Shani watched as dozens of lupana poured out of the forest. No, not just wolves. Fey'ra of all kinds were rushing from the burning trees and toward them.

"We've got some company." She pointed her sword and heard the others groan.

Her blood froze. There was no way they could face so many. They were dead. The fey'ra had been attacking the wagons only minutes before, and it took everything they had to hold them off earlier.

However, she noticed that none were looking at the retreating wagons or the party. No. Their eyes were locked on the monster before them. Zethari howled, and the dozens of howls responded. They weren't coming to finish her and her party off. The beastkin were rushing to their aid. "I think they're coming to help!" She shouted as she pointed to the beast people.

"Thank the Goddess." Kjormur groaned.

"Form up!" Firtz shouted. He planted his back against his nephew's, and Shani followed. Shani scanned the area. A-Nis had placed herself atop a nearby rock, her bowstring snapping endlessly, and En-In was finishing healing Zethari nearby. In the distance, she could see the undead shambling toward them.

"Zethari!" Shani called to the woman. The wolf's yellow eyes met hers. "The undead." She pointed to them.

Zethari's eyes followed, then grew wide. The woman howled, and a dozen howls responded. Some of the fey'ra broke off and ran that way.

"I keep telling you he's a goddamn devil!" Firtz shouted behind Shani.

She turned and glared. "Oh, I thought you said you always knew he was a good one?"

"I never said that, you goddamn string bean!"

"Not now, Firtz!" She snapped at her longtime ally. "We don't know what happened, but we've all noticed he's felt off. There's got to be a reason."

"Yeah? Well we gotta live long enough to learn it, and I'll not die for him today." The dwarf leveled his axe.

"If it's him or us, I'll always choose us. But we should still try." He had made so much progress. She still didn't believe he deserved to die.

"Fine! But I'm not going easy on him." He leveled his axe at the monster. "What's the plan, battle master?" He asked in his smarmiest tone.

Shani didn't have an answer.

Her sister kept loosing arrows at the titanic beast towering over the area, but none of them seemed to slow it down. The thing had grown twice as tall as the largest troll, and it seemed to be growing more. "Fucker's tough. I need more skin. Can you all do something about that?"

Shani nodded. "Alright, we can do that." Zethari was watching them from afar. "We need to tear some feathers free!"

Zethari nodded, then exploded into action. She reached the monster first. Her leap carried her high into the air as she unleashed a flurry of blows against the beast's neck, shoulders, and face. It hardly seemed fazed. She ducked and slashed as a black claw came careening out of the sky. It narrowly missed the fey'ra warrior as she ducked under it. The woman used the opportunity to launch herself up and into the thing's breast. Shani saw feathers fall free as she did, but the creature's massive hand reached for the woman. Shani arrived just in time.

[Perfect Block]

The monster's hand bounced off her shield and was repelled upward. She spun in, swinging her sword into its foot. She felt the sword bite through the feathers, tearing some free. Zethari howled as she leaped away, and Firtz filled the void, slamming his axe into the nightmare's chest with the strength of five men. His axe buried into the monster's body.

Even the thing that had been Abad recoiled from a strike like that. The dwarf leaped backward and laughed as his magical weapon, blessed by the Goddess's light, pulled motes of power from the monster. Three arrows struck where the axe had been buried, causing the monster to screech again.

"Told ye I wouldn't go easy. Take that ye damn monster!"

"Hurry! Circle it and attack the back if you can, and keep moving!" Shani shouted as the mosnter nearly struck him. "Don't get cocky!"

"Kjormur cast [Bless] on them all. Shani felt her movements grow sharper. The world slowed a bit, and her muscles sang as they pumped with the Goddess's light.

[Perfect Block]

She blocked another attack with her shield, and Firtz buried his axe into the monster's leg. Just then, three fey'ra leaped onto its back and raked feathers free. It screeched, and a single flap of its wings sent all but Shani and Firtz flying backward. The air howled as it tore past her.

"Abad!" Shani shouted. "Abad, snap out of it!" Her cries were drowned out by a series of screeches that erupted from it as arrows peppered the thing's legs, chest, and neck. The began to stick everywhere the feathers had been torn free, and black fluid wept from them onto the grass below.

Glaring at them all, the massive thing lifted its arms, and dark power poured out of it and rose into the sky. Her eyes followed the energy upward. A ball of black and purple energy filled the night sky. It hung there like a second moon.

"I don't like the looks of that!" Firtz shouted. He was sweating and shaking as he ran up next to her. "I knew the fucker was tough, but this is ridiculous! Whatever this thing is, it's insanely strong."

Another attack came barreling down from above. This time, Shani pushed Firtz aside.

[Perfect Block]

Her arm nearly buckled from the force of the blow. The thing was getting stronger.

[Riposte]

Before it could draw its arm back, she struck its wrist, and black blood sprayed across them. It smelled foul and tasted bitter.

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"We're not backing down!" She shouted as she blocked another blow with [Perfect Block]. That strike nearly caused her legs to buckle. Her arms were shaking, and she knew that, without that skill, she'd be dead. Firtz saw an opening and attacked, and four fey'ra circled the creature, biting and nipping at every opening.

She heard En-In's voice from behind them. "The undead are almost here!"

"Zethari, tell them all to fight the undead! If they don't, we're dead." Shani shouted.

The fey'ra responded with a howl. The that were assisting them broke away and rushed to meet the undead in combat. As soon as the sounds left her lips, she was already back on the beast, striking it anywhere she could reach. Shani rushed in to assist.

[Heroic Strike]

Her sword flashed, and she felt her strength double. Her sword bit into the monster's leg, and thick black blood oozed out of the wound she'd made. She tried to pull her sword free, but it was stuck in the monster's limb. it swiped at her, and there was no time to dodge or block. She was sure she was dead.

However, Zethari caught the limb, giving Shani time to pull her sword free and retreat, then tried to leap away, but its massive black beak struck at her.

She was too slow.

The bird-monster clamped onto her thigh, piercing her leg and lifting her into the air. Zethari shrieked, clawing at the monster as it thrashed her from side to side, and an anguished wolf's cry sounded in the distance. A perfectly placed arrow struck the beast's nostril, causing it to throw the wolf woman away like a child's ragdoll. The woman landed on the ground and was still.

"Heal her!" She saw Kjormur rush to Zethari's side.

For just an instant, the monster faltered. Another arrow sunk deep into its eye. It fell back another step. In that moment, Shani saw her group's first advantage.

"Press forward!" Firtz roared as rushed forward and swung his axe. It bit into the monster's leg. Several arrows flew past him and lodged into the thing's belly. Its hand tried to sweep Firtz aside, but Shani was there.

[Perfect Block]

Firtz roared and struck again and again. With each stroke, more power poured into Firtz until the dwarf seemed to be alight with holy flames. His axe began to glow. When it bit into the beast's flesh again, the black feathers sizzled and burned.

"That's it!" Shani shouted. She stopped attacking and focused entirely on guarding her friend, but it took everything she had to do so. Each time an attack landed on her shield, she was pushed back. Her arm had long since gone numb. There was a sharp pain in her shoulder. However, she gritted her teeth and pushed through.

A wave of holy light washed over the area, empowering them again. This time, the beast seemed to be weakened by the light. Arrows sunk deep into the beast's breast as it wobbled, trying to regain its balance. Firtz approached from behind and slammed his axe into the beast's knee, eliciting another screech as it was thrown onto its knees.

[Flash Strike]

Shani's sword was barely a blur. It split the air with a loud whistle and tore into the monster's throat. Blood poured onto the ground as it stumbled. A humanoid wolf's form leaped over her and clawed at the monster's face. An instant later, a beam of white light struck it in the other eye.

"It's working!" Shani shouted. She was breathing hard. She raised her sword as she charged again. "Don't let—" The ground shook beneath her. She was thrown from her feet. Something heavy slammed into her shoulder, and she heard a bone crack. She saw the sky for a long moment before she hit the ground, and everything went black.

***

The goddamn idiot. That's all Firtz could think as he hacked away at the idiot's back. Sure, it had gotten bigger, scarier, and much harder to fight, but it was still a weak little elf underneath, one who was going to get them all killed.

"Stupid fucking—" The next swing of his axe connected. The axe sizzled against the monster's skin, and the heat seemed to spread across his body, "—idiot of an elf!" He continued shouting as he hewed into the monster's flank. It shrieked in pain and struck him with a wing. He was thrown, but someone caught him. He kicked and bit, and whatever it was let go. He turned, bringing his axe to bear, and found a massive wolf man.

"I will help." The man said. Its eyes were watching Zethari taking on the idiot elf from the front.

Firtz turned back toward the village and could see at least a hundred undead doing battle with the other beast people. "Go help them!" He shouted while pointing.

"My pack will do battle with them. I am needed here." The creature said with a snarl. Then, his body moved faster than the dwarf could follow. In an instant, he was upon the elf's massive back.

Firtz rushed in for another assault. Two more swings. He watched with satisfaction as black feathers fell free and black blood poured onto the grass, soaking the earth below.

He heard Shani's voice from his side. "Don't let—" Shani's voice cut off. He watched as the string bean flew through the air.

The dwarf's blood turned to fire. All he could see was red.

[Mighty Rush]

He charged into the thing's back. He could hear its shrieks filling the air as it was thrown onto its front. Firtz climbed its back and began hacking away at it as if it were ore. He wouldn't lose any allies this day.

"Boy!" He shouted to his nephew. "Heal the string bean!"

"Not yet!" Kjormur shouted back. Damn kids not respecting their elder's wishes.

A lance of ice shot into the monster's side. Firtz turned to see En-In warp into view. The youngin' decided to join the fight. About damn time. He'd been holding back the whole time. What the hell was his problem anyway? The boy had talent and potential, but he acted like a giant baby.

He could hear Kjormur's spell song reverberating through the night air. Firtz felt the air grow hot, and a thin ray of light descended from the sky.

"Get back!" He grabbed both the wolf people by the scruff and pulled, wrenching them free just as a wave of searing light descended from the heavens.

The air shimmered for an instant before everything exploded into light. Firtz' shielded himself from it as the idiot elf roared in agony. Firtz could smell scorched feathers and flesh as the holy light burned Abad. After a minute, the light began to fade, revealing the massive creature beneath.

Its feathers were nearly burned away, revealing gray and black scaled flesh beneath. It shuddered as its scorched skin smoked. Massive wounds had opened across its body, weeping more black fluid, which spilled on the grass as the light faded away. Everything the blood touched rotted, and small motes of energy floated up, entering the creature's skin.

Firtz cursed. The monster was like nothing he'd ever seen or heard of. It was raw power.

The monster that was Abad screeched, and black energy poured from its mouth, eyes, and wounds and soared into the sky above. The purplish moon grew dark and large as the energy entered it. As it did, the ground began to warp and split.

"What in the hell..." The words died in Firtz's throat. He stared dumbly as the abomination in front of him grew even more, and black energy began to ooze from fissures in the ground, swirling around it before rising into the sky.

A dozen arrows peppered the thing's exposed skin, causing it to falter and stumble. It screamed in protest to the night, but the arrows and continued attack by the two fey'ra weakened it. When it stumbled, a great wolf pounced onto its back. A flap of the monster's wings sent it flying, but another took its place. En-In launched several frost spears into the beast, and Kjormur began preparing his next spell. Firtz channeled another [Holy Smite] into his axe and charged.

He leaped into the air, channeling all the strength in his body as he swung his axe up, then, with a mighty heave, he drove it into the elf's feathered skull. His axe, enhanced by the Goddess's light, buried into his skull until Firtz felt it reach his brain pan. He heard the skull crack as he put every ounce of strength in his body into the blow. Black blood sprayed onto his face and neck. He spat it away, grimacing.

With that final attack, the monster toppled. He knelt down to leave off the idiot's back, but before he could jump, its skin crackled with black energy.

"Get back!"

The two fey'ra leaped away just as a wave of black energy burst forth from it. He was struck full force by the energy, which ripped through him, shattered his breastplate, and sent him flying. He spun end over end through the air until he landed on his side, hard. His axe skittered away. He coughed. His armor had crumpled under that last strike. He definitely broke a rib, or five.

"Dammit..." He spat blood as he lost consciousness.