Yacob looked at Vinny, “What is it?” Yacob was quickly putting his armor on.

Vinny scooped up the heat brick and the remains of the stew. “I don’t know, but it is big and has our scent. That’s the way in and sadly out. We’ll have to fight our way out before the tree kicks us out.”

Wali looked at the elf, “What do you mean ‘kicks us out?” He asked as he gathered up the bedrolls and scooped up Gale.

“Hollow Cedar will keep you safe, but if the tree knows that it will be destroyed to keep you safe, it will give you up. Simple survival choice, really.” Vinny replied with a shrug.

With a groan and shiver, the walls started to close in. “See, there it goes. I’ll fire my bow when it opens, and then we all get out.” Vinny directed. He withdrew a long black arrow with black fletching from his extradimensional space. The elf looked at it with distaste. He knocked it and drew the arrow, aiming at the area where they could see the tree beginning to open.

The opening in the tree was no more than a few fingers wide when four claws slammed into the slot to pry it open. The creature ripped the bark and a chunk of the wood away. As Vinny released the arrow a moment later, they saw the beast, or at least its face.

Brick-red fur with six insectoid eyes on the frame of a massive bear’s skull peered in. Vinny’s arrow slammed into one of the eyes. The eye cracked and burst, black ichor spewing out. The beast yowled in pain and reared back.

“GO!” Shouted Vinny. Wali and Yacob rushed forward through the opening. Wali felt the power gathering as Yacob empowered flames into his legs and stone into his fists. Wali pushed mana through his Blood glyph and into his body, calling Neferu for the extra armor.

What they saw in the predawn light was terrifying. The beast stood four meters tall and was stumbling back. The brick red fur was thick and mottled with patches of black fur across its back. This was no Spirit Beast but a true monster. It was built like a bear with the addition of half-meter-long black spikes that rose from its back and four additional limbs. These limbs looked more like scorpion pincers covered in dark black chitin. These four pincer legs extended from its side between its legs. Four huge fangs jutted from its mouth, and the black claws were each larger than one’s hand.

Yacob rushed the beast while it was momentarily stunned, slamming his fist into its belly. This got its attention as it swung inward toward Yacob. Wali charged forward, using the superior reach of Gale to jab at its face. The lighting crackled along the spearhead as Gale shouted, “Death to the demon beast!” in Wali’s head. The spear tip caught the jawbone of the monster, digging a deep gash as lightning channeled into the beast. The gash hurt it more than the lightning. This allowed Yacob to roll away and Vinny to fire another arrow into the monster, striking one of its pincers but ricocheting off into the brush.

The beast raised up, released a bellow of rage, and unleashed an overwhelming pressure of killing intent. Yacob took a knee and emptied his stomach the hard way. Vinny staggered back, but Wali stood firm. The power of the Mind glyph protecting him from overwhelming fear. He charged forward and slashed at the beast’s lower leg, having to roll away as two of the pincers lashed out at him. As Yacob and Vinny began to recover, Wali danced around the monster. It was powerful and had many dangerous attacks but was relatively slow. Its thick skin was tough and covered a thick layer of muscle underneath. This was no beast they could quickly kill.

Wali kept it occupied but couldn’t really do much harm to it. He couldn’t get inside the reach of the powerful claws or pinchers safely. The lightning that Gale could bring was almost ineffectual. He circled it, poking it often enough to keep its attention off the other two. Yacob struggled to his feet, looking pale but resolved. Vinny stood shakily and drew another arrow.

Vinny called to Yacob and Wali, “It’s a Fell Bear. Fucking tough and dangerous. We can run, but it will track us down now that it’s got our scent. No way to hide. We have to fight it.” He released an arrow that slammed into the left knee of the beast, causing it to stumble. “The best way to kill it is to disable its vision and limbs then kill it.”

Wali called over to Yacob, “Use your flames on the crab claws. Lightning does nothing but be ready to get its attention.”

Yacob grunted a response and began drawing on the mana infused into his bracer. Flames swirled around his fist as he charged a blast of fire. He punched forward and a concentrated beam of fire shot from his fist. The bright flames lit up the area as the flames splashed against the unprepared beast. With a smell of cooked lobster gone rancid, one of the four pinchers was cooked and cracked open in an instant. The Fell Bear rushed Yacob, swinging with its right paw as the lower two pinchers snapped forward. Yacob couldn’t react quickly enough. One pincher grabbed his thigh, clacking onto the hardened steel plate there. The second pincher glanced off his other leg. The massive paw came down, and Yacob blocked it with crossed arms of stone. He was blasted back, ripping free of the pincher with a yelp. He flew away and slammed into a tree, crunching onto the bark. Yacob slid down and onto the ground.

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“YACOB!” Wali shouted but was relieved to see his friend begin to struggle to his feet. Obviously in pain but still going.

“Wali, turn it toward me,” Vinny said black arrow nocked and ready. Wali lunged in with Gale, jamming the spear all the way into the crossguard. The blade slid into the knee joint, and the Fell bear began to topple as the leg collapsed toward Wali. Wali was forced to release the spear and jump away. He circled the bear as it went to all fours. The three remaining scorpion claws swung up like snakes rearing to strike as the beast turned toward Wali.

“Roll right!” Shouted Vinny as he released the arrow. Wali dropped and rolled to his right as the arrow narrowly missed his shoulder. The arrow pierced another eye, and Vinny dashed away. Releasing another fearsome roar, the boys shuddered but remained resolute. Yacob staggered back to the fight, his left arm hung limp, and blood seeped from his nose.

“Dang, that thing hits hard,” Yacob muttered darkly.

They watched the Fell Bear chase toward Vinny whom parkour’d up the side of a tree before leaping up and back over the bear. He ran back as the bear spun. Gale still sat lodged in the bear’s hind leg. Wali took out his daggers, and Yacob began to charge another blast of flame.

“We gotta do this better, hit and run. Vinny focus on the eyes first. Yacob and I will keep it distracted. Yacob, use smaller fire shots from further back when I call out. You go left; I’ll go right.” Wali directed.

The men spread out, taking their respective sides. Wali pushed more mana into his blood and called Gulli out and Noodle into his body after releasing Neferu. He infused Gulli with power, forcing mana through his Magic and Spirit glyphs. The form of a pony-sized translucent Boar formed next to him. The Fell Bear roared, and Gulli snorted back before charging each other. Gulli dashed forward, and the Fell Bear swiped at the incarnated spirit. Being nothing more than the image of a massive boar, the bear’s claws and pinchers passed through it. Gulli attacked but was also ineffectual. That was okay. Gulli was the distraction.

Trickster whispered into Wali’s head, “Release Gale for extra fun.” as he ran forward, daggers at the ready. He dashed around the beast’s side as it struggled to attack the spirit. Vinny’s bow thrummed as another black arrow sped forward. It missed and dug a groove between a pair of the Fell Bear’s bug-like eyes. Wali used the distractions to attack, jamming one of his ivory daggers into the uninjured hind leg. He triggered the poison effect and shoved Noodle into the attack. The dagger was already tied to Noodle and the Water Moccasin’s destructive poison flooded into the knee. The bear tried to turn, but both rear legs were now useless. Wali danced back as one pincer snapped back toward him.

Gulli disappeared, fading into nothingness. The strain of keeping two totem spirits active was more than Wali could handle now. Noodle continued to activate the dagger Wali had left behind, steadily forcing pain through the destroyed knee of the Fell bear.

“Now, Yacob!” Wali shouted as another pincer swung toward him. Yacob punched forward again. A spear of flame shot forward, striking one of the pincers menacing Wali. Roaring in pain, as one of its limbs was burned, another arrow slammed into the neck of the beast. Seeing the Fell bear’s attention turn back toward Vinny and Yacob, Wali lunged forward and grabbed the spear’s handle.

With a mental command, Wali released Gale from the spear. The storm elemental rushed forward into the bear’s body, shouting audibly, “Die! Die, Die!” as lightning encapsulated the beast. The bear shuddered and shook as electricity coursed through it. Wali ripped the spear free and ran backward, not wanting to be caught if Gale suddenly got evicted from the bear. The smell of burning flesh and hair filled the morning air. The bear was maddened and tried to strike back at the warriors, but they retreated a short way to watch Gale and the Fell Bear fight.

As they caught their breath, Wali said, “This won't last very long. Gale is very limited.” They watched as the bear seemed to gather itself and roared out again. A twisting black cloud sparking with internal lightning was suddenly expelled from the beast. All three pinchers tried to slam into the cloud, only dispersing it a bit. They all heard the windy voice of Gale, “I’ll destroy you!”

Wali shook his head and called the elemental back to the spear. The swirling cloud was sucked into the spearhead. “You did good, Gale. It’s our turn now.” He said.

“I had it! It’s my kill!” Gale struggled against the bond, but it was feeble, and was forced to retreat and recharge.

Wali looked at Vinny and Yacob. They nodded, and again the three of them spread out. The Fell Bear was down to two legs, and three pinchers, two of six eyes had been destroyed, and several bleeding wounds dripped blood onto the forest floor.

“Big one, Yacob, on my mark. Vinny, you shoot when it swings back to Yacob.” Wali directed as he lunged in at the Fell bear’s side. The spear tip stabbed into the bear’s thick flesh, causing a growl, and brought its attention back to Wali. He stabbed at the pinchers that swung toward him and retreated. “Yacob!” Wali shouted.

The swirling gout of flame that shot from Yacob’s fist enveloped another pincer bursting it open as the internal fluids boiled instantly. The bear tried to turn back toward Yacob and caught an arrow to another eye for its trouble.

The fight continued like this for a few more minutes. Finally, the beast dropped to the ground. The four scorpion claws were cooked and burnt, hind legs disabled, blinded, and bleeding from multiple places. It groaned and whined as it lay dying. Wali retrieved Noodle and his ivory dagger. Yacob drew a massive stone out of the ground, heaving it over his head. He then slammed it into the head of the beast, crushing its skull. The boys were exhausted; the fight had been long and hard. None of them were wounded badly, but the endurance fight strain was heavy.

As Wali was about to ask Vinny which direction they should go, they all heard a familiar roar from another part of the forest. The familiar wash of fear passed over them. A second Fell Bear was coming.