Shaya leaned against her halberd for support, looking down at her wounds. The claws had only scored shallow cuts into her chest between the protection offered by her Amber armour and brigandine, but the monster managed to rake across her less armoured calf and blood soaked through her padded armour there. She leaned her weight on that leg and winced, but the leg held her fine otherwise.

“I’ll walk it off,” she muttered, moving back toward the front line. Her blood rage was already subsiding, her vision returning to normal.

Good riddance.

Krebo, Gazno and Pelark had managed to fell another two Cinwolves, and the wounded gryphon another one, leaving only six left and their Ur. Four of those monsters harried the gryphon, fighting with even greater caution than before, and the other two nipped at Krebo and Gazno. Shaya looked past the immediate combat and saw the Ur-Cinwolf still holding down the gryphlet, watching the combat unfold with eyes far keener than any animal.

“The tide’s turning, we should be able to save the gryph-”

The Ur unleashed an ear-piercing howl that heated the air around them like the bellows of a furnace – and chilled them to the bone. The mutant bounded off the gryphlet, slashing at it with its claws, and rushed the enraged gryphon. The gryphon swiped at it with one taloned leg, but it dodged backwards with serpentine alacrity and lunged back in. Its jaws latched onto the gryphon’s other front leg and bone crunched beneath the force of its bite, causing the gryphon to shriek in pain and rage.

“Bastard!” Shaya roared, and felt her heart beat like a war drum, thundering in her head. The blood rage rose again, drowning out the unnatural fear she felt at the monster’s roar, and threatening to take hold of her again.

No.

Not now.

Not ever.

I can think my way through this.

I will think my way through this.

Shaya took a deep breath, drawing in what Amber aether she could with her meagre skill. As the aether entered her, she again felt its warmth and surety spread through her body - a steady and firm support she wished she could hold forever. It pulsed and glowed in her eyes like a rich, golden halo and she felt her pride swell, forgetting about her rage. She shook her head to focus, fighting the Amber’s euphoria.

“Friends!” She barked, “Shake it off! Feint in, then pull them all back from the gryphon! I need them to breathe fire on us again. This isn’t over!”

Krebo shook off the fear and grunted. He smacked Gazno with his mace, snapping him out of the fear that gripped him too. With their wits about them, both roared and charged the monsters, who danced back and around them like no average wolf could. The rest of the Cinwolves peeled off the gryphon to take advantage of the squad breaking their defensive formation and leaving themselves exposed from all sides.

Shaya and Pelark stepped out as well, harrying the beasts that tried to get around the front-line but failing to land any meaningful blows. The archers fired down the center, discouraging any Cinwolves trying to break through the middle and taking shots at the Ur. Their arrows skipped off its heavy bristles, but they managed to graze a number of the others that stayed in their line of fire for too long.

“Pull back!” Shaya shouted and the squad followed the order without hesitation, though Pelark was now limping due to the bristles in his leg. She continued to draw in aether, the light shining from her eyes and even radiating from her body. She felt invincible, unstoppable, and managed to withdraw only with great reluctance.

As they returned to the tighter formation within the tunnel, Shaya grabbed the chained manacles from her belt and held them up in a fist. She channeled the aether within her, drawing on the manacles’ form to sculpt the soft energy into the shape of her spell circuit like a potter shaping clay. The spell was one of the more complex ones she knew and hadn’t practiced, taking her several seconds to form, and she completed it just in time.

One of the Cinwolves inhaled deeply, its throat and belly glowing with the fire it held within, stoking it.

Just as planned.

“Phaedra Amon!” She invoked the name of her Esper, “Bind my enemies!”

The tall, winged woman manifested behind Shaya, resplendent in glowing armour and pointing a large crystal sword. Using the manacles as a focus, Shaya finished her spell and conjured a small chain of light. With a flick of Shaya’s wrist, it shot from her Esper’s blade like an arrow, wrapping around the snout of the Cinwolf ready to unleash its blast. Shaya closed her fist and the chain crushed the beast’s mouth shut, their eyes widening in horror as they struggled to open their jaws, the fire continuing to build within them.

“Take cover!” Shaya crouched behind Krebo and Gazno as they locked shields, lifting an arm to cover her head and seeing the others do the same around her. She channeled her aether into the spell, willing it to remain in existence, but as the aether drained from her, the sense of invincibility was gone as well, leaving only a cold sense of vulnerability.

The Cinwolf exploded, Shaya feeling the boom more than hearing it. Sharp bristles and bones flew through the air like shrapnel, tearing apart the aberrant’s three closest pack mates and peppering the further two. The shrapnel struck Krebo and Gazno’s shield wall, but plenty more got past it and around them. Krebo hissed in pain as a large chunk of bone clipped his helmet and Gazno grunted as bristles managed to dig into his exposed foot. The others took only superficial injuries, grazes and a few nettling bristles to arms and legs. The roaring fire caught the remaining two Cinwolves and they howled in agony as parts of them were set alight. The raging fire splashed against Krebo’s ward, which used up the last of its energy and flickered out of existence.

“Finish those three off,” Shaya said, rising and drawing in more Amber aether, “I’ll distract the Ur so it can’t finish off the gryphon.”

“Shaya, no!” Krebo called.

She leapt over her friends and ran towards the Ur, stowing her manacles and readying her halberd. The smell of burning flesh and fur struck her as she approached, the Ur’s flame-filled mouth ripping and tearing at the gryphon’s back leg, forcing it to the ground with a loud thud and enraged scream. Up close, the amount of blood pouring from the gryphon’s wound made Shaya’s heart sink even through the Amber’s confidence.

Before the Ur-Cinwolf could press its advantage, Shaya roared and lunged at it. It dodged away from her strike and the gryphon in one fluid, sinuous motion and spat a bolt of flame at her. The sudden attack surprised her, but she managed to roll out of the way of the searing projectile, which splattered on the wall and sizzled as the stone melted beneath it. She came up with a wide, defensive sweep of her polearm, hoping to catch the Ur with it. The giant wolf leapt over her strike and spun in the air, whipping her across the face with its long tail.

Gasping from the agony of hundreds of little barbs digging into her exposed skin, Shaya tried to shake off the disorientation brought on by the burning pain.

Focus! She screamed into her mind.

She whirled with her polearm toward the abberant’s last known location and heard something skitter away from her swing. Her weapon slammed into a nearby stalagmite, the rock, and likely her axe head, chipping from the force of the blow. Blinking away the pain, she saw the Ur land from its dodge. Rather than leap back in, it paced around her cautiously, its sulphur-yellow eyes boring into hers. They analyzed one another, Shaya using the opportunity to draw in more Amber.

Her confidence and hope shaken, the Amber resisted her pull and she felt it sieving through her, refusing to remain within. Frustration flaring, she took another deep breath, acknowledged her fears, and let them go. At the same time, she drew in more Amber, clinging to its tenuous energy. The Ur’s eyes lit up with…amusement? Shaya could only read its expression as a malicious, infernal sneer that no animal – corrupted or not – could possibly conceive of and wondered if the pain was making her delirious.

With another deep breath, she focused on her aether and channeled it-

The Ur lunged, forcing her to dodge as its jaws tried to snap one of her legs. She just maintained a grasp on her spell, but split her attention between forming her spell circuit and defending herself as the Ur continued its assault. She shuffled away from a swipe of its huge claws, then danced back from another sweep of its tail. It lunged at her before she even landed, but she anticipated that and had her halberd braced. It slithered around her spear tip, but her axe grazed its hide, peeling bristles off and causing steaming blood to ooze before hardening like cooling lava.

I can’t beat this thing alone.

She spared a glimpse at her companions. The last three Cinwolves were almost dead, but they were fighting to the bitter end. Despite their wounds and the fire coating them, they were drawing the battle out rather than throwing their lives away in a suicide attack. Shaya sensed Amber magic flaring from Krebo as he conjured half a dozen chains of light to help pin them down – cast and controlled with neither sympathetic implement or gestures. Her friends would finish them off soon - all she had to do was keep the Ur at bay for a little longer.

Shaya maneuvered back toward the gryphons, keeping herself between them and the Ur. She gave ground, fighting defensively and forming her aether into a spell in those brief moments of respite. The space of the cavern let her use her long legs and polearm to keep the Ur at maximum reach, the strength of her swings giving the beast pause. It lunged at her again and she moved back, but rather than pursue her, it spat another bolt of flame at her.

Shit! The gryphon!

She froze, knowing that dodging the bolt would spell its death.

Her mind raced, but her muscles moved.

Her halberd swung up, slashing into the projectile with its metal head and interposing its entire haft in the way of it.

The unholy fire turned the metal into slag and, insatiable, consumed the ash wood of her haft as well before its remains burst onto her arms and chest. Her magic armour shattered from the heat and the bronze plates of her brigandine sizzled as the fire melted them. She smelled her padded under-armour smoke as the hungry substance continued to eat away at her. Her lungs and skin screamed, the heat crawling over her unbearable. She dropped what was left of her halberd as she stumbled backward, drawing her longsword.

Through the pain, she clung to what mattered most - her spell.

“Phaedra Amon!” She invoked.

The Ur slammed into her, its maw going for her throat. She just managed to interpose the sword crosswise, the beast’s jaws clamping down on the blade as the flames around its mouth licked the air around her. Overwhelmed by pain, her legs gave out and she fell backwards. She pressed both hands to her sword to keep the gnashing teeth at bay, wincing as boiling spittle splattered onto her face. Her Esper manifested above her, looking down on her and waiting for her to finish the invocation.

“Soothe my pain…” she grated, sawing her blade into the beast’s mouth. That drew more of the burning blood, which frothed and splattered onto her, burning her flesh. The metal of her sword burned her hand and the blade started to bend as the heat drove it toward its melting point. The aberrant’s claws raked her body, and she gasped as they ripped through her damaged brigandine and into her flesh. Her arms weakened, the teeth drawing closer to her face, the monster’s breath smelling of death and brimstone.

The Ur’s eyes glittered with malicious, sadistic glee.

“…and that of my allies!” She finished the invocation and her spell circuit.

Phaedra Amon’s spiritual wings folded around Shaya as a protective shield, then burst outward with a wave of golden energy. Warmth surged through Shaya’s body, cleansing the pain screaming through her.

With renewed vigor and ignorant of her injuries, Shaya shoved the sword deeper into the Ur’s mouth, pushing it further off her and off-balance. She tucked her legs underneath her, then kicked with all her strength, sending the wolf flying off her with her sword still in its mouth. It spun unnaturally in the air, landing on its feet with the scraping of rock as its claws scrabbled for a hold.

It looked at her, unimpressed, then spat out the melting sword for emphasis.

Shaya rose onto her knees, pulling out her dagger and pointing it towards the Ur.

It barked out a laugh, then locked its amused eyes on her, a sneer slitting open its maw once again.

The gryphon’s talons slammed it to the ground, hooking and dragging it closer. The Ur yelped in shock and pain, turning to face the gryphon. Their eyes locked, and there was no amusement in the Ur’s this time. Only terror.

The gryphon’s eyes held only rage.

The talons dug deeper into the monster’s hide as it was dragged closer, the Ur’s scrabbling paws failing to pull itself away. Burning blood spilled from the Ur, hissing against the gryphon’s talons, but Shaya’s spell prevented it from caring about mere pain. The burns would worsen and destroy nerves, but not for a few more seconds.

And before that time came, the gryphon rolled the struggling Cinwolf onto its back, screeched in triumph, and plunged its razor-sharp beak into the exposed belly of the beast, tearing it apart.