he hits the monster on the side and created a powerful impact that blasted the monster away, breaking the wall where it stood close.

“Run! Everyone, run now!” He shouted at the surviving men.