Day 49

Churchill Downs Day 48: The bad feeling in my stomach was only complimented by the bad smell of the cave. Something didn't make sense and I was going to find out what, even if it hindered our journey by a few minutes. "Anybody got a guess as to why this place smells so badly, has softer ground than a beach, has stalagmites and stalactites everywhere, and has a very active wind current blowing in and out of it? Cause I'm out of ideas." The group paused and took what I said and started to dissect it. My comrades slowly started to notice the strange place around them. There was a silence through the crowd of metal figures. Mitri spoke, "Maybe it's just a cave getting wind from the passage up ahead. Maybe it smells from whatever our next opponent has stashed up ahead, could be dead bodies. Maybe it's just a normal cave with a bad smell."  Andy's idea was next, "Maybe the cave is leading us to just a rank den of whatever that Kongulo thing is that Ted told us to be wary of." Andy's idea along with Mitri's theory was solid... but there was something else here... I just knew it. Casey decided to add to the conversation, "I don't know exactly where we are going, or even why this place has such a funny feel to it. The smell is so amplified for me that I can tell that the stench belongs to dead things like wolves, goblins, even the things we fought back there at the entrance to this place. There is something else though. I smell dead giants and T-Rex. I just feel like we're headed into the belly of the beast on this one. Whatever this thing is, whether it's the Kongulo or not, is big." Maybe Casey was right, maybe it was just whatever was ahead that was making this happen.... but... "belly of the beast".... I looked around at the environment one last time. "No... there's no way... I mean we didn't march into.. would've noticed..." I bit my tongue, turned to my brothers nervously  and shouted, "RUN!!"
          My brothers followed me without question, they trusted my judgment with their own lives. We all bolted back to the entrance, and as soon as we were about to leave the ground started to rumble beneath our feet. But it wasn't soft ground at all, it was a tongue, and the now closing stalactites and stalagmites were teeth. What a fool I had been to not notice the breath of the behemoth we were now offering ourselves as lunch to. The mouth started to lift up from the jungle floor, and all we could do was watch from the front of the mouth with horror. "EVERYONE GRAB A TOOTH A HOLD ON!!!!!" I shouted as loud as I could. The breath of the beast now carried several deep roars to its mouth. Almost deafening cries from the creature were surging through the mouth now. Just like that we all felt the head tip backward and attempt to shake us into its belly. "HOLD ON!!!!! EVERYONE JUST HOLD ON!!!!!" I cried out. My brothers were gripping the teeth as hard as they could. We could see out of the front of the mouth to see the beast towering over the jungle now. Jake shouted so the group could hear him, "I HAVE AN IDEA, I'LL BE BACK!!!!" I was wondering what in the hell kind of idea he could have at a time like this other than hold on for dear life. Just like that he let go. We all looked down to see him falling into the dark and screamed "JAAAAAAAKEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" We all looked over at one another after Jake could no longer be seen and could only hold on for our lives. We had just lost a brother to this thing. But there was no time for grieving. We all just held on.
          The beast roared loudly, angry at its meal for not falling into its stomach like it had planned. We could only listen to the deafening roars as we could do nothing. As the beast started to roar again... it stopped.. it made a different sound. It sounded like... pain. We all looked at each other, confused as to why. "IT MUST BE SOMETHING JAKE IS DOING!!!" Nate yelled across the mouth. I looked down and strained my eyes as much as I could.... there in the dark... I saw him. I knew what he was doing now. Jake had fallen with his spear clutched above his head horizontally. He kept falling till it stopped him by catching on the colossus throat. As big as this thing was, even a tooth pick lodged in its throat hurt like hell. Brilliant was the only word for it. I could hear the beast making gagging sounds. "Must've been something he ate." I couldn't help but laugh. "Haha..hahaha....HAHAHAHA!!!!" My brothers all looked at me confused. Andy shouted, "YOU'RE LAUGHING??? WE JUST LOST A BROTHER AND WE'RE ALL ABOUT TO DIE TOO AND YOU'RE LAUGHING???" I said nothing but pointed down. They all looked at hard as they could and saw Jake lodged in the beasts throat with his spear, and slashing away with a small sword he kept on his belt as a spare. They all began to laugh. We could feel the beast start to stumble. It was choking on it's own blood. Jake was cutting it's throat from the inside out. Marvelous.
          The stench of the monsters blood filled the air, and it began to tilt its mouth forward. "EVERYONE HANG ON, IT'S GOING TO SPIT US OUT!!!!" The beast rocked forward and ejected us on the ground. Jake followed and landed near me. We all stood slowly back up. "Damn good work" Andy said with a smile to Jake. We all looked up at the massive problem we had. It was 10 stories high, maybe more. It was a dark grey and covered from head to toe in the foliage that it laid in before. The face was something from a nightmare. Covered in moss and dirt with immense red eyes. It was grasping its throat with both of its hands with blood running through its fingers. "What now?" asked Nate. Mitri looked over at him and only said, "If it bleeds, we can kill it." He was right, and thanks to Jake we had a great advantage... but there was no harm in having one more. "Casey, you know what to do, go to work on the things eyes." Complying, Casey drew three arrows from his quiver and aimed at the left eye. "Three??" asked Andy bewildered. "It's ten stories high, still kicking after it's had its throat slashed, and has eyes the size of small cars. Thought I'd need a little more of a kick." Andy retracted his comment being that he was wrong. Casey waited for the staggering beast that was still gathering its composure and looking around for its meal to turn to the left. It did. Casey let the arrows fly and we could immediately see the jet stream of purple blood pour from its eye. He drew another three as it roared in even more pain. It turned to the right and Casey let go the next volley. The same happened to the right. A waterfall of blood rushed from its eye. The beast now covered its throat with both hands and closed both of its eyes. It was stomping around, crying in pain. We had thought that it was over and the beast would be easy to kill. That is the mistake of underestimating your opponent. The beast stopped roaring and stamping altogether. "What's it doing now???" Mitri asked confused. The beast turned in our direction and I said sternly, "It can smell us."