The thundering roar of hooves shook the grounds as they charged forward. A beast on four legs was chasing down a small girl in a flowing, white robe. Marred with dirt and grime from days out in the elements, the dress offered little to no protection from the elements or the monsters that thrived there. Hiking up her robe in one hand as she ran on bare feet for dear life, her other hand gripped tightly to her gnarled, wooden staff. Adorning the top of her lustrous blonde hair was a shaking crown of thick, dead twigs.

Radices Invasor Ex Natura!

At her command, thick roots cracked open from the ground and began coiling around the legs of the galloping beast, forcing it to a violent stop and binding it in place. Magic compelled the restrictive roots to constrict every moment the beast struggled. The girl chuckled.

"Wow, like, did you seriously fall for that? Again?” The witch taunted the growling monster in front of her. A look of malice on both its heads expressed how much contempt had been building within. “It's not like we haven't been playing gat and rattin for the past couple days now. Well I gotcha now, you knuckle-dragging freak! And you better stay put this time!”

Caught within her vines was a nuckelavee. A dangerous magical creature that is part equine and part humanoid, it mimics a rider on his mount in silhouette but the two are in reality one and the same. The thing was a skinless abomination that pumped obsidian blood through jaundiced veins—its bleached tendons and monstrous muscles pulsating disgustingly visibly. The creature stood on four jaggedly coarse hooves with a man-like torso sprouting from its lower body connected to two long, pendulous arms dragging along the ground as it moved. There was a lower head, that looked quite animal-like, albeit crudely, which gazed malevolently from a single, searing red eye and another more human-like head that sported a pair of demonic looking horns. It was these forbidden horns that the witch seemed to have set her heart on.

“C’mon, honey. Let me just get a little of that horn action.” She raised her staff confidently.

Solis Fulmen Natura!

The red of her staff’s ruby began to glow with a fiery heat before violently discharging a ball of orange flame aimed directly at the nuckelavee’s horn.

The demon jerked its upper head violently, dodging the nuisance fireball in one swift, erratic motion. The head dangled lifelessly on its neck, yet its gleaming humanoid eyes continued focusing solely on the witch.

"Stay! Still! I don't know how many times I have to yell—"

The nuckelavee raised its dangling head and began building up a dark energy between its horns. A power that coalesced into a volatile orb of its own that was fired straight at Heloise.

"Shit!" cried the ragged girl as she jumped away with all her might to avoid the blast. "Please! I could put that thing to a lot better use than you!"

The demon's upper head was ominously quiet after that, watching Heloise as a small cloud of toxic fumes escaped slowly from its mouth. The lower bestial animal head suddenly expelled a vicious, high-pitched roar. Then suddenly, it shot its massive arms towards her, stopping just short of her face, barely out of reach.

"Shut the fuck up!" roared back Heloise, struggling to get back up off the ground. "You're a joke to me, you know that? This is my forest! Not yours! You don't belong in this world! Argh! This is so frustrating! I can't stay like this! I have to get better!"

"I need to..." she mumbled miserably, clutching at her shoulder. "What would she think of me if she knew?"

Would she see just another monster?

The abomination remained indifferent to her words and watched as she clumsily got back to her feet. It moved its legs ever so slightly as the moments advanced, enticing the vines to tighten every time, gripping and squeezing the membranous body of the creature. If not for the nuckelavee's demonic strength, the vines would have already ripped into its bones.

"Keeeep struggling. Just makes it easier for me if you hurt your own self." Heloise dusted herself off then turned her back on the beast in boast, mustering back some confidence. "Course it'd be my victory. You forgot who truly owns this forest, hon-ey."

The bestial head grumbled and snorted, the monster slowly dragged back its noodle-like arms, its fingers creeping silently onto the strangling vines at its feet. Choking them with its horrifying grip, snapping them off, piece by piece.

The witch turned back proudly, staff triumphantly held high in the air and attempted to make her proclamation, “This time! For s—NO! ARE YOU TRYING TO PISS ME OFF?! STOP!"

The nuckelavee had broken free from her vines and was now pacing around cautiously.

Merde ! I've been at this almost two fucking days. If it weren't for this river, I'd be dead already. Remind me to practice some water magic after this, me. Azotha I'm stupid. Why didn't I study this thing a bit more? It hates water? What kind of stupid asshole can't stand water?! What idiot would summon this useless thing?!

As her brain regurgitated a string of pointless thoughts, the nuckelavee began another demonic charge toward her, causing her to scream out another spell in haste.

AAAARADICES INVASOR EX NATURA!

More roots broke through the forest floor and slithered their way towards the rampaging demon, only to fail in ensnaring it. The monster had jumped and avoided the striking vines and continued its gallop apace, chasing down the witch who was again running for dear life.

Heloise ran to the nearby river as fast as her feet could take her and leaped into the relative safety of the water, expletive after expletive escaping her foul mouth as she stomped around in the freezing cold. Dress soaked and makeup running, she angrily scooped up some water and threw it at the oncoming beast. The small handful of water splashed at its feet, tiny droplets landing on its skinless meat and leaving behind small burns. While this only served to annoy the nuckelavee, she continued her act of defiance of slapping the water repeatedly, trying to splash the demonic beast with as much of the cold river as she could by using just the power of her small, dainty hands.

"Take this! And that! Burn for me, you chimeric salaud! Va te faire foutre ! Enculé de ta merde ! Mon dieu, ça me fait chier !!" The witch continued her verbal assault as her miniscule efforts to drench the beast continued. The nuckelavee, frustrated, began to back off, but continued watching menacingly from a nearby distance.

The two haunters of the forest were apparently stuck in a stalemate.

“Wait! No! Come back!” She cried as she desperately reached for the staff she now realized was slowly being carried away by the river’s current. “Zut alors !”