Warrior

     He was close. A foul stench of rotten fish filled the air. She cringed and shuttered. The monster was coming. She could hear his thunderous steps. With every stomp of his gigantic foot, the ground shook like an earthquake and rattled her teeth. No doubt about it, he was a deadly creature.
     As her hand curled tightly around the grip of the sword, beads of sweat rolled down her forehead. Flipping the face shield open, she wiped away perspiration from stinging, burning eyes. It’s not good to stand out here in the open. She thought I need to find a better vantage point. Everything inside of her was tense and ready to fight. She could hear his heavy body moving through the bushes, she knew he was only a few feet away.
     As she took a few steps toward a cluster of trees, she noticed the ground was soft, very soft! When she stopped, her left boot began to sink. It’s a swamp! She tried pulling her foot out, but it was STUCK! “I’m trapped!” He’ll be here any minute, what am I going to do?
     The dragon blared, a nerve chilling groan. “Rrrroooaaar!” The sound was like a angry elephant or screaming brakes on a speeding locomotive. “I’ve got to find cover.” Her knees began to shake and her heart was now hammering hard. But the nearest trees were too far away. Wedging her sword into the marsh, she used both hands to free her foot. “No!” Her foot sank down deeper. “Quicksand!” She watched in horror as mud oozed inside her boot. The swamp sucked at her foot drawing it under. “This can’t be happening!” The more she fought, the deeper her leg sank.
     Suddenly, she saw him, up ahead. From out of the wild tangled mass of overgrown plants, the hideous creature came into sight. His behemoth size legs and thick muscular tail easily crushed trees and bushes like toys under his feet.
     She looked up, her eyes gawking in disbelief. He was huge, bigger than a dinosaur and a whole bunch uglier! Fish scales glowing like shiny brass covered his entire body.
     The monster arched his back, stretching leathery wings up into the clouds. His large mouth sent out a blast of hot air and smoke surrounding the entire area in a thick fog.
     She felt a sickening wave of terror wash over her. “He’s gonna tear me apart!” Scrunching low, she was trembling, her eyes fixed on this enormous adversary. There was no way out and not time left to think. Somehow she wished that she could disappear.
     The creature huffed and lumbered forward his hungry eyes flickering. He eagerly opened his sharp black claws ready to snatch up his victim and shove her in his mouth.
     Suddenly, at full force he lunged, taking a swipe. She let out a cry and dodged to the left. “Oooaf!” This time her entire body hit the dark eerie mud.
     Just in the nick of time too. He missed her by inches grabbing only air. Venting his fury, the dragon tossed back his head and let out a deafening roar. I’ve got to get out of her fast, she thought, or else I’m dead meat for sure. As she tried to pull herself up, her hand wouldn’t move. What’s going on? The swamp was sucking, like a vacuum cleaner, drawing her down! The swamp, It’s alive and I’m gonna drown in this mud!
     What a nightmare, more than half of her body was under and she was going down fast. She couldn’t stop the earth from swallowing her up. Fighting only made her sink faster. The mud was now about to cover her face. “Help!” she cried out before disappearing under the blanket of black slime.
     In a rage the dragon shoveled like a machine digging and flinging mud, until at last he wrenched her mud-soaked body from the earths grip.
     “ALIVE!” coughing and gagging she said “I’M ALIVE!” Opening her eyes, she gazed into the giant mouth, saliva glistening off each sharp fang. “But not alive for long. She thought .
     After several terrifying seconds, he lurched forward and took a bite.
     “AAAAAaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhh!”