Imogen (part 2, an adventure story

Jumping through the glowing red gateway, I made it to the other side. This new land was a dark and dank one and smelled of death. The soft ground beneath my feet was moist, and my feet sank further and further with each stride that I took. I continued on until I found myself waist-deep in a swamp, the water was so dark that it was almost black. I walked a little further, feeling the water rising to my chest.

I looked down, seeing my own reflection. The image looked like me, but I appeared to be a few years older than fourteen.

Something in the dark water brushed against my leg, I quickly moved and swam to a large log floating on top of the surface of the swamp. Grabbing a hold of the log I hoist myself onto it. Immediately I was startled by a skeleton lying next to me, with a spear firmly clutched in his bony hands. Looking down at the water, I saw ripples. The ripples became small waves, and before my very eyes, a creature emerges from the swamp.

The giant black serpent flicked its forked tongue and hissed. It reared its ugly head at me and looked into my eyes. I was frozen in fear as I felt the creature stare deep into my soul. One of the serpent's eyes was small and clear as glass and did not blink like the other. The scales on the creature’s skin were the size of my head, I noticed as it swam around me. The log that was keeping me afloat, began bobbing in the water. I managed to keep my balance while getting into a kneeling position. My heart began racing, I reached down and pried the spear from the skeleton’s fingers. The black serpent stopped swimming, once again looking me in the eyes. It was clear to me that I was about to become the serpent's next meal, a thought entered into my mind. If I died in the serpent’s swamp, how long would it be before someone finds my bones?

I don’t have an answer, all I know is I’m not going down without a fight. I planted my feet, firm on the log beneath me. I drew my arm back with the spear in hand, waiting for the serpent to strike. The creature hissed once again and lunged its massive head towards me. Throwing the spear, I watched as the spear flew through the air and penetrated the serpent's glass eye causing it to drop into the swamp water below. With a whip of its tail the great serpent splashed the water. His glass eye went flying into the air, and as if guided by an unseen force, the clear glass marble dropped into a round indentation on my bracer. The marble eye sat securely, infusing itself onto the bracer.

I knew I had gotten what I came for, the serpent swam off. I jumped from the log and into the dark murky water of the serpents swamp, running and hopping as quickly as I could. Struggling to walk through the mud and muck, I finally reached the entrance of the portal I came in through. Now it was emitting a purple glow, instead of the red glow from before. I didn't hesitate, I just stepped right through.

To be continued...