( there was much this creature could not hope to inflict on her. despite its great size, it was impossible to break or bruise or crush her. which indeed seemed to be its preferred strategy. the serpent part of the beast, however, was more graceful and clever. it was not as strong as the goat nor the lion, yet it was just as dangerous in a completely different way.
it slithers, rears back, and snaps at her calf. she gasps in the surprise of the pain, though even if the fangs are venomous she doesn't falter. landing a bite is the last thing it does. she had heard it coming too late to pull her sword free completely, but when it is it's swung back with a wicked arc, and the entire head is sliced free as the beast howls under her feet.
the fangs are still dug into her leg as she throws her weight behind the tip of the blade, digging it through the skull of the lion head and into the brain. whether the goat of the chimera still lives, it seems to matter little — the creature stumbles and falls, breathing a few heavy last breaths. she rides its bloodied back through the collapse, before she stumbles off the body as it breathes its last.
she has to pry the grip of the snake's jaw open quite forcefully from her leg, and there's blood. she may not be human, but she can bleed. it's only when she's free that she eyes the stranger again, and while she's winded and wounded, there's something not quite as open about her as she looks at him now. )
Did you not see it before it tried to strike? ( snakes rarely snapped instantly; why hadn't he warned her? )
no subject
it slithers, rears back, and snaps at her calf. she gasps in the surprise of the pain, though even if the fangs are venomous she doesn't falter. landing a bite is the last thing it does. she had heard it coming too late to pull her sword free completely, but when it is it's swung back with a wicked arc, and the entire head is sliced free as the beast howls under her feet.
the fangs are still dug into her leg as she throws her weight behind the tip of the blade, digging it through the skull of the lion head and into the brain. whether the goat of the chimera still lives, it seems to matter little — the creature stumbles and falls, breathing a few heavy last breaths. she rides its bloodied back through the collapse, before she stumbles off the body as it breathes its last.
she has to pry the grip of the snake's jaw open quite forcefully from her leg, and there's blood. she may not be human, but she can bleed. it's only when she's free that she eyes the stranger again, and while she's winded and wounded, there's something not quite as open about her as she looks at him now. )
Did you not see it before it tried to strike? ( snakes rarely snapped instantly; why hadn't he warned her? )