The monster that faced the heroes slowly began to rise from the pool. Its whole body was created out of small plates. The colouring of the plates all reflected a metallic, dark, and blood red reflection. It was a terrifying thing to see without factoring in that it was slowly floating out of a rotting pool of human blood. As the creature’s chest broke the surface Ulrok let out a small whistle.

“The monster is a woman.”

Rebecca was already reading another arrow, and the Storyteller could tell that unless she added some magic behind that arrow it wasn’t going to be any different than the first.

“This is no natural foe; the hags must have made her. We will need magic,” the old spell-caster ordered.

Jeremy had spent a vast majority of his time in the forest, when not on shifts guarding the village. Any ranger worth their salt will tell you the importance of insects to the ecosystem. Insects are an important part because they are unstoppable. They have numbers on their side, but also are geared towards survival.

The blood monster that was slowly rising out of the pool reminded Jeremy of a humanoid beetle. Jeremy had seen all types of beetles, with their built-in body armor, basically the insect was a walking tank because of its hard shell, their exoskeleton. These small bugs did not have any skeletons, and these exoskeletons protected the creature’s soft insides. The hairs on the back of Jeremy’s neck flashed this knowledge into his brain as the battle started.

As the arrow Rebecca shot cracked into the outer shell of this bug-blood-demon, he made the connections. This foe was able to create a hard outer shell, just like a beetle, to protect its insides and it had created deadly mandibles to boot.

“It is like a beetle,” Jeremy whispered as the full body of the blood thirsty foe seemed to stare into him without eyes.

The Blood-Beetle tilted its head to the left, looking without eyes, it began to let out a low hissing sound and as its last toe raised out of the blood it spoke in those low tones. “Thirsssty. You will not passsss. I will absorb you. The masters are gone. I am freeee to drink.”

With those words, Kalven snapped, and let out a beast of a roar, “Never! Never again.” He began to pull out all shape and size of flasks and he began to drink them. His body began to change and expand. The Storyteller remember this from the village, the battle started, the Mad-Man was back.

Rebecca focused on her inner mana. “Alright, if an arrow to the eye didn’t work, what about a light?”

Drovic watched all this unfold below him. He thought, “Fools, brute force will not end this monster.” He began to review the mirrors above the monster. He looked close at the runes and began to read. He needed to understand the hags spell if he was going to save the day. He blended with the shadows; it wouldn’t do for the monster to find him as he worked.

“A candle’s light burns, for in the darkest nights it is brighter than heaven’s light. Flare!” Rebecca wasn’t as naturally skilled with her mana as her grandfather, but she was no slacker. Plus, she wasn’t about to let Jeremy show her up. A white light covered her arrow, she let the arrow go as she spoke the final word. It passed between Kalven and Jeremy. For a brief second, she smiled but then the blood monster opens a whole in her body where the arrow was about to hit. The arrow past through the hole and slammed into the back of the barn.

A bright flash of light exploded behind the monster. It screamed and histed, but there was no damage done to the beast.

As Rebecca fired her arrow, Ulrok charged towards the blood pool’s edge, raised his shield, and readied his hammer. He gritted his teeth, ready to protect his new friends. He had a flash back to his home, his true home. He remembered why he was in Calvary. Why he wasn’t with his family. He was not going back to that drunk. He made a vow in that moment; he was going to do everything he could to protect his new companions.

Squash. A blood whip smashed into the dwarf’s shield. The monster was done with letting her prey scurry about before her power. A flash of a hood going over its head flashed in its minds eye because it lashed out. Rage filled it. Another squash. She unleashed all her rage on the dwarf.

“I am not weak. I will consume you all.”

The Storyteller, brace his arm, “May the dragons breath consume you, Dragon’s fire.” A wave of fire passed between Kalven and Ulrok and started to boil the blood under the feet of the monster as it hovered over the pool. The flames started to climb up the legs of the blood-demon, and it began to let loose a scream.

Jeremy stepped forward and with short sword in hand and taking up the side next to the dwarf. He placed his hand flat on the sword, began to channel his mana up the blade, “Chase away the night, Flames.” After the casting Jeremy’s sword began to glow with a soft blue light. He tried to help defend the dwarf as one of the blood whips slammed into the shield. A whip was coming from on high, Jeremy swiped up the fire coated blade slicing the blood whip in half, boiling the parts it touched. Poor Jeremy was then covered from head to toe in thick congealed blood as the whip lost its form.

“Thanks boy.” Ulrok snorted as his hammer splattered an attack that was coming for him.

Drovic looked down from above, it seemed that the others were holding their own. The Storyteller was firing of bolts of fire at the base of the monster. Rebecca, he noticed was trying to use her light magic to add some damage to her arrows, but the creature was either able to absorb the damage or dodge all together. Ulrok and Jeremy were now holding the front line together. They were battered by whips of blood that creature had formed from the pool.

Drovic began to cast his own mana into the hanging mirror that rested in a straight line above the pool. He started to probe and prod the runes, pulling a part the threads of the spell. He could spend a month easily studying what the hags had done, until he came across two words, “Blood Human.” Drovic’s mouth dropped open, and thought, “No, they couldn’t have?” He nodded to himself. If they were going to get out of here alive, he needed to work faster.

It felt like an hour to the heroes, but it had only been about five minutes. Each pushing or defending. They thought they were doing well. They forgot that the creature before them was not some simple goblin or mindless beast, regardless of it looking like a blood-human-insect. The creature was having fun. She had been asleep for so long and was enjoying the exercise even if the flames were hurting her.

That was when Kalven came charging forward in his massive form, but something was a bit different, his hands were covered in ice. He began to punch the pool itself, and each time his fist encountered blood it froze. Fear and rage passed through the creature’s mind, for less than a second, it thought of the word father. Kavlen mind was almost blank, he only wanted to destroy this creature, and to smash it.

The Blood-Demon opened its mandibles, and the pool began to pull back under the ice attacks. Rebecca used the distraction and fired two light arrows, and one managed to connected into the creature’s right shoulder, and a massive flare of light filled the room. The arrow left a burning and fizzing mark on the surface of the armor.

In return, the Blood-Demon lasted out with a spear made of blood, it wasn’t aimed for Jeremy or Ulrok. No, she wanted the little arrow girl to pay. The spear had a diameter of about five centimeters but it stronger than steal, and the speed was supernatural. It shot out from the right hand of the monster, and slammed Rebecca into the wall of the barn.

Rebecca cried out to the others, “Awe, god.” The Blood-Demon snapped the flow of blood off the spear, leaving her pinned into the wall. Rebecca’s feet were a foot from the ground, her bow clattered to the ground. Her own blood ran over top of the blood spear.

An eyeless smile spread across the monster’s face. They could see rows on rows of rotating teeth. The shifting lights from all the spells causing the creature to be even more terrifying.

From above the creature, Drovic could feel the hungry pulsing off the creature. The deep darkness and bloodlust that poured off the creature would send the urge to flee to lessor adventures. Drovic laughed to himself at that thought, “not like they have anywhere to run too.”

Jeremy enraged by seeing his friend pinned to the wall, charged forward a few meters into the blood. His blade flashing and slashing at more and more blood tentacles. He could hear a whizzing and coughing sound that came from behind him. Then as he chopped a blood tentacle that swung for his face, he heard Rebecca start to cough blood in a painful gurgling.

Kalven was coming in on the right and Jeremy on the left, while Ulrok held the middle. The Storyteller raced over towards Rebecca, but he had to keep up with the long-range support or else things could go from bad to worse.

Kalven push and pushed. Seeing Rebecca injured causing the memories of his sisters’ death. Her lifeless head in his lap. He was filled with range. He was going to end this creature. He let out a range as a whip slapped him across the chest. The attack left a gapping wound in the would-be hero’s flesh. Pain did not cross his face, just more rage.

More whips and more slashes. Kalven pushed forward. He was up to his waste in blood when he reached the monster. The Blood-Demon shifted her hand and forearm into a blade and slashed down at the Mad-alchemist. Kalven swung at the same time with his ice fist. Force met force. The monsters blade sliced off the arm of Kalven but his fist caught the monster right in the stomach. If the beast had bones, they would have all shattered under the force, but it was made of liquid. The whole middle second of the monster splashed out behind it and froze at the same time.

The other cheered as the monster howled in pain as more and more of its pool began to freeze over. Kalven didn’t let the fact that he lost an arm stop him. He swung and swung again. More and more of the blood was force away, or frozen. The only part left of the humanoid shape was the monsters armored head.

That was when the tentacle lashed out. It sliced into the now giant man’s face and ripped away have the flesh. You could see skull bones around the right eye socket where the flesh was violently removed. Ulrok couldn’t believe what his eyes were showing. The alchemist face was ripped off, and Ulrok just noticed that he was missing a hand.

“You blasted fool, you aren’t good to us dead.”

The face floated there for a moment, Kalven stepped back into a defensive stance, and it turned slowly. It seemed as if time itself froze as the face turned to see Jeremy. Everyone seemed trapped in place. Everyone, but Drovic, his fingers and mana working away at the puzzle above. The insect like face, turned and face Jeremy and started to smile.

Snap.

A tentacle slipped from under the blood and had wrapped itself around Jeremy’s leg and pulled. He fell into knee high blood because he didn’t move as far up as the Mad-Bomber, but the depth was enough to completely cover the pool. Natural instincts took over, Jeremy felt like he was drowning, as he couldn’t breathe. He tried to hold his breath, and to fight against the pulled. He swung his sword towards the tentacle made of blood, but his fire had gone out with it being completely under the blood. Thoughts raced through his mind; he did not want to die like this…