The knight awakes the next morning, lifting their head from the man's lap.
Swish, ding ching, ting… They take down a few strings and bells draped throughout the halls the night before. Soon they organize themselves, hoisting the man into a carry and begin walking down the hall. His hair, once drifting through the air, now laid stiff with a crusted brown stain of blood.
The light in the hall seems to dim as it grows wider and taller, the archways get more elaborate, twisting with engravings etched in stone. Marks appear on the walls, scraps, scratches, and cracks.
Sniff sniff swish. The little one sniffs the air, sharply reeling. The scent of manure and sweat wafted through the air, so thick one might taste salt.
As the halls grew, they began to express themselves, etched into the walls were ornate, large statues, a few yards tall, with their own stories to tell.
One of a dog sleeping with the horns of a ram and fluffy fur, a wolf in sheep's clothing. Another of the tall, faceless figures standing in order, clad in vaguely ornamented stone armor so well polished it shined, one held a scale and the other held a sand dial.
The knight looked from one to another as they walked. Again, the dog appeared this time with fluffy pointed ears, snarling in its pose, it stood on its feet, revealing the fluffy legs of a lamb and hooves. The knight walked on
Grrr, Tap, tuck grrd-nrrdd. The sounds came from the end of the hall just beyond. There was one last statue. One of a gorgeous child in a toga sitting back on their knees as they leaned forward, propping themselves up with their palms between their legs. The child had smooth, gorgeous, feathered wings that spread out from their back. Their face looked on with calm curiosity and wonder, their lips slightly parted as their eyes lay barely open.
Sniff Sniff. Soon, the knight reached the end of the hall, the smells only intensifying as they approached a structure with three faces, a snake, a gorgator, and a dragon. The little knight looked at the large door, on it inscriptions. Near the wall is a stone sphere in a bowl on a table.
The inscriptions read:
What is cruel yet kind, cold yet warm, graceful, and sublime?
Such an old and simple riddle.
Pap… Grrnnd. The short knight carefully places the man down and grabs the stone. Reaching for the face of the dragon. Their hand stops, and they pull it back.
It couldn't be so literal, perhaps the snake? No, where is the heart in such a creature? So perhaps then the head of the goregator.
Pap GRRRNNDDDDDDD, pap pap pap. The door opens as the little knight rushes to get the man by the wall, hoisting them and heading inside the large, dark, warm room.
Sniff, Sniff. The thick scent of wet dog with prominent undertones of feces and old blood wrapped in sinew filled their nostrils as they entered the room.
Tap Clatter. An old bone rested on the floor. In fact, many bones sat there, ribs, femurs, collars, even small skulls no bigger than brown coconuts with layers of teeth stacked visible in their face. Some bones, scratched and chipped, others crumbled pieces, barely recognizable, and a few bright pink, still warm and moist.
The little knight froze as their skin began to shiver. They slowly set the man down along with their bags near the wall of the entrance.
SKrrttttt. The unmistakable scratching and grinding, now no longer in the distance
ThuD. ThuD. GRAFF! ThuD. RAATHF! The beast must've been at least ten feet tall and over twice as long.. Brown fur, jet black hooves that split into claws, lean, powerful legs, a long bushy tail, a rough, hairy back with an erect mane running down it, a robust neck with a snarling, slobbering head.
The beast wrinkled its snout, within its jaws buff yellow stained square, pointed teeth, two eyes, one with a pupil that lay on its side like a goat's, the other wide and round like a hawk's, atop its head four erect ears like those of a donkey. The knight slowly took up a stance, reaching for the bone at their hip.
Thud, thud, thud. It charges the knight, opening its jaws. RWOARRRR, CHIK. It claps down its jaws as the knight raises the bone.
Sssssssssss. A cloud of white gas engulfs the bone, shrouding its form….
The knight pushes back against the creature as the gas fades, in their hand a black rod embellished with curved lumps on one end, a nob and the other a thick, rounded metal head, shaped partly like a spear and shovel with a blind hole in one of its edges that tapered into a spike.
Mmpf. The knight jumps back, the creature quickly closes the distance, opening its jaws wide like a hippo and turning its face sideways into a dive, snapping them shut around the knight. The knight leaps over the animal's treacherous strike. Landing on its neck. Squelch! They plunged the weapon into its neck. But its muscles and skin are unusually tough. Thump-pap. The knight is shooken off, tumbling against the stone pavement below. RAWOOR. The creature let out a bellowing roar as it dashed at the knight, clapping its jaws on their chest.
Smash! Boom! Thud! Crumble! The knight is thrashed, whipped, and slammed against the stone over and over. Puh. They're spat out, tossed up into the air. The creature standing on its hind legs opens its jaws below. The knight looks down beneath them before diving into the creature's jaws.
TINGK! The creature claps down, snapping shut on the weapon, propping its mouth open, its hot, rancid breath wafts onto the knight's face. SOOWSH! The knight swings their body, yanking the creature to the floor. The knight, in one swift motion, anchoring to the floor, fully tilting their body. Clatter-BOOM! The knight performs a mighty overhead throw, slamming the creature through a pile of bones into the pavement. Swish swish ROOOAR. But the beast isn't done. It shakes its head, recovering before dashing forward. The knight sprints at them in kind.
Chomp! Skssshhh. Swish-swish Squelch! The creature snaps its jaws as the knight slides between its legs, slashing at its legs and tender belly, leaving thin streams of crimson blood dripping to the floor.
Squelcckk! Errr muuw muww. The knight hooks the end of their weapon deep into the flesh at the top of their hind knees, swinging themselves on its back as the creature lets out a cry. They raise their weapon facing the hook to its spine.
Chomp-thud! The creature turns, clamping hard on the knight's hands and throwing them off its back.
Swish-Swish-Swish. It swipes at the knight as they duck and weave and twirl about the swipes, trying to get close.
Thud, ROOOARR! The creature jumped back, letting out a thunderous roar that shook the room as it then charged the knight.
Tuk- tuk-tuk- tap. The knight sprints forward as the creature opens its jaws wide, this time straight up. There's no hope of a leap of faith. The knight and the creature clash. Pap. The knight's weapon swaps hands.
Chomp! Tingk-Squlech!
Drip, drip pop. Blood drips to the floor…
At the last moment, the knight plunged the Spike of their weapon through the creature's eye with their right hand as it clamped down on their lead mitten.
Thud! Ssssss. It collapsed, sliding over the knight, pushing them back near the man as its jaw loosened around the mitten.
Huff…. huff… huff. The knight pants as they look behind them.
Clatter. They loosen their dented mitten, checking their hand to find their fingers red, swollen, bloody, and bruised purple but in one piece.
Clink, Clatter. The knight collapses to their back
wooooosh. They breathe out knowing they've won.