after all, and had left a gash in the creature’s arm — and an even uglier look on its face.
“Well, done,” the dragon’s voice boomed.
“Purely accidental,” I protested quite truthfully. “No hard feelings, I hope.”
He circled around and I realized he was trying to back me toward the edge of the cliff, thereby limiting my ability to maneuver.
To counter this, I ran forward, yelling and swinging my sword as if to initiate an attack, then swerved to the side at the last moment as his huge paw smashed downward, rattling the earth where I would have been had I continued forward.
Almost beside him now, I dived under his spread hind legs and slashed at his belly with my sword as I passed, releasing a torrent of green blood.
He roared in pain. “You’ll pay for that!”
I cringed at the thought that I most likely would, and pay dearly at that.
He turned to face me and I jumped aside in time to avoid being bowled over by a scaled tail, which flashed past, almost taking me by surprise. But I miscalculated my landing, managing to clear the tail but stumbling and losing my footing, falling in a jumble of man and armor.
I struggled to rise, then saw him striking like a giant snake; thinking better of standing, I rolled out of the way as his jaws snapped shut just inches from my head. I continued rolling like a barrel of tin cans, finally stopping on my knees and hands to rise as quickly as I could and then retreat from the creature.
It was then that I realized I’d left my sword lying where I’d fallen. I stood empty handed.
Huntington produced a ten-foot wide, toothy grin. “Hand-to-hand combat is it?” he asked. “Humankind is so poorly matched to tooth and claw. Brains don’t do a lot of good in a situation like this, do they?”
I backed toward the brush, thinking a quick retreat was my only chance to avoid certain death. Then I saw a flicker of movement behind Huntington as he stepped over my sword.
Alice!
At first I thought she was escaping and I didn’t think any less of her for it. Better one escape than both perish. Then I saw she was not rushing away but rather dashing toward the creature, trying to reach the sword I’d dropped.
“Huntington,” I said, trying to keep him distracted so he wouldn’t notice Alice’s approach behind him. “Couldn’t we just call it quits without any more trouble?” I backed away at an angle now, forcing him to keep his good eye toward me, less likely to observe Alice.
He turned cautiously, apparently suspecting a trick.
“Don’t you see how playing a SupeR-Gs like this is a terrible waste of time?” I asked, half turning as if to run.
The monster laughed with a rumble that made the hair at the back of my neck stand on end. “Where else can you smash people freely with a stomp of your foot? And where else can you enjoy the taste of human flesh?”
Great, now I was the main course.
He took another step toward me. “Quickly or slowly?”
I didn’t need to ask what he meant by that. Had I known I really had a choice, I would have opted for a quick death. But I also knew my answer would make no difference since he was only playing with me, enjoying my suffering. On the other hand, talking would enable me to stall, perhaps long enough for Alice to mount her attack — or buy time for the jet to wear off. “What are my choices maybe you could elaborate?”
Huntington didn’t answer.
Instead, he struck. His jaws snapped off my left arm, just above the elbow. At the same moment, Alice raced forward toward the sword.
I staggered back, pain clouding my vision as I saw Alice hit the creature’s under-belly with a two-handed swing, leaving a jagged cut that gushed green blood to coat her, head to foot, in the sticky, foul-smelling liquid.
Huntington roared in pain, spitting out my arm as I tumbled to the ground. He whirled around and chased after Alice who sprinted toward the edge of the cliff.
I fought to remain conscious, watching in horror as
“Well, done,” the dragon’s voice boomed.
“Purely accidental,” I protested quite truthfully. “No hard feelings, I hope.”
He circled around and I realized he was trying to back me toward the edge of the cliff, thereby limiting my ability to maneuver.
To counter this, I ran forward, yelling and swinging my sword as if to initiate an attack, then swerved to the side at the last moment as his huge paw smashed downward, rattling the earth where I would have been had I continued forward.
Almost beside him now, I dived under his spread hind legs and slashed at his belly with my sword as I passed, releasing a torrent of green blood.
He roared in pain. “You’ll pay for that!”
I cringed at the thought that I most likely would, and pay dearly at that.
He turned to face me and I jumped aside in time to avoid being bowled over by a scaled tail, which flashed past, almost taking me by surprise. But I miscalculated my landing, managing to clear the tail but stumbling and losing my footing, falling in a jumble of man and armor.
I struggled to rise, then saw him striking like a giant snake; thinking better of standing, I rolled out of the way as his jaws snapped shut just inches from my head. I continued rolling like a barrel of tin cans, finally stopping on my knees and hands to rise as quickly as I could and then retreat from the creature.
It was then that I realized I’d left my sword lying where I’d fallen. I stood empty handed.
Huntington produced a ten-foot wide, toothy grin. “Hand-to-hand combat is it?” he asked. “Humankind is so poorly matched to tooth and claw. Brains don’t do a lot of good in a situation like this, do they?”
I backed toward the brush, thinking a quick retreat was my only chance to avoid certain death. Then I saw a flicker of movement behind Huntington as he stepped over my sword.
Alice!
At first I thought she was escaping and I didn’t think any less of her for it. Better one escape than both perish. Then I saw she was not rushing away but rather dashing toward the creature, trying to reach the sword I’d dropped.
“Huntington,” I said, trying to keep him distracted so he wouldn’t notice Alice’s approach behind him. “Couldn’t we just call it quits without any more trouble?” I backed away at an angle now, forcing him to keep his good eye toward me, less likely to observe Alice.
He turned cautiously, apparently suspecting a trick.
“Don’t you see how playing a SupeR-Gs like this is a terrible waste of time?” I asked, half turning as if to run.
The monster laughed with a rumble that made the hair at the back of my neck stand on end. “Where else can you smash people freely with a stomp of your foot? And where else can you enjoy the taste of human flesh?”
Great, now I was the main course.
He took another step toward me. “Quickly or slowly?”
I didn’t need to ask what he meant by that. Had I known I really had a choice, I would have opted for a quick death. But I also knew my answer would make no difference since he was only playing with me, enjoying my suffering. On the other hand, talking would enable me to stall, perhaps long enough for Alice to mount her attack — or buy time for the jet to wear off. “What are my choices maybe you could elaborate?”
Huntington didn’t answer.
Instead, he struck. His jaws snapped off my left arm, just above the elbow. At the same moment, Alice raced forward toward the sword.
I staggered back, pain clouding my vision as I saw Alice hit the creature’s under-belly with a two-handed swing, leaving a jagged cut that gushed green blood to coat her, head to foot, in the sticky, foul-smelling liquid.
Huntington roared in pain, spitting out my arm as I tumbled to the ground. He whirled around and chased after Alice who sprinted toward the edge of the cliff.
I fought to remain conscious, watching in horror as
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