The beast growled at the team, seemingly unhappy about their appearance. It paced from side to side, watching its soon-to-be prey, as they arranged themselves in a defensive formation.

An arrow and a few ice shards appeared from the small crowd of humans, heading straight at the predator's head, an ambush was unsuccessful, as the hunter knew how to hunt, and how not to be hunted.

The puma dodged the attacks, stepping to the side, then running awry towards its attackers, it looked as if it planned to circle the intruders and attack them from another side.

Yet, despite its obvious intentions, the big cat prevailed in its straight run, directly into the bushes, where it disappeared from human eyes.

The human formation changed its shape at this time, the main defence moved according to the predator's position. Then, they waited for it to reveal itself, along with its attack.

Nothing happened for a while, apart from some sounds echoing through the forest, from different angles and heights each time. Max knew that big cats could climb trees very well, it was a part of his education as a noble, and a team leader.

His orders as a team leader were for the defenders to immediately follow those noises, while still watching out for attack from the bush the puma ran into.

Neither of those directions happened to be correct, an attack came, but neither it was seen by the companions, nor did they accomplish to defend against it.

"AGGHHHH!!!"

A horrendous scream escaped Adam's mouth as he was suddenly thrown into the air, his shield shattered, his coat and armour shredded and painted red. A gash appeared on his side, running from his right shoulder towards his nether region, but fortunately not reaching it.

He stood at the side of the formation, in the direction of the cavern.

A few seconds later, loud noises reverberated from the bushes a few metres from the place Adam got hit from.

A big cat revealed itself and pounced on Watt's shield. It smacked its paw, striking the armoured giant and escaped to the forest again, an arrow after it.

Watt despite the strike remained firm and attacked back, but his short sword didn't meet its target. Actually, this attempt left him more unstable than defending against the cat, he stumbled but didn't fall, and returned to his place in the formation.

The puma seemed lucky, not only the sword didn't reach it, but the arrow also missed.

Berta rushed towards Adam and helped him to stand up. She will now protect him, that's what her role was mainly about, being somewhat a defender, but mostly a situational one.

After Kyll and Watt suffered injuries a few weeks before, the Refrigerators concluded that they had to have a person who could take care of the wounded. In consideration of their roles, the position was assigned to Berta, and she had to take a course on more advanced methods of fast aid. She was the best candidate, as she didn't contribute to the ranged fight, and could somehow defend. Iler was the second pick, he used a shield, which increased his defending capacity far above that of Berta's, but considering that he was worse at first aid and that they needed him more in the first line of defence, the girl was the chosen one.

But even then, they had to change Berta's equipment a little, adding a shield to her stock. It was just too useful not to, just because of Berta's personal preference. She got a small one, though.

Using her relatively new knowledge about wounds, the swordswoman took out a clean piece of cloth and wrapped it tightly around Adam's torso and put some of it underneath the tight one, just above the wound, to stop the bleeding temporarily.

Adam himself wasn't a big help to her in this, as he was still shocked by unexpected pain. He was rolling around, hugging himself when Berta arrived by him.

Silence prevailed for some time after the first clash. No worrying sounds came from the forest, and no animals were seen by the team, excluding the birds that flew above them, obviously.

Refrigerators used this opportunity to change their position and moved to the dead centre of the clearing. Making as much space from both the forest and the cave as they could.

"What the fuck was that?" Exclaimed Berta.

"What, did you see something?" Asked Max in anticipation.

"No, it's just that the attack Adam received doesn't match with the puma at all, it's as if he was struck with a whip." Explained Berta.

"Maybe it's some sort of wind attack? I heard that some of those are described as blades of whips." Wondered Iler.

"No, if it could send some attacks like that, we would be already dead." Said Max. " It would attack us from the trees, and catch us off-guard. I don't believe we could defend against an attack like the one that struck Adam, it was too powerful, without his shield Adam would be probably split in half. On that note, focus on creating shields around us." The last thought was meant for Adam, who started to create the shield again. This time around all of them, which was possible only because they gathered together closely. Even then, such magic was draining Adam like never before.

"Focus, we all need to attack it when it appears again." He added.

The conversation ended there, and the fighters turned all their focus on the environment again, waiting for the predator to appear again.

And it did.

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

The puma attacked Kyll, who unfortunately for it, was ready to defend. It didn't manage to surprise the fighter who already had about a year of experience. Another thing to consider was the shield that Adam raised, which shattered after stopping the big cat for a second.

Kyll blocked the paw strike with his shield and counterattacked in response.

His spear swooshed in the air towards the limb which ricocheted from his shield, which was just at the distance the blade needed.

The spear slash struck true and cut off something before the cat managed to react. Kyll tried to attack it again, this time by stabbing, but his target rapidly escaped, an arrow after it. Missing again.

The puma disappeared into the forest, a third time during the encounter. It didn't seem to like fighting one on one. Or just in close quarters.

In the meantime, Kyll looked down to see what he cut off from the panter. It interested him because his strike didn't feel as if it cut a paw off, it was too easy for that.

And he was right in his guess, it was no paw.

It looked more like the end of a tail, the tail of a rat to be exact. Pink and skinny, nearly no bone inside.

"Hey! There is something wrong with that beast. It cut off a pow and a tail came off." Exclaimed Kyll.

"You cut something off? I watched it escape and it didn't look harmed at all." Interjected Monica. "But I noticed it's unnaturally good at dodging, none of my shots meet its mark. Which is weird, it's big and the distance is laughably small. I should be able to hit every time." She added.

Adam didn't add anything, even though he had a lot to say, as he was occupied with creating the shield again.

Fortunately, Berta also had similar thoughts. She walked over to Kyll and took a look at the severed tail, supposed paw.

"It matches Adam's wound." She stated.

"But it's a puma! Its tail is fluffy and still on its butt!" Denied Monica.

"Then what the fuck is this?" Exclaimed Berta.

"Stop shouting, we have to figure it out, but let's not lose cool." Commanded Max. " Also, the puma is acting wrong, it should have already escaped after the first failed attack, but it's still here, fighting." He added afterwards.

"Maybe there is something in that cave? The cat defending its young wouldn't be surprising." Added Iler.

"How about we retreat? It won't go after us if it is defending its offspring." Offered Berta.

"No, we have to find Mr. Torak and all the clues we have lead here." Said Max. "And that's what we are going to do. Watt, lead the way but stay vigilant. There might be another one inside." He ordered next.

And that is what happened, Watt led the way while Iler closed the procession.

It seemed that they had a point, as the big cat attacked again, unusually fast after escaping, right after they started heading in the direction of the cave.

This round was the most unsuccessful for both groups. The puma missed Kyll, who it wanted to smack. Though it looked like it hit. And the Kyll's thrust didn't manage to strike it either.

Eventually, Watt wandered cautiously inside the cave and looked around.

"There is nothing in here. It's empty." He concluded his observations after a few moments. "Like, suspiciously empty."

"Let me take a look." Said Max, as he walked inside.

The cave was suspiciously empty indeed.

It was very shallow and there was much light inside. No nest, or any other bedding that the puma or its children could use. The younglings were also absent, proving their theory false. But Max didn't give up, he walked a bit closer, with Watt at his side to defend him and took a closer look.

What he discovered was that the walls were dubious. They were too similar and straight, also the lighting didn't feel right on them.

"Step back." He ordered his defender and manipulated metal from his armour to fly off. Afterwards, he sent it to the suspicious walls.

One of the walls stood firm, making the metal ricochet at the other one, which in turn, proved to be false.

The second wall didn't react to the projectiles at all. They just went straight through, as if it was nonexistent.

The first salvo didn't do anything apart from creating some sound from hitting a wall inside. But when the metal mage sent another few shards, a more promising reaction reached the team's ears.

A shriek of pain reverberated throughout the cave, and with it, the wall disappeared, scattered like sand art kicked by a bird.

Behind it, a horrible scenery was unveiled.

Blood, guts and various parts of bodies. Goat heads, covered in guts and grime, half-eaten legs and cows torn apart, and eaten from the inside out. Among the others, barely dead bodies were also present, the animals stolen from the village were seen littering the ground, and some even looked like they were alive, but they were not.

It was a good thing that the only people who had to see this place were Max and Watt, it wouldn't be nice for anyone, especially Adam, whose trauma had been alleviated only recently.

Everything was there, and that's why it was so dreadful and abominable.

Among the various body parts, two places brought Max's attention the most.

The human body, torn apart and lying on a pile of corpses. Dead, that's the status of the person they had to find, and potentially rescue.

Another point of interest was the reason for the miracle wall, supposedly. It was a dead creature, but one that Max didn't recognize. It was a relatively large cat, not a big cat as the puma was, but just a larger-than-usual cat. There was a difference between it and a normal larger-than-regular cat, it had a long body as if it stretched all the time, and an even lengthier tail, which was furless and very skinny. The tail alone was maybe four times longer than the body.

The beast was also fat beyond belief, which may have been the reason for such a large amount of prey hunted by it, or its partner.

Max knew it was the source of the magical wall, as it had a large, metal shard inside its head. Basic logic told him that its death was the reason behind the disappearance of the illusory curtain.

Beside the horrific creature lay a bunch of eggs, black and slimy, certainly that was the reason for the puma's aggression and perseverance in guarding its nest.

"I found Mr.Torak. We will now kill the beast and then return to the village. Adam, could you can a wide cone of wind out of the cave?" Ordered Max, and his last question was related to his suspicions. He thought that the puma may be an illusion, like the wall was.

"I think I can, but will have to put down the shields." Answered Adam.

"Do it." Replied the team leader.

Adam grunted, and moved to the entrance, already gathering wind mana in his hand. Preparing an unusually large [Sway].

The wind gusted as he outstretched his hand towards the clearing. It roared and ravaged the flowers blooming on the bones, eerie evidence of death inhabiting the surrounding area for years. And some weird-ass flowers, thriving on the bones in the winter.

The wind flew through the air, hitting the visible and not.

Max's intuition was correct, the beast was an illusion, created by a creature similar to the one in the cave and it was thrown against a tree.

Evidently, these species weren't very sturdy or heavy, unlike their magical abilities and their powerful tails, they died very quickly, and that's what happened with the supposed 'puma'.

Its head popped as it hit a tree, after being blown by Adam's gust of wind.

"Ok, I think that's it. The beast is dead and our objective has been found, despite its bad condition." Said Max. "Berta, you will help Adam. Iler and Kyll, you guys take the body, we don't want to make anyone come here for it. Monica, you take some of those flowers, I haven't heard about anything like that. Watt, lead the way." He ordered his teammates.

The Refrigerators did their tasks and started returning to the village. They had some things to do.

Adam was injured and needed urgent medical attention.

The family of Mr Torak had to be informed of his death.

That's not even mentioning those who lost their livestock.

But before going, they had to do one final task, check if the beasts were really dead, and make their unborn offspring return under their parent's illusory paws.