Yuriko fought her instinct to just run out of the stockade and head directly to the threat. It wasn’t easy but she only had to remind herself that there are hundreds of warriors here and she wasn’t even of the same nation. Still, she went out of the building and stared at the wall.

The camp was barely illuminated. There were only a few lanterns filled with bioluminescent moss, as well as what remained in the cavern itself. Notably absent were crystal Animus lamps, and open fires.

“Snakekin’s heat sense,” Yuriko muttered.

She supposed that they could see each other and their surroundings with the body’s ambient heat. She wondered if the lizardkin, the L’tik, had a similar sense. For that matter, she was probably the only one with difficulty seeing in the dark, considering most cats, the cat-, lion-, and tigerkin included, could see well in low light conditions.

But there was a source of illumination coming now. She could see an orange glow rising from behind the walls. The warriors on the battlements looked somewhat flustered too.

The stockade guards were equally tense.

“What’s going on?” Yuriko asked one of the lizardkin guards.

The man, though that was honestly an assumption on her part, looked at her, blinked, then licked his eyes with his long and narrow tongue.

“Dire beast. Bigger devilbeast. Leader,” he said in pidgin Wojan.

Yuriko nodded. The warriors on the battlements started shooting their crossbows sporadically. Their frenetic movements weren’t quite panic yet.

Usaza jogged back to the stockade, bearing a piece of paper with her.

“Elder Yuriko!” she yelled, “the commander has agreed provided they give me their parole. The terms are…”

“Wait!” Yuriko interrupted. “Tell it to them, not me.”

“Ah, yes. My mistake.”

Usaza pushed her way past the guards while Yuriko followed behind. Once she was in front of the tigerkin’s cell, she started rattling off the terms.

“...your word of honour to act under Forgestride’s command until the end of the Beast Tide, afterwards you will be released. Any and all Ivory you acquire will be turned over to the quartermaster, to be redeemed for fifty Denari a piece. Support will be given during the fight and the mop up operation afterwards. Should you wish to decline we will still release you after the Tide, but a life price of ten thousand Denari will be demanded from Vizugmon’s Delver’s Guildhall in return…”

“Onerous terms,” Anda growled, “but I accept.”

“As do I,” the lionkin, Dai, and Masa said at the same time.

The full-blooded catkin woman hesitated but acquiesced. As for the rest of the prisoners, they weren’t even given a chance.

Usaza marched out and gave the guards their instructions. Afterwards, she planted herself in front of Yuriko and gave the forehead salute.

“Elder Yuriko, the Commander requests for your assistance on the wall.”

“Very well.”

She matched her pace with Usaza who jogged with her to the wall. The white scaled snake-kin was armoured in leather with a chainmail vest. She had a crossbow strapped across her back and a curved sword on her waist. A quiver of bolts was balanced on the other side. Usaza led her to the wall’s access stairs. It was wide enough for three people to climb up next to each other and had guardrails. The walls were ten paces high and just as wide at the top.

Once they were at the battlements, Yuriko looked for Otlaca and found the elderly snakekin at the other end of the walls, near where the cavern’s walls were. He was staring intently towards the ground. Yuriko followed his gaze.

The cavern floor was lit by dozens, or rather, hundreds, of fiery hounds. Tongues of red and orange flames flickered atop their shoulders, looking more like a lion’s mane than anything else. The hounds were the size of a pony, but there was one individual that towered over them, standing far from the walls. It was still within easy shot of the crossbows though, as the cavern wasn’t big enough. Bolts flew at the Dire Hound, a creature that stood nearly as tall as a Koinos Colossi at the shoulder, and was covered in flames. It was nearly half as tall as the wall, and no doubt a powerful leap would have seen it over already. Except for the fact that the battlements were close to the ceiling, and even if it scrambled up to the battlements, it wouldn’t be able to stand.

“How did that thing even make it all the way here?” Yuriko muttered. The tunnels she had walked in were no more than three paces high. Maybe four at times. Did it squeeze through the narrow or low portions?

The Dire Hound glared at them with its burning eyes. It had been staring at Otlaca’s direction, while the Elder snakekin looked placidly back. But as soon as Yuriko laid her eyes on it, the hound flinched and turned to her, growling. This, in turn, brought her to Otlaca’s attention. He nodded at her but quickly returned his gaze at the hound.

Graaaf!

It barked and that was the signal. The fiery hounds dashed at the wall and as soon as they got to the base, leapt. Yuriko’s jaw slackened when instead of bouncing off or crashing, the hounds’ claws dug into the stone and they kicked upwards, essentially propelling themselves up. In no more than three or four bounds, they would reach the battlements.

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Twang!

The crossbow bearers shot down at the hounds. The bolts bounced off the skull, sank into an eye or nose, or pierced the hound’s shoulders. The kinetic force staggered and knocked them down. If they were lucky, a shot would cause a hound to fall and take another doggy with it. Still, there weren't enough crossbowmen.

The reptilian crossbowmen backed off the edge and the footmen struck. Some wielded curved swords, scimitars she thought, others used hatchets or battle axes. Each one had a large round shield strapped to their off hand.

Blades rose and fell while shields warded off claw strikes and bites. All the while, the Dire Hound didn’t move but kept its eyes on Yuriko and Otlaca.

Neither of the two of them moved. Usaza fidgeted nervously. Yuriko was actually close to the edge, but the fiery hounds avoided her instinctively.

She could see the tunnel entrances from where they stood. There were half a dozen of them. Four of which disgorged more fiery hounds. As for the remaining two tunnels, they were apparently paths that the beasts wanted to take. Every now and then, a small pack of hounds, or other devilbeast, rushed into the tunnel.

Rowf!

A hound, somewhat larger than its brothers, leapt over the wall a couple of paces from Yuriko, and leapt at her throat.

“Ah!”

Usaza yelped and aimed her crossbow at the beast, but it was already too close. Yuriko’s fist into its cheek caved in its skull and knocked it over the wall. All without bothering to move her eyes from the Dire Hound.

“Oh…” Usaza gasped.

The attack on her must have been a trigger for the Dire Hound and it suddenly opened its jaws wide. Red and orange flames collected into a ball between teeth as long as her arm, then the Hound coughed, and the fireball flew at Otlaca.

The elderly snakekin stretched his hands out, palm facing the ball of flame. An image formed at his back, towering and curling around his lithe frame. Yuriko thought she saw a snake with three heads, each one with tongues flickering and eyes gleaming. A purple cloud whooshed from Otlaca’s palm and collided with the fireball less than five paces from the wall, making it explode. But Yuriko didn’t watch for long.

The Dire Hound bounded towards Yuriko even as the fireball distracted Otlaca. Jaws agape, it reached the bottom of the wall in the blink of an eye and leapt up at her.

Golden flames flared into existence around her, then condensed into a thick sheathe. Yuriko jumped towards the dog, fist cocked back. She punched the thing on the snout. Its jaws snapped shut, teeth colliding against each other, causing yellow sparks to fly from its mouth. Yuriko’s forward momentum bled completely into the Dire Hound and for a moment, she hung still in midair. The moment passed and she fell downwards while the dog staggered back. It managed to recover before her feet reached the ground and it swung at her with a foreleg, obsidian black claws cut through the air with a sharp whine.

Yuriko’s Anima contracted and flexed, giving her a momentary foothold, barely enough to let her leap out of the way. The claw passed under her legs even as she tucked her knees to her bosom. She kicked down before the paw passed, letting her bounce towards the wall. She backflipped and landed on the wall, looking up at the hound while its eyes widened in surprise.

With a fierce grin, she kicked off, aiming towards its other leg, which she caught in a vicious kick. She heard its bone crack even as she jumped off, finally landing on the ground.

Awwooo!

Fire flared from its body but it just washed over her protective Anima. She felt the heat, but it was far from enough to hurt her. She dashed under its belly, and kicked the side of its knee, feeling that joint pop. With the rebound, she took out the other knee, then rolled out from under its bulk as it collapsed, all but one of its legs were broken.

Graaahw!

A whimper, but the madness in its eyes never receded. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Otlaca running across the battlements before he leapt down towards them. But he was too late. Yuriko strolled up to the creature’s head, easily avoiding a retaliatory bite, before she reared back, focused her Anima around her fist, and caved in its skull. Blood squirted out of its eyes, nose, and ears. The Dire Hound shuddered and twitched. It took a couple of moments before the rest of its body realised that it was dead.

“A brutal and savage fight,” Otlaca offered as he landed a few paces away. “Well done.”

Yuriko shrugged.

“I’ve been fighting nothing but beasts since I came into this plane. It’s hardly worth drawing my sword out.”

“You are a sword warrior?”

“You could say that.” Yuriko sighed. “I trained in shooting most of my life though, but alas, I’ve lost my weapon.”

“Hurr, maybe I should give you a crossbow.” His tone was amused, but Yuriko felt an undertone of wariness.

“Whatever you wish.”

The fiery hounds had started to retreat, and none of them came within spitting distance of her and the snakekin.

“I yield the spoils to you,” he chuckled. “I hardly did a thing.”

“It thought I was a soft target,” Yuriko said wryly, “but it paid the price for its folly. Shall I harvest it’s Ivory now?”

“You’d better. If we leave the carcass alone, other devilbeasts will eat it.”

“Fair enough.”

Yuriko moved to the back of the Hound’s neck, surreptitiously created an Animus blade and dug into the skin. A few quick strokes and the vertebrae were exposed. As she hoped, the third vertebra was glowing red. She cut it out of the creature. Otlaca had already made his way back up to the battlements.

She reared back, then jumped on the walls, mimicking the fiery hounds in using the stone to propel herself upwards. Though the wall was completely vertical, it was only a matter of balance to keep her centre of gravity near it. She reached the battlements after her second jump.

“Ah!” Usaza squeaked in surprise. Her eyes focused on the bloodstained Ivory she held in her hand.

“Here.” Yuriko tossed it over. “I’ll expect the Denari when this is over.”

“Of course,” she muttered.

While the Dire Hound and the fiery doggies had retreated, it was only temporary. Several packs lingered near the tunnels even as more of them came into the cavern. After a few minutes, the hounds decided that they weren’t done yet and charged back.

Within minutes, the reprieve won by the death of their apparent leader was gone and the Lucentians and Griefordians were fighting sword to claw. Yuriko killed any who came close to her but she reserved her strength for the Dire Beasts.

Some time afterwards, Masa and the rest of her team arrived on top of the battlements and started to fight off the hounds with quick and efficient movements. Three of them wielded longswords while Dai the lion man had a large tower shield and a shortspear.

They moved towards Yuriko’s position until they were practically next to her. She saw Anda look down the walls and to the Dire Hound’s corpse.

“That your doing?”

“Yes.”

He nodded gravely then focused on his fights. An hour later, the tide of fiery hounds ebbed and the defenders were able to stand down.

“Fifty hounds killed,” Masa sighed, “and maybe a third of them have Ivory.”

“Keep your chin up. More of them will come soon,” Anda said. “Do you mind if we fight beside you, Elder Yuriko?”

“I don’t mind, but don’t call me Elder.” Yuriko shuddered.

“Yeah, she’s only fourteen, you know!” Masa chirped.

“What?” Anda, Dai, the other catkin woman, and Usaza all yelped.

Yuriko just shrugged and grinned. In the distance, more devilbeasts were pouring out of the tunnel, and it looked like another wave was coming.