~~

Trinity

~~

It took a moment or two for me to process what it was that Rudy had just yelled. I didn't think that I was hearing him properly the first time. That, and it was like me and everything around me was moving in slow motion. Each step that I took to turn around and face the new beast, the new threat, seemed to take forever. And the screams of the boys were long and drawn out.

However, the moment that Rudy's words actually clicked inside of my head, the moment that I actually realized what it was that he had said, I stopped moving so slowly. I felt like I was whipped around at double speed as his words echoed in my ears.

"OH NO! IT'S A HELL SNAKE!

"

Why did those words chill me to the bone? Why did it sound to me like Rudy was scared **less? And why did it feel like things had just gone from bad to worse.

Well, that all had to do with the thing that was coming toward us right now. The beast was still only partially visible as it worked to push its way out of the smaller part of the tunnel, but I could see its head clearly.

I don't know how much the rest of the beast looked like a snake, but the head was only half of a snake. The other half of the head was more alligator-like. Or was that crocodile? I was not always sure, but that snout was more narrow. I think it might be a crocodile head.

Though, honestly, does it really matter right now? I mean, this mutant thing was coming to kill me, my boys and Rudy. Did I really truly want to take the time to guess this **ing thing's origins and genetics? I don't really think so.

While I tried to process the images before my eyes, I acted quickly. I needed to get the others out of here before they were hell snake chow. I whipped my magic out and wrapped it around the four of them. It was both a barrier and a rope. I used that long rope of magic to pull them with me as I ran out of the tunnel and into the open air.

Now that I had them all safe and secured, I turned to face the monster that was the hell snake. It was just emerging from the tunnel. Squeezing its way through it like it was being pushed from a tube.

The more that I watched the beast, the more terrifying it became. The monster's head was almost all crocodile. It was about three to four feet wide. Its jaws were filled with foot long, razor sharp teeth. And the eyes on its head were trained right onto me.

It was even textured and colored much like a crocodile. Specifically like a saltwater crocodile. There were two sets of ridges on its snout that ran down from the eyes. And there were even ridges that went down the back of the things head and to its tail. Though the closer it got to the tail, the more spike-like those ridges got. And the thing was dark green, almost green enough to be black if it wasn't so bright over here right now. And that brightness, of course, was coming from the flames of punishment.

That beast just didn't look right. Even with the rest of the thing looking like a snake, it was still so wrong to my eyes. It was long and skinny when it came out of the tunnel. However, as it coiled itself in front of me, it wasn't as thin anymore. It was like the thing had stretched itself out to fit through the cave and was now going back to normal. It was still long though, that wasn't the issue. As it came out of the tunnel, it looked to me like it was at least sixty feet long, if not longer.

I had just a moment to think about something as well. When the thing was moving through the tunnel, I swear I heard something that sounded like claws digging into the ground to push it through. Where were those claws now?

Was it possible that the hell snake's ridges and spikes were making the scraping noise? Or was there something more sinister about this beast than I knew? I really, really, really hoped that it was the former of those two possibilities and not that this thing had hidden feet.

"Queen Trinity, you cannot fight that thing. Not with that sword. It is armored. Its body cannot be pierced.

" Rudy called out to me from his place of safety.

"Yeah, well, I need to try, don't I? I need to protect you and the boys. I need to kill this thing so that we can move on.

" I was doing my best to sound confident.

"We need to run, Queen Trinity. We need to get out of here. We need to leave that thing back here. You cannot kill it.

"

"Give me a chance first, Rudy. I need to try.

"

Despite what he was saying, I decided to insist on fighting the monster in front of me. I would never know what I was capable of doing if I didn't try, right? I needed to see if I was able to kill this thing so that not only would I, Zachary, Zander, Zayden and Rudy be safe for the time being, but I didn't have to worry about it coming after us later.

I stood my ground, gripped my sword with two hands, and launched myself forward to attack.

I flipped through the air, spinning just enough so that I would land on the hell snake's head. Or the back of it at least. I was facing the others, so that I could keep an eye on them if I needed to. However, I was putting my all into fighting this thing.

The hell snake knew that I was on the back of its head, and it didn't like that one bit. The thing started to shake its head from side to side in an attempt to rid itself of me. I had to do my best not to go flying off into the distance.

Not only that, but the beast started to smash itself against the rocky wall next to us to knock me off. If it kept that up, it would eventually work. Not to mention, I could tell that its tail was whipping around. Was it trying to knock me off like that as well?

Something told me this beast wasn't all that smart. It was going to hit itself with its own tail if it kept up what it was doing. Not to mention it was probably giving itself a nasty ass headache.

'OK Trinity, just kill it and go.' I gave myself a mental pep talk as I prepared to deal the final blow. I wanted to get out of here before there were any more monsters that came after us.

After fortifying my nerves with the mental boost, I once again grabbed the Frozen Kiss in two hands and threw my arms down toward the monster with all my might. I was aiming for the back of its skull, intent to give it history's worst brain freeze ever.

Only I failed at that.. I failed miserably.