Anjelica and Hound rushed over to Sera on the ground.

“What happened? Why did you go in alone? Are you alright? Show me your wounds.” Anjelica said with increasing fervor. She shot the questions off quickly with a tinge of panic peeking through.

“I am so sorry,” Sera said through tears. As Anjelica went to examine her cuts, pain shot through her back bringing stinging tears to her eyes.

“Oh Sera, whatever could you possibly be apologizing for a time like this?” Anjelica said with confused bemusement.

“You were right. If I had waited and really listened I would have known that the bloody patch was fresh. I made such a big mistake that I almost got killed for it and I am so damn sorry!” Sera choked on the words as they emerged from her. Her world was a haze of pain, shame, and fear as she hung her head.

“You did nothing wrong,” Anjelica said softly, “In actuality you did quite a good job for the rather banal instructions I gave you. It was the wrong time to tell me but the information you had was good. You said it was a bear and there it is! Though you did miss the ‘demonic’ part in your assessment. If I had listened then I would have known that it was probably nearby and that sending you out into the dark alone would end up like this. Thank God you only got cut.”

“Uhhh ladies?” Hound interjected, “I know that this is a great learning moment for everyone involved but the bear moved.”

“What the bloody hell do you mean the bear moved?” Anjelica exclaimed as they all peered back at the corpse.

The corpse seemed rather lively as the muscles began to contract and spasm. It shakily rose to its feet before the head snapped to attention with a crack. Where the eye had been now lay a bed of scarlet crystal. The bear roared, spittle and anger flying from its mouth.

“Sera, get out of here!” Hound yelled as he strode forward. He was wearing gauntlets that Sera had never seen before. Metal bands with spikes laid over the leather gloves. Their purpose became apparent as Hound began punching the beast and leaving small holes where the spikes broke the skin.

“We will take care of things, just go!” Anjelica yelled as gunfire erupted above Sera.

Icy fear crept into Sera’s brain and began to worm its way down her spine. Whether from the pain or the fear of the bear she began to take off. Such was her adrenaline rush that she could no longer feel the cuts on her back as she began running at a full sprint through the dark field towards the farmhouse.

The echoes of battle rang out behind her. Monstrous roars, feverish yells of strategy, and desperate cries of pain shook the night air as she ran. As she went further and further she heard the desperation rising in her friend’s voices behind her. The cries of pain from the bear grew fewer and further between as the sound of gunfire and commands began to slow.

Sera was surprised to find herself slowing down and eventually drawing to a stop. Her heartbeat pounded in her ears. Her breaths came in shakily as her body struggled for air. Her hands were shaking, sweat was raining down off of her skin, and she could feel the blood on her back sticking her shirt to her skin. It felt as though her body were screaming at her to keep running.

“I cannot just run away while listening to them die! The farmers cannot help them. There is nobody else. You are the only one who has fought this thing so far and if you do not do something then they are definitely going to die.” Sera said to the sheep who could hear her.

“If I leave and they die then I would never be able to forgive myself,” She continued and tears choked her once more. Taking purposeful, deep breaths Sera tried to calm herself before continuing. “I have to figure something out or else they are going to die!”

Closing her eyes to steel herself, Sera turned and began to run back to the barn.

“The thing heals and crystallizes itself so if it was terribly injured then maybe…” Sera trailed off as an idea struck her, “I just need to get up into the loft.”

Just outside of the doors Sera could understand the yells back and forth once more.

“This thing will not bloody die! I hate hunting beastials!” Anjelica yelled from inside.

“It is not so much fun for me either!” Hound yelled as he weaved under a swing to connect a few squelching punches to the bear’s ribs. This earned him both a roar of pain from the monstrosity and a backhand which connected with Hound’s chest and sent him flying towards the open doors landing at Sera’s feet.

Hound sputtered and coughed. His breath was ragged and wheezing as crackling sounds emanated from his chest. A groan of pain escaped from him before he could finally draw air once more and ooked up at Sera.

“What in God’s name are you still doing here, Sera?” Hound asked as he pushed himself up to his feet. As he did, blood dripped out of the cloth covering his face. As he stood, the stream of blood began to flow down the face covering and into his red garments where it became indistinguishable.

“I came to help because I think I can kill it, which is more than you two are managing right now,” Sera stated as she picked up the lantern off of it’s hook, “I need to get up into the loft and then you need to push it back to the corner towards me. Can we make that happen?”

Hound’s brows furrowed as he nodded at her and stood.

“Anjelica, cover Sera then evade!” Hound yelled with practiced confidence.

He then led the charge as they ran into the barn.

The beast reacted to the sound and light and readily turned towards them. It bounded towards the pair.

“Its blood becomes its armor!” Sera yelled.

“Well then these are useless!” Hound responded as his hand went to his face and lowered his mask. He seemed to drag his forearms across his face which cut the leather of the gauntlets on each arm. The facial covering was immediately replaced once the work was done. They fell with a clatter to the ground as Hound stopped and turned to head the beast off.

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This time when Hound connected a strike to the beast it connected with a meaty thud and the dents that he left stayed there. This seemed to surprise the monster but its jaws came down on Hound’s shoulder as a punch went astray. It shook Hound in its jaws before tossing him aside. There was a crash of splintering wood as Hound hit something behind Sera.

The bear then turned towards her with it’s jaws open. There was a flash of silver and a flash of fire as Anjelica appeared from the side. Having jammed her gun against the interior of its right cheek and stabbed through its left cheek with her rapier, Anjelica fired off a shot. Using the momentum of the blast she drew the blade out and through the front of its mouth leaving the jaw hanging loose.

What would have been a vicious bite became another scrape as the teeth could only drag onto Sera’s arm with its muscles cut.

Sera felt the pain but her gaze was affixed solely onto the ladder which she lept onto and quickly ascended. After pulling herself up onto the loft she pushed two of the barrels over onto their side. Working as quickly as she could, she rolled the heavy barrels towards the edge of the loft.

Looking over the edge she could see the battle ensuing as Anjelica and Hound did their best to evade the powerful swipes of the bear. Its jaw was already recovering as Sera saw it snap and crack back into place.

“Bring him here!” Sera yelled as she positioned the first barrel’s lid over the edge. Jamming her knife into the space between the barrel wall and the lid she prepared to pop the lid off.

At her words Anjelica sprung into action. Her deft and acrobatic dodges became driven with purpose as she began weaving in lunges of her rapier. With every exchange Anjelica would make another hole in the beast. The bear roared angrily and reared up onto its hind legs to try to slam down onto Anjelica. Instead, as the beast reared up Anjelica uttered a simple “Gotcha” as a gunshot echoed out striking it’s knee.

As it began to shift on its now injured knee, Hound came running up from the side. Flinging his large body into the air he thrust both his boots into the things chest with a crunching sound.

The dropkick sent the bear tumbling backwards and directly beneath where Sera was waiting.

With a grunt of exertion Sera popped off the lid of the barrel and immediately the whitish-yellow mixture of oil and solid lard dumped out. She did not have time to see how effective it had been as she had to get the other barrel ready.

“Take cover!” Sera yelled as loudly as she could. Then she began to stab several holes into the second barrel. Pulling out her pistol, Sera kicked the barrel off of the platform.

As the barrel spun the air began to fill with a white powder and a sweet smell. The barrel fell onto the chest of the bear who was still on the ground, covering him in sugar.

Saying one last prayer beforehand, Sera cocked back the hammer of her pistol and fired it towards the milky cloud. There was just a moment where Sera saw sparks flash in the air and she dove back as far as she could.

A small explosion went off as the sugar dust in the air caught fire. The flames streaked up along the side of the loft almost tickling Sera’s boots before disappearing as quickly as they had appeared.

“Did it work? Is the thing moving?” Sera yelled.

An unearthly, screeching scream responded from below her as a burning, skeletal claw grasped onto the platform. The bear began to pull itself up and onto the platform in front of Sera. The fat from the lard had sunk deep into its fur and the explosion had set most of it alight. Chunks of flesh were sloughing off of it as it moved. It hissed and sizzled with blankets of smoke rolling off of it. Where the skin and fur had come off it had begun to heal once more and the fur would catch alight from the residual flame starting the whole cycle over again. This left it a writhing mass of muscle and flame which poured blood off of itself in sheets. The blood running off of its legs would connect to the floor and begin to crystallize which glued the feet to the ground. With its still monstrous strength the beast would rip its limbs away from the crystal to move as if trudging through deep mud. It reached for a barrel of water and after lifting it, smashed it over its head and sat there waiting for the relief from the flames. When none came a gurgling growl echoed from the remnants of its throat as its eye locked with Sera’s.

In an instant Sera understood the hatred behind those eyes. The intelligent awareness the creature had of its suffering let it understand that this was happening because of her. Now all of its malice was pointed directly at her.

As best as the creature could it began a mad gallop towards Sera. Sera began pushing her heels in and scooting herself backwards as it approached her quickly. With each moment its wounds became worse and its fight against its own defenses grew more difficult.

It managed a decent swing but Sera was able to roll on her side to avoid it. The bear then raised its huge skeletal paw up and swung.

Sera closed her eyes as she knew that this time it would strike and kill her but no strike came. Shaking from fear, Sera opened her eyes to see a skeletal paw mere inches from her face. Though she could tell that the demon was still attempting to move as it shivered and shook, the trails of blood had hardened as it had swung. The beast now sat frozen as the crystals connected it to the floor. The hardening had begun to creep up from the floor and up its limbs turning it to a ruby statue. Sera crawled out from under the beast while having to contort her body and break some crystals with her blade. She practically flung herself over the side of the loft and onto the ladder. She hopped off the ladder with half the rungs left and then ran out of the smoky barn and into the warm summer air where a light rain had begun.

Anjelica and Hound were both sitting in the field. THey were tending to their many wounds as best they could when they saw Sera run out of the barn and collapse beside them.

“It worked! It actually fucking worked!” Sera yelled triumphantly before collapsing onto her stomach into the cool grass.

“If you are strong enough to gloat then hold out your hand,” Anjelica said with a smile that Sera could feel.

Pushing herself up onto her elbow, Sera held out her other hand. Anjelica then placed six golden Eagles into Sera’s hand.

“What is this for?” Sera asked.

“Well you found the demon, discerned its ability, and made a plan to kill it. Which you quickly followed up with carrying out that plan and saving Hound’s life. So, here is your weekly pay.” Anjelica said this all with a tone that implied this was not up for discussion.

“Anjelica, honestly thank you. Your praise means the world –” Sera started before being interrupted by an extremely loud cracking sound from behind them.

The three of them watched as the flames from inside the barn began showing themselves through the roof. Fire began to pour out from the door before the whole structure seemed to crack and snap and began to collapse into a burning pile of rubble.

The trio sat there looking at the huge bonfire for a few seconds before Anjelica held out her hand towards Sera once more.

“You may have saved us all but I will need three of those coins back. Your plan was brilliant but we pay evenly out of pocket for damages,” Anjelica said demandingly.

Sera hesitated for a moment before shrugging and handing over the coins.

“Now lets go and tell these nice people that their farm was attacked by a fire breathing bear demon and go the fuck to sleep,” Anjelica said with a groan of pain.

“Or we could just rest here for a bit…the fire will stay contained from the looks of it,” Hound observed as he sunk down into a lying position in the grass.

“Perhaps you are right, Hound. A rest does sound nice,” Anjelica barely hissed out before collapsing on her back and disappearing into the grass.

Lying in a circle the trio let out groans of pain in unison.