She hesitated for a brief moment.
Then she took a deep breath, slowly exhaled, tightened her grip on her sword, and fixed her eyes on the creature before her.
It resembled a withered, four-legged creature, its body so shriveled it looked as though it had been drained dry, its face almost completely devoid of any recognizable features.
She had already decided to take the risk.
There was no point retreating now.
Every path seemed to lead to death anyway so she might as well gamble on this approach and see if it led somewhere.
With that thought in mind, she stopped hesitating.
The next instant, she shot forward.
The creature reacted instantly.
It exploded out of its crouched position with a burst of speed that caught her completely off guard.
There was no warning.
No buildup.
Just an instantaneous explosion of movement that forced her to throw herself sideways at the exact moment its claws sliced through the air where she had been standing a heartbeat earlier.
