“Sob, we could use a hand over here!” I bellowed, leaping back to my feet from my semi-successful slide attack.

The horse still standing at a distance in a dense patch of wild grass lifted his head to look in my direction. His flaming blue mane and the feathers around his hooves were stark against the darkness of the night. If he could have, the horse would have shrugged his shoulders before he dropped his head to continue nonchalantly munching, once again proving the validity of his name.

I swore and turned my eyes back to the damn wombat that refused to take any real damage while it so easily tossed me, Stella, and Nora about. Sure, Nora’s lightning-enhanced axe was doing some damage but it was the magic of it and not the curved blade itself that was having any impact. The iron-bound beast seemed almost entirely immune to physical attacks.

The wombat shrieked and charged at me, moonlight flashing off the odd metal plates lining its back. I yelped and Blinked out of the way before the four-legged tank could steamroll me. I hit the trunk of a tree and scaled the thing, wrapping my arms around a solid upper branch as I tried to catch my breath.

Stella had long since given up her direct attacks and was now attempting to herd the creature like it was a cow and not a vicious murderous beast. It was not working out so well for her but it was keeping her from sustaining any more damage which I for one was grateful for.

Nora’s tangled mass of curls had come loose from whatever contraption she had been using to hold them back making her look more wild and dangerous than usual. Nora’s speed wasn’t as developed as Stella’s, meaning she took far more hits than the cattle dog had. Her Strength and Constitution were the only things keeping her on her feet even as the wombat rounded on her for the hundredth time.

I wanted to help. I wanted to land the perfect backstab and take the beast down before it could hurt my clan any more than it already had. Every attack I had made so far had been pointless though. Even my dagger which had a powerful bleeding effect did little to eat away at the beast’s health bar. My bolts had no effect as they shattered against the iron bands lining the wombat's back. Even my poisons weren’t helpful because I simply couldn’t drive them deep enough into the creature's body to have them pumped through its bloodstream.

I scrubbed a hand at my balding head as I tried to get my whirling thoughts to come together coherently. My skills were not developed for this kind of fight. Even the King Toilet Crocs were not immune to physical damage. I could send a bunch of shadows at the beast but what would that do?

There was only one skill I had that might make an impact. One I had been hoping never to use again.

I closed my eyes and sucked in a deep breath, letting my nostrils flare as I let it all out in an almost painful blast. My back teeth ground together and a little nerve running along my jaw spasmed. My boots hit the ground before all the tension had left me. I’m not sure any attempts at preparation would see that tense ball of disgust and anxiety leave my chest.

I Blinked again right as Nora made a wild swing, her voice lifting into the air in a roar powerful enough to make my hurried steps falter. Lightning akin to Sob’s magic but purple instead of blue blazed where her axe struck the metal plates, sizzling and fanning out until the jagged fingers wrapped around the wombat.

The beast froze in its charge, shrieking and arching its rounded back, stuffing its hairy nose into its forepaws until the lightning fizzled out. The moment it did the wombat lashed out, slamming the full power of its weight and muscle into Nora’s armored chest.

Nora’s cry rang in my ears. She was thrown backward, almost slamming full force into Stella as she made another round in her failed attempt to herd.

The wombat heard me coming, whipping its head around to glare at me with its small beady eyes. I swallowed and Blinked, rushing through the quagmire the skill created and throwing myself at the ground like a baseball player trying to slide into base. I lifted my arm, slashing at the beast’s throat with my Croc Tooth Dagger of Eviscerate. The curved and sharpened bone dug deep into the saggy patch of throat skin that hung beneath the wombat's chin. A spray of warm darkened blood dappled my face and painted my armor, collecting dust thrown into the air upon the droplets.

I rolled, gaining my feet as the wombat shrieked and stumbled back. The bleeding effect of my dagger kept the wound bleeding like a faucet left on. Beaming I lifted my eyes to the health bar floating above its head only for that curl of my lips to drop away. How could a monster be bleeding that much and still have so much of its health?

That’s it. I’m calling it. Monsters with physical attack resistance are the worst.

Nora appeared beside me, her armor rattling as she struggled to keep her breath. “What the hell is this thing?”

“The devil. It’s the bloody devil,” I shouted right back.

The wombat weaved and stumbled toward us all over again. I took a step back, unsure what else to do.

“Do… do we just run?” I asked.

“Steel yourself pansy ass, it doesn’t look like Gabby or Theo are ready to get out of the way just yet.”

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I glowered at the pair still kneeling by the makeshift cave. They were hugging now which I guess was a step forward but damn I wished they would get up off the ground. Did they not care about anything outside themselves? That went for Sob too who was still filling his stomach like the three of us fighting weren’t close to death.

It was time. I couldn’t hold back any longer.

The beast neared and I Blinked again, dropping into another slide only this time it was with my blades replaced in their sheaths. With empty hands, I gripped the wombat’s face and lifted myself off the ground to press my lips against the monster's fuzzy ones. The feel of it and the heat of my least favorite skill coming to life made my stomach flip.

The wombat struggled as my Blink skill faded and the world returned to its regular speed. I held on tight, keeping my lips against the beast’s while the purple light throbbed through me and filled it with deadly poison more potent than any concoction I could make.

Five thick claws cut right through my armor, tearing it to shreds before they dug unhindered into my guts. I screamed as it launched me into the air, clutching at the deep and bloody wounds. A foul smell surrounded me in a dense cloud, breaking through the scent of metal and wombat musk that filled my nose. I hit the ground, crying out again when my shoulder popped out of its socket sending painful jolts through my chest and down my arm. My muscles tried in vain to jerk the joint back into place, bringing more pain with each spasm.

“S…Sob,” I begged trying to find the horse through the flood of salted water making my vision all blurry.

He wasn’t coming. He was more interested in feasting than keeping me alive. I couldn’t even see if the damn kiss had done anything more than annoy the stupid indestructible wombat. The ground was shaking or was it me? The fingers on the hand covering my belly were hot and cold at the same time. They were also sticky. So sticky.

I needed a health potion. Did I have one? I don’t think so. I should learn to make them. I could make more than poisons.

A flash of blue and a flood of warmth saw my brain firing back into existence. I sucked in a deep breath, coughing and hacking at the amount of dust that was sucked in with the oxygen I actually wanted. I rolled, thankful my belly wasn’t on fire anymore.

“Thank you, Sob,” I said.

The horse snorted before running much further away than he had been before. He was such a coward when it came to battles. Even with the blast of healing magic, my health bar remained low. Whether it was because Sob hadn’t given me a full jolt or because I’d been hurt more than I thought I had no idea.

Nora hit the ground not too far away, her axe tumbling from her grip and into a bush where the lightning coating the blade flickered and died. Stella followed her yelp loud enough to be heard over the wombat's incessant shrieking.

I stumbled toward them, desperately clutching my hand over my shoulder in an attempt to find the grip of my illusive blade. We were in real trouble. The wombat’s health was still a third full even with the excessive bleeding, the lightning-infused axe strikes, and the poisonous kiss. I cried out in exacerbation, rubbing at my head like the patch of skin where hair should be would somehow give me an answer.

The wombat snorted over the fallen and unmoving forms of Nora and Stella before turning toward me.

“Come on then, you ugly brute. Come and get a piece of this! You know you want to,” I shouted.

And it did. It came at me with a speed I wouldn’t have thought the iron-banded monster could manage. I wanted to stand my ground and fight. I wanted to roar out my rage and shove my blade right through its heart. That wasn't me though. I was a thief, remember?

And so I turned tail and ran. I weaved back and forth, unable to decide where I should go until I almost ran head-first into a squat little tree. With arms raised I gripped a branch and swung up, skittering between the branches like a sugar glider until I found a decent one near the top of the tree to wrap my arms around. The wombat slammed into the tree, making the entire thing creak and shudder.

A bolt struck the wombat, ricocheting off its metal-lined back and flashing so close to me that I squealed like a pig. Gabby rushed forward from nowhere, her wings fanned out wide and her moonlit face contorted in rage.

“Don’t,” I bellowed. “Arrows can't hurt it.”

“Maybe yours can’t,” she shouted right back.

She aimed her wrist-strapped crossbow at the beast again and loaded a bolt with a sparkling barbed tip. The bolt whistled as it was let loose, striking the creature and digging in deep between the plates on its back. The wombat howled and scratched at the place the bolt had lodged with its rear legs. The moment its claw struck the bolt it exploded in a flash of silver.

The wombat hit the ground, its legs spread out in an awkward semblance of a star.

“Yeah! Show it who’s boss, Gabby!” I cried, almost losing my grip on the branch.

Gabby beamed and loaded another bolt. The wombat began to glow a deep red as it lifted off the ground, letting off a deep hum that didn’t come from its lips. It charged at the Daughter of Umbra, unbothered by the next glowing bolt she fired. The look on Gabby’s face told me she didn’t have another trick up her sleeve.

“Run!” I bellowed.

It was too late, the beast was upon her. She cried out, her wings beating downward and flinging her into the air. The wombat shrieked and reached for her with its wicked claws.

A hand whipped out from the darkness, wrapping around one of the wombat’s legs. Another followed, gripping the opposite rear paw.

Theo rose to his full height, the weight of the wombat dragging on his arms as he roared. Golden light danced around the man's sausage fingers as he arched his back and pushed out his barrel chest. Theo roared as he yanked his arms apart, the sound of it masking the wombat’s pained shriek.

Blood sprayed out in a wide arc, coating the almost naked man and the dusty ground by his feet. The two pieces of the wombat began to glow, marking the lootables the chunks held within.

Theo stood there, illuminated by the moon, his body speckled like a dalmatians coat by the wombat’s innards. His chest was heaving and his eyes wild as he glared at the beast he’d just torn apart.

“No one hurts my daughter,” he growled, dropping the chunks he still held in his hands.