They came to a stony clearing that curved upward in the form of a natural amphitheater. At the basin in which they occupied, stomped dirt and broken rocks littered the ground. This would be their battlefield.

"Good luck," Tavras said with a thumbs up to her. He went to sit along the rocky slope to watch.

"Go on, Foofy," Val said with a nudge at his side.

Though she wanted him to follow Tavras to the sidelines, he did not understand. Foofy shied away from her shove, laid his ears back in annoyance, but came back to Val's side.

"Could you call him over?" Val called to Tavras.

"Foofy—" he started.

Iharu stuck up a hand in his direction to silence him. "I am the one running the show here, and I have not yet decided on the type of fight that we shall have." A smile curled to her lips for a moment, then she turned her back on Val. She strolled to the other side of the arena, cheerfully asking, "Which would you rather: a fight just between you and me, or a fight that includes our pets?"

Val stared at Iharu first, then the behemoth. She was dumbstruck that this even needed to be a question. "Let's keep this just between you and me."

"In that case, let's have our pets play!" Her voice rang out in a cackling laugh. Iharu was laughing too hard at something that was not funny at all.

Val was mortified. Personally, she did not want to take on Iharu at all, much less the behemoth alongside her. Not to belittle Foofy or anything, but he was not going to be any help to her in this fight. The only thing that he could do was get hurt, and Val did not want that for him.

"Iharu, be reasonable," Tavras urged from the side.

"You be quiet, Uncle," Iharu snapped back. “As I said, this is my trial. If Val wants a divine beast, then they both need to prove themselves worthy!” Striding back a fair ways to the other side Iharu crouched into a stance readied to lunge. Her fingers moved in the air with visible anticipation. “Are you ready, weak, little demigoddess?”

“Uh….” Val felt like she would never be ready to fight a god or goddess, not when she could not trust them to hold back like Tavras. In that sense, she was as ready as she would ever be. Val rolled back her shoulders and set her feet into a fighting stance. With a steep nod, she said, “Yes. I’m ready.”

They stood across from each other, about to begin. Val needed a strategy.

A century might have passed, but Iharu had failed to mature in her personality. That gave Val a lot to work with given how she had caused Fang to be gutted by a behemoth as a child and continued to treat him poorly to this day. Hopefully there would be enough power available in Divine Judgement to put an end to this fight all at once because Val had no idea how she could win otherwise.

So, Val called upon Divine Judgement to smite Iharu with one of those blinding spears of energy.

Iharu’s eyes darted upward, bringing her to leap to the side. She rolled with her momentum while dirt and pebbles shot into the air. Iharu stood back up and smiled at Val. “That was not bad, but you missed.”

Her teeth gritted together. If Val could manifest her energy anywhere, maybe smiting from above was not the wisest choice. This next attack, she would aim from behind.

Meanwhile, Foofy had taken Val’s attack as cue for him to do the same. Giving off a savage bark, he ran in an arc to intercept Iharu.

The behemoth made its move too. Ignoring Foofy, it ran by him and straight for Val. The two-ton monstrosity sprinted with its massive tucks ready to impale.

Mind Blast shot out from her head and connected with the behemoth’s skull. Though the impact hardly made the behemoth falter in its step, Val went flying backward and landed straight on her back.

“Damn,” she breathed. What a useless ability Mind Blast turned out to be. This mistake could prove devastating for her.

Here, she had just put herself into a vulnerable position on the ground. Without even looking to the sidelines, she could feel Tavras shaking his head at her.

The behemoth set on her with full force. One massive claw rose to blot out the sun. Soon, it would blot out Val’s life as its claw came down.

If Mind Blast had gotten her into this mess, it could also get herself out. Val turned her head to the side and willed for an equally fervent blast to rocket against the behemoth’s other leg.

A crack of its bone resounded.

In reaction to the force exerted, Val’s body went skirting across the ground and gathered up scrapes from the pebbles as she went.

The claw came down as she passed beneath it. As she had hoped, Val went sliding far away from the behemoth. Her flesh tore and screamed as the tips of its claws still grazed her shoulder.

At the same time, the behemoth roared as it collapsed. Its claw dug into dirt from its failed swipe while its upper body lay across the ground. Definitely, Val had dealt significant damage to a discrete part.

Leaping up to her feet, Val smiled broadly through the pain and wanted to holler with the first advantage that she had gained. So long as she could take out the behemoth, managing Iharu should be a piece of cake.

If Foofy had served as a proper distraction, Val should be able to land Divine Judgement on her now. There was no reason why she could not sneak another attack in at her while the behemoth had yet to recover, so she turned her attention that way.

Foofy had charged at Iharu all right, but she received him as easily as a goddess would. With a kick and a literal flip in the air, Iharu sent Foofy flying back towards Val.

His ribs struck against the ground, making him skid the rest of the way to Val’s feet. A gouge had been carved out of the gravel from where he slid.

Wincing, Val knew how painful that had been for herself just before, and she had not even left a mark in the ground. “Are you okay?” As much as she wanted to crouch down and check on him, they were in the middle of a fight.

Rolling over, Foofy picked himself onto his feet with some big pants. His side had been gashed up with bloody cuts. Stones were still imbedded within his torn fur. One paw set to the ground tenderly, as though his leg had been comprised just like the behemoth. Already, her sweet dog had been unduly injured in this fight.

It was all the more for Val to work with, as she was ready to cast Divine Judgement again.

From her aerial flip, Iharu had landed on her hands and knees. Her head flung back as her lips curled into a howl. “Aroo!”

A savage growl curled from Foofy’s jowls in response. Limping, he walked away from Val and slunk around to face her. His teeth barred as he continued in growl, eyes boring into her the entire time.

“What?” Her face fell. Despite her best attempt, Keep the Peace seemed to have no effect on Foofy. His extensive aggression persisted towards her, and Val realized that the goddess of beasts had just taken over her dog.

"All beasts answer to me," Iharu said.

This was the final straw. Forget about Fang getting gutted as a child. That literally did not matter in comparison to the crime just committed before her. Val needed to rectify the situation. If Iharu could steal Foofy from her, then Val would steal her behemoth.

Letting her eyes fall shut, Val took a deep breath and expelled Divine Judgement from her being. A light flashed off to the left where the behemoth was. When she opened her eyes a peak, she saw white energy swirl around the behemoth and dissipate like gas.

The behemoth hauled itself to its and feet and walked with its booming steps towards Val. The hair at the back of her neck stood on end. She would not have confirmation that her ability had worked until the behemoth proved itself by not attacking her.

Indeed, it paced behind her and framed its hulking form behind Val. The behemoth now stood behind her, ready to attack Iharu. This allowed them to enter the next stage of their fight.

Character Update

* New information is marked in cyan.

* All entries are based on what Val knows.

Iharu Title: the She-Wolf Rank: Goddess Attributes: beasts Abilities Name Class Description Beast Ally combat, practical - controls terrestrial animals Read Intentions cognitive - feel the general inclination of others' desires Transform tactical, combat - a wolf is the only known, available form Unknown n/a - probably has a lot more abilities