The Watch – Part 175:

I only had a split second to decide what direction to run in. Maybe even less than that. Time had slowed down to allow my panic stricken brain to process what is going on and calculate the best route away from the fire. I dived to the right as that doesn’t appear to have more smoke than anything else. Because it was a hologram, I didn’t the heat. I ran as fast as I could down its side. I’m now away from the teeth, but now have to deal with the tail end. I remember reading in a book about dragons when I was younger that the worst place to stand is the backend as the tail is wildly unpredictable, and so I’m going to remain at its side. I wish not to get burnt to a crisp by fire. At least with a tail, I would be able to duck out of the way. That’s the plan, at least, if it isn’t anything else. Other than that not-so-well-formed plan, I don’t have anything else... I need to think of something quick.

The dragon had finished spitting out the fire. It took a couple of seconds before realising that I’m not there anymore. It growled in anger at its prey escaping. The deep bass rumbled throughout the building, bouncing off the walls, creating a pressure wave against my ears. At least these soundwaves aren’t affecting the way I think.

The dragon’s tail started swaying this way and that as it grew more and more annoyed with each passing second of me being nowhere to be found. I used its confused state wisely and searched for the switch. It must be visible. Why wouldn’t it be? Actually, I’m not going to answer that.

I looked all along the wall that I was leaning against, hunting for anything that looked even vaguely like something that resembled a switch. Anything at all, but all I saw was the now faint blue glow from the panels that are creating the dragon that’s now swaying its head from side to side in the hope that it would be able to find me. It’s only a matter of time before it decides to turn around. I just have to pray that it turns to the left and not to the right.

I never thought it would be this easy to confuse a dragon. Dragons, or rather the ones I’ve read about when I was a child, were intelligent creatures that would take down entire armies without breaking a sweat. Why is this one here not being that much of a match? Am I missing something? Do I have to figure out why it is so very confused right now? I turned my head to the side once more. I wasn’t really hoping that anything would be there, just did, and something caught my eye on the back wall. Was that it? Was that the switch? Why didn’t I see it before? Who cares whether I couldn’t see it before, the point is that, that could very well be what I am looking for. I just have to get over there without causing too much noise.

All I have to do is very slowly move to my right. Ever so slightly step to my right. I’m worried that the slightest bit of movement will catch the dragon’s attention, but that’s just a risk I have to take. Or, instead of creeping, if I just run as fast as I can, I would be able to get to the switch so much faster and defeat this dragon once and for all. But what if it isn’t the switch? That’s something I can’t think of right now. It’s now or never. Creep or run.

The dragon decided to turn to the right. It heaved its great body round. How or why it decided to turn in that particular direction, I couldn’t care less about. All I care about now is running away. I sprinted along the wall. It heard my heavy footsteps pounding on the ground and snapped its head in my direction. It roared to signify that it had found me. Now the race was on. I now have to get to that switch before the dragon gets to me.

This room tripled in size and the dragon never looked bigger the faster I ran. Yet somehow, I reached the switch quicker than I had anticipated. I slammed into the wall, crushing my hands against my body. I might have a high pain tolerance thanks to my watch, but that didn’t stop the loud cracking of bone as my fingers were bent backwards. I’ve never broken a bone before but I know how much it hurts. I’m so glad that I don’t have to feel my fingers being crushed to bits. I felt something pressed up against my chest. I looked down and saw that I had ran into the switch and pressed it inwards. I sighed as I knew then that the first wave was over.

Or so I thought it was. The dragon continued advancing towards me, growling angrily as it didn’t like how I had confused it earlier. I don’t understand. The switch should have deactivated the hologram. Unless it’s a dud. A false switch put in place to scare you, lead you into the corner of the room where it would then be difficult to escape from. That means there is another switch somewhere in this room that will deactivate it, but the real question is. Which one is the real one?

The dragon was getting ready to fire another stream of fire in my direction. I have to move now. The only direction I could go is to my left. I left it until I had only seconds to move before I ran. If I can recreate what happened earlier, when I confused it that would be a good start.

TO BE CONTINUED…

Thanks for reading

Antony Hudson

(TonyHadNouns)