Tumbling into the ground Ritter quickly regained his feet. Looking around he found himself in a ruin, crumbling stone walls surrounding him. Cautiously he walked forward towards a break in the wall.
Something crashed into him from above driving his face into the dirt. Powerful teeth bit into his neck trying to paralyze him, a picture of a gazelle with a broken neck lions ripping its body apart while it screamed flashed through his mind.
Arching his neck bunching his shoulders grabbing twisting while kicking with his legs he managed to turn around in the things grip.
It was long skinny scaly and had wings like a flying lizard, dragon his mind thought. The thing dragon or not still had him clutched in a deadly embrace. He could see talons long enough to eviscerated him tipping the back and front sets of claws.
He was only alive because the thing had opted to crush his neck with its teeth instead of ripping him to shreads. Predators sometimes do that with especially dangerous prey hoping to end the fight early.
He didn't know where the feeling came from but a savage glee filled him. So it thought he was prey, dangerous prey but prey nonetheless. Having already turned he now wrapped his legs around the beast luckily it was skinny, hooking his arms under the beasts forelegs he pulled his head down with his arms forcing the creature to release its hold or have its own neck twisted dangerously close to breaking.
Now that his head was free and he had a firm grip with both his legs and his arms the creature's attack became frantic hide legs trying to dig into Ritters legs and back but it was too unbalanced to pull it off especially with Ritter doing everything he could to keep it that way.
If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.
Now he could start turning the tables, hooking one leg and swinging the other he was able to swing his lower body onto the creature's back. Quickly before the creature realized what he was doing he got his whole body over the creature's spine hooking an arm under a wing and the other around its neck. Legs wrapped tight, and head tucked low into the creature's shoulder he strained his arms until he could feel the creature's blood pumping through its veins.
It was in a full blown panic now madly flailing its head legs and wings flopping to the ground and rolling trying to dislodge Ritter.
This continued on for some time, they careened into walls scraped against stone its claws occasionally gouging furrows in Ritter but never quite catching. At some point the beast had managed to break one of its own legs, scales and blood strewn about the small area.
Legs collapsing the beast flopped onto its side and finally lay still.
Ritter had taken some serious injuries his head swam and his legs weren't cooperative, spinal contusion his mind flashed to him, but he could still feel the blood. Pounding through its veins making that last effort to force blood to its oxygen starved brain. So he held on and on and on, something kept telling him it takes an eternity to strangle something to death. Finally the creature's bladder and bowels relaxed a sure sign of impending death. A few agonal spasms and several minutes later Ritter finally let go.
His muscles seemed frozen in position moving them was painful, he felt cold and he realized he had lost quite a bit of blood.
The beast lurched then relaxed shocking Ritter out of his self pity. Then something delicious no delightful or maybe chilling overwhelmed his sensations blinding his eyesight for a moment appearing in front of him a glowing scroll unrolled itself text magically appearing as he read.
You have killed a denizen of the trial worthy of recognition you have been accepted into the trial fully and its features unlocked.