Dreams and Dreamlings

Chapter 3- A Familiar Face In An Unfamiliar Place

               Getting my guts torn out and eaten by creepy lizard ladies for dinner was definitely not on my “Things-to-do-before-I-die” list.

                As they inched closer, I gripped my blade and started looking around for an exit. In either direction, I saw nothing but an endless pasture of arcades and tables of foosball where gaming geeks from all walks of life could graze until they grew old and gray. But more importantly, I couldn’t find an exit.

                “Don’t even bother looking for an exit, child.” Stye said while smacking its lips that looked a lot like dried mangoes that seriously needed some moisture. “You can only leave this domain if we allow it.”

                “But the thing is… we never allow anyone to leave.” Whispered Boyle.

                Stye suddenly leapt over one of the arcades and landed in front of me and swept my legs. I hit my head on the corner of the Tekken arcade leaving me sprawled on the floor while holding my blade. The Hemidactyls shrieked in delight as if they were one number away from winning the grand prize at Bingo Bonanza.

                I tried to crawl away from them but Boyle just grabbed my legs and dragged me back. I held on to the base of one of the arcades and kicked Boyle straight in the face. With the sound that it was making behind its gnarled hands, I was guessing that it didn’t like getting kicked in the face very much.

                While Boyle was still cursing and rubbing its face, I swung my blade in a high arc. Unfortunately, the lizard-lady was still very agile. My blade grazed its shoulder and green blood spurted from the cut. It was staring daggers back at my sword as if it just grew a new hairy mole.

                “Curse that nasty blade!” Boyle hissed. “Stye! Get rid of it!”

                “You always let me do the things that could get me killed.” Stye grumbled.

                Stye reluctantly walked towards me. For some reason, they were suddenly aware of the sword in my hand. I tried to study their movements. I wished they didn’t have super-secret-lightning-fast agility that they only exposed when they met someone who could actually hurt them.

                I swung my blade trying to repel the lizard-lady but it just sidestepped making me miss horribly. I hoped that Stye didn’t realize that I wasn’t very used to swinging a 4-foot long blade around.

                “Get rid of it!” Boyle hissed again. “He’s just a boy! He’s nothing compared to the ones we’ve eaten before!”

                Stye rolled its eyes and started pulling the spikes out of his limbs and started flinging them at me like throwing knives. I spun and dove for the ground trying to avoid getting skewered. I felt my heart beat accelerate trying to keep up with all the action.

                So much adrenaline was released into my bloodstream that I could see where the spikes were headed and where I could avoid them. I was more agile than I’ve had ever been in my entire life. I knew where the spikes were ging to be. I could even anticipate Stye's movements. If coach could see me now, I thought.

                Before I knew it, I was getting closer to Stye. Lucky for me, the lizard-dude wasn’t very bright. It kept plucking out and throwing spikes from its body unaware that I was only a couple of feet away, within the reach of my blade. It only realized that that it was in striking distance when my blade met its ugly mug.