Enrich eager ears with thunderous tenors by tall terrors. The steel bucket meant to house well the glamorous face of a young Venus was yanked out from a recent monstrous rampage. Perhaps later, that sturdy bowl that has been shielding her from lacerations will be retrieved. It will be of great use for many more of her future exploits, after all.

   The small band of colossi the war-maiden has been battling for quite some time has barely given her room to breathe more than just a few seconds. Their agility and reach may bring a heap of suffering, madness and a gruesome death to the inexperienced and the poorly-prepared. However, she has been holding them off well on her own. As often as she can, she has been providing them further sorrow with each vicious cut onto their thick hides and any semblance of blunt-force trauma.

   Now, a mad flurry of long greasy arms with massive claws shaped like reversed falchions dance forward to deliver devastation upon the damsel. Spell away certain letters with swift strokes of the steel in both hands. Such a sharp partner in battle was finely forged and gifted with divine properties to match her own ferocity. With it, she may better waltz with great warriors, gods and demons, let alone monsters with no hesitation for sheer violence.

   Deflect the flesh-tearing, bone-breaking barrage with little to no room for mistakes or be a pretty corpse too soon. She steps back if needed upon each swing to intervene. Her feet are kept apart, doing her best to avoid having her posture broken so easily. Bone and steel are quickly kissing each other. Bright flashes of yellow and orange are making short-lived fireworks with each collision. The loud notes of both brutal swiping and skillful parrying are rhythmic and sharp.

   Bluish-gray pillars that stood centuries ago have been reduced into tree stumps, whether from the elements or the fiendish bunch. Some of those once-standing monoliths are leveled as piles of rubble on the far-left and far-right edges of a great marble flooring plagued with cracks and fissures; the latter structure is vast enough to fill it with more than 300 men. If her growing exhaustion takes its toll that blocking and evading harm becomes a harrowing task, this will be her resting place or, worse, a banquet hall of the brutes beneath the twilight canvas.

   Another of the colossal cretins is strolling forward as soon as the final strike of the flurry is swatted away by the war-maiden. Those dark blue eyes of hers take notice of a bulk slowly advancing closer tens of yards behind this beast before her that is now taking a few several steps of retreat. But before that first nudge back of its huge slouched form, the bottom of one of her boots bestows upon its nearby snout a quick cruel kiss. It barks out a vexed growl before moving further away in a stumble. The maiden sings a fleeting giggle, backing away herself.

   The single-edged blade is laid flat before her alluring face, the long cutting lenth facing the sky where stars are more visible than they were when the battle began. The hilt is gripped with the gesture of a bard who’s about to play the flute. The sickening snarls do little to scare her. She carefully strafes left, watching them waddle about like a tiny band of big buffoons.

   The latest oncoming creature leaps ahead with one of its long arms swung back. Upon its descent, it is inevitable that a powerful slam of its hand shall follow to knock her down and maybe horribly wound her with its monstrous claws. The Venus in steel plate commits to a single hearty hop back before the arched path of the flailed limb reaches its peak heading forward. Slam! The solid slab that her feet left from becomes a small crater, thanks to those massive sword-like claws along with the might of the beast. Dust and tiny pebbles blast away, some washing her face and leaving her to look away just for a second, even peppering her silky black hair in a tight bun.

   But then comes an opportunity as she regain a clear-enough vision. An opening. The young lady leaps forward to stomp down and bury nearly a foot-length of her blade on the back of the creature’s earth-shattering hand. What enchantment the sword is granted with provides a more vicious entry into this horrid thing now beneath her steel boots.

   It shrieks loudly from pain, trying to yank its arm back and away to forcibly release the cruel steel dug into its thick hide. Muddy green blood is spilling out of the well-delivered wound she gave it. The blade does not budge, nor does the young Venus that buried it. Those wrists of hers twist, so too the steel. The hateful howl from its gaping maw with rows of razor-sharp fangs is music to her ears. Her ego peeks out through a faint smirk on her pale rosy lips.

   Before the rest of the large cretins can come closer, the war-maiden sees it fit to grant a bigger boon of barbarism upon this bothered beast, maybe even worse. She violently rips away her sword from the impalement. The blade is stained well by the greenish muck that flows in its wretched veins. The sharp edge flies in a great crescent path forward, cutting through the big oval-shaped head of the injured foe. It quickly winces away which reveals its broad neck ever so close to her. The wounded hand lifts up and away but not before she steps out of such a putrid platform.

   She minds the small crater, putting her aided feet back on a flat patch of the great floor. Before the big fiend can move any further, she steps forward and issues two ferocious slashes upon its neck, a lady-like roar to go with each swift stride of her sword. A downward fountain of its noxious green blood vomits out of the long wounds. Its monstrous growl is far less passionate compared to the ones the rest are filling the free air with. The lady steps back, slightly bathed from this revolting paint from one of the terrors that may soon join the first one that she slew several minutes before deflecting that latest flurry of claws. It gurgles away its last breath as it plops down, twitching about until it becomes as still as the stone floor it is lying on.

   The sun is setting. Darkness asserts more of its dominance. While she can still fight even if quite worn down from having to cut the life out of two of these hulking creatures and fending off the rest, the lack of light will be a hardship. She came to this place past a city of trees too late into the day to settle a score with these foul beings. Alas, she is ill-equipped to keep the darkness at bay if the battle endures past dusk. Her sorcery is mostly dedicated to inflict harm as well as shielding herself from harm. She has medicine, but no tools to act as an alternative to sunlight should the latter leave her. Even with her forthcoming boldness, a fool can still become of the young miss.

   Two more of these monsters to deal with. Her wisdom is now being challenged. Retreat for the next round or persevere and be done with it. Both that are left soon roar and then gallop ahead with a bloodthirsty fetish towards the young dauntless Venus. She wipes the vile blood of the slain from her face, cools her lungs with a sharp breath, swipes away the muck on her sharp blade, and then sprints in a serpentine path towards the greasy colossi.

   As nightfall persists into recurring certainty, her strength indeed wanes further. The sun sets ceaselessly and the conflict still goes on. Dear Kimiko must make haste and use the remaining daylight to end the fight. Be wise with each action taken as she is getting closer to her mortal limit. Bravery should not lead one to stray into a blunder. With her commitment aimed forward, either she will leave as a tired victor or stay as a lovely dinner to evil.