"Was that...? What was that? I… No. I have to remain calm. Luci needs me."

Zulema couldn’t help trying to keep her mind from scrambling. Her fears had finally come to fruition and it seemed she had to deal with it all alone. The beast was, in fact, real and judging from how large and how fast it had veered out of sight, it was most likely beyond her capabilities to handle alone. She wanted desperately to rush over to Lucia and grant her whatever aid she might require but it would also leave her open to attack. She realized the only option was either to abandon her partner or lie in wait for the creature to strike again. She slowly made her way out into the open toward Lucia, scythe in hand, and dug her weapon down straight into the ground. If the monster was going to come again, she would at least put herself on the defensive.

It didn’t take long before a violent rustling in the trees indicated another bum-rush was coming.

The priestess gripped the handle of her scythe, readying herself for its next attack.

A wave of distortion came rushing at her. She strained her eyes, trying to make out how quickly the wave was approaching. She had at first thought it was using some form of attack before instantly realizing she was dealing with a near-invisible beast.

Almost faster than she’s ever moved before, Zulema kicked her feet off the ground, and using the scythe she planted firmly before her to keep herself balanced, she twirled her entire body around the weapon and proceeded to forcefully kick her heels into the passing beast as it rushed by—causing it to crash violently into the bushes.

Without taking her eyes off the dark gulf of trees, she spoke just loud enough for her fallen partner to hear:

“Luci, please! You must wake up.” She stretched an arm towards her body, eyes beginning to glow. “You’ve received a grievous injury and while I can’t make the bleeding stop, I can keep your body from going into shock. You must get up. You must!”

There was no response from Lucia, causing Zulema to tense up in anger. The mental tension was deafening. She heard a rustling from the trees once again, causing her to grip her scythe tightly with her other hand.

Instead of another charge, the iridescent behemoth emerged slowly from the darkness. Frozen leaves and large patches of dried blood stuck to its glimmering body, giving sight to its looming figure. Despite its towering disposition, it seemed to be a quadrupedal creature. What at first seemed like its front legs were actually wide, burly arms containing horrifically bulging muscles. Arms that grew from monstrously broad shoulders surrounding the head like armor. Now that she could get a better look, she could see that its mouth and subsequently its body were colored in the copious amounts of blood from all the dead soldiers it had been eating. Its eyes were throbbing beads of pitch-black, embedded into ethereal sockets—dark droplets floating in the middle of its face whose direction was impossible to pinpoint. Its mouth appeared as an abysmal, void-like cavity filled with elongated, glistening teeth forming an eerie smile that distorted the space under its eyes. A grim repository that opened and closed sporadically, as if mimicking the mouthing of forbidden, enigmatic mantras. In-between these oral motions, there appeared to be fresh chunks of meat mixed in with metal and other debris wasting away in its mouth. Among the grisly contents was the bloodied, torn arm of Lucia.

It paced back and forth in front of Zulema, appearing to size up its situation and analyzing whether the scarlet priestess was a threat or not.

As it moved, Zula caught sight of its backside. Its lower half was completely missing, almost as if torn off. Only the dangling bits of its spine hinting at what was once there. Due to its ancient injury, the insides of the creature were oddly discernible to the naked eye. Rotting entrails of a dark violet hue lined the inside of its body. The priestess surmised that since it couldn't actually swallow anything, it was using its teeth as substitute weapons and because it lacked the legs to move, it placed all its weight on its arms, giving the behemoth a weird gait as it moved.

The beast tensed up, readying to strike again.

"Luci, I'm sorry. Just hang on a little bit longer." The priestess, having also sized up her opponent, yanked her weapon from the ground and gripped the snath in both hands away from her—its curve blade shining in the moonlight.

If I can just throw it of its balance somehow…

The beast charged, cutting short her strategic deliberations.

She paid careful attention to the hulking prints in the snow moving towards her. In the dark they would be hardly visible, but the light of the moons seemed to be radiating brightly that night. As the prints neared, its ragged breathing could be heard with every step. Using these small signals, she jumped away at just the right second and twirled down the monster’s side, weapon slicing against its otherworldly skin as she danced. Once behind it, she swung her weapon in a sweep and slashed at the monster’s unprotected innards. Globs of nerve and muscle melted out of its rotting body, dirtying the pristine snow below its underside. The blade of her scythe emanated a faint glow under the monster’s glinting, otherworldly blood.

The severe injury made the creature howl in pain. The sound it emitted was enough to cause Zulema to jump. It was not a sound she had ever heard before nor something she’d ever be able to describe. She was beginning to understand just what type of beast she was squaring off against.

"Macha, give me strength…"