Every one of the snake-chameleon creatures fled at the sound of the roar. It came from somewhere far deeper into the forest, though none of them could pinpoint the actual distance. Adam looked at Liz, who was staring down at the ground outside the fort. He ran back up beside her, concerned about the oncoming threat, and wondering just what would hold her attention. He quickly understood.

The man from before lay in the mud, and at first glance, he appeared dead. It was an easy assumption to make; every limb bent the wrong way, all four had exposed bones, and he could see the man’s intestines where they had ruptured from his belly. It was impossible to blood from mud with how thoroughly mashed into the earth the man was. The only reason they knew he was still alive was the occasional blood bubble oozing from the man’s nose, which would pop a moment later.

“Adam, I don’t know what to do.”

The rage was gone. She stared helplessly at the man. He should have been long dead already.

“Can we bring him back in?”

She looked behind them at the gates, which were still barred.

“I don’t know.”

“–me.”

Both were caught off guard. It was as quiet as a whisper on the wind, and that’s all it really was. But it came again, a moment later.

“Kill… me.”

“Hey!” Adam shouted down. There was no reaction. “What was his name again? Uh…”

“Hey Dick,” Liz shouted down. “We might be able to save you!”

“Don’t call him a dick, he’s dying down there!”

Liz shook his head. “That’s his name: Richard, or Dick. Never understood that one.”

The name popped back in Adam’s head. “Dick Wellard? Holy shit, his parents must have hated him to name him like that.”

“No kidding.” She shouted down to Dick again. “We might be able to, if you can hold on!”

He coughed, spattering blood everywhere. All she heard for a long moment was a wheeze, which she thought might have been a death rattle.

“Kill… me…”

The roar came again, obviously closer. They were nearly out of time, and they had to get to the south wall to face down whatever it was challenging them.

“Well, it’s up to you Liz. I can’t make that shot.”

“Just… order me to do it.”

He shook his head. “I can’t. Not as the leader of the fort. Anyway, he’s asking for it.”

Raven sprinted up. “Can you hear that?”

The roar repeated, loud enough to shake the fort.

“Obviously you can. What the hell are you doing over here?”

Liz looked at her girlfriend with sad eyes. “I can’t do it.”

“Do what?”

“Shoot Dick.”

“Woah, why are you shooting dicks? I mean, I get it, we’re not exactly pro-men most of the time–”

“What? No, babe, the asshole we were just arguing with. He’s still alive, but he’s asking to be killed.”

“Can we save him?”

“The only person who might be able to is Kyra,” Adam said with a look at the healer’s tent. “And I’m pretty certain she’s still dead asleep.”

“So what’s the problem? He was an asshole to you,” Raven said, then turned to Adam, saying “and you. And you were going to kill him just a few minutes ago anyway.”

“Yeah, that was different. That was when he could have fought back. Now he’s a helpless puddle of guts on the ground,” Liz said with a wave at the injured man.

Raven looked, and even with Liz’s help, it took her almost fifteen seconds to find the man. He coughed more blood up.

“Oh, gross. Could Kyra even heal him?”

Adam shook his head. “I have no idea. Even when I was seriously wounded, it wasn’t like that.”

“Then you’re doing him a mercy. We don’t have time to go and get him, never mind getting him back inside in one piece, to deliver him to our healer who is currently out of commission.”

Liz looked at Raven. Her eyes were watery, and all three knew she was on the verge of tears. It was a bizarre sight. She was usually so stoic.

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“I… can’t do it.”

Adam sighed. “We have more pressing issues. Liz… just…” he sighed again and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Take… the.”

“Oh, for the love–” Raven snatched the bow from Liz, nocked an arrow, and loosed it all in one smooth motion. It whistled away, and in the silence after the most recent roar, they heard the arrow impact. It was a wet crunch, and that was that. Richard never even exhaled. He hadn’t inhaled. Only one person knew if he had been alive when the arrow hit. Only one person would ever know.

“We need to go,” Raven said quietly. She handed the bow back to her girlfriend, then started walking away. She had no other ideas of what to do to help Liz.

“Let’s go. She’s right,” Adam said. He thought about putting an arm over her shoulders, but thought better of it. She was not a very touch-friendly person, most of the time. He walked past her, headed for the southern wall.

“Adam.”

He stopped. He didn’t turn around. It wasn’t his place to help her. That was Raven’s responsibility. But he was willing to be by her side, come hell or high water.

“How?”

He shook his head. “She knew you needed help.”

“Yes, but how? How did she take that shot?”

He sighed. “I don’t know. That’s a question for her. Come on, whatever it is, it’s almost here.”

They could see the trees shaking to the south. Whatever it was, the thing could topple forty-foot trees like stalks of corn. Adam started walking again, though not at a hurried pace. Liz trailed behind him, still lost in thought. It took them two minutes to get to the wall.

“What is it?”

Raven shook her head. “Don’t know. I haven’t seen it yet.”

She looked back and saw the two of them standing a foot apart. She felt a spike of jealousy, just for a moment. Then Liz took the last step forward, and wrapped her large arms around her girlfriend.

“I know we don’t have time.” She spoke down into Raven’s hair. “I don’t know how you managed to take that shot. But I do know that we are in a different world. You keep proving that. And no matter what happens…”

She put her hands on Raven’s shoulders and made her take a step back. She looked into the smaller woman’s eyes.

“I love you.”

That stunned both Raven and Adam. Liz leaned down and put her nose to Raven’s, waiting. It took a long moment, but then Raven kissed her.

“Nice, but uh,” Adam said. The crashing stopped. The sudden lack of noise was deafening. “We have company.”

He looked out across the no-man’s-land, the cleared zone out to the trees. Even in the late afternoon light, he could barely make out a shadow in the forest. Thirty feet above the ground, two brilliant golden eyes glowed with reflected light. Or, perhaps, without reflection, and their own internal luminance. Even from a hundred feet away, they could hear it breathing. A hand reached out, wrapping around one tree. The arm flexed, all sinewy muscle under dense black fur, and he heard the tree creak, groan, and crack.

“What the hell is that?”

Adam didn’t look away. He didn’t want to look away. There was something grotesquely wrong with whatever it was. He kept staring, until the details finally popped.

“It has seven fingers.”

Liz nodded, dry swallowing. “And two elbows.”

Another arm grabbed the other tree it stood behind. It flexed, and the tree toppled.

“Oh, we are so up the creek,” Raven said.

A rumble came from the creature. It was like a cat purring, only a thousand times louder, and with a hostile intent that was palpable. It shifted in the shadows. Then a third hand grabbed the first tree.

“Oh, no.” Liz leaned on the battlement. It was all that was keeping her up. Raven leaned against her side, holding herself.

A fourth hand came out, resting on the other fallen tree. A sound came out of the creature. It was like a transformer arcing, a loud buzzing click. Then its head finally entered direct sunlight. At least, it looked that way. The skin was such a deep black, it still looked like a shadow.

“What…” Adam breathed out. The anticipation was truly nerve wracking.

It took a step into the waning light. The body was every sort of wrong. Bulky shoulders, a square body that went right down to a tapered thorax. It had fur, but it also had chitin. The thing walked on two legs that looked like the trees it had felled only moments before. Each had a foot with long digits that churned the mud.

“It’s a beetle,” Liz said.

“No, half of it is a beetle.” Adam shook his head. They watched as it trundled across the field.

Liz drew an arrow back to her ear, straining against the heavy draw of the bow. She let it fly. It sailed across the ninety feet in near total silence. Even the creature paused to watch the fast moving projectile. It didn’t move to avoid the shot. They understood why a moment later. The arrow, despite being over two feet long and tipped with a wicked barbed blade, skittered off the thick armored skin. Then it opened its nightmare of a mouth, revealing two massive fangs, and let out a bellow that shook them all deep in their guts.

“I think it’s a beetle… and a gorilla.” Raven shook her head. “I just hope it isn’t as smart as most gorillas. Or as tough as most beetles.”

It started to move again.

“Verdant Fort.” Adam cleared his throat, then he turned his back on the approaching Beetlerilla. “Verdant Fort! We have a great foe closing in. You have seen it shrug off the arrow of our greatest archer. Why don’t we see if it can shrug off a hundred arrows, a hundred spells, and a hundred traps?”

While not the most rousing speech, it was what the soldiers and guards of the fort needed to hear. They let out a ragged cheer. Adam turned back to find the monster had lumbered half the distance to their fort in that short time. He raised his axe high, then pointed it at the creature. “Fire!”

It wasn’t a hundred arrows, or a hundred spells, and certainly not a hundred traps. But dozens of every kind of offensive ranged ability, shot, and spell went off at once. Liz fired her volley, while Raven tossed out Eligu’s Surprise, which had leveled up earlier in the day. It bloomed in flight, sending out fourteen traps that all shimmered different colors. Adam put his axe away, saving it for when the creature was far too close. Instead, he drew a crossbow and started firing bolt after bolt. It wasn’t his preferred weapon, but he had figured it was better to have some sort of ranged option when the fight couldn’t be brought face-to-face.

Fireballs splashed on its carapace, lightning crawled across its skin, icicles shattered, rocks crashed, arrows broke, traps exploded. The creature never stopped its approach. And worse still, it appeared to be taking little damage. It closed to thirty feet, then twenty, ten. Then it was towering over them, chuffing out hot, rank breaths. It leaned down to Adam, opened its mouth, and roared. Everyone was thrown back except the man it had chosen to target.

Adam opened his mouth and screamed back. He dropped the crossbow, pulled his axe out, and jumped toward the creature. It was five times his height, and he had zero hesitation. He pulled the axe high over his head, and he started to glow.

“Adam, no!” Liz gasped from where she had been knocked to the ground. She had never seen him glow before, but she knew only one explanation. He had activated his ability.

Adam grinned. His health had plunged to the half-way point, which was dangerously low when facing a monster like that. The blow landed square on the monster’s chest with a flash of golden light.

And it broke through the natural armor.