Adam’s roar was impressive, for a man. It was completely drowned out by the rage-and-pain filled scream that ripped from the throat of the Beetlerilla. Liz surged to her feet and sprinted back to the wall. She arrived at the battlement just in time to see Adam bear the monster to the ground. He stood, shaking his axe triumphantly. She was too slow to warn him.

The creature’s arm moved both fast and slow. She felt like she was watching the world in slow-motion as the hand swept in from the side. He never even saw it. The action looked like something out of an anime- he was there, axe above his head, and then he wasn’t. A shock wave hit her a moment later, though it hardly did anything more than ruffle her clothes and hair. She let out a wordless scream and leaped at the monster. Though she flew quickly, dozens of shots overtook her, all aimed at the gaping rent in the monster’s armor.

Somewhere, in the back of her mind, she marveled that every shot seemed to hit the target. Not one missed. The sound of wood shattering came to her, but she was focused. Arrow after arrow flew from her bow, faster than she had ever thought possible. She cast volley. It was like the wound his axe had created was a black hole. Spells and arrows that would have normally skittered off the hard chitin instead veered into the break and smashed more of the vulnerable flesh underneath. Just before she landed, she pulled an arrow and drew the bow with her hands and feet until it was stretched completely taught. Just as she landed with the bow spanning the crack, she loosed the arrow. All two feet of shaft disappeared into the bloody pool. That wasn’t enough for her. She kicked the bow aside and drew a pair of wicked daggers from her belt, then jumped with her feet together, and descended into the ragged hole.

Raven stood on the battlements, throwing traps as often as she could. She managed three sets of Eligu’s Surprise in the time Liz was flying. She watched in horror as her girlfriend landed on the monster that had just swatted the strongest man in the settlement, then dove in.

“LIIIIZ!”

She jumped from the battlement, sprinting across the no-mans-land while she equipped her hand crossbows. That was a skill she hadn’t wanted to show off yet, but now she found herself with few options and no time.

Carl stepped through the shadows near where the Beetlerilla had entered the clearing. He was cloaked in them, hardly visible even when looked directly at. He smirked, then felt a twinge as the soul oath started to eat him from the inside. He held out until he coughed blood, then growled and sped toward the beast. As it turned out, the soul oath had been more stringent than either man had suspected. If he knew the settlement was under attack and tried to ignore it, the oath began to kill him. Bloody foam flecked his lips as he climbed the monster’s face and leaped into its eye. The nictitating eyelid that flicked out nearly took his hands off. He back flipped away from the sharp membrane. It didn’t immediately reopen, and he seized his chance. Both knives plunged into the thick, fleshy, nearly opaque lid tore with a meaty sound not unlike a pair of shears cutting away at a steak.

Kyra woke when the monster screamed. She had never heard something so angry, or so full of pain before. It made her instinctively reach for her divine magic, but she stopped herself. Something was wrong. Her armor was still on, and she felt almost fully rested. That came as a shock to her, because she was certain it had been only minutes. With a shake of her head, she left the tent and raced to where most of the settlement gathered on the south wall. As she moved, she heard and saw Liz leap inhumanly far, toward something on the far side of the fifteen-foot wall that made the border of their fort. The sounds coming from beyond it were horrifying. Despite her small size and low stats, she cleared the jump with relative ease. Even if she had started off with a two in strength, she now possessed more than any human had pre-system and had - to her - a very impressive ten-foot vertical.

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Nobody paid her any attention, and she quickly figured out why. The massive monster was howling and flinging its body around like it was having a seizure. She watched as one of the nearby massive trees fell on the creature’s face, though she was certain a shadow had moved away from it a split second before. That gave her goosebumps and she didn’t know why. Her attention was torn back by the creature shuddering from the tree slamming into its face. Two arms weakly tried to push the tree away while the other two scrabbled at the wound on its chest. Then, for some reason, she followed the tree back to where it had fallen. A red stain bloomed across the wood, so dark it was almost black. Her pulse jumped, then again, and she found herself sprinting toward the fallen body with no recollection of the fifty feet she had crossed.

“ADAM!”

She slid to a stop next to his still form, ignoring how the sticks and rocks tore at her knees. His skin was still warm. His body felt like a water balloon filled with slime and gravel. Nothing moved the way it should have. Even his skull deformed as she held him. Tears welled from her eyes, and she began to channel her divine healing.

Raven climbed the weakly thrashing Beetlerilla and made her way to the widened wound. Blood poured from it like a grisly fountain. She stood outside for a long moment, unsure of what to do. Then she made up her mind. She inhaled hard, almost making herself dizzy, and dove arms first into the welling blood.

The settlers on the wall watched as every one of the founding four were brought low. Shock set in. Nobody knew quite what to do. The kaiju-sized monster fell still, as still as the air itself. It was like the whole world was holding its breath.

Then a shape broke the surface on the blood. Something trailed after it. Exactly what it was remained a mystery, until it snapped down on the roughened chitin. In fact, it seemed like everything about the Beetlerilla was aging quickly. Not quickly enough, because Liz had been inside the creature for going on five minutes, with Raven down for over a minute. The Verdant folk waited, unsure if they could or should help. The rope attached to the trap drew taught. A long, breathless moment later, another shape broke the surface of the blood. Liz rose, her broad back slick with bright red blood. She flopped back, showing she was unconscious or dead. Then Raven emerged, face frozen in a snarl. She spat the daggers clutched between her teeth to the side, then spat again to clear her mouth of the foul blood. She grabbed Liz’s arm and pulled her into a fireman’s carry, sliding down the side of the creature. She hit the ground and spoke for the first time.

“Healer?!”

One man pointed toward where Kyra had disappeared into the edge of the forest. Raven set off at a fast jog, struggling with her much heavier girlfriend but refusing to slow for anything.

The sight that greeted her stunned her. Blood everywhere. Both Kyra and Adam were covered like she and Liz were, but it was all his blood. Despite that, his face was remarkably clean. Tears carved pink rivulets down Kyra’s face.

Raven steeled her resolve. She carefully shifted Liz around, then lowered her to the ground. She gently wiped Liz’s face clean of the blood they were both saturated in. Then she looked to Kyra and said a single word.

“Please.”

Kyra looked into her eyes. Tears ran like rivers.