To Kill a Monster

[Rusty Shackleford]

This is a story I've been thinking of for about a year, but only recently put pen to paper. I realize it has been a really long time since I've written a story, so I apologize if my writing is a little...rusty (pun intended).

To Kill a Monster
(Rusty Shackleford 2015)

Brianna looked out at the misty marsh before her. It was dark and foreboding, and reeked of something rotting. She didn’t want to go in it, but she knew she had to. It was her time now.

After twenty winters, she had come of age and was expected to complete the trial. Her friends had assured her that the trial was easy. She needed only to slay a monster to prove her worth. The trial was dangerous. Of that there was no doubt. But for years her people had hunted monsters in the great marsh. The elders said that kept her people safe. And most candidates returned victorious, although occasionally a weak one did not come back. Brianna didn’t consider herself weak, though.

Fighting a monster one on one was dangerous, but she was well trained and armed. She wore a leather shirt that was tied tight about her chest so as not to encumber her. The armor was custom made by her mother as a present, and her mother assured it would protect against claws and bites. A short leather skirt protected her abdomen, while allowing freedom of movement with slits on the sides. Stout leather boots rising over her knees protected her legs, and she carried a heavy wooden shield to deflect blows. Wielding an iron sword with a thick blade, she considered herself a match for any foe she might face.

Brianna cautiously headed into the marsh. The reeds were tall and present in every direction. Combined with the low mist that had set on the marsh, she could barely see from one clearing to the next. She wisely decided to avoid the water. Her friends had told her of giant armored lizards that swam with the currents, and there were rumors of tentacle beasts that appeared to snatch the unwary. Plus fighting in water would put her at a disadvantage. Better to stick to the dry land, such as it was.

Brianna made her way through the thick reeds from clearing to clearing looking for any tracks. With each step, her tall boots squished in the sucking marsh mud. She was certainly leaving a trail to be followed, but she could find no trace of monsters.
“I am not going to be able to sneak up on a monster in this muck” she sighed. “But maybe I’ll get lucky and the noise will attract one. The quicker I get this over with, the better.”

She wandered about the marsh for what seemed like hours. Growing tired from the trek, she sat down to rest. She had only been there a few moments when she heard a rustling in the reeds behind her. Was something following her? Immediately she leapt to her feet, adopting a defensive stance. She stabbed at the reeds with her sword hoping to catch the unseen foe off-guard.

“No hurt! No hurt!” a small purple creature called out, emerging from the reeds. Brianna looked the creature over. It was short, barely coming to her knee, with long ears hanging from its gaunt face. It was thin and covered in muck, but clearly a monster. Its teeth looked sharp, but small. Its claws were short and dirty. Poisoned perhaps? Unlikely she thought. More likely it used them to dig in the mud for food. She considered whether this was the beast she was looking for. As it quivered in fear before her, she sadly concluded this little one was not much of challenge. She would likely be ridiculed for bringing back such a tiny creature anyway.
Brianna knelt down in despair, her head hung low. If this was the best she could find, her quest was hopeless.

“No hurt?” the creature inquired looking at her.

“Don’t worry little one, you’re not worth the effort. I’m looking for real monsters” she answered.

“Why you look for monsters?” the creature asked.

“I’m on a quest. I need to face one to prove to my people that I’m worthy. But have no fear; you’re no challenge for me” Brianna dismissed, confident in her skills.

“Challenge you seek?” the creature asked.

“Yes, I need to face something that is actually life-threatening” she explained. “I’ve been searching for hours, but it I can’t find any monsters here other than you.”

“Me not a monster, me a Boggle” the creature hissed.

“That you may be, but still you’re no threat to me” Brianna dismissed, unconcerned about the tiny thing.

“Me know a threat” the little one offered. “Yes, can help!”

Brianna looked at the little creature skeptically. “Why would you help me?” she asked.

“Get rid of monsters, yes?” the Boggle questioned. “Get rid of monsters is good for me!”

Brianna starred at the Boggle. Why would it help her? Had it been following her? Maybe it knew her people hunted monsters in the marsh and thought she could help it. The bigger monsters probably preyed on its people, and she was doing it a favor by killing one of them.

“Okay, where is it?” she asked hopefully.

“Not far, you follow yes?” the creature stated as it walked back into the marsh reeds.

Brianna quickly rose to her feet to catch up with the little thing. It moved effortlessly between the reeds, unbothered in its native habitat. But the reeds bothered her, as they were sharp and cut at her legs. Her tall boots bore the brunt of the assault, but she would have cuts and scrapes all about her upper thighs.

“Tell me about this monster” Brianna asked, hoping to prepare for the coming battle.

“No monsters here” the little creature replied.

“But you said you knew a threat!” she quipped back, becoming angry that she followed the thing deep into the marsh for no good reason.

“Threat, yes. Very dangerous. Not be disappointed” it replied.

“But how do I kill it?” she pressed.

“Why you have to kill monster?” the Boggle replied. “Monsters not do anything to you?”

“I already told you, I’m on a quest. All my people have to do this when they come of age. I need to prove myself worthy” she explained.

“And threatened you must be?” the Boggle asked.

“Yes, it is about facing fear, triumphing in the face of danger” Brianna added, sensing that she was starting to repeat herself.

“Threat not far now” the Boggle said. “Wait for it in the clearing ahead. It find you there.”

“Finally, my sword has been waiting to taste blood all day” Brianna smiled.

“Your sword will not help, it moves quick” the Boggle offered.

She ignored the creature’s last comment, confident she would be faster than the monster she would face. Her teachers had told her she was the most graceful student they had every trained. Although not the strongest student, she was fast with a blade, able to deliver quick strikes that inflicted just as much injury as the men’s heavy swings.

Brianna held her sword and shield high as she tried to gracefully move into the clearing. The muddy ground quivered underneath her boots. With each step she immediately she sank down to her ankles. Still, she held her guard high, keeping watch on the reeds before her.
“This mud will make it hard to move around” she whispered with concern as she settled down into the mud up to her calves. “But it will make a much better story to tell.”

Adopting a defensive stance, she waited scanning the marsh reeds for any movement. She felt an odd pressure as the mud continued to rise up to her knees. She wondered how deep it was.

“Show yourself monster!” she called out in challenge. It would be best to fight now, she thought, before she became too bogged down to maneuver. Any deeper and she might not even be able to move.

She waited. The reeds remained still.

“Face me!” she cried. She felt an unpleasant sensation as the mud touched her bare thighs, having risen up past her tall boots. Mire oozed down her legs giving her an icky feeling. She hated mud, and now she was covered in it.

“Why won’t you come out?!” she shouted. The mud continued to shift about her legs, reaching up towards her crotch. Just how deep is this mud, she wondered. It seemed like it was slowly pulling her down into it. And with that thought, she had a terrible realization.

“This isn’t mud, its quicksand!” she gasped.

Brianna had never been in quicksand before. It scared her as a child thanks to the stories told by the elders. The other children had played in mud, acting out those stories with heroic rescues, but when she was pushed in, she cried instead. As a teen, she was cautious while hunting in the woods, fearful that with one accidental misstep she would plunge into sucking mire. But she had overcome her fear when she learned that the elder’s stories were just that, stories. Now she realized those stories may have had some truth. She was going to die here.

Brianna snapped out of her panic. She was not a child anymore, and being scared would only make her sink faster. She was not going to meet her end in what was really just deep mud. But she knew she had to act fast or the monster would catch her in this precarious situation. She needed to pull herself free, but she didn’t have a free hand. She needed her shield to protect herself, but also her sword to defeat the monster. Carefully she switched her sword to her shield hand, awkwardly trying to hold both high above the rising muck. She had now sunk down to her waist, her leather skirt fanning about her on top of the mire as her bottom submerged in the quaking morass.

She reached behind, trying to grab the reeds near where she entered the clearing. They were only a few feet away. Her fingers grasped, but the life-saving stems were still too far. She was trapped. Again, she felt a cold, oozing sensation as the mire finished consuming her skirt and reached up for her lower ribs.

“Boggle, help come quick! This clearing is quicksand. I’m sinking!” she cried fearfully.

The reeds in front of her rustled. The monster! She raised her shield up high to protect herself as she slid down chest deep in the muck. To her surprise, the Boggle walked out instead.

“Boggle, help me! I’ve got to get out of here before the monster comes. Quick, push me those reeds” she instructed. She reached out with her right arm. Her shield arm grew tired, forcing her to lower it to the mire where it was quickly pulled under. She lost her sword to the muck too. She was defenseless and trapped.

“There are no monsters here” the Boggle replied, standing before her.

“But you said there was a monster?” Brianna asked, now up to her shoulders in the deep mire. “Help me, I’m going down!”

“Me not say monsters, me say threat, yes? This is threat. You fail” the Boggle grimly said. It stared at her as she sank down further. Brianna realized that the creature had purposefully led her here, that the devious thing wanted her to sink in the quicksand. The quicksand was the danger that it spoke of, and she had boldly strode into it. She realized she even ignored its subtle warning.

“Please, I don’t want to die. Not like this” Brianna pleaded, as tears started to fall from the eyes. She looked down at the mire looming close to her face. Looking back at the Boggle, it seemed much larger from this low vantage point. Neck deep in the hungry quicksand, Brianna then saw the reeds shift about her. Creatures of all sorts, tall and large, skinny and fat, emerged from the reeds. They watched her sinking, staring without saying a word.

“We not want to die either” the Boggle finally said, still watching her slip deeper in the vile muck.

“I’m sorry! I…I didn’t know. Please, help me!” Brianna managed to stammer out, now chin deep in the muck. She reached up with her right arm, fully covered in mire, in a last desperate attempt for help. Without assistance, she would soon be pulled under. She looked to each monster, but none would reach for her.

“You come to our home, hunt as monsters?” the Boggle replied. “No monsters here. Only monster is you!”

[PM2K]

Awesome. My kind of story.

[Stephymink]

The only thing rusty in that story was Briana's thinking. A very enjoyable tale, thank you for sharing it with us!

[Viridian]

That ending hits right on the nail! Very nice!

[water_bug_62208]

Very nice! Very well-written story with an unexpected outcome.

You depicted Brianna's character, personality, and attitude in exact detail... she comes across like Luke Skywalker searching for Yoda on Dagobah. And, Boggle comes across like Yoda, except in this story Boggle isn't leading Brianna to a Jedi master, but to quicksand instead. In fact, I do like the similarities between your story and the Dagobah scene on The Empire Strikes Back... leaves you feeling they should've done a similar scene with Leia following a swamp denizen on Dagobah in search of a monster.

I also enjoy Quicksand Stories where there's a small, seemingly insignificant creature that gets the damsel into a sticky, sinky situation. Your depiction of Boggle was beautifully done... very devious and deliberate in his mission as he truly did lead Brianna to the "threat"... and the "threat" proved to be more of a challenge than Brianna expected... in fact, one she didn't see coming and was right under her nose.

The sinking scene is well describe and unique... Brianna knew she was sinking, but as with Boggle, she considered the mud merely a nuisance. And, she was so focused on killing a monster that she didn't recognize the true threat until it was too late.

And, of course, a monster to her is not the same as a monster to Boggle and his fellow swamp denizens... a story that tells a story!

Thanks for sharing!