The Error Vs The Beast

It’s honestly amazing what spite can do. I shouldn’t be standing. I shouldn’t be alive. But to hell with death. I refuse to die. Not without taking this beast down. Yet my threats to the creature were somewhat unfounded. I may now have my knife, but it didn’t mean I could defeat it. I was drained and in a lot of pain.

Worst of all, I made the creature angrier.

The creature snarled before springing into the air and landing on the ceiling. It opened its mouth, and the tongue once again sloshed around. This time it began using its tail to smack the base of the stalactites, causing them to fall down.

I tried dodging as many as I could, but with my limited sight, the occasional one would land on me. One landed on my shoulder, bringing me to the ground. As I hit the ground, the rusty knife slipped from my grasp.

Some help that was.

Before I could react, the creature launched itself at me, aiming to stomp me to death, similar to Goblin Terry.

Thankfully, seeing it once before, I knew how to avoid the fatal strike.

I positioned myself as narrowly as possible as the beast landed just inches away from both sides. My hands were free, but the creature’s belly hovered above me, leaving no opportunity to escape. I may have avoided being crushed, but I was pinned. Was that really any better?

I had no knife, no secret tricks planned, and unlike before, I was prone on my back.

Well, looks like this is the end.

I lay awaiting my death when the creature suddenly jumped backwards, and a fireball flew past me.

Pippa flew in front of me.

Did that fireball come from her?

She opened her mouth and fired another flame ball at the creature, forcing it to sidestep.

Pippa turned to look at me. She had a pleased look on her face, and whilst I was grateful for her saving my life, I was also frustrated that even a fluffy pink ball like her had the power to kill me.

“Thanks Pippa.”

“Pwii.”

“But you need to run,” I instructed as I got to my feet. The creature was cautiously watching on.

“Pwii?”

“That creature is too powerful. I’ll stall for time while you escape.”

“Pwii,” she pleaded.

I shook my head.

“Run, save yourself,” I yelled at her.

“Pwii,” she protested, tears forming in her eyes.

“Seriously! It will be a victory if one of us escapes.”

She responded with a “Pwii,” as she turned with tears still in her eyes and flapped towards one of the passages we hadn’t yet explored.

The creature shrieked. It seemed like it was finally getting angry at my persistent survival. Perhaps the fireballs didn’t help either.

It stomped forward, each step forming craters in the stone below. Suddenly, it lunged forward, catching me off guard. It lashed out at me, trying to swipe me with its claws, but I managed to dodge to the side, stumbling slightly. As it quickly swung around, unhinged its jaw and shot its tongue out at lightning speed.

I tried to do my best to avoid its attack, but the sharp pain around my left wrist indicated I had not been so successful in my endeavour. I glanced down and saw a spurt of blood.

My left hand had been completely sheared right off.

It went flying through the sky and landed several meters away.

I didn’t have time to think about it. I had to get to the knife.

Pain surged through my body, but I ran.

As I did so, I scooped up some fragments of the broken stalactites and flung them at the beast. It turned its body and swatted the rocks back at me with its tail. Only this time, they came back at twice the speed.

I managed to dodge them, but my plan had failed. I was now even further from the knife. The creature began to circle once more, and I mirrored it, edging slightly closer to the blade.

The beast bared its teeth, its tongue ready to strike. I had to run. If I didn’t get the blade now, I was as good as dead. I turned and sprinted toward the knife.

“Pwii!”

I turned my head to see Pippa flying towards the creature.

Thump.

She headbutted the creature with all her might. Despite her size, she actually knocked the creature off balance, sending it crashing down.

“Pippa?!”

She bounced off the creature and rolled along the ground until she lay at my feet.

“Pwii-wii,” she replied, looking up at me.

I quickly scooped her up.

“I told you to run, you foolish girl.”

The creature slowly got back to its feet. Though I was worried about her putting herself in danger, I was also extremely grateful for her. If Pippa hadn’t head butted the creature, I would most likely be dead by now.

Her assistance also allowed me to subtly pick up some things, including the knife, which I stashed in my pocket. The creature hadn’t noticed I had done this. Meaning now, for the first time, I had the element of surprise on my side.

The creature let out another battle cry and leapt up, latching onto the ceiling and crawling along it, looking poised to attack at any time. I think it was planning to go for the kill.

But so was I.

The moment it charged would be my time to strike.

The beast lunged off the ceiling towards me. In turn, I screamed.

“This is for Terry!”

I flung my secret weapon at the creature. My severed left hand.

The beast dodged and used its tail to smack it with full force. The hand burst into scattered flesh and blood. The creature was briefly distracted as it turned to see what it had struck. And at that moment, I reached for the dagger and plunged it through the creature's eye.

It let out a scream of pain as it landed on the ground with a violent thump. It slowly stumbled to its feet, shaking slightly.

See! It hurts, doesn’t it?

A moment later, it collapsed. Its breathing slowed. I would have almost felt bad for it had I not been bleeding profusely from my severed hand.

I could practically hear the level-up music. Though no notification ever appeared.

Pippa floated over and looked worried, first glancing at my eye and then at my hand.

“Pwii.”

“Don’t worry, compared to our lives, my hand means nothing,” I tried to put on a strong face, but it hurt like hell.

“Thank you for your help. I couldn’t have done it without you.”

I saw Pippa mouth something, but all I heard was a ringing sound as my vision completely blurred over, and my legs gave out. I fell forward, landing hard against the ground beside the slain creature.

If this was how I was going to die, it wasn’t a bad way to go.

▪──── X ────▪

End of chapter 6