Crack!

  Then suddenly, Nina felt her face and her entire body being splattered again with a warm liquid that she immediately recognized as Northman's blood, and some other bits of small, soft fragments quickly followed by the most heinous sound she ever heard; something resembling a watermelon or some other fruit being smashed on a hard floor.

  What just happened? The poor girl had barely recovered from the shock when the lifeless body of the Northman that was about to defile her fell limp over her body, and between her legs, pinning her to the ground. A mixture of relief and utter horror flooded her heart after watching in gory detail the exposed brain through the giant opening in the back of the Northman's head right next to her. She realized that the small bits she was splattered with were rests of flesh, bones, and brains from the inside of her would-be rapist’s head.

  The realization that she was covered with the insides of someone else’s head hit Nina hard. Somebody or something hit the Northman with such force that made the back half of his head disappear. She was in shock, her mind went blank, and she was completely unable to utter a single word. The poor girl felt the Northmen's grip on her getting looser, and quickly pulled her arms free from them to push the dead body that fell over her to the side, purely by instinct.

  Nina then tried in vain to cover herself with her torn clothes, and quickly backed until her back hit a tree behind her, shielding her body with her arms and legs. She didn’t want to watch, but she was unable to take her eyes away either, she felt the deep urge to witness what the hell was going on. The cold night air was disrupted by the sudden outburst of the Northmen's angry, and confused screams. The group of raiders didn’t know what just happened but after hearing something ahead in the nearby bushes, and with their weapons at the ready they demanded to know what was hiding behind the woods, the bushes, the dark, and the thick mist.

-“Leave… her… alone…” a raspy voice echoed through the dark.

  The young priestess couldn’t help but cry in silence for the overwhelming burst of relief after hearing those words. Nina had always fantasized about being rescued by a dashing knight in shining armor, like those in the stories she read in her books. But she couldn’t see her savior through the pitch-black night, all Nina could see were the raiders that were holding her just a few seconds ago, standing with their backs towards her. They were still trying to figure out who has just spoken, unable to see anything.

-“I said… LEAVE! HER! ALONE!” the unknown voice yelled loudly.

  This time, the raspy voice echoed through the dark forest with increased force, so much that the Northmen were able to easily locate its source. Calmly, yet defiantly, a small silhouette slowly approached through the dark towards the clearing where the raiders were holding the priestess in. Nobody could tell exactly who or what was walking toward them, but as the shadowy figure was closing the distance between them with each step, one thing was sure.

  A pair of large, bright yellow eyes were staring them down, and it belonged to something that was not human.

  After what seemed an eternity, the creature finally reached the clearing and stood under the moonlight. Even though the clouds were thick, they let through just enough light to highlight its features. Nina could see something but she was not sure exactly what her eyes were looking at, it had a strange shape that resembled something more akin to a wild beast than a person. It was not too tall, perhaps just a bit taller than her, it was, however, very well build.

  Neither Nina nor the Northmen couldn’t see much of it in the dark, but what little they were able to see was that the creature’s back was hunched forward in a strange, and disturbing way, and most incredibly, it had a long and muscular tail moving back and forth behind him. Its eyes were shining brightly in the dark, and she took special notice of the creature’s rather large feet that ended in long, sharp-looking claws that she recognized immediately. Those feet looked exactly like the tracks of the supposed dragon. Was this thing the one that has been lurking around lately?

  The beast positioned both its arms behind his back in a position that suggested it was ready to leap towards them, startling everyone. Whatever this strange creature was, it was something neither she nor the raiders had ever seen before. Its bizarre structure along with its mostly greenish hide that was barely noticeable in the dark gave the creature a distinctive predatory appearance.

  The poor girl could do nothing but stare at the creature. This thing just saved her from a horrible fate just a few seconds ago. But the danger was not over yet, as the three remaining Northmen were still standing right in front of her, with their attention now turned towards the beast. A kind of beast that somehow could stand upright; had hands instead of paws, and most surprisingly, it could even talk! Was this thing even sentient? she thought she heard it talk.

  Nina could only wonder if it was, as it seemed that the beast could somehow understand what the Northmen were trying to do and was hellbent to stop them. Or at least she hoped so, for right now, she was just as frightened of that weird creature as she was of what those raiders would do to her. But for a brief moment that seemed like an eternity, they just stared at each other in silence, the Northmen looked at each other in disbelief while the creature stood in front of them, staring back as if waiting for them to leave. But the raiders wanted blood for their fallen comrade, and the silence was disrupted again by the sound of unsheathing steel that echoed through the night.

-“Kill that sucker!” one of the Northmen commanded in Nina’s own language.

  The two most fearsome raiders charged toward the creature with bloodthirsty rage. The beast just stood in front of them, patiently waiting for the Northmen to come closer, the raiders screamed loudly as they attacked the creature with avenging fury, launching violent swings with their swords, yet hitting nothing but thin air. After dodging the attack, the small creature leaped around and behind them. Its movement was so incredibly fast that Nina’s eyes struggled by just watching it. The raiders turned to face it again, but the creature sent one of them flying with a powerful kick in the chest, the unfortunate Northman impacted violently against the nearest tree, then fell to the ground.

  The other raider turned his head again toward where his comrade has been hurled, the Northman found his friend laying on the ground, twitching in agony, and barely alive. The man was completely unable to move as his spine, and several other bones were broken, if not by the powerful kick, then by the impact against the tree.

  The Northman then turned his head again towards the beast and charged at it in a crazed fury. The raider launched several wild swings at the creature, which dodged them almost without effort. The dragon then charged past the Northman in the blink of an eye, and positioned itself behind him with inhumanly fast steps, ready to attack. The beast hit him with three fast and powerful punches in rapid succession, each blow dented the raider’s breastplate and broke the man’s ribs behind it as if there wasn’t any armor at all. The Northman was lifted from the ground by the sheer force of the last hit at his stomach, and fell to the ground on his knees, yelling in pain.

  Nina watched in shock as the Northman gushed blood from his mouth, but before she could even bat an eye the beast hit him the last time right behind the head with an inhumanly powerful kick, the force of which was so brutal that the man’s head exploded from the violent impact, sending all its contents splattering to the ground and against a nearby tree.

  The creature then turned to face the remaining Northman, the youngest of them who was supposed to hold Nina at sword point. The young raider could only stare back in fear, trembling, and barely able to stand after witnessing his fellow raiders being massacred. The scared boy didn’t waste much time, he turned hastily and ran away for his life. The beast watched him escape but didn’t attempt to chase after him, the Northman was no longer a threat, or perhaps he never was. Nina then let out a breath she didn’t know she was holding, and the creature turned towards her immediately.

  She froze. What the hell is this thing?! What could it possibly want?! These thoughts were racing through her head. Nina lost almost any form of control over her body, she tried desperately to cover herself with anything but couldn’t move a muscle, yet she could feel her heart beating hard against her chest as the creature began to walk towards her while at the same time looking at her squarely in the eyes. She could feel her heart pounding harder, and harder with each step the creature took. By the Gods, she could even hear the damn thing pumping! Her mind went wild about what could possibly happen next, she went through all the possibilities: Would it kill her as it killed the Northmen?! Would it eat her alive?! Would it leave her alone?! She didn’t know, but she desperately hoped it would be the latter.

  The dragon stopped just a step away in front of her, still staring intensely into her eyes with its own large, bright pair. Nina stared back for a few seconds more until she couldn’t bear it anymore, she closed her eyes, and turned her head away, weeping loudly. She couldn’t help but tremble hard in fear and shield her body with her arms and legs. She could only sob in silence on the ground, shaking against the tree, shutting her eyes tightly. If the Northmen, and what they almost did scared the hell out of her; now this thing, this creature, and what it had just done outright terrified her.

  Although the thought of being ravaged forever, and taken away to an unknown fate is something nobody on their sane mind would ever wish for; neither is it being mangled and mercilessly beaten to death by a wild animal. Nina had just witnessed how three imposing adult men were savagely mauled to death, some even beyond recognition, by something barely taller than her and yet strong enough to dent through freaking plate armor, and break flesh, and bone behind it with nothing but the sheer force of its bare hands and feet.

  But she could swear she heard the creature talking! And if it can talk, then perhaps it could also understand her, if this creature has not killed her yet, there ought to be a reason. Something in her heart told her she could put her trust in the dragon.

-“Please don’t hurt me!” the girl pleaded.

  The young priestess managed to speak without bumbling, she was still shaking nervously and was barely able to speak, desperately wishing to hear something, anything in return, and hoping that what the creature said before wasn’t just her mind playing tricks on her and that it meant something more than just a predator claiming its prey. She felt each second, each beating of her heart as several insanely long minutes, she then felt a small tap on her feet. Did that thing just kick me in the boots?! She felt it again as if the dragon was trying to get her attention. Her whimpering halted almost immediately, and she slowly opened her eyes to look at it.

  She could not believe her eyes.

  The dragon just stood in front of her, gently extending towards her one of its rather large hands still covered in Northmen's blood. She couldn’t see the creature’s face, as it was blocking with his back what little moonlight that came through the clearing, but she could see its bright, piercing eyes looking right through hers.

-“Don’t worry, I’m not going to hurt you” the dragon told her.

-“They can’t hurt you anymore”

  Nina let again the waterfall’s floodgates open, and soon tears went down her cheeks, though this time of relief and joy. She tried her hardest to hold them, but by this point, she felt oh so overwhelmed by relief that she just couldn’t help it any longer.

  She grabbed her savior’s hands, and let herself weep into them, sobbing violently as all the pent-up feelings of fear, helplessness, and despair left her body and her soul. She was finally safe and thanking all the Gods and her ancestors for answering her prayers.

-“Thank you! Thank you so much!”

  The dragon could only stare at her, confused, as she sandwiched his hands between hers, and pressed them against her face, and forehead in what was an obvious sign of thanks in her culture but that was not known to the creature. The stranger put one of its hands over her head trying to comfort her. He allowed her to cry for a few minutes more, he thought it would be better for the poor girl to let it all out. He knelt down next to her, and Nina let go of his hands, and instinctively put her arms around him. She kept crying over the creature’s shoulder as her tears seemed unable to end on their own while thanking the dragon once again who was now awkwardly holding her in his arms.

  As the poor girl continued crying in unknown arms, she could only think about whom and what exactly was the creature that saved her from a fate worse than death, and who was holding her now in his arms. Nina left out a sigh of relief between her sobs, thanking the Gods and the dragon yet again for saving her from falling prey to the marauding Northmen. Feeling immensely relieved to be alive, safe, unharmed, and that the nightmare was finally over.

  But little did she know that this wasn’t the end.

  It was just the beginning.