Late-night addition:
Each step reverberated up the staircase—there was a chilling echo. Daniel held his breath until he was at the bottom of it, holding his lantern tightly. There was a stone entrance at the bottom. He shone the light upwards and saw two figures carved in stone. One was a wondrous angel and the other one a horned demon. Their backs were facing each other, and they looked off in their proper directions.
He frowned and shone the light back towards the entrance. It was an empty hall. The walls and floors were formed of painted stone that had chipped and faded away almost entirely. Daniel scanned the doorway to see if there were any traps, but there were not.
Taking a breath, he moved forward.
That was when he noticed that there was something in the center of the hall. He could not tell, with only the dim light from his lantern, what exactly it was, but he knew that it was not human. It was huge—at least seven feet and very wide. There was something beneath it, unmoving, yet Daniel could only imagine what it was.
The creature turned to face him, and Daniel saw that its mouth was open. Scaly teeth, like that of a crocodile, leered out at him. There was blood and flesh in them and it clicked them together, slightly, and paused.
Daniel did not hesitate. He pulled out his throwing daggers and threw one with his free hand.
It hit the creature in the chest, the largest portion of its body, and the creature did not react. Blood did not pour from the wound. Nothing happened.
Oh.
The creature took a cumbersome step towards him and Daniel realized that it was green and black. Its skin looked like that of a distorted leopard. In the moment it took for Daniel to have his crossbow in its hand, the creature opened its mouth and roared at him—the sound cascaded against the walls and, in a moment, there was a putrid stench of rot that filled the hall. Daniel had dealt with many harsh smells during his poor years, but this was something else entirely. He gagged.
He dropped the lantern on the floor. Thankfully, it did not break and was still aimed towards the creature.
Daniel aimed the crossbow carefully. His mind raced:
You cannot waste your shot. The body will not work, nor will the appendages. You’re going for the head. There must be a weak point. Aim for the eyes or, even better, in-between them. Do not tarry.
When he had set up his shot, the creature shifted and began to move towards him. It was not a fast-moving creature, but it was quicker than Daniel had anticipated. He took a step backwards and tried to reorganized his shot. Damn it. You don’t have forever to do this. Make haste—before you end up between its jaws.
The creature had been approximately five meters away from him. Now, it was three. He would only have a few more moments before he would have to retreat to the stairs. That was not a preferable situation.
You would have the high ground, his mind whispered, but if it took the stairs you would have nowhere to run to. You would be trapped and all the calling for the doors to be opened would not save you. Daniel: you would die.
Two meters.
There was a weak point. Even in the dim light Daniel could see it. The face of the creature was bony and, in-between the eyes, there was a depression that made it obvious that there was little muscle there. It would, hopefully, lead to the creature’s brain.
Focus.
His hands were trembling as he tightened them around the crossbow. He lined up his shot with his eyes and in his head. There would only be one opportunity to do this. After that, the crossbow would be useless
One chance.
The creature roared. It reached out one of its arms to grab Daniel.
At that moment, he fired.
There was a whoosh and then a pause. Daniel could not tell if he had hit his mark, the lantern’s light was obscured by the creature’s large form that almost seemed to eat up and dissolve the light on impact.
Yet, then, the creature slumped on its legs. Then, it began to fall.
Daniel rushed to hurry out of the way.
The creature slammed into the ground and looked over at him. A small puddle of blood formed on the ground around his mouth. It was clear: the creature was dying.
Do not let it suffer. Nothing in this world deserves to suffer. Finish the job.
Daniel aimed the crossbow again. This time, the creature was nearly motionless, instead taking large wheezing breaths. He lined up his shot in the very same location that the other bolt was sticking out from. Before he fired, Daniel thought—just maybe, that he saw something change in the creature’s eyes.
The bolt connected less than an inch below its original spot and the creature let out a gasp and then was silent entirely.
It is done.
The lantern went out.
