“By the gods.” Olivia muttered, before her voice took on the slow, deliberate cadence of spell-chanting. She wasn’t alone with the sentiment, even if none of us expressed it the same way. Adra readied her spear with a look of grim determination, aware that engaging the monster with multiple people was our best bet, preventing it from focusing on any one combatant. Similarly, Rai pulled the shadows tightly around him, turning him into another shadow in a dark night. I could still perceive him, but others would be hard-pressed to find him, hopefully including the monster. Sigmir, as so often the center of our formation, clad herself in her red aura and readied her axe and shield, prepared to take the monster head-on.

As for myself, I let the frozen Shuttles soar from their sheats in my cloak, their physical nature making them a good tool to assist while figuring out the nature of the beast. Trying to attack a monster that was highly resistant to Ice, which was a distinct possibility for a beast from the mountains, would do nothing but strip me of Astral Power that I could use for better attacks or healing.

It didn’t look like there was any chance of the meeting being a peaceful one, so I decided to risk drawing its ire to myself, by using the Observe skill. And what I saw made me realise that the quest-difficulty was justified.

Lycantroll, Level 118

The monster didn’t give us any time to make a battle-strategy, charging just after its roar failed to make us flee in panic. Sigmir moved forward to meet its charge, only for that charge to falter, just a little, when Rai slipped out of the darkness, drawing one of his blades across the beast’s hamstring in an effort to cripple its legs. Sadly, other than a short stumble, the attack had no effect. It might have annoyed the beast a little more, but it didn’t even give Rai a glance while he slipped back into the shadows, taking a bit of distance.

The clash between Sigmir and the beast sounded a little like a car-crash, as its clawed hand scraped across her shield, just before their bodies crashed into each other, with Sigmir stumbling back from the impact, looking a little dazed.

Both Adra and I did our best to harass the beast, striking at any place that might be vulnerable, my shuttles darting in and out, while Adra kept her distance and used the reach of her spear to full effect. Neither of us thought that getting hit by the beast’s claws would result in anything but massive injuries for anyone, even if Sigmir might be able to use her shield to block a few of them.

Olivia’s chant culminated in a loud plea to Eleutheria, asking her to shield us from harm. Golden light shone from her staff, concentrating on Sigmir, mixing with the red glow of her aura and adding another layer of shielding, just in time for another of the beast’s attacks to batter against her shield, trying to gain purchase, even as Adra and I did our best to force it back. Sigmir, not to be outdone, struck back, sinking her axe deeply into the meat of its arm, leaving a deep gash. Sadly, the joy I felt on seeing what should be a crippling wound was a short-lived one, almost as soon as Sigmir withdrew her Axe, the blood in the wound frothed a little, a strange smell filling my nostrils, and moments later, the wound was gone.

Looking closely, all the smaller wounds, little more than scratches and pinpricks, Adra, Rai and I had struck in the short exchange had closed already, the bit of blood that had oozed out of them masking the beast’s insane regeneration.

While a few more exchanges between the monster on one side and Sigmir, supported by all of us, happened,I was quickly drawing up a magical formation, based around Blood- and Darkness-Magic, the idea being that if we couldn’t quickly kill the thing, weakening it would keep Sigmir safe until it finally succumbed. Using my Astral Power to devour its strength, its speed and maybe even part of its regeneration would hopefully stop it from doing too much damage.

In the time I needed to draw the seven runes, three of devouring in a triangle, with a second triangle of Speed, Strength and Regeneration, both triangles bound together by a Rune of Blood, the beast had suffered and regenerated a few more wounds, while Sigmir, with the help of Olivia’s shields, had blocked all but one strike, leaving a bloody gash on her upper arm.

My magical formation flashed with light, as one of the shuttles I had used to harass the beast delivered the Blood it had drawn into the center, giving it a direct link to the beast, via its Blood. Even if the monster’s coarse fur was as good a defense against magic as it was against the physical attacks we had brought to bear, using its blood would circumvent most of that defense.

Channelling a vast amount of Astral Power into the formation, as much as the formation could stably handle, I could see the Beast stagger, the magic taken effect. My lips curled into a wicked smile, as I watched the others take advantage of its slowed speed, with Rai and Adra scoring more strikes into its legs, hoping to fully cripple it and turning it into a sitting duck, for us to dispatch.

Before I could truly rejoice, the Monster put on a burst of speed, as a deep, red glow oozed from its pores, making it look like it was completely covered in blood. The aura brought it back to its earlier speed, as if the curse still coursing through its body wasn’t even there. Along that speed came strength, enough to break through Oliiva’s shield and Sigmir’s block, tossing her aside like a ragdoll.

And then it came for me, crossing the distance in seconds. Taking a risk, I activated Overflow, forcing a surge of Astral Power into the formation to prolong its effect, even as I abandoned the channelling. It would last for a bit longer, maybe a minute more, before fading. It was all I could do, before having to flee.

As I jumped back, Sigmir’s aura sprung into being around me, in an effort to shield me from harm, but even with it adding to my speed, the beast was a lot quicker. Instead of trying to outrun it, I chose to evade, by retreating into the Shadows. I barely managed to fade into them in time, avoiding the physical aspects of the blow, though the bloody aura was incredibly painful as it ripped through my incorporeal form.

The pain was strange, lingering in a way, but distant in another, part of my mind convinced that my chest had been torn apart, even as another part of me was just as convinced that I was whole. The warring sensation remained, even as a roar of hatred shattered the air, almost an echo to the one the beast had given off earlier.

As I returned to the physical realm, I could see Sigmir, surrounded by her flaring red aura, interwoven with the amber light coming from her union with Ylva. While I couldn’t see her eyes, I knew that they would be golden, just as her hands would be tipped with claws and her arms covered in silvery fur. It was her version of the Avatar-State, though it was incomplete as mine had been before Lenore and I had crossed the second Divide.

But, incomplete or not, it was enough to give her a physical edge, at least as long as my curse was still lingering on the beast. Where before, Sigmir had fought cautiously, after the beast had broken away from the three of them and attacked me, she had thrown caution to the wind, even abandoning her shield and axe in favour of her Lok’Nar. Or maybe she had lost them, I had no idea.

And it worked, her savage attacks were driving the beast back, her Lok’Nar striking wounds that didn’t heal in the blink of an eye. After another of their exchanges, the beast actually leapt back, taking some distance as it sniffed the air.

I had been breathing hard, trying to suppress the pain in my chest while recreating the Curse I had used earlier, the exchange between the two of them too swift and savage to risk using my shuttles, for fear of hindering Sigmir.

Yet, now that there was a momentary pause, I could see the beast clearly and what I noticed made my blood run cold with hatred and a desire to inflict as much pain on that monster as I could, to rip its mind to shreds before slowly feeding its physical form into the Nether, where the Nethersprites would devour it’s life-force, keeping it in constant pain until it died. If I had a way to torment its soul, to bind it and not let it experience the sweet relief of oblivion, I would gladly do so. Alas, there were limits on my ability, but I was fully resolved to push those limits regarding the amount of pain I could cause that monster as far as possible. Really, I was looking forward to it.