Lumina peeked out from behind a rock. In front of her lay a large field of earth and stone. The sun was barely up, but she could already feel her heart thumping in her chest. She was on a mission to escape imminent death.

Ducking back down behind the boulder, she looked at the sword she held in her right hand, a shield in her left. Was it going to be enough? Did she have the power needed to survive? Her wolf-like tail swished from side to side as she doubled checked to make sure her breastplate and greaves were tight and situated. She then went over her plan. “Alright. You know that death is just ahead, as soon as you step foot into that rocky wasteland. It will come after you.”

Lumina paused as she went over in her head what she had just said out loud to herself. “What am I thinking?” Setting her sword down she lightly slapped herself, the plated hand clanging against the side of her helmet, her large wolf ears twitching at the sudden noise. “Snap out of it. You have literally been training your entire life. This isn’t any different than those other times you almost died… is it?” Lumina sat there constantly arguing and second guessing her decisions.

Grabbing her sword and standing up, she scanned the field of stones. “You can do this. You can do this.” She started chanting to herself. “Who am I kidding I can’t do this! I’m going to die!” She said as she started running across the open plain of earth. Already a few steps in and Lumina felt an overwhelming sense of dread as thoughts creeped into her mind. “What am I doing? Why did I put myself in this situation?”

“Where are you?” Lumina whispered as she continued running. She had surveyed this area and gauged that it would take her 10 minutes to cross the ‘danger zone’ as she called it. All she had to do was get to the other side and she would be safe.

The ground shifted and rumbled. Lumina had to stop running to prevent herself from falling. A booming voice could be heard in the air as a massive woman, easily one and half heads taller than Lumina strode into view. The large rock hiding the terrifying women shifted into a massive club.

“Trying to make a run for it.” A grin on her face as she hefted the massive 5-foot club with relative ease. “No one escapes once I set my sights on them.”

Lumina got a sinking feeling in her stomach. What position did she just put herself in? Her hands started to get sweaty, her legs were shaking, her breath quickened. With impressive speed, she went on the attack and charged the armored giantess head on. She wasn’t entirely sure what she was doing rushing in, but instinct seemed to take hold at this point.

The armored figure went for a wide swing of the large rocky club. Lumina easily slid under it, her metal greaves screeching across the ground as she went to her knees before slashing at the woman’s leg. Her blade connected solidly, but there was not enough force behind the attack to get through the armor.

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Continuing the club’s momentum, the person Lumina was fighting continued to spin around before delivering a powerful kick with its plated boots.

Recovering quickly, she managed to get her shield up in time to block the hit. Jumping backward just as the kick connected with her; causing Lumina to fly a few feet away but also reducing the brunt of the attack. Landing on her feet and doing her best not to fall from the impact of landing backwards, Lumina regained her stance only to find that the armored menace had closed the distance and was lunging at her.

With nothing else ready, Lumina blocked the attack with her shield. A loud clang could be heard as the impact of the club on the shield sent reverberations all throughout Lumina’s body before sending her flying backward even farther.

Lumina hit the ground and quickly slid to a stop. Tufts of fur from her tail dotted the area where she had landed as she got back up. Her arm felt numb, she couldn’t really tell if she was still holding her shield unless she looked at it. But there was no time, the enemy had started their attack, and she wasn’t going to give Lumina a chance to retaliate.

Jumping to the side into a roll, she didn’t have time to look back as she quickly took up a sprint in an attempt to get a little distance between her and the aggressor. A thunderous thud confirmed her fears as she finally turned and faced her attacker.

A small crater remained where the club had struck and Lumina didn’t want to imagine what would have happened to her if she hadn’t moved in time. “That strength is unreal.” She told herself as she wiggled her shield arm, finally getting some feeling back into it. “

Her thoughts were racing, “What should I do? Do I run? Do I continue the fight? Maybe I can surrender?” Her mind was a confused mess.

The armored figure changed their craggy club into a long thin sword made of rock. “You’re weak! Where’s your conviction!” she roared charging forward. The thinner, longer blade of rock significantly quicker.

Lumina parried the first attack with her shield, throwing the long weapon to the side as she dashed forward with a lunge. “You’re going to die! You’re going to die!” Lumina’s mind kept repeating over and over.

Jumping back to avoid the lunge. The massive woman shifted the sword into a rocky shield with a spike in the middle.

Without missing a step in her lunge, Lumina continued charging forward unleashing a flurry of quick blows hoping that her smaller size and speed would eventually overcome the enemy’s defense. To her dismay, the shield was more troublesome than others due to the spike in the middle. Lumina had to gauge how to strike with every attack. If she slashed at the wrong angle, the shield’s spike would throw her weapon wide, leaving her open.

Due to the sheer size difference, she needed to stay close, or her opponent would abuse that range. Lumina feinted to the left and caught the large earthen shield with hers.

Bracing her shield with her other fist, sword still in hand, Lumina put all her strength into throwing the stone shield wide and following up with another thrust. A pillar of rock shot up from the ground intercepting the powerful stab. Lumina’s sword struck the stone lodging in it.

Not wanting to be stuck without a weapon and unable to see the dangerous woman, Lumina held onto her sword, jumped up and braced her feet on the vertical slab and then using her legs pulled the sword out while simultaneously jumping away into half a backflip before landing a few yards away.