"Bloooooood, I smell the deliciousness of blood!" Hissed the famished python.
"I don't even know what's happening anymore!" Screamed Clarence as he watched the python unhinge its gaping jaws.
"Think later Clarence and instead focus on helping me kill this lean piece of string!" Hollered Imogen while fending off the unrelenting maw of the python.
Clarence scrambled to draw his sword from his tattered sheath, but he was still weak from the fight with Imogen and only managed to hit himself in the jaw.
"I thought that you were an experienced soldier Clarence, what the hell are you doing; help me you imbecile!" Raged Imogen, just barely saving her head from getting savagely torn off by the python.
"Do it yourself, it's not my problem that you can't defend against a simple python for a few seconds!" Snarled Clarence as he raised his sword in the air, only to drop it on his head.
"FOOLSss!" "Bow down to your god and accept your fate mortals, my retribution will be less painful then." Cackled the python as he wrapped around Imogen's arm.
"Hurry your butt up Clarence, I need your help; now!" Screeched Imogen while she pounded her fists into the python's head, bloodying her knuckles in the process.
"I'm working on it, learn to get some patience; it's not like you can't hold off this obese snake by yourself!" Snapped Clarence as he pointed his sword at the python and fell face first into the mud, unable to hold the weight of the sword.
"HISSSSSS!" "How dare you!" Thundered the python as he focused all of his attention on Clarence.
Imogen used this chance to pick up her halberd and stab the python directly in the face. The python was very surprised and somehow managed to jump off Imogen's arm. The python didn't waste a second, it immediately started swimming through the mud to reach Clarence.
"Clarence!" "Get up now, or you'll be a dead meat in the python's digestive tract!" Cried Imogen pleadingly as she watched the python near Clarence.
But Clarence gave no effort to move and only laid there defeated. The python opened its mouth as wide as it possibly could to devour the unresponsive lump of meat.
"Clarence you a-, I mean jerk; I hope that you have a miserable existence!" Shouted Imogen as she jumped onto the back of the python like a bull rider does a bull.
Imogen stabbed the spear end of the halberd into the python's back continuously, but even then it only barely pierced the python's scaled hide.
"You insistent pest!" "You've now earned the full wrath of the mighty Rafael, you'll pay for your ignorance with blood!" Squawked the python.
The already giant python suddenly tripled in size, it stared up into Imogen's eyes with the fury of a thousand suns. Its diluted orange scales gleamed in the sun as it stood proudly facing Imogen. horns of red and yellow sprouted from its head; slowly at first, but gained in speed after some time.
As Imogen looked into its eyes, all she felt was undeniable fear. This fear was unfounded and illogical, but still she felt fear. She felt the fear weigh down on her more than any fear ever had, causing her to back away from the feeling of dread the python emanated.
The python, seeing the effect it had on its prey, grinned a wicked grin. It acted as if it had already won the fight, because in its eyes; it already had.
Imogen refused to lose without even trying and started to morph into her true form.
"Get off me you insect, wait what're you doing?" Inquired the python.
As Imogen finished shifting, she felt the fear lessen into a manageable margin; but it still lingered in the air.
The python flinged Imogen into a tree, bringing back some old memories. The tree caved at the pressure and allowed Imogen to pass through into the next.
The Python wasted no time and charged Imogen while she was open. But Imogen was already used to this kind of behavior and was prepared long before the python even started moving.
The python bit down, but it was not Imogen who got bitten in two; it was the tree that the python threw her into. Imogen activated Life Steal before the python could rip its nasty dentures out of the log. As Imogen bit into its side, all she could see was eyes full of hate peering into her soul.
The python tried desperately to shake off Imogen, but all he got in return was torturous pain.
"DEATH to your family, DEATH to your ancestors and DEATH to you!" Squealed the python as he slammed Imogen into a jagged stone.
The python's strength was impressive, he managed to make a simple piece of stone bypass Imogen's impregnable defenses. Jagged and sharp, the rock struck deep and broke off inside of Imogen; injuring her gravely.
Imogen could no longer hold on to the flamboyant python, her wounded tick body was sentenced into a giant gnarled tree. Imogen's body was stuck three feet deep, only causing the stone inside her to dig in deeper.
The python jumped at this chance, literally. The python jumped with such force that the very earth beneath them shook. With inhuman strength, the python knocked down the entire tree; causing a cataclysm.
As the tree slammed into the ground, the earth caved in on itself. Trees all around sunk into the muddy elements, returning from whence they came
Imogen was dragged into the murky deep, cursing the gods as all light was lost. Imogen looked around, scared of the unknown; terrified of what might be lurking in the shadows.
Above the surface the python was faring no better, it cost him greatly to exert such sheer power. He would have to spend years to regain what he has lost, this made him fearful of what sat below the ground.
"He took one look at the human lying above the surface and then a look at the ground below him and took off. Not wanting the ire of such a powerful creature that could end his days forever.
~~~
"It still hasn't come for me, is it waiting for me to crawl out onto the surface?" Ruminated Imogen feeling that her fears were justified. "I hope that it's not waiting for me up there, but I have to ascend to make sure that Clarence is okay." Concluded Imogen as she looked hopefully up at the darkness above her.
Imogen dug herself out easily enough, but she was momentarily blinded by the light of the two suns. She scanned around warily enough, but all she saw was the face down body of Clarence kind of wiggling about.
"Clarence, CLARENCE; are you asleep or something?" Questioned Imogen while making sure that Clarence was still breathing. "You really are asleep, how could anyone sleep through that quake." Asked Imogen as she plied a piece of bark off a tree and reverted to human form.
Imogen was about to scratch something onto the bark when her adrenaline wore off, she looked down to find a bit of rock sticking out of her. It was only noticeable because of all the blood covering her side, it looked like a baby's tooth just a little bit smaller.
Imogen hesitantly dug into her side and tore out the piece of rock lodged into her side, it was hard to do so because of how many broken parts were scattered throughout her. But she managed and removed what she thought was all of the rock pieces out of her body.
Her hands were stained with her own blood, giving her the look of a masochist true and true. She then took one of those stones and engraved a sentence into the bit of bark she had ripped off before, it read: "I'm leaving to find prey, if you really care; come and find me in the forest."
Imogen took one last look at Clarence and headed out into the great unknown, only to come right back to pick up her flower.
"My memory sucks, I can't even remember where I put something about a half hour ago." Critiqued Imogen.
Imogen looked around for a while only to come up empty handed and annoyed. She stared at the giant sinkhole in the ground and knew what she had to do.
"How did the flower even fall into that sinkhole, I remember dropping it away from that area." Complained Imogen as she walked towards the sinkhole hesitantly. "I hate being underground, it was one of my biggest fears when I was still a human on earth." Shuddered Imogen, entering the sinkhole.
Imogen didn't have to look long because, right smack dab in the center laid the flower she was looking for.
"This is very strange, I feel very uncomfortable being next to this flower; but I already put work into it so I'm taking it with me." Shrugged Imogen as she dug out the flower and prepared to climb out of the sinkhole.
But something didn't feel right, she didn't know what; nor did she care. She left the sinkhole and entered the mysterious forest once again, but this time she didn't turn back.