A Monster Encounter (2023 Dainty Halloween Event)

Silas hears the screaming before he actually sees the cause of it.

To say things have been complicated since that giant abomination decided to show up in the town’s center would be an absolute understatement. Silas hasn’t slept a wink since the report first came to him; out on a mission on already little sleep in the Eastern Wilderness to track some bandits that were spotted up the coast. Bandits that had been ransacking villagers’ houses on the outskirts and resorting to random acts of violence to pass the time.

If it had been anything else, really, he would have ignored the report the messenger had given to him, but this was not something he could ignore. These were his people, this was his home, and this reported monster was soon to be the feces beneath his heel.

Even if the report had been…troubling, to say the least.

He’s no stranger to war, to a fight, to facing up against impossible odds.

After that, he decided pretty quickly the best course of action for him would be to go back to Teralia as quickly as he could; he did not want to lose more townspeople than necessary and it was already looking pretty grim on that front.

So, here he is now.

Just outside the towns walls that are already unrecognizable to the ones he left behind just days ago. He’s been able to hear the screaming for several minutes now, growing in volume as he draws near. He slows his horse into a trot, gently petting the sides of his neck at a job well done. Mead is quite the fine steed but he’s not the best around conflict like this. Silas ties him to a tree with some good shade coverage.

The damage starts at the front gate. That must be where everything started, Silas muses, as the stonewalls to the immediate sides of the gate are crumbled, the iron doors bent into odd shapes; stained with blood. He draws his daggers from their sheathes, knowing better than to go into this unarmed.

As soon as Silas clears the gate it’s hard to miss the source of the commotion.

Nothing could have prepared him for the sight that awaits him.

In the middle of the town-square, on top of the (now destroyed) three-tiered fountain is what Silas can only describe as a giant reptilian monster. The thing is pitch black, with glowing red eyes and a menacing spiked tail that looks painful to go up against. The thing is massive, too, easily spanning the height of the town’s tallest building and then some.

Silas will never admit to the fear that takes root in his chest at the sight; he’s gone up against impossible odds before but this doesn’t seem to even remotely compare to any of those. He doesn’t falter, though. Silas has never once let fear stop him from anything, certainly not a good fight.

The monster isn’t alone. The form of Caspian is at the front of it, catching the tail end of the motion of stabbing through the creatures chest. The horrid sound that erupts from it’s throat is near deafening and it causes a pit of unease to deepen in his belly.

Silas breathes once, and then twice, and then he rushes forward with a battle cry so loud it seems to shake the crumbled buildings around him.

“Get a taste of this, you ugly fuck,” He screams, running towards the thing as fast as his legs can carry him before he launches himself forward. He ends up landing on the things back, the skin smoother than he expected. His daggers dig cleanly into its hide, causing the creature to let out a shriek and move as if trying to buck Silas off.

“Silas?” Caspian’s voice booms from below. “You’re supposed to be—“

“Like hell I was going to leave you to deal with this yourself,” Silas yells down at him, adjusting his grip on his daggers and widening his stance to get his balance back.

Though it should be impossible, he swears he hears Caspian sigh. “Don’t worry. As soon as this is taken care of, I’ll go back to the bandits!”

They fall silent after that, the slick sounds of Caspian’s sword slicing repeatedly at the soft underside. The thing is stronger than he expected and at this point Silas is almost worried the damned thing might actually be immortal.

Thankfully, Silas isn’t the type of man to give up easily, and decides if that’s the case, he’ll just have to pour twice as much into taking the monster down.

This is exactly what he’s trained for.

With a dangerous smirk painting his lips, Silas uses his leverage to slide down the back of the creature, daggers dragging deep, festering wounds down the length of its back.

Unfortunately, this is also the moment the creature decides to regain some awareness. The moment Silas removes his daggers with the intent to stab into it again (and again and again and again) it lets out a vicious roar, and this time, when it tries to launch Silas off of its back, it uses it’s tail as a catapult and sends him flying straight into a pile of rubble.

“Silas!”

The impact knocks the breath clean out of him for several long minutes, eyes going unfocused as his head slams back against concrete. He groans, hearing the creature turn its attention to Silas. Apparently he’s annoyed it enough that he feels the need to ignore the man continuously stabbing at it’s most vulnerable parts.

Lovely.

He somehow finds the strength to push himself up with shaking arms. He’s pretty sure some of his ribs are broken, creaking loudly in his chest, but adrenaline is a damn good pain reliever when you need to push through the impossible. He readies his daggers again as he hops to his feet, a bit unsteady, and stares down the beast with a thunderous look that has caused plenty of men to tremble before him.

“That the best you got?” He spits, steadfastly ignoring the taste of blood on his tongue. “Bring it on!”