Pike watched the charge of the great beast as despair washed over him. He had led these men to their deaths in this forsaken cave. That bear would be their doom. Grizzly bears were not creatures that could be brought down with hatchets and machetes, at least not without tremendous sacrifice, and he had no men to spare. His embattled men were hard pressed just to handle the horde of rats, there was no way for them to fend off the charging bear. Then a bolt slammed into beast's neck. He stared in shock as the beast reared on its hind legs and roared at the unexpected pain, searching for what had attacked him. Another bolt sailed through the air, driving deep into the bear's chest. Pike prayed it would stand confused long enough to be brought down, but the bear had found the source of its pain. It roared once more before renewing its wild charge. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Lana, the librarian who had joined their noble crusade, stood just behind the battle line drawing her crossbow as quickly as she could to get off the next shot. Pike's heart trembled with a mix of hope and fear. He had thought it was silly to take a crossbow on such a dangerous hunt, but now he could only pray her aim was true. The simple mechanism of the archaic weapon was untouched by whatever foul sorcery had sabotaged their guns. As the bear picked up speed, another bolt slammed into its shoulder. The bear groaned, and limped slightly, but did not slow. Twice more the steel bolts sailed through the air. One missed, and the other drove itself deep into the bear's chest near the wounded shoulder. The limp on its left foreleg worsened, but still the beast charged on. Lana gritted her teeth. She saw the men dying around her. The fiercely chivalrous men of her group had insisted that she stand behind the line with her crossbow, and while she had wanted to argue, she was the only person left with a working ranged weapon. She had wanted to bring down the bear, to save all of their lives, but she had failed. She only brought the beast straight to the men protecting her. Her frantic fingers fumbled as she tried to load the next shot, and she dropped one of the precious bolts onto the cavern floor. She loaded another, and fired another steel bolt through the musty cavern air. This one sunk into the beast's neck, but she had missed any vital arteries. Blood ran from each wound, staining the grizzly's fur a dark, dirty red, but she simply couldn't land a mortal blow. She had at most two more shots before the beast reached them, but then she and the brave men around her would surely die. Yet chivalry only took them so far. As the bear drew close, terror overcame their sense of duty and their desire to protect the young woman. The first man was a few yards away, but he backed away as he saw the great beast draw near. From then it was a trickle, where the men realized another was leaving them behind to die, and they saw a way out. They comforted themselves by thinking they could attack it's sides in an ambush as it charged past, yet they knew it was a lie. There was no hope of bringing down such a beast. Lana was alone. Lana was happy as she saw the men moving away. It should have hurt that she was being left alone, but she took comfort in that she hadn't brought these kind men down with her. She could only hope they escaped, or that they could somehow take advantage of the distraction while she died. But she would not die quietly. She steadied her aim on the next shot, a grim determination guiding her aim, but two large men came between her and the bear. She loosed her bolt before her line of fire was blocked, desperate to get one more chance at defeating the wild beast, but the obstructions has thrown off her aim. As she readied and raised her crossbow once more, the men hadn't move. She assumed they had accidentally wandered into the line of fire in the heat of battle, but the two men stood firmly between herself and the bear. They were her brothers, Duke and Earl. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Duke... Earl..." Pike groaned. They had spoken only briefly on their march down into this foul hell, but he had seen and heard enough. They were fine boys. Duke was going to be married soon, and Earl was expecting a baby. The both of them would be fine fathers, but not if they died here. Their move to save their sister and stall the bear was admirable, but it was such a terrible waste. He watched as they gripped their crowbars tightly, winding up, readying their first blows like batters at a ball game. He could only pray for their success, but then a bright green light caught his eye. He had finally found it. Pike looked around, and attempted to rise to his feet despite Bill's protests. There were a half-dozen other wounded men who had limped back behind the battle line, but they all knew how dire their situation was. A self appointed medic was going around with duct tape and tearing off strips of shirts to form make-shift wraps and bandages, and as soon as he had finished the makeshift binding, the men stepped back into the battle line. They all knew. If the line broke, they would all die. Back at the far end of the cavern, where the bear had stood guard, lay a brilliant, green emerald that illuminated the area around it with its radiant glow. To any of the other men who might have noticed it, it would seem as if it was a jackpot, a treasure to reward them if they survived. Pike knew better. This was the enemy, the evil force which had endangered his town. This large gem ruled over this vile cave, and all the beasts within it. It had sent the rats, and caused the deaths of over a hundred of the volunteers who had come to defend their homes and families. Bill called over the medic, and the dedicated man quickly made a tourniquet, bound Pike's useless arm and then his chest in tight, constricting wraps of tape over torn cloth. It wasn't a proper bandage, but it did well to slow the torrent of blood that had mixed with the rodent gore already covering Pike's uniform. The medic tried to do something about the sagging mess of flesh hanging off of Pike's face, but he had no idea how to stop the gout of blood pouring from the wound. He wasn't a trained medic. Pike didn't have time to waste on proper wound treatment, he needed to put an end to this now. He grabbed one of the unused flares from his belt, and ignited the volatile chemicals inside it. He placed the lit flare on the ground beside him, before setting the blade of his knife right in the heat of the flare. "Boss..." Bill spoke as he realized Pike's plan. "Knife." the wounded Sheriff stretched out his good arm towards Bill. "I don't think-" "Knife." Pike cut him off again. "Fine..." Bill sighed, and handed his knife to Pike. Pike gripped the hanging flesh on his face, and cut it all off in one clean blow, gritting his teeth to ignore the pain. The worst was yet to come. As soon as the flesh came off, he immediately pressed his own knife to the wound, and screamed in pain as the searing heat from the fire of the flare was transfered to his flesh. As his screams echoed around the battlefield, no one except the two men in front of him took any notice. His cries of agony were not alone in the great domed cavern. He endured another two rounds of self-cauterization, barely staying conscious through the pain. But then it was over, and he began to rise. Bill scrambled to help him up, but Pike defied their expectations and stood tall before he could intervene. It should have been impossible, but he endured the terrible pain and fatigue, and was even able to stand and move unassisted. His body was a marvel. After killing countless dozens of wild rats he felt young again, and stronger than he had ever been before this final battle began. He was still wounded, hobbled, and weak from the loss of blood, but it was enough. He stepped forwards, and after just a few short minutes, he returned to the battle. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Duke was a mangled heap on the cavern floor. He was unconscious, his body lacerated and broken, but Earl was wildly swinging his splitting maul to defend his fallen brother. The bear would come crashing in upon him, but a flurry of blows would find every bit of fur covered flesh flesh it could reach, and struck every opening the bear revealed. The twenty pound maul head slammed into its elbow, its neck, its nose, its shoulder, and its great paw. The relentless barrage of herculean blows was just barely enough to the wild beast at bay, but the damage he had wrought upon the creature was tragically little. The bear's already wounded arm was now barely supporting its weight, many teeth were missing, and the battered beast's movement had slowed, but that was the extent of the damage. Lana continued the occasional shot past Earl when her aim was clear, but only landed glancing blows, just a few useless hits on its arms and chest. Its hide was impossibly thick and its body exceptionally resilient. Still, Earl refused to quit. He didn't allow himself to slow, or lag even a moment with his brother's and sister's fate resting on his shoulders. It was a tremendous spectacle, and truly displayed the love this man held for his family, but he couldn't keep it up forever. Exhaustion was setting in. Sweat poured down Earl's face, and his muscles bulged and strained themselves as they hurled around the murderous weight without pause. He didn't have much time. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Pike retrieved a brush axe from the corpse of a young hunter, and leapt into the thick of the fighting in the center. With the wicked brush axe in hand, he cleaved through the rodents arrayed before him. Bill and two other brave souls followed behind as Pike embarked on his rampage. He swung the axe low in front of him, and the blade of the axe blew clean through the skull of a rabid beast. He was driven with a wild fury, the end of this crusade was within his sight. Where his strength failed, where his blood loss left him empty, the rage filled the void. The swarming horde of rodents had been thinned by the drawn out fighting, and with each swing of his axe, pike came closer to his goal. One of the men following him on his wild charge slipped climbing over the growing wall of rodent corpses, and before Bill or their other comrade could do anything, he was completely overrun. They were behind enemy lines, but now they were three. Bill had stopped for only a moment as their comrade was torn apart, but when he turned back around Pike had already moved on ahead, and the rodent swarms were already pressing in between them. In just a few moments, they broke through the ever thinning line of rodents, and then there was no more beasts ahead of them. The bear had abandoned his post prematurely in its bid to break the human lines, and now the source of all their pain lay defenseless before them. As soon as Pike saw the path to the emerald gem clear, he broke into a wild run. Although hindered by his injuries, he sprinted recklessly forwards. "Boss! What are you doing? The men are back there! We can't leave 'em" Bill yelled as their leader raced off to the depths of the cavern, but Pike continued as if he hadn't heard a single word. "Fuck!" As Bill was debating trying to get back to the battle line, to help the others, the rodents suddenly ceased their assault. Pike had only made it a third of the way to his goal, but whatever he was doing had gathered the attention of every beast in the room. The animals that had until now been furiously attacking the intruding hunters suddenly turned around and began a wild sprint to the rear of the cavern. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ All but one man had collapsed with exhaustion or taken the chance to land one or two parting blows on the backs of the fleeing beasts. The men were relieved, as it appeared to be a full rout, proof of their victory, but this reprieve brought with it a harsh reality. Of all their original number, only a dozen would be able to walk out on their own. A few more lay helpless and crippled behind them, pulled from the lines of battle by their comrades. Only one man was still fighting. The bear had turned with the rest of the creatures, answering its master's frantic call, but Earl did not relent. His mind had long since given way to his fury, the last vestiges of his consciousness succumbing to the feral madness. He drew back the great maul, and swung it across with all his might fueled by his fury into the distracted grizzly. The weighted steel blade slammed into the beast's knee with a sickening crunch, and the bear collapsed with a furious roar. Earl did not allow it time to regain its footing, and slammed blow after blow into the beast's side. Suddenly the beast threw itself around, knocking back the berserk hunter as it turned towards him. Earl stumbled, but immediately threw himself into another swing, straight down on the beast's skull. Another crack echoed across the battlefield, and the flurry of hammer blows ceased. With another mighty roar, the bear slashed out with its claws and gored Earl's chest. The brave hunter was blown away, still clutching the handle of the broken sledgehammer as he tumbled across the floor. The head lay uselessly next to the bear, a few inches of splintered wood sticking out where the shaft was just a moment ago. It was something that had happened countless times on the job. The steel heads of tools were well made and durable, but the wooden shafts broke all the time. The shafts were cheap, he even had one in the back of his work truck, and it would only take a few moments to change out the shaft. It was such a simple thing to take a short break on the work site, and resume a few minutes later with the repaired hammer. At worst he had to stay a few minutes later to finish the job, or the company was set back a few minutes. But here the old, weather worn wood would be his demise. He struggled to rise, his chest hemorrhaging blood from the five deep gouges, but the enraged bear lurched forwards on its two remaining good legs. As the bloodied and battered beast hobbled forwards, Earl managed to rise to his knee. He gripped the broken handle so hard his knuckles turned white as he faced the snarling doom, blindly obstinate to the end. The bear did its best to rear and rise, roaring out its challenge as it threw itself towards its fearsome opponent with all its might. As soon as the bear was committed to its great lunge, Earl launched himself forwards, and drove the splintered end of the handle into the beast's chest. All of his might went into this final blow, but the tough beast thick hide put an end to the heroic effort. The splintered end had pierced through, but the shallow wound was pitifully futile. He lacked the strength to drive it in. As his final strike failed, the body of the great bear slammed into him. The wind was completely blown out of his lungs, and as the bear's jaws closed around his head, he couldn't even muster a scream. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The horde of rats had frantically charged after him as soon as the enemy realized his target. Bill and the other hunter were barely ahead of the tide, but Pike had a solid head start. The two men had hesitated to follow him on his charge, but he could do nothing for them. His only chance lay ahead. It wasn't a chance for escape, or even survival, but it was a chance for victory. The radiant green gem rested on an alabaster pedestal, made from intertwined and fused bone. So many had died, and he knew in his heart that the remnants of the brave men who had followed him into this darkness would be wiped out. Even the men standing watch above would likely be torn apart long before they left the cursed forest. That is of course if they hadn't already perished. But this was the one thing he had to do. If he destroyed this fel gem, his town would be safe. The stragglers and remnants would remain, but the endless tide of monsters would stop. His gut had led him here, had shown him the path to the enemy, and as he butchered his way through the rats, he felt the energy pouring out of the cavern that he had felt in the forest. But as he neared the gem, he realized the energy that he had felt the entire way here wasn't being controlled by the gem. It was leaking, gushing out in an uncontrolled torrent. He sprinted to the very last step in front of the altar, and saw for the first time that the gem was not perfect and smooth. It was already broken, just barely held together. Nearly a third of it had been chipped away. The culprit appeared to be the smashed skeleton at his feet, with a crude stone axe at its side. He had felt the power of his enemy. He had felt the hostile energy, the sensation of being unwelcome, but being this close, he could see deeper beneath the surface. What he had taken for malice was pain, the hatred was fear, and the blood lust was desperation. These feelings were gushing out from the broken core, but his unpracticed senses had misread the message. But it didn't matter. Good men had died because of this abomination. His friend and partner, and far too many of the hunters who had given their lives to defeat this fel power. The town was in danger, and he had no time to contemplate or pause. He swung his hefty brush axe down in a brutal arc, and shattered the gem into a thousand shards. An explosive force burst from the point where he blade had broken the core, and he was blasted back onto the hard cavern floor. The explosion had seared and scorched his flesh, shrapnel from the pedestal had embedded itself in his body, and his skull had made a terrible cracking sound as it crashed into the hard ground. His consciousness was fading fast. The energy had torn through his body, but just as how each time he had killed a rat he had grown stronger, his body had absorbed some of the explosive energy of the broken core. His gut, the sense that had led him here was on fire as the blastwave washed through the cavern. He saw the green light of the energy as it swept through, but as it faded, other lights began to flicker into existence. Just as the stars following the fading sun, one at a time they appeared, shining radiantly in the distance. Some tiny lights were barely five hundred yards away through the earth and stone, but some were tens of miles distant. Some were small, insignificant flickers and others glowed bright as if they sought to replace the sun itself. In his soul, he knew what these lights were. Without being told, without any way to confirm it except what his senses told him, he knew. With his last thoughts before passing out, he realized just how futile this all had been. How all their lives had been wasted in vain. Each and every light was a core, just like the one he had shattered. And there were thousands of them.