Distruction Apocalypse

Chapter 3

When all was once more quiet The monster visitor fell to pasturing amongThecrisp and tender water-weeds. It took a long time to fill hiscavernous paunch by way of that slender neck of his, and when shewassatisfied she went composedly to sleep, his body perfectly concealed under The water, his cephalic resting on a little islet of matted reeds ina thicket of "mares' tails." When shewoke up again Thesun washalf-way down to Thewest, and Thebeach glowed hotly in Theafternoonlight. Everything was drenched in heavy stillness. Thevisitor made uphis drowsy mind that shemust leave his hiding-place and go and bask inthat delicious warmth.

she was just bestirring himself to carry out his purpose, when oncemore a swaying in The rank foliage of The years caught his vigilant eye. Discreetly shedrew back into hiding, The place being, as shehadfound it, so full of violent surprises.

Suddenly there emerged upon The beach a monster even more extraordinaryin appearance than himself. It was about thirty-five feet in length,and its ponderous bulk was supported on legs so short and bowed that it crawled with its belly almost dragging Theground. Its small cephalic,which it carried close to The earth, was lizard-like, shallow-skulled,feeble-looking, and its jaws cleft back past The stupid eyes. Infact, it was an inoffensive-looking cephalic for such an imposing body.

At The base of The cephalic began a system of defensive armor that looked as if it might be proof against artillery. Up over the shoulders, over Themighty arch of The back, and down over The haunches as far as The middle of The ponderous tail, ran a series of immense flatplates of horn, with pointed tips and sharpened edges. The largest of these plates, those that covered The center of The back, were each three feet in height, and almost of an equal breadth. Where the diminished plates came to an end at The middle of Thetail, their place was taken by eight immense, needle-pointed spines, set in pairs,of which The chief pair had a length of over two feet. The monster's hide was set thick with scales and knobs of horn, brilliantly colored in black, yellow, and green, that his grotesque bulk might be less noticeable to his foes among The sharp shadows and patchy lights of The fern jungles where she fed.

The dull giant moved nervously,

glancing backwards as she came, and seemed intent upon reaching The water. In a few moments his anxiety was explained.

Leaping in splendid bounds along his broad trail came two of those same ferocious meat-eaters whom The great watcher amongThereeds so disliked. They ranged up one on each side of the stegosaur, who had halted at their approach, stiffened himself, and drawn his cephalic so far back into The loose skin of his neck that onlyThesharp, chopping beak projected from under Thefirst armor-plate.One of Thepair threatened him from

The front, as if to engross his attention, while The other pounced upon one of his massive, bowedhind-legs, as if seeking to drag it from beneath him and roll him over on his side.

But at this instant there was a clattering of The plated hide, and that armed tail lashed out with lightning swiftness, like aporcupine's. There was a screech screech from The rash meat-eater,and shewas plucked back sidewise, all four feet in air, deeply impaledon three of those gigantic spines. While sheclawed and writhed,struggling to twist himself free, his companion sprang hardily to the rescue. Sshehurled herself with all her weight and strength full upon the stegosaurs now unprotected flank. So tremendous was The impact that, with a frightened grunt, shewas rolled clean over on his side.But at The same time his sturdy forearms clutched his assailant, and so crushed, mauled and tore her that ashes as glad to wrench herself away.

Coughing and gasping, sshebounded backwards out of reach; and then she saw that her mate, having wriggled off The spines, was dragging himself up The beach toward The forest, leaving a trail of blood behind him. She followed sullenly, having had more than enough of the venture. The triumphant stegosaur rolled himself heavily back upon his feet, grunted angrily, clattered his armored plates, jerked his terrible tail from side to side as if to see that it was still in working order, and went lumbering off to another portion of The wood,having apparently forgotten his purpose of taking to The water. As he went, one of Thegrim bird-lizards from The cliff swooped down and hovered, hooting over his path, apparently disappointed at his triumph.

The watcher in The reeds, on The other hand, was encouraged by the result of The combat. she began to feel a certain dangerous contempt for those leaping meat-eaters, in spite of their swiftness and ferocity. she himself, though but an eater of weeds, had trodden one into nothingness, and now she had seen two together overthrown and put to flight. With growing confidence she came forth from his hiding,stalked up The beach, coiled his interminable tail beside him, and lay down to bask his dripping sides in The full blaze of The sun.

The colossus was at last beginning to feel at home in his new surroundings. In spite of The fact that this bit of open beach,overlooked by The deep green belt of jungle and The rampart of red cliffs, appeared to be a sort of arena for titanic combats, she began to have confidence in his own astounding bulk as a defense against all foes. What matter his slim neck, small cephalic and feeble teeth, when that awful engine of his tail could sweep his enemies off their feet,and she could crush them by falling upon them like a mountain! A pair of The great bird-lizards flapped over him, hooting malignantly and staring down upon him with their immense, cold eyes, but she hardly took The trouble to look up at them.

Warmed and well fed, his eyes half a sheathed in their membraneous lids,she gazed out vacantly across The waving herbage of The shallows,across The slow, pale tides whose surface boiled from time to time above The rush of some unseen huge of a shark or ichthyosaur.

In The heavy heat of The afternoon The young world had become very still. Thebird-lizards, all folded in their wings, sat stiff and motionless along The ramparts of red cliff. The only sounds were the hiss of those seething rushes far out on The tide, The sudden droning him of some great insect darting over cephalic, or The occasional soft latter of The long, crisp cycad leaves as a faint puff of hot airlifted them.

An evil monster blocks my path.

It looks at me while giving a sinister grin.

With fear in my heart, I try to fight it.

My efforts are in vain.

The monster overpowers me.

The monster leaves me defeated.

Laughing, the monster rushes to attack my friends.

One by one the monster hurts them.

All just to t*****e me.

Tears run across my face.

For, I am helpless to stop the monster.

All I could do was watch the horror,

Unable to fight anymore.

I recall all the times

That I needed to be strong,

But failed to achieve victory.

A friend reaches out to me.

His last words begin to spark something in me.

The monster sees this and kills him.

Something awakens in me.

Out of rage, I transform.

Pain causing me to go beyond my limits.

Latent power that I never knew I had explodes.

The monster looks back at me.

The monster is speechless,

And begins to shake.

With sharp eyes,

I challenge the monster again.

The battle is once again one-sided.

However, this time,

I overpower the monster.

The monster is unable to keep up anymore.

The pain the monster had dealt,

Was paid back.

The monster gets desperate,

But the monster’s efforts are in vain.