30 Days of Fiction: 20

After a few more tries George made it past the bevy of undead villagers and more white wolves. He had taken a wrong right turn once where he was immediately murdered by a twenty-foot long lizard that pulverized him with its jagged blue crystals. He decided that that one would have to wait. After the lizard, the world had opened up for him revealing an expanse of snowy mountains and castles off in the distance. It was a beautiful site but not as beautiful as the softly smoldering bonfire at the top of the hill and when he touched the hilt of a rusted sword sticking into bonfire he was filled with tranquility and peace. He was renewed and the fire was renewed for with his touch, it blazed hotter and brighter as if it had been waiting for him a very long time.

George sat at the fire for a moment and took stock of his inventory and found that his two glowing flasks were full again. When he was done resting he stood up and as soon as he had made the first turn down the path he was accosted by more villagers in tattered clothes wielding short swords and jagged daggers. He was getting better at blocking their attacks and with some effort and only drinking twice from his golden flask he found himself staring into a round and ruined courtyard. In the center of the courtyard, a giant in ornate silver armor knelt with its head to the floor motionless. Just beyond the statued knight were a set of doors. 

"That must be where I need to go," George said and headed toward the large doors at the far end of the yard making sure to give a wide berth to the giant as George had learned that this world was full of deadly surprises. 

The door was locked. 

"Hmm," George murmured and then began running around the courtyard for a clue as to what he had to do next. 

After frantically running the diameter of the area a few times he walked slowing up to the kneeling knight. Up close he noticed that there was a strange black mass undulating in and around the knight's back. Then he noticed that a long coiled sword was plunged halfway through the knight's chest. With apprehension, he began to pull the sword from the statue's chest. As it came free mists and spurts of blood began to fly from the sword and as it fell to the ground the giant raised its head and stood up. 

George backed away but in no time the giant was picking up his large halberd and moving swiftly toward him. George turned and as he began to run back toward the safety of the beautiful bonfire he saw before him a wall of fog blocking his way. He tried running through the fog but just as he found that he couldn't and turned, the sharp end of the giant's halberd was slamming down on his head. He attempted to drink from his flask but just as he pulled it out of his pocket another blow was raining down on him and he found himself in a haze of mist and death. 

He arose at the previous bonfire and was not surprised to find that all the enemies he had dispensed with earlier were back to torment him. He checked his flasks and the two were full but his jar of white smoke was empty. This time with a little more rage and resolved to regain that which he had lost he made his way toward the courtyard once more. 

The villagers were a difficult obstacle but he found a way to minimize how many he had to interact with and when he found himself in front of the giant the second time he was only down one drink of life juice. He felt confident as he passed through the threshold toward his foe but this time the giant was already up and making his way toward him. George pulled up his shield and walked forward. The giant struck him hard in the shield and he was hurt but alive. He swung his ax striking the knight once for decent damage but just as he went for another he was struck by the giant's side stomp and stunned for a moment. The giant swung again hitting him square in the side of his body staining the ground with his dark red blood. 

His life nearly gone, he rolled back until he couldn't roll anymore and took a drink from his flask, giving him back the majority of his health. He pulled his shield up just in time as the halberd slammed against it again. George made his way around the giant's side and began to slash it his flank as fast as he could doing more and more damage but with another stomp and slash the giant was on him causing his health to dwindle. George tried rolling back again but after the second roll, he found himself without any ground to roll onto and as he plummeted down an endless abyss he thought to himself, YOU DIED!

With even more rage in his heart George crossed the threshold of the courtyard but this time he ran at the giant full speed and started swinging blindly until he found himself being slammed to the ground by the massive halberd. He got up and started swinging blindly again only the have the giant lunge forward slamming the halberd down and up again launching him into the air and as he hit the ground he thought to himself again, YOU DIED. 

"FUCK!," he exclaimed as he was resurrected at the bonfire. This time he ran past all the villagers and headed straight into the fight. Instead of striking the giant face-on George remembered that the knight's flank was exposed after it attacked so this time he maneuvered around to the right at each opportunity and struck as much as he could. He took a halberd to the face a few times but was making progress. After each strike, he would try to flank him and strike until exhausted but still the giant was too fast and too powerful. His life dwindling he rolled to the right, then to the left and when he had just a moment to act he struck the knight and something different happened. 

All of a sudden the knight stopped and a mass of writhing black tar burst out of his back and head and a new head with burning red eyes and a long snout arose out of his body. A pale long arm stretched out from the knight's side and with a screech, the knight was now a hideous monstrosity. Not knowing what to make of this George made his way to what he thought was the creature's flank and began to strike as fast as he could taking chunks out of its flesh. The creature turned and struck down with its long face slamming George to the ground. With just a sliver of life left and the creature gearing up for another attack he rolled to the right just in time to miss being hit and took a drink from his golden flask. 

With vigor, George rolled toward the half-knight-half-black-tar-creature and struck it again and again. The creature was nearly dead when it leaped into the sky and in an attempt to miss the incoming strike George rolled backward but he rolled too soon and the creature landed with its full weight on his body killing him once more. 

"NOOOOOO!!!!! I fucking had him! Goddamnit! Fuck! FUck! FUCK!" George spewed out of his mouth as he was being resurrected. 

George decided to take a break. He was so angry that he knew that if he continued he would just die again exacerbating his rage. Instead, he decided to look around the area and practice killing the villagers. He tried taking each one individually and found them much easier to deal with one on one. Around one bend in the path, he had found some dark black orbs and found that if he threw them they burst into flames like a bomb from a Mario Brothers game. He only had 4 after the initial test throw so he decided to save them for when he really needed them.

After a few more practice sessions in the area and with his jar filling up nicely with white smoke he decided to take on the giant again. He crossed the threshold and ran up to the giant and waited for it to strike. When it did he moved to his right and struck a few times and then waited for the next strike. He was beginning to read the giant's patterns and concentrated on what he was doing in a way he hadn't before. George was in the "zone" this time and in no time the knight was again transforming into a blackened creature. The fight became more intense but George kept his witts and drank from his flask only twice thus far.

The creature's health was nearly gone and in his haste, George swung too many times and as he became exhausted the creature smashed him into the ground taking most of his health away. He got up, rolled to the right and drank from the flask just in time to miss another strike. He rolled toward the back of the creature but just as he went to swing his ax the creature jumped into the air. George waited for a half second and then rolled away from the creature as it struck the ground missing him entirely. The creature was too far away to strike but George remembered the black bombs.

"Fuck it!" he said to himself as he flung a black bomb at the creature's blackface.

The creature screeched and writhed in pain as the bomb exploded, setting it aflame. That did it and it was over as it began to fade away from the world in a haze of smoke and blood.

"YES!!!!!" George exclaimed pumping his fist into the air and he began to dance a little. When he was done celebrating he noticed a small bonfire appeared in the center of the yard and when he touched the sword sticking out of it the bonfire blazed with delight and they were both at peace. After resting, George took out his jar and found it full of wonderful white smoke. He walked over to the large doors and with all his strength he pulled them open.