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Draganth groaned as he heaved another shovelful of sticky clay into the cart. Only another few hours and he could return to town with another full load. He was more alert than he had been on previous trips, actually nervous to some extent. He knew he had been extraordinarily lucky in his encounter with the titan and didn't want a repeat. He would run, run, run if he saw anything tougher than a slime.

His Master had congratulated him somewhat wryly when he had appeared that night, covered from head to toe in stinking clay but hauling a titan's hammer and a magical sash. Master Ellis said he would hold the sash for him when he graduated, after all, he himself had an indestructable robe of tinkering, he wouldn't deprive the boy of such a valuable find.

A slime slithered out of a tangle of sawgrass and moved towards him, its surface rippling menacingly. "Aww slime, c'mon you don't stand a chance, just go away." Draganth complained as his working rythym was broken. The slime was peculiarly colored, not the usual corpse white. Not a black or green one either, those were much more dangerous although still fairly simple to kill. This one almost glowed with a violet color. How curious.

As it neared, Draganth sliced expertly at it with his shovel and gasped as it ducked under the swing and flung itself from the surface of the swamp onto his torso. Staggering back he grabbed to tear it from him and felt an all enveloping burning sensation fill his body and mind. He fell backwards and splashed into the shallow water, sending bits of mud and water plants spraying about him. The strange slime just clung to him, glowing perceptibly even in the sunlight.

Draganth tried to move but found his limbs strengthless. He couldn't even shout and his eyes dimmed as the burning sensation seemed to sink into his mind. But he felt acutely enough. He felt the creature growing larger and spreading over him as if it were a tight fitting glove covering a hand. He wanted to scream as he felt tiny tendrils force their way into his body, sending electric threads of pain shooting through him. The hair thin filaments sank into every square inch of him, burrowing into his flesh, into his inner organs, into his brain and he lost consciousness.

An unknown amount of time later, he awoke. Strength filled him and he gained his feet in one fluid motion. His eyesight was extraordinarily keen and he could hear the ominous rustle of a left over death bunny a mile across the swamp. He took a deep breath and relished the thick, earthy scent of the swamp.

He lifted his hands and emotionlessly examined the tough, shimmering covering that coated them. His skin and the strange slime had merged into a sensitive but incredibly tough coating. There was no more pain inside him, in fact, he felt better, stronger than he ever had before. The muffled grunt of a black bear caused him to swivel about on his feet smoothly. He moved forward with liquid strides and was beside the bear in a moment. Startled at the deceptively fast motion, it lurched backward and Draganth swung his hand in a short arc, impacting on the massively muscled neck with a resounding thud. The creature fell dead instantly at his feet. Smiling humorlessly, he squatted down, ripped it open with his inhumanly strong fingers and began to feed.

When he was done, he was still hungry. His supra acute ears heard the rythmic sound of an axe in the forest. He slipped into the forest as quietly as a wraith, slipping from shadow to shadow until he beheld a burly lumberjack swing a glistening axe at a tree. Smiling gently, he walked quietly behind the man and seized the axe on its upswing. The lumberjack grunted and glanced around. His eyes widened in horror and he stumbled away as Draganth hurled the axe into the forest.

The shimmering gray creature that was shaped like a man but looked like a swamp slime decapitated him effortlessly and fed again. His hunger was almost satisifed. Man was much tastier than bear. Some part of his mind made a note of that. The thing that was once Draganth the young apprentice, walked quietly up the hill until it could gaze down over the valley below. A small city was nestled there amid oak and beech trees. A winding river twinkled in the sunlight and birds sang in the trees. Ahhh, here was a supply of food that would last a long time....

Is this the monster from Bethas choice? Sounds like it is

Why yes, yes it is!

Not sure how that all happened. First I had a guy mining clay. Being dissatisfied with that story I ended up turning him into a monster.

Then, as my fingers were typing out Betha's Choice, he just decided to make an appearance which influenced the balance of that story.

I never know what is going to happen when I write this stuff, it just does.

You should write a book or submit short stories to places.

I read the first miner one then betha then he last miner one and it was a good order