Cassie was the first to fire, her bulky sniper rifle barking so loudly that it nearly burst Theo’s eardrums, the backwash of its shockwave felt warm against his skin as Theo threw himself between Lorelei and the beast.

The bullet slammed into the things shoulder, just inches away from its cabled neck, and then exploded beneath the layers of sickly muscle, and metallic components. The damage barely seemed to faze it. The Cyber Hound made a wet steely growl that made Theo’s stomach roll upon hearing it.

Theo watched as Monica charged, diving next to a pile of rubble, and lifting her shotgun at the monstrosities gut. She fired, the buckshot igniting the acidic ozone around her, and casting a spark of sizzling light as the weapons discharge ignited the acid rain around it. The Cyber Hound dodged, its limbs carrying it faster than what should’ve been possible, and a slimy discharge leaked from its gaping wound, creating a trail behind it. She swore as she quickly tried to reload for another shot.

The thing howled, its screech sounding more like the dying scream of some tortured soul than an animal, and dashed toward the center of their group. The sounds of its gears moving flesh and bone, of wet blood and circuitry, was enough to chill Theo to the bone!

Konrad aimed his weapon, the rising pitch of a charging energy cell could be heard coming from the shotguns extended barrel. It unleashed two gouts of flaming metal at the creature, before its feet touched the ground. One of the shots met the Cyber Hounds torso, scorching the flesh to a blackened cinder, and damaging one of its exterior pistons along its front leg. Oil spewed from its connecting gears, mixed with dark arterial blood and viscera. The second shot had barely skimmed the beasts exoskeleton, casting a series of sparks as it ricochet off into the trenches walls.

Marci cursed, firing wildly as she squirmed into a corner. Her modified bodysuit covered her entire serpentine lower half, which made it so her movement was slower and less coordinated than normal. Moving awkwardly, the Lamia panicked, dropping her gun, and skirting sluggishly from the creatures path.

Lucy and Laura were forced to dive to the side, barely evading the monsters attack as it landed where they had been standing.

Gunshots went wild, the noise like a thousand miniature explosions going off all at once. No more than four seconds had passed, and yet that seemed like an eternity. The world seemed to blur, the air smothered in dust and smoke, all the while the terrible screaming from the half-machine, half creature, tore through his mind.

It was upon him in an instant, its hulking brooding shape easily two meters tall, its shoulders lathered in wet blood, and the stink coming off its breath was akin to the meat pile they had discovered only minutes before in the abandoned bunker.

Theo couldn’t run, not with Lorelei frozen behind him! He didn’t have time to think, only to react, and he knew there was no time to unholster his sidearm. Theo’s heart throbbed as he summoned forth his magic, feeling the sensation of a million pinpricks behind his eyes. He didn’t have time to finesse his mystical arts, instead thrusting it forward bluntly, haphazardly. The sudden rush of unrefined energies burst some of the blood vessels in his eyes, casting his vision into a red murky haze, and yet that didn’t stop him.

The beast opened its jawline, revealing several rows of sharpened metal teeth. A leathery black tongue curled like a serpent, reading to grapple him into its expanding jaws.

Theo’s head pounded, unleashing the full force of his shadow magics into the creatures eyes, erasing his very existence from the things half broken mind, and casting a blanket of sightlessness before its own eyes.

No longer able to see him, Lorelei behind him, or anything for that matter, the animal froze. Puzzled, it licked its teeth, tasting the air, and tried to ascertain what had happened. The Cyber Hound didn’t panic, even as those around it continued to unload one magazine after another into its breaking mass.

And yet it did not die!

The Cyber Hounds mechanical lenses fought with the organic components of its mind, hoping to retranslate its surroundings to the frontal cortex of its brain. Theo used that time to withdraw the sidearm from his holster, switch off the safety, and try to aim for any potential weak spot he could find. He wished he had something bigger, or a grenade perhaps.

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Theo feared the beast would overcome his magic at any moment, before its meat and muscle could be significantly torn apart by the cascade of bullets eating away at its mass.

It was so large, so bloated…

Theo couldn’t find anything of significance to aim at, he couldn’t find a weak spot, or anything that was discernible. It was just metal, and rotting flesh. He couldn’t understand how such a thing could be alive. He couldn’t imagine the kind etheric power used to give birth to such a disgusting creature.

Suddenly, he could feel a wash of heat, and Theo saw a vast wave of fire caressing on either side of him, curving in a perfect ark to avoid him, and then to collide before the beast. The twin curtains of rampant fire met, slamming against one another to create a backwash of incinerating heat that spilled over into the Cyber Hounds head.

Lorelei’s eyes were practically glowing, as she continued to summon an endless stream of fire to envelope the monstrosity, and it’s metallic screaming became a wale of digital confusion.

“Don’t let up! Bring it down!” Konrad yelled above the storm, emptying another several rounds into the beast as it’s flesh melted away.

Thick veins, the size of power cables, burst! Its eyes shattered, and finally the Cyber Hounds forward legs buckled. Slamming into the muddy earth, the group continued to fire until the screaming stopped.

With a dwindling sequence of wet hissing noises, it finally seemed to shutdown, even though several of its muscles and gears continued to twitch as the entire body slowly burned.

It was Victor who approached it first, aiming the barrel of his gun at the stump of what used to be its head, and took deep breath before firing. The entire thing jerked, then slumped flat on the ground, as the flames began to ignite combustible liquids stored underneath its fatty tissue.

“Well, that was impressive,” Konrad said, walking over to Theo and Lorelei with a nod of approval.

Theo would’ve smirked back, if he could see clearly. His eyes were inflamed, and it felt as if someone had poured hot water into them.

“You ok?” Lorelei asked him, her sweet voice massaging his ringing ears.

Theo’s vision was blurry, but already the red tinge was starting to dissipate. He looked over to see the Redever’s murky shape hovering over him.

“I’ll be fine, just got a little carried away, that’s all.”

While he could barely see it, Theo thought he saw a smile rise on Lori’s face. She moved to help life him up from the ground, when suddenly, the burning mound moved!

The Cyber Hound screeched again, this time a long whimpering cry of pain and anger. Its claw erupted forth, its flesh hanging loosely off a long rusted metal skeleton, and its claws ripped into Victor’s own leg.

Victor screamed, falling onto his back, and was being dragged into the bonfire.

Konrad was quick to act, throwing his gun away as he ran to grab hold of Victor’s shoulder, and ignoring his screams, he pulled against the dying monstrosities strength.

Wet gore spewed violently as the meat of his limb tore free from below the knee, leaving behind a ruined stump of shredded muscle and bone.

Theo had never seen such horror.

More shadows lingered from the trench, the smell of rotting bodies and rancid meat emanating from each of them. The same metallic hissing noise could be heard again, this time from multiple predators.

“Run! Get inside, and shut the door!” Konrad yelled.

Lorelei pulled Theo up, and together they dashed to the interior bastion ahead of there group, and the pack of craven Cyber Hounds. Theo paused just long enough to see marci still hiding in a corner, and rushed over to pull her inside as well.

Lorelei’s tail wrapped around Theo’s wrist, helping to pull him and Marci through the gate, and into the interior chamber. They didn’t have to wait long, only mere seconds for everyone else to make their way inside. Victor was dragged by their leader, and he left a long thick trail of blood all the way from the burning wreck to the gates threshold.

“Shut it now!” Konrad yelled, his voice breaking, but still in control.

Lorelei dashed to the interior panel, typing a series of commands, meanwhile the shadows loomed closer.

Theo had completely forgotten that he had a pistol in his hand, he clung hold to it so tightly that his fingers had turned white. He managed to fire only a single shot before the gate began its descent, and he realized in terror that it was moving too slowly.

Rather than fire another round at the trio of rotting monsters who were quickly approaching, he aimed at the chains and gears moving the door.

“Don’t!” Konrad saw what he was doing, but his protests were ignored as Theo fired his entire clip into the gears. The heavy caliber rounds busted the mechanism, causing it to spin uncontrollably. Its chain had come undone, sending steam and sparks from the spinning gears, and the gate shut hard before them.

The sound of the crying metal was quickly followed by the eerie silence of the grave, and darkness smothered them.