My first peril picture featuring Darcus, the danger adventurer.

It was the mid-afternoon in a thick forest. The sky was clear with the sun shining bright above and air was hot. There Darcus was hiking for 15 miles now walking through the forest making his way to the other side. As always he was wearing his trademark Dundee hat with crocodile teeth around the center rim, his leather vest, crocodile teeth necklace, short hiking pants, and long, sharp dagger. Darcus stopped for a moment to catch his breath and fanned himself with his Dundee hat. He looked around to see which direction to go next. In front of him was a thick brush of trees. But just down the hill was a swamp with tall grass, which was a shortcut to an easier clearing in the forest. The swamp was only a half a mile crossing compared to another five miles around it. Also it was hot and he was sweaty, he could use a cool walk through the water. Darcus decided to take that route instead. Darcus put his hat back on and descended down the hill. At the water’s edge, the grass was indeed tall, almost as tall as him. He barely see over the grass. Also the swamp had a musky smell and the water wasn’t clear due to all the grass, roots, and pieces of wood floating or sunk in the water. But that didn’t matter to Darcus. The water was still cool as he dipped his foot in the water. Seconds later he began slowly submerging himself in the water. He left his clothes on; there was no point in taking them off to cross over since they already had sweat on them. Besides, wearing wet clothes would keep him cool longer once he crosses the swamp and is back on land in the hot sun. The water wasn’t deep. The deepest was up to his chest. He had to fight he way through the thick grass a few times, but cool water still felt good as he walked on. He could feel the roots under his feet, little tentacles grabbing at his wolf toes.

Darcus was more than half way through the swamp. He could see the trees of the forest over the tall swamp grass. He was getting close to the shore. But suddenly he felt something brush against his leg.

“It’s just a stick,” he thought to himself, and continued on.

But then he heard the some of the glass ruffling. He looked, but saw nothing. It could’ve been a fish or a bird that caused that. But before he could take another step, Darcus was suddenly pulled under the water. He didn’t know what happened. He opened his eyes, but couldn’t see under that water. He quickly surfaced himself, gasping for air and coughing. His nose stung because water went up his nostrils. He wiped his eyes and realized he felt heavy and was having trouble standing. Once he got his vision back, he saw something that sent a chill shock through his body… there was a giant coil around his shoulder and torso. It was a coil of a giant anaconda. Darcus immediately tried to pull the snake off himself. However, the struggle caused the coils to begin tightening. But Darcus still fought. That’s when he saw the top of the snake’s head submerged out of the water. Its sinister eyes were looking into the wolf’s eyes as if saying ‘I got you now!’ In that moment things turned violent. The snake rapidly coiled his prey. Darcus yelled as he was being spun around and around, and at times going under water. Darcus coughed as struggled. He felt the coils becoming tighter and tighter with every second. He could feel his breathing becoming more difficult and his body becoming stiff as if he’s gradually going paralyzed. At this rate, Darcus had two choices: he could drown first from being pulled under water again and again, and then be eaten. Or he could be crushed to death by the powerful snake, and then be eaten. Darcus regretted going into that swamp. He had no idea this would be his doom.

Darcus began to lose consciousness due to the lack of breath. Any second now he’ll take his last breath. Darcus lost his strength and his arms couldn’t fight with the snake any longer, and they dropped down to his side. It was hopeless. But wait! When Darcus dropped his arm, he felt something familiar… the handle to his foot long dagger. He was too busy struggling with the snake that he forgot all about his knife. He had to think and move fast. With the remaining strength he had, he grabbed his knife and stabbed it as hard as he could into the snake. The sudden pain caused the snake to loosen up. Darcus was free, but for a moment. He began gasping and panting for air. For a second there he thought the ordeal was over, but the snake wrapped around him again. Oh no! Darcus was NOT about to become a snake’s dinner. And the fight was on.

The snake, as before, violently coiled around Darcus. But Darcus had a weapon now, and stabbed the knife into the snake again. The coils loosen, but immediately began tightening again. But Darcus couldn’t quit, he had to fight to stay alive. His hand grasped his knife like the snake tightening around its prey. His life depended on it. If he were to lose his knife, he would become defenseless and be killed. Darcus swung his knife in every direction, slicing the snake in the process. At one point Darcus even accidently sliced himself in the side without realizing it. His focus was on defeating the snake rather than on pain. The snake tried to coil around the wolf, but Darcus stabbed anything that touched him. Finally the snake’s massive jaws leaped out of the water and pierced its large shape teeth into Darcus’s shoulder. It missed its target, which was Darcus’s head. Darcus grinned his teeth and yelled loud as he felt intense pain in his shoulder. But that was his chance, and swung his knife into the head. The snake pulled its teeth out of the wolf and backed away. But the snake was persistent; it was going to have wolf blood for its next meal. It shot its head forward him again, but Darcus caught the snake before it could strike him. There was a standoff there. The snake kept snapping at Darcus, and Darcus held the snake as long as he could while still having heavy coils around him. Darcus knew the snake was aiming for his head, more likely to break his neck and/or decapitate him. Darcus had to do something, his strength was giving out. He had an idea and he had one shot it, because missing would be fatal. He stared the snake in the eyes, readied his bloody dagger, and let go of the snake’s head. In a flash, the snake shot toward Darcus, but Darcus swung his knife’s sharp tip toward the snake. The force of the snake stabbed the knife pass its sharp teeth into its massive mouth, then into the roof of the mouth and into the brain, and out of the top of the snake’s head. The anaconda whipped around violently in the water. It uncoiled Darcus, but knocked him in the water in the process, causing him to pull out his knife from the snake’s head. Finally the snake slithered away fast, leaving a trail of bloody water.

Darcus submerged from the water again, coughing. But regained himself, and swung his knife around. It took him a moment to realize that the snake was gone. But this was no time to celebrate. He was unsure of the snake’s condition and it could be back. Darcus begin running as fast as he could in the water towards the shore. He tripped and fell underwater twice because of all the glass roots. He kept swinging his knife around as if any moment the snake could leap out at him. But that didn’t happen. Finally after a near five minute struggle with a hungry snake and running through the swamp, Darcus made it to the shore. But he still didn’t feel safe there, and kept running for another five minutes into the forest. He ran uphill where he finally made it out of the forest, and stopped. He was panting hard and gasping for air. He then collapsed there in the field of bright green grass and flowers. He lied there catching his breath with his eyes closed because of the bright sun. But he could smell the scent of the flowers and sweet grass he was lying on. After several minutes, Darcus sat back up. His arms were still weak and shook as he sat himself back up. He looked around and saw that he wasn’t in the swamp anymore but in a hill area. He took a deep inhale and relaxed himself.

Finally, since his fierce fight with the snake, he let go of his knife. His hand was so tight on it that his hand joints popped loud when he loosened his grip. Now to look at the damage. Darcus took off his wet Dundee hat, which amazingly stayed on his head during the whole ordeal. He then took off his vest and his pants, and laid them in the sunlight to dry. He was only wearing his crocodile teeth necklace. He looked at his body. He was wet from head to toe and a little muddy. He had teeth marks in his shoulder and the knife wound on his side. But good thing the wounds weren’t too deep and the bleeding stopped. There was only dried blood around them. Darcus covered his wounds with some extra cloth in his pants pockets. The clothes were wet too, but at least they cover the wounds. There were also a few bruises from the snake’s coils and small cuts from the struggle in the water. He checked every limb and joint in his body as well. To his surprise, everything worked fine. Nothing was broken nor did he have any internal damage.

With that relief, Darcus threw himself back on the grass and went limp. He was a very lucky that day. And it was thanks to his faithful dagger. He reached over and picked up his knife and looked at it in the sunlight. It had dried anaconda blood on it, but still as sharp as before. Darcus smiled and laid the knife of his wet chest. He then put his hands behind his head and relaxed naked in the sunlight, and drifted off into a well-deserved sleep.

Darcus ©  charismatic1983
Art & story ©  ejhusky