The Terrible Business with the Loch Ness monster

7. The terrible business with the Loch Ness monster

The monster launched right past them and shrieked as it missed it's pray. Victoria rolled around and got to her feet almost too fast for Heather's eyes to register, and threw a Dragonstone on the ground. It exploded in a small supernova of fire, the heat striking Heather like a blow as the flames twisted upwards in mad whirls. It didn't touch the monster, it was too far away, but in the light for the fire it was fully visible in all its hideousness.

"you've got to be the ugliest beaver I've ever seen." Victoria muttered as she looked at the creature.

The monster was the same size as a large beaver, and as it stood and watched them, it had about the same hunched posture as one, but that was as far as the similarities went. It didn't have any fur, just scales in a brilliant green colour with the same texture as the one of a crocodile, and wicked looking spikes running along the spine from the head all the way to the tail. On the tip of the tail was a fishfin, and both the fingers and the toes were webbed to help the creature swim well. But they were also equipped with long curved claws, razorsharp and made for digging into pray and not let go until it was dead.

The teeth were sort of beaver-looking as well, only a set of rather large front teeth, which would have made it look slightly silly had it not been for the fact that they were two long, very sharp fangs, and not silly, or for the matter beaver-like at all. It had a head like a lizard with eyes that were much larger than what seemed possible. They were red, standing in great contrast to the green scales, with no traces of white in them, only shades of red, ending in a vertical pupil like a snake. The eyes were by far the creepiest thing about the monster, and Heather feared that if it looked at her too long, it would see right through her and into the deepest depths of her soul to drive her insane. She shuddered.

The moments ticked by, and the monster just looked between them and the fire, unwilling to move.

"move." Victoria said suddenly, but Heater was to concentrated on the monster to understand it was her Victoria talked to.

"what?" she said.

"move, jump, run, do something to attract its attention. I think I scared it too much with the fire, it won't come near it, but we have to make it come to us. So you make a movement, and I attack it when it attacks you." Victoria explained and raised her sword in front of her. She whispered something to it, before blowing on the blade, and the symbols started to glow from within. It was nowhere near as bright as the Dragonstone, but the monster's eyes lingered at the blade, and it growled again, but it wouldn't move against Victoria, obviously smart enough to realise that would mean a certain death. "COME ON!" Victoria roared, and Heather had no idea if it was for her or the monster, but it didn't matter. Heather clutched her short sword and then took two quick steps to the left, closer to the monster and the beast launched – but not at her.

Quick as a weasel it darted forward, in a wide circle around the fire for the space Heather had just left, and on towards the water. Victoria cried out, and threw herself after the beast, landing on top of it, but at the loss of her sword. It fell to the ground and the light inside went out. The monster wiggled and snarled, doing its best to shake of Victoria of, but the Guardian held on and wouldn't let go whatever it did. She reached for another Dragonstone, but as she pulled it free, the monster's tail hit her wrist with enough force to make her drop it. Victoria cursed rapidly, and got hold of a normal dagger instead, and buried it into the monster's shoulder.

It howled in pain and twisted even worst, almost spinning in Victoria's grip. More cursing, and Heather could see how the blue blood of the creature was mixed with Victoria's red. Panic picked at Heather's mind, and she felt like she should do something, but no matter how she tried, her mind couldn't work fast enough to come up with a plan. But Victoria was a Guardian, surely she would be fine even without Heather's clumsy help?