Hunter

HUNTER

Slowly Kell crept along in the marsh with his string drawn. The buck gracefully bound along the clearing. Rustling in the nearby trees made Kell pause for an instant. In the time it took Kell to pause, a monster leapt from its hiding place in the trees and gutted the deer. The deer tried to bound away but the monster grasped its abdomen and threw it against the trunk of a tree. Lifelessly it fell to the ground. Crunching noisily on the poor animal’s bones the monster turned its gaze onto Kell. With one swipe of its claws, it raked the bow from Kell’s hands. Shhhhiinnk! Kell swiftly drew his sword from its sheath and prepared for battle. 

In the swampy gloom the creature crept towards Kell. Sword drawn and shield steady, Kell was ready for battle. Nearly the build of a man, the reptile being walked hunched over. It’s tail constantly writhing around coiling, binding, and slithering in the marsh creating intricate designs almost gracefully. A blue forked-tongue flicked out every few minutes mimicking that of a snake’s or a lizard’s. The being had intriguing eyes. The left one was a pool of gold pierced by a thin, cat-like pupil. The right was like a whirlpool of ever-changing color, one second it was red, and the next it was a cerulean blue with flecks of green. The monster advanced on Kell in an arrogant way. That of a hunter moving in on it’s next meal or that of a master advancing to thrash his disobedient slave. The reptile dribbled a liquid that dripped into the marsh and produced a hiss and a wisp of smoke. Its bough arms hung at its sides, swinging forward and back with every increasing step. The talons upon each hand nine inches at least. Their cerulean color mismatched the rest of its body, which was a two-tone of green and white. The lime colored scales covered all of its body except for its belly, which bore its true off-white skin color. The being did not have ears, it was using its tongue to sense motion in the air. Its nostrils were two slits above a snout-like mouth.

Suddenly the reptile’s right eye sped through the color spectrum and stopped on red, a deep blood-like red, that made Kell shiver. It quit advancing and raised its lowered head. Looking straight into the being’s eyes almost made Kell dizzy. He fell forward but caught himself on the butt of his long sword. Almost fainting made Kell snap back into reality. He looked up to see a most peculiar sight; the reptile flared its nostrils. Steam bellowed out as it took a deep breath. A deep gurgling in the back of the creature’s throat made Kell think something was going to happen. Within a split-second of Kell’s decision, the being belched a cloud of flame. As he ducked the overhead flame scorched his back causing him to cry out in agony. He could feel the heat burn through his traveler’s cloak and into his back. He clinched his teeth and stood up. The creature looked at him in almost a satisfied kind of way, including a human-like smirk that revealed a single fang that gleamed in the moonlight. Despite the searing pain in his back, Kell yelled at the reptile.

“Is that all you got? Is it?” he cried. 

The reptile shook its head almost pitifully. The right eye was flying through the color spectrum once again and landed on a yellow that held the radiance of the sun. The yellow brightened until Kell couldn’t see his hands in front of his face. He recognized the deep gurgling and braced himself. Blue bolts of electricity erupted out of the being’s mouth, branching and cackling in every which way. Tree bark near Kell’s head splintered and pricked the back of his neck. A single, thin string of lightning encountered Kell’s skin. Violently he jerked, and screamed. The sight to a passerby would appear that the poor fellow was having a seizure, as drool trickled down his chin from the corner of his mouth. As quickly as it started it was over. As if pushed by an imaginary force, Kell fell backwards into a pool of swampy water. The cold liquid submerging his face revived his near unconscious body. When Kell stood, he was encountered with an eerie feat; the being was nowhere in sight. Backing in circles, he observed possible hiding places. He looked up into the overhang of tree branches. A splash and ever so small waves brushing up against his shins meant one thing: it was underwater. Uncertain of how such a being’s massive body could be completely submerged, he cautiously watched the water. A stomach-churning pain pounced on Kell. Being overcome with nausea, he arched his back as the creature withdrew its talons from within him. The reptile grabbed Kell by his locks and held a nine-inch nail against his throat in a deadly gesture.

Kell thrust his long sword backward into the stomach of the creature. In surprise, the reptile let go of Kell. In one fluid motion, Kell withdrew the sword from the being’s abdomen and swung it around, slashing the creature across the chest. Blood splattered across the trunks of nearby trees. Taken aback only by a step, the creature regained its stature and approached more warily, and less arrogant. Kell thrust the sword forward targeting the enemy’s chest. Using one hand, the creature knocked the sword away like a plaything. On the follow through, its other hand swiped just below his left eye. Slowly blood trickled down his cheek like a slow-drying creek. The creature leapt backwards into the air, somersaulted backwards, and landed on a tree branch. Its tail swayed back and forth like a cat eyeing a mouse, ready at any instant to strike.

Kell noticed the being’s multi-colored eye changing again. This time it landed on purple, a deep, passionate purple. This time no gurgle followed, instead it took an overly large deep breath. When it exhaled, Kell was put to the mercy of a gale easily topping 200 mph. The wind blew Kell backward with such strength, that when he slammed up against a tree trunk he heard a terrifying crunch. Hopelessly he fell forward onto his face unable to move, dropping his defense and offense. Kell lifted his head to see the being advancing on him. Before his eyes, the deep cut in the creature’s chest and the stab wound in its stomach sealed. He realized the color-changing eye was switching colors once again. It landed on brown, an earthen brown, that of fertile dirt in a temperate climate. He felt a slight rumble beneath him and was sent sprawling into the air by a sudden uprising of earth. The eye quickly changed to a sky-blue and the gurgling commenced. A cloud of sparkling ice crystals crept agonizingly slow towards Kell. He met the ice crystal formation even with the tree trunk and was bound to it by laces of ice around his wrists, ankles, neck, and waist. Kell struggled to get free, but the ice was too thick. Kell tried to scream out but the reptile’s eye changed quickly to an emerald green and weeds shot out of the shallow water beneath him and bound into a rope that gagged him. The tone of green changed from emerald to lime and the loathsome creature spit acid toward Kell. The acid melted through the tree right below his crouch as a warning. For the first time Kell heard it speak:

“What do you want?” its voice was raspy, but deep.

“Mmmm, ugggggh!” Kell, still being gagged by the weeds tried to explain.

It realized that the vine was gagging him and stuck a single talon out. As if in a finishing gesture, it brought its hand down. The talon sliced through the weeds with no objection.

Still bound to the tree, Kell said, “Your head.”

In a rage seeming to mock Kell’s incompetence, the creature bellowed flame. The fire melted Kell’s ice bindings. He fell to his knees.

“Good luck,” was the arrogant reply.

Kell rose to his feet and glared at the creature. The creature glared back. The real competition had begun.

The being’s eyes rolled through the color spectrum like a slot machine and landed on gray. It dematerialized right in front of Kell. Kell looked around in concern. He glanced sharply to the right and his back popped again, only this time it was a beneficial pop. Kell sighed in relief. The air in front of him quivered like Jell-O and a rock solid fist smashed into Kell’s chin. Kell stuttered backwards and was met with a kick in the back. Taking a supporting step forward, Kell’s feet were swept out from underneath him. He landed on his back and rolled over to avoid the five nine-inch nails aimed for his head. He felt something hard in the water. He grasped the hilt of his sword and stuck it forward. As the creature realized it was about to be stabbed head on, its eye color changed to black. Its flesh became a mere shadow and swept ghostly right through the sword’s broad blade. Materializing behind Kell, he swung his sword around and connected with the left side of its head. With a clean cut, Kell disconnected the left side of the being’s chin.

With a squeal, the creature backed up and felt the missing area of flesh. Now Kell was on the offensive. Swinging his sword left to right and back again Kell’s blows were knocked away by the creature’s talons. The reptile grasped a final desperate stab, and used the pull to propel itself forward into Kell's gut. Kell moaned in pain and screamed as the reptile violently pulled the claws out, taking a few pieces of Kell’s insides with them. The creature leaned forward and bit into Kell’s shoulder. Its front fangs injected venom. Kell reached inside his cloak and pulled out a bottle full of blue fluid. Kell gulped it down and threw the bottle at the creature to anger it. The potion healed his wounds and terminated the venom rejuvenating Kell. He always kept a vial when he went hunting, and it certainly helped in this case.

For a second, Kell thought the potion had reverse effects, for he saw his mother walking towards him. She held her arms out as if asking for a hug. Slowly Kell took steps toward his mother. As he got closer he realized something was different about his mother…she had no pupils. Her eyes were completely white! The image was shattered as Kell woke in reality and saw he was standing within an arm’s length of the reptile. It grinned almost devilishly and its eyes became orange. The creature yawned and breathed a horrendous black and orange gas into Kell’s face. Inhaling it though his nostrils Kell felt like he was asleep. He sees Judgement, men and women running around unsure of what to do certain of their death. He sees an unmanned wagon with no wheels making its way down a lane where babies can be heard crying. As the scenes kept coming, he helplessly realized that he was playing each nightmare he had ever had through his mind over and over. Afraid of approaching insanity, he pulled his hair and screamed. He woke to a raspy laughing seeming to come from everywhere. He turned around to find where the laughing was coming from and came face to face with the creature with tickle-me pink eye color. He breathed yet another gas into Kell’s face. As the black and red cloud of gas was sucked up into his lungs, he was struck with vivid pictures of Jesus on the cross being crucified. Everything went black and he sees himself crouching and slitting his wrists. He hides the knife as his mother comes into the room. It flashes to a bar and we see him drinking excessive amounts of whiskey. He gets up on tables and dances and sings. It flashes to him and a girl doing things not even to be mentioned. Like the gas before, this was playing the same scenes over and over in his head. This time it was all the sins he had ever committed. As the scenes stop, he gazes upon the pained face of Jesus as the nails are driven through Him.

Seeing the gloomy swamp was the greatest thing that could have happened to Kell at that precise moment. He dropped to his knees and prayed right then and there. Apologizing for all of the sins he had ever committed, hoping that he would not go to Hell. Thinking secretly to himself that leaving the Earth would be coming soon. Shaking the thought from his head he raised his head to look around and saw the creature leaning against a tree.

Kell stood up. This time he swayed slightly. He staggered forward and was impaled swiftly by the creature’s claws. Moaning weakly, he choked up some blood. Removing his talons, the reptile gazed upon its prey almost with a kind of revolt at having to kill Kell. Kell dropped his sword and grabbed his stomach. Blood seeped through his fingers and created a puddle in the mud. With his left hand, he reached into his cloak and withdrew some shuriken. Acting as if he was about to give away his life, he bowed his head. As the creature approached his kneeling figure, Kell sprung up and let go of the shuriken. Two sliced into the creature’s stomach, while one punctured the creature’s right eye. The creature reeled backward and placed both hands over his right eye. It pulled out the shuriken and snapped it in half with its index finger and thumb. Kell noticed the creature crying tears of different colors. At the same time, the eye was flipping through each color of the spectrum at the speed of light. The creature let out a squeal that could scare away restless spirits. Both of the creature’s eyes shut and a black aura surrounded the reptile. The being started to shake. The reptile’s eyes fluttered and shot open. Open as wide as possible, Kell watched as black veins engulfed both of the creature’s eyes. Slowly the reptile’s scales turned black as coal. Spines broke out of its back and curved towards its tail. The tail extended a few feet and forked. Letting out one last freakish yell, the creature’s head fell limp. Slowly it raised its head and stared deep into Kell’s worried eyes. Disappearing in a wisp of black, curling smoke the being was gone.

Thinking it was too good to be true, Kell sat, anticipating something to happen. When nothing did, he steadily rose to his feet. Something solid hit the side of his head. Doing a complete flip in the air, Kell was knocked sideways. Kell refusing to give up turned and looked to see what it was, but nothing was there. He looked above him in the treetops and spotted something flitting from branch to branch overhead. ‘Somehow destroying his source of power made him stronger…’ thought Kell. Kell looked down for an instant and had his face smashed into the mud. Pushing with all his strength, his face finally became free with a sick sucking sound. Chunks of mud fell off and plopped onto moist ground. Kell looked around and saw nothing once again. The sunlit scenery somehow dimmed to complete darkness. In disbelief Kell stood up and felt around. Pistons worked into his gut with a repetitive motion. Dazed and blind, Kell spun in circles and felt out with his arms. Knives slit his arm and across his chest and up the side of his head. The darkness slowly lightened into the eerie sunlit swamp area. Suddenly aware of where he was, Kell looked around. A single black blur ran from behind tree to tree. As an experiment he chucked a shuriken to where he saw a blur. Black blood landed at Kell’s feet.

“Don’t be a woman! Show yourself and fight like a man…or whatever the hell you are!” Kell exclaimed.

Seemingly walking out of the air, the now black being calmly advanced towards him. The reptile raised its hands. The nine-inch blue nails were now foot-long black blades. Kell drew two daggers out of his cloak and stood ready. The black reptile was instantly upon him throwing slashes at him like punches. Using the mere daggers, Kell fended for himself knocking away blows and getting in a few of his own. By the time the being withdrew, Kell was covered in more black blood than his own; slowly the being was worn down. It stood there huffing and puffing and wiping black blood from his black lips. Every little while, it would try and get in a few blows. Finally, the being came at Kell from the side and increasing its speed, spun underneath Kell. Kicking upwards, the being got in a cheap shot as Kell fell to his knees. As Kell was grasping his genitals in pain, the being punched him repeatedly in the head. Left, right, left, right, etc. Pure rage seemed to grip Kell as the being’s strength and speed increased even greater. He plucked the black reptile’s arm out of the air and stood in a fluid motion. Still clutching the being’s arm, Kell rolled behind it. Now, Kell was using the black reptile’s arm to choke itself. With its other arm, it elbowed backwards and Kell grabbed that too! Holding the being in a position much like that a cop does a fugitive. The creature tried to kick upward and back towards a male’s weak spot and Kell angled his knees so that its leg was caught too. Sweeping the creature’s final leg out from beneath it with his right leg, Kell pinned the muscular creature to the ground. Pulling a dagger out of the ground nearby using his teeth, he flung it into the air, and using his chin as a substitute for his arm, grabbed the hilt and held the blade threatening against its throat.

“Looks familiar doesn’t it?” were the last words Kell whispered before slitting the beings throat. Black blood spilled out of the wound and into the swampy water creating a sick black fountain. Stabbing the being in the chest for one last final goodbye, Kell walked off…