When we reached the edge of the woods and the swamp lands began, we started hearing all the noises of the insects, critters, and other creatures that called the swamps home. I was not happy to be back at the bogs, but we had to cross them in order to reach our destination. So, with much displeasure, we began to cross. I would normally fly to cover such distances, but since I have been lost at space, one thing I realized is flying is not always the best mode of transportation. In unfamiliar worlds, a flying hero is not always the king. Often there are other creatures who call the sky home, and invading their airspace has seen me almost meet my end. Furthermore, needing to travel conspicuously was of the utmost importance. Astor was an outcast. If anyone discovered he was returning after being exiled, the evil warlord would surely send many of his men at us. Thus, we had no choice but to hoof it. Luckily for me, Astor knew the swamps like the back of his hand. He was able to navigate us across the easiest, least perilous trails, and before I knew it, some hours later we had crossed the majority of the swamp lands, and there was another wooded area in sight.

I relayed my excitement at seeing more trees, and the end of the boggy hell we just traveled through. Astor was extremely quiet, though, and he gestured I should be as well. I quieted myself and focused my attention on our surroundings, while asking him what was going on. Astor whispered that the reason why the evil warlord exiled him far beyond the swamps was because it is one of the worst places in all of Friki. Not only is there no aima there, but no one in their right mind would venture into the swampland. I asked if it was because of the creatures, insects, and unforgiving heat during the day. He shook his head, answering no. The reason, he softly mentioned, is because of Leviathan. When I asked him if by Leviathan, he meant the mythical serpent creature from ancient Earth texts, he said yes. My stomach immediately jumped into my throat. The last thing I wanted to do was fight a monstrous sea creature!

We continued towards the edge of the swamp with the utmost caution. There remained only one more mile of land to cross, which was next to a giant body of water that appeared to be a lake. Astor pointed to it, letting me know it was the home of the Leviathan. So, we slowly moved to the other side of the land bridge, near a shallow bog, and kept quiet. The wind began to pick up, and as it blew on the top of the water it caused ripples, making it more difficult for us to determine if something was moving under the surface or not. Another thing the wind did was carry our scent into the woods on the other side. Alas, a beast roaming the area picked up on our presence, and ventured from the woods onto the land bridge. We were now faced with a terrible situation: we had to slaughter the animal before it killed us, without creating too much noise and attracting the Leviathan. Unfortunately, the beast had other plans, as it roared towards our direction, and what happened next was only a matter of time.

Astor pulled out his sword, and motioned for me to stay back. However, before he could swoop in with his speed and kill the beast, the waters of the lake exploded everywhere! Both Astor and I were caught off-guard, and as the water rushed down on us, we covered ourselves. An enormous thud shook the ground, toppling us both on our backs. My bag of supplies flew into the bog behind us, and sank to the bottom. I frantically wiped the water from my eyes to try and find it, but when I looked up, the Leviathan was there! One of its 13 heads was devouring the beast, while the other 12 glared at us. It was obvious we were next on the menu.

Astor quickly helped me up. We had no choice but to fight it. The land bridge curved along the lake towards the woods, and in order to get there without swimming in the treacherous waters, filled with insects and creatures, we had to go by Leviathan. The sea monster moved to block our path as well. There was no avoiding the showdown. Therefore, I readied myself, as did Astor.

He gripped his sword tightly and readied his shield, while I picked up my bone staff. Then, Astor told me the only way to kill Leviathan was to cut off one specific head. If we did not choose correctly, the severed head would sprout another monster which we would have to fight, in addition to the massive sea creature. However, all of the heads looked exactly the same, and there was no way to discern which the correct choice was. I quickly formulated a plan, and said I would use my flying ability to get in and out of the reach of the heads. I could strike it to bait it in, and when a head swooped down, Astor could use his sword to cut it off. He agreed, and before we knew it, we were engaged in battle.

Leviathan moved its heads about in a calculated matter, sizing us up, and waiting for the perfect time to strike. I took flight and floated directly above Astor, which looked to confuse the sea monster. Then I flew in as fast as I could, and went to smash one of the heads with a blow. Leviathan was incredibly agile, though, and maneuvered out of the way. It then lifted that head back, while another darted in from the side to try and chomp on me. I moved out of the way, but as I did, another head came from behind and tried to bite me. Almost too late, I shot up in the air and avoided being ripped in half. More heads continued to attack. They weaved in and out of one another with precision and great agility, never becoming tangled, or hindering the movement of each other. It made it incredibly difficult to deal with, and I was pushed to the limit to just try and survive, let alone get it to do what I wanted. After some minutes, I darted away from the Leviathan heads to safety. They looked at me, and roared in anger. The sound it made was deafening, and the force of the roar launched me back through the air. Astor was shaken below as well, and he stumbled to a knee. I looked at him and he looked at me in return, before remarking that any time I wanted to get serious about killing Leviathan, I could start doing our plan. I yelled back that it was good to see he retained his sense of humor, while we faced a 13-headed monster. Astor simply pointed his sword at the sea creature, signaling to me to get back in there, and that, I did.

This time, I flew in just out of the reach of the monster’s heads. When it rushed some of them forward to attack, I floated to the side, and darted in towards the others. The remaining heads all converged on me at that point. When they did, I knew the others that were extended would be moving back to intercept me. So, I flew out to the side, and made a circular path back to my original position. The heads that did not attack initially all missed, leaving the heads that first attacked to begin following my trail. Then, when I approached my starting point, I sharply turned to face the head that was located closest to me. I flipped in the air, and moved my momentum downward. The sharpness of the angle I took, and the quickness of the maneuver, were too much for Leviathan, and I was able to come down on the head with a thunderous strike from my bone staff. The head dropped towards the ground below, and when it did, Astor moved in with blinding speed, and his sword struck true. The blade went clean through, and severed the Leviathan head.

As it rolled on the ground, I yelled in celebration while flying to safety. Astor leapt back from the reach of the other Leviathan heads, too. We both waited to see what would happen next. We did not know if we had chosen correctly. We awaited the giant monster to fall dead, or to show us the other trick it had. Unfortunately for us, we witnessed the latter. We had chosen wrong, and from the severed head began oozing a large creature. Astor and I looked at each other, a little nervous as to what would emerge, for surely it would be nothing good.

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