Bleeding Angel

Chapter 9

The murky water stirred ominously, each ripple sending shivers down my spine. I tightened my grip on the dagger, whispering a prayer.

The shape beneath the water continued to move. It was huge-larger than any creature I had encountered so far. And that's saying something since that spider was huge! I swallowed hard, trying to steady my breathing as I stood there, unable to move. If this was the Chimera Serpent, I needed to be ready.

The water seemed to bulge, and then a serpentine head broke the surface. The creature was monstrous, with black scales that shimmered in the fading light and five eyes that glowed green. It rose to get as high as it could. That would be very far, maybe 10 or 13 feet? I don't have time to really check right now...

Its head resembled that of a serpent but with the grotesque addition of a black lion's mane and the dark green twisted horns of a ram. Its underbelly was striped of dark grey and lighter grey that had a tint of green.

The Chimera Serpent hissed, revealing a mouth full of razor-sharp teeth. My heart raced, seeing this my whole body involuntarily shook.

"W-What do I do!?", I thought while looking up at the monstrosity. I have a dagger and this is huge!

Then suddenly a beep came from my wrist. I knew what it was going to say before it even said it, "Caution, Subject is under stress."

Suddenly, the Chimera Serpent lunged, its massive body sending waves crashing around me. I barely managed to dodge to the side, splashing my side into the murky water. Mud covered me, but I couldn't concentrate on that as I felt a rush of air as the monstrosity's jaws snapped shut where I had just been standing. My heart pounded in my chest even faster.

It slowly lifted its head as I got up. "Oh shit!", I quickly dug into my backpack to search for something useful that Elara and Kaigara left in there.

However, I could only find different colored liquids in bottles and more gems. I didn't have time to find out what any of these do...

"Fuck!", I yelled to myself, "I should've done that when I was in that clearing!"

Without a plan, I ran to the giant monstrosity. Getting close enough, I stabbed with my dagger. However, the blade glanced off its scales, barely making a scratch. It was like trying to cut through solid rock. The serpent reared back, hissing in fury.

The creature's tail whipped around, catching me off guard. The force of the blow sent me flying, crashing into a nearby tree. Pain shot through my body as I felt my back snap. With the pressure, blood flew out of my mouth.

"Eh!", I struggled to get back on my feet, my vision blurry. The serpent advanced, swimming along the land with ease.

I scrambled to my feet, the dagger feeling pitifully small in my hand. The serpent struck again, biting down at me. I barely managed to roll out of the way. Though It was incredibly painful as the pain in my back lingered.

The Chimera Serpent now had its mouth around the tree. Then, with a sickenly perfect crunch, the tree snapped in half. The monstrosity spat out the tree and lifted back its head.

"Think, think!" I urged myself, but my mind was a chaotic mess. The serpent was too strong, too fast. How could I possibly defeat something like this with just a dagger?

...

Wait.

"It's not a normal dagger!", I remembered as I looked at the red gem.

However, I couldn't react as the serpent lunged once more. I was distracted, thinking of a way to defeat this thing. And even though I sidestepped mostly out of the way... This time... its fangs grazed my arm. It ripped my sleeve and flesh as blood flew out of the wound. I cried out in pain, as I stumbled to grab my arm.