River of Fire
The warm lava parts as I swim elegantly through it. Nothing can bother me, so I can just swim for as long as I wish. That is, until someone invades my territory.
I slow down and lift my head out of the lava, scanning the area for intruders. As I turn my head, the evil glint of metal catches my eye. My sight shoots to the hunter holding the katana of malice, and he glares back at me, meaning to kill. My eyes glitter a crimson colour, and I submerge myself in the lava and swim towards the dry, parched earth that the hunter is standing upon. I feel the tremors through the magma as the hunter runs to evade my arrival. I halt. More quakes. There is more than one hunter up there. I swim upwards as the severe heat of the molten rock melts the surface, giving way to my huge bulk leaping out of the ground. I land on my belly with a crash, and slither towards the wall. I get onto my feet, and then turn around to face my rivals. My eyes widen. Four hunters. And they look skilled. I rear back my head and blast a lava rock in their direction. They scatter in two different ways. The boulder misses them, but it shatters into four pieces, and catches two of the hunters, both with long swords of some kind. One is female, the other is male. Out of the corner of my eye I catch a glimpse of one of the hunters scrambling up a ledge. Attached to his back, is a gun. I spin around and slide towards him on my stomach, the wall preventing me from getting him. Once I am up on my feet again, he starts shooting water at me. It hisses as it splashes on my scales, making my fins sting with pain. I turn to him and try to hit him with my hip-check attack. It fails, as I just smash into the wall. I hear a yell behind me, and I turn to face the hunter it came from. A fatal mistake. A giant sword comes crashing down on my head, breaking my cheekbone. My legs give way, and I fall onto my side, dazed and in terrible agony. I struggle like a helpless fish out of water to get back onto my feet, but I can't get up for all the throbbing in my head. The other two hunters with the long swords gash my legs with their blades, while the spatter of water from the gunner continues to rain on my fins. At last my head clears, and I spot a hunter run away. I face her, and slide towards her on my stomach. Another fatal mistake. My clumsiness had led me to a trap hole in the ground, and I thrash about in attempt to free myself. Once again the blades are coming at me, and the bullets of water and ice smash and splatter on my head and neck. At last I free myself from the ditch and get back on my feet. I turn towards the lava, its powerful heat calling me back. I skim towards it, and then leap back in, the warm liquid making me feel at home and safe once again. I use the passage and swim towards the next area, hopefully where the gunner will be vulnerable with no ledge to help him evade me.
The hunters follow me. I didn't think they would do otherwise. My amber orange aura gleams as I leap out of the lava and crash down on the hard earth, creating boulders than fly towards the hunters. I hear their panicked cries as they flail about trying to evade them. I create my third mass of boulders, and then lunge out of the molten rock, trying to snap up any hunters in my path. Once on my feet, I make for the hunter that is beside me, and swing my tail around. He plunges to the solid earth. The gunner stays far away, shooting bullets that are now made of ice. The continuous stream of ammunition stabs into my neck. I feel weak. My aura diminishes. Blades hack at my legs. My life force saps away, and I fall to the floor. I flop on the ground like a landed fish, I can only helplessly watch as the hunter with the huge sword charges up his attack next to my face….one…two…three…the sword comes hurtling down upon my skull, and I collapse lifeless on the ground. The world around me blurs and turns colourless as I close my eyes. The lava gives a final hiss at my defeat. These hunters have completed their mission.