CHAPTER 7: CHAPTER 7: THE IMAGE OF THE DRAGON

Ved found himself surrounded by a family of otters on one side, a float of crocodiles on another and the remainder of the school of sharks. All eyeing him with savage hungry eyes.

Even the crocodiles and otters who were fighting each other stopped the moment he appeared and turned their attention to him.

The leaders of each group, a crocodile over 9 metres long, a 4 metres long otter and the two giant sharks glared at each other for a moment before turning their eyes back at him as if they had come to an agreement.

If the other two leaders are as strong as the sharks then he was in serious trouble. The moment they moved he panicked and released all the poison in his sack.

A purple cloud spread in the water,covering an area of 10 metres around him. When he looked around he realised the leaders were out of the poisons range.

He was only able to kill a few weaker ones, he tried to use the poison cloud as cover to escape but was rammed and send spiralling by the crocodiles tail.

He got dizzy and felt blood rise up his throat but before he could adjust himself he was bitten by one of the sharks. It teeth sank deeper into his scales than any creature had ever been able to.

The pain was excruciating, he wanted to scream, to escape and run to safety but if jaws were tightly clasped around him. In his desperation he slashed it upper jaw with his tail from the inside.

Blood gushed out of it mouth and he used that opportunity to escape as well but how could the other let him go. The otter dug it claws into his back and ripped off a few of his scales.

He backhanded it and sent it reeling away. The strength behind his attacks carried close to 1.5 tons of force, if this was a normal otter it would’ve died immediately.

But this one merely had a trickle of blood leaking from it mouth. He dived down to dodge the crocodiles bite and bit it tail then spun around and rammed it into the second shark.

He slashed the closest otter to him, it was a normal otter so it died immediately. That opened space and he swam away at his fastest speed possible.

Otters, crocodiles and the remaining sharks tried to bar his path but they were too weak to stop him. Each swing of his claws or tail took their lives.

However they still managed to slow him down enough for the stronger creatures to reach him. He swam as fast as he could but could still not see the edge of the river.

He now just realised how wide this river truly was. One of the sharks was just about to bite him then his tail snapped like a whip, it speed so fast it causes a miniature sound explosion underwater.

The shark couldn’t even react before it was slashed by the sharp spikes, blood gushed out of a deep wound on it face. This move gave a momentary respite.

He swam even faster with giant murderous beast on his tail. Their fight had driven all of the surrounding lifeforms away causing the river to look more desolate.

Eventually he saw the river bank, it was only 30 metres away from, a distance that can be covered in mere seconds. He kicked his back legs to boost his speed even further.

Land got closer and closer and closer, relief flooded his body with every centimetres he got closer to land, when he was a metre away he jumped.

His body flew out of the water like a jet. He was happy he would nolonger have to deal with those creatures. Just as he was about to land on the ground something came flying at him from the side.

His eyes opened wide in surprise but he had no way to dodge mid air. That huge jagged pillar like thing rammed into him and sent him flying back into the water.

He realised what had hit him but he still couldn’t believe it, he was so close to getting out. ’ You damned crocodile, you stupid lower lifeform’

He was really pissed but he had no time to vent as his body was about to hit the water and he can see them already waiting. He brandished his claws, ready to rip apart whatever get close to him.

The moment he hit the water the otter was already upon him. It swung it claws at him and he responded in kind. He had the upper hand in that exchange.

The otter was sent reeling back with a bleeding paw, it eyes turned red from fury and pain but he was also tired of this being one sided.

He didn’t give it a chance to recover and pounced on it. It was obviously surprised by this and failed to respond in time. He swung his claws at it neck intending to end it life once and for all.

But before they landed something rammed into him causing him to miss, instead of the neck he ended up hitting it shoulder. Although the wound looked gruesome it was not fatal.

He turned to look at what attacked him and it was the crocodile again. His anger and hatred for it rose to a new level but alongside it was another feeling.

Fear, although he had been scared the entire time this was different. It felt more real, uncontrollable and consuming. Instead of the beast infront of him the source of it felt more internal.

It caused his body to shake and his scales to grow cold. For the next few minutes it only grew worse, he was bitten by the sharks and crocodile and ripped apart by the otters claws.

He fought back the best he could, used his smaller body to swim around them but wounds kept accumulating on his body. He had lost a lot of blood.

His felt his body and mind slow down, his consciousness was slipping away, it was then that he realised the source of his fear. The fear stemmed from the memories of his very soul.

This was the fear death, the feeling of his consciousness falling to the abyss, he had felt it before and his soul refused to feel it again, this also reminded him of his weakness, that he was no dragon but a mere lizard with insignificant strength. ’ I’m not going die, I’m not going to die’ He said slowly as if to convince himself them his eyes turned cold and a strong determination bloomed in them like flowers in spring, he refused to yield, not to mere animals.’I can’t die, I’m not going died I’M NOT GOING TO DIE’

He shouted in his head as he swung his claw at the crocodile with all the might he had, an image sprouted in his mind, he envisioned his claw piercing through the crocodiles skull into it brain.

He knew that was unlikely, of all of them the crocodile had the strongest defence but he believed he could do it, he believed in his own strength, in the might of his trait.

The image changed, he was no longer a mere lizard but a giant dragon with the might of the heavens, his scales as hard as the hardest armour, his claws as sharp as the sword of Gods then it landed.