Survival: Fight or Flight

5th Hour: The Yellow Door 1

A/N:

Hey guys!

Because this Hour turned out to be a wee bit longer than I expected as I wrote it, I decided to split it into two parts - The Yellow Door 1, and The Yellow Door 2.

Enjoy!

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04:00 - 05:00 GMT

What I stared at now was… unusual, at best. Had I not already been exposed to, frankly, other bizarre events in the course of this game, … well I actually had no idea how I'd have reacted had that been the case. But right now, as I stared at what was happening before me, my mind went over different possible scenarios and how I might try to survive each.

It was fire.

Except that it wasn't merely fire. As I watched, taking a small step back, the flames of the fire that was down the corridor danced in the most unnatural way. It was as if the flames were alive, moving with life-like precision. They swayed systematically, as if the tips of the flames were searching for something in their vicinity.

The fire itself didn't seem to be charring anything around it, except for a very subtle blackening that I was sure must have been imagined. It was a small fire, yet it grew, pulsating rhythmically and becoming bigger and bigger. Then, slowly, the flames began folding in on themselves.

At this point I started stepping back. This was no ordinary fire. I felt I should be running, but I couldn't just yet because at that point I knew that what I was seeing was a part of the game, an obstacle that I must beat in order to proceed. But what to do?

Survive. 

That was literally the only instruction and help I'd received, and it was obvious I would receive no other. The flames of the fire had now changed shape such that it no longer looked like fire, but like a miniature sun roughly the size of a basketball. It hung there in midair, and all around it, small flames danced - the only indication that this was still at least some form of fire I was dealing with. For a few long seconds, the ball of fire just hung there. I felt the familiar rush of adrenalin kicking in, fight or flight at the ready. Nothing happened for a few more moments, and I actually considered approaching it - maybe it wasn't meant to attack me, but was the key to opening the trapdoor.

Then it exploded suddenly.

The shock wave knocked me onto the ground, and the heat followed soon after. I shielded myself as best as I could, hands over head and curled into the fetal position, and the heat eventually died down. My leg suddenly itched terribly, as if reacting to the heat. I scratched at it, while unfurling myself and glancing back at where the explosion had happened. My jaw dropped at what I saw.

In place of the ball of fire was, well, a ball of fire with legs of fire - four side-pointing limbs made purely of fire that ended in the shape of claws, like a giant lizard's. I could only stare in horror, sitting there like a duck. A fiery tail shot out of the ball part of the fire, at the same time that the ball itself flattened and elongated. I was watching the formation of some huge fire-lizard. It's tail swished lazily, leaving a trail of yellow light in its wake. It would have been almost beautiful - if it wasn't going to kill me.

Finally, that part of the body where the head should be twisted and contorted and finally shaped itself into a head. It looked somewhat like a cross between a lizard and some predatory cat. The rest of its body kept its resemblance to a generic lizard. I gawked at this newly formed fiery beast, large enough to whomp me senseless with a body slam - if it didn't burn me up or take a large bite out of my torso first. All thoughts of fleeing was forgotten in the shock I was experiencing.