Finally, after about 15 seconds of that, they heard a big thud that reverberated through the ground beneath his feet. The giant monkey-bear reached the other side of the columns and had jumped from the last, landing with enough force for them to feel it even from where they were standing.
And that’s when his new, untrustworthy teammates got their first look at his nightmare.
Chapter 40 – When Bearillas attack
Rosewyn actually gulped when she first caught sight of the monstrosity as it shuffled around the corner. For the first time in – she didn’t know when – she felt a spike of fear trying to overcome her mind. She wasn’t sure if it was the pure size of the beast, or its obvious strength, but some instinct inside urged her to run away, screaming her head off. She caught a glimpse of her husband fighting the same compulsion and eventually overcome it, relaxing from his stiff posture as he calmly observed their opponent.
His confidence reminded her of the times they had been up against fearsome beasts, and they always came out victorious. She told herself that this would just be another one of those times, just another beast to slay. Once she broke the initial fear, her own confidence returned to her.
Now that it had found what it was looking for, the Bearilla appeared to be at a loss as it saw them arrayed in formation facing it. Her husband was out front, paired up with a giant lizard covered in a shell that looked formidable, but she had seen that it was relatively slow. Behind them stood two of the lizards that Brint had rode in on, though one seemed to be slightly larger and somehow stronger than the other.
Off to the side, she caught the barest glimpse of something, which Brint had assured her was another one of his “Combat Units”. The “Quassassin” was very hard to spot; it apparently was the main tactic it used to sneak up on its enemies.
Behind the line of near-identical lizards, Rosewyn herself was near the back alongside a Proctan-sized monkey with six massive arms, holding throwing spears that she could see were tipped in the strange stone she had seen everywhere around the place. She ached to get her hands on the slice of stone she saw – it looked small enough that she’d be able to learn all she needed about it. However, she didn’t have enough time right now; she’d have to try to “obtain” one of them later.
Brint was near the exit, looking determined but also ready to run if everything didn’t go well. She didn’t blame him; he didn’t belong anywhere near this thing creeping up on them. She could tell he didn’t have an ability, so – as much as she hated the term – he was pretty “useless” right now. She almost told him to flee; however, she realized that if they didn’t kill it right now there was no point – it would probably hunt him down anyway. Therefore, she saw no reason not to let him stay.
A stalemate ensued as they all stared at each other for almost fifteen seconds, before the Bearilla abruptly leapt forward, landing on top of the “Quank” (as Brint called it) and grabbed it with one of its hands. With a quick squeeze followed by a hollow *pop*, the giant monkey threw the giant lizard against the righthand wall, where it impacted and bounced off, dead before it even hit the ground.
The rest of them hadn’t been idle, however. Moxwell, now supercharged due to the powerful Power Potion they both ingested, pulled out all the stops. He raced over to the backside of the Bearilla – moving so fast he appeared to teleport – and swung with all his strength against its right leg.
They were both surprised: the giant monkey-bear wasn’t expecting to get hurt, and Moxwell was expecting to chop off an appendage. Instead, the sword bit deep and so powerfully that it hit bone and shattered into four pieces.
The shock of losing his favorite weapon delayed him a little too long. An instinctive backhand from the now-roaring Bearilla hit him and sent him flying against the far wall. He hit so hard that she could hear the armor crumple as he impacted it back-first, before sliding down to land in an unmoving heap on the ground.
He’s fine, he can heal himself, he’s fine, he can heal himself…
Rosewyn kept repeating this as she and the others launched their own attacks, the “Qwizards” spitting gobs of saliva that burst into flame upon impact. With two direct hits on the injured Bearilla, the massive monkey was soon covered in curtains of fire. Unfortunately, it appeared to shrug off the attacks, not bothered by the flames or the heat. She could see that the hair and skin underneath the fire was starting to burn, but not as fast as she would expect.
The six-armed monkey to her left tossed all six of its throwing spears, five of which scored a direct hit on its torso. The sixth was deflected at the last moment by a frantically waving arm, as the Bearilla slowly recovered from the initial injury her husband had inflicted.
For her part, she first started by quickly bringing the dirt underneath its feet upwards, covering its legs and hardening it to keep it trapped in place. Based on the strength it had shown so far, she didn’t think it would keep it pinned in place for long; however, all she wanted to do was ensure it wasn’t able to leap forward again like it did initially – at least until it broke free.
After seeing that fire wouldn’t do much damage to it, she instead brought forth twelve huge slices of hardened and sharpened air, large enough that she was hoping that she could decapitate it with a few well-placed hits. She sent forth the air blades, concentrating on its neck and watched as they flew toward their target.
The Bearilla somehow felt them coming and tried to dodge at the last moment; fortunately, the hardened dirt covering its legs were obstacle enough so that by the time it broke free, it was too late. She smiled as they hit right where she wanted, and then opened her mouth in astonishment as they only made superficial wounds across its face and neck.
How is this thing so tough?
While it didn’t bleed more than a little from her attacks, her assault did leave the gigantic monkey-bear hybrid distracted long enough for the remaining giant lizards to make their own moves. Since they had minimal success with their fire-based attacks, they quickly moved into melee range and brought the fight in close.
Their claws were as dangerous as they looked, as Rosewyn saw them approach the Bearilla from either side and open additional wounds along its legs – which were all they could reasonably reach. The one attacking its right leg further expanded the previous wound her husband made that was now bleeding profusely. On the left leg, however, only a few deep cuts had drawn blood; that was when their target chose to recover and counter-attack.
Although they were fast, the slightly smaller lizard attacking the left leg was a touch slower; as a result, the two hands that reached out for them both managed to grab one but not the other. The larger lizard danced out of the way, resuming its attack after the missed grab. The other one was quickly picked up and had its head bitten off, and the Bearilla let out a pleased sound like it had gotten a tasty snack.
Which turned to a roar of pain as the nearly-invisible Quassassin had climbed up the rear of the humongous monkey and proceeded to lay into the back of its neck with its deadly claws. With attacks from two sides, the Bearilla tossed the remains of its meal aside and attempted to yank the cat-like assassin off its back. After three unsuccessful grabs as the invisible cat deftly avoided its clumsy attempts of snatching it with a single hand, it was finally caught as the monkey raised both of its arms above its head and trapped it between them.
That was all the opening Rosewyn and the D-Ranged Monkey needed as they tossed their projectiles when its chest was exposed. With her air blades unable to do more than minimal damage, she had begun preparing her next attack. Using her Water affinity to soften the dirt next to her momentarily, she quickly cut out and shaped it into eight long, sharp shards of hardened earth. Using the available fire that was still sputtering on the skin and fur of the Bearilla, she rapidly surrounded the shards using her Fire affinity, hardening them even further as she levitated them via her Air affinity.
Therefore, when the perfect opportunity presented itself, her eight hardened dirt shards and six more thro
wing spears impacted its more vulnerable-looking chest, sinking deeper than they had previously. But not deep enough.
Six inches might sound like enough penetration, but when the outer layer of its skin was half that, they only managed to affect the muscle tissue underneath instead of puncturing anything vital. Blood ran down its pectoral muscles, painting the front of the Bearilla red; as a result, the additional wounds only made it appear even more terrifying.
After the moderately successful attack, the massive monkey-bear became enraged. It tore the Quassassin it had caught in half, discarding the two halves quickly before ripping everything sticking out of its chest and negligently tossing the projectiles in their direction. If it had actually aimed, it might’ve hit them; as it was, Rosewyn and the D-Ranged Monkey still had to throw themselves out of the way to avoid the hastily thrown objects.
It then turned to the giant lizard still harassing its right leg, where Rosewyn could see that it had taken a good chunk out of its upper leg. It made to grab the quick lizard with both hands, but Rosewyn used some more of her power – while still laid out on the ground after dodging the thrown projectiles – to create a bright orb of light in front of its eyes, effectively blinding it and causing it to miss.
Annoyed and pissed-off, the Bearilla turned away from the lizard and jumped in her direction. However, the wounds to its leg caused its aim to be off; instead of landing on her, it landed near the D-Ranged Monkey. It had reacted so quickly that she wasn’t able to keep the blinding orb of light in its face, so she dismissed it and brought forth a powerful gust of air.
As the Bearilla grabbed for the Monkey, she blasted it backwards, saving her temporary ally from a probable dismemberment and crushing from the powerful hands of the gargantuan monkey-bear. Rosewyn knew she was taking a risk saving the other creature, but after witnessing the sheer strength and power of their opponent, she knew she needed to keep as many allies alive as possible for them to have any hope of winning.
Therefore, she wasn’t surprised when it turned towards her – she could see the rage in its eyes as it focused all its attention on her. She was still on the ground, so she crawled backwards, intent on putting as much space between them while she thought of something else that might work. She put another blinding light in front of its face, but it ignored it and sniffed the air; it didn’t need to see to find out where she was.
It took one more step in her direction when the ground underneath it collapsed.
Chapter 41 – Death and destruction
Rosewyn was probably just as surprised as the Bearilla. She saw it fall into a hole that was as deep as the room would allow: about 25 feet. Although its head was just barely below the surface, it couldn’t climb out yet; it was immediately assaulted by the denizens of the dirt below.
She hadn’t been keeping an eye on them during the battle, but the badger-type beasts that Rosewyn and Moxwell had been fighting before they were stopped had been busy. They had dug a massive hole – moving the dirt into the tunnels they had previously made – and left enough of a cover up top to ensure that Rosewyn and the other allies didn’t inadvertently collapse it. However, when the weight of the gigantic Bearilla crossed over, it broke through the relatively thin layer of dirt and fell inside.
Where the creatures were waiting.
Their claws could cut through stone with ease, so it was no surprise when they inflicted massive damage on the surprised monkey-bear. At least, their initial attack gouged out large chunks of skin and fur, exposing much of its musculature in the process. Once the Bearilla recovered – and it gained its bearings quickly – it started to wail at the pesky creatures with its closed hands. They didn’t move that fast, so within seconds they had all been pounded flat, squished beneath the powerful fists.
All except the largest of them, which was almost ten times the size of the others. It had done the most damage, slicing off chunks of the Bearilla’s back, some so deep that bone could be seen underneath. Despite its size, however, three punches were enough to reduce it down to a pile of broken bones, skin, and blood.
All of that only took seconds, which allowed Rosewyn, the remaining giant lizard, and the D-Ranged Monkey to get back to their feet and prepare for their next attack. She started to prepare another round of dirt-shards and made them larger this time so that they would have more weight and force behind them. She was in the middle of hardening them when the huge corpse of the larger badger flew out of the hole, thrown in anger by the Bearilla.
Which easily grabbed the edge of the pit it had fallen in and pulled itself out, although she could see that it was in great pain from the numerous wounds inflicted upon it. As it pulled itself out fully, the monkey-bear received a face-full of throwing spears launched by the D-Ranged Monkey. Most of them landed harmlessly along its shoulders, barely sticking in. However, one was able to hit it in its nose, jamming itself deep inside its nasal cavity.
Her shards were not quite ready yet; she had to watch in dismay as the Bearilla roared in further pain, deafening her with the sheer volume of it and making her lose her concentration as she covered her ears from the pain. Her shards fell to the ground, two of them shattering as the hardening process wasn’t complete and they were still a little brittle.
While she was recovering from the auditory assault, the massive monkey-bear ripped out four of the throwing spears and threw them at the offending Monkey – though this time it took aim. Still, the D-Ranged Monkey was able to avoid two of them by jumping to the side; the other two, however, hit it square in the chest, killing it instantly.
The remaining giant lizard rushed in, capitalizing on the Bearilla’s pain and inflicting additional damage along its back, widening the hole created by the larger badger creature. It was short-lived, though; an enraged backhand sent it crashing into the left-hand wall, where it collapsed into a mound of broken bones and bloody scales.
She was the only one left to fight this thing – unless you counted Brint who was still watching from the exit. With most of her previous attacks a bust, she quickly formed another plan to utilize her dwindling power reserves. First, she needed to—
She ran out of time as the Bearilla ran straight at her; its still-bleeding and near-mortal wounds slowed it down, but not enough to matter. Once it approached within striking distance, she did the only thing she could think of with the time she had.
It was a tremendous waste of power and took all her concentration; however, the enormous monkey-bear was momentarily lifted into the air and was unable to move. Lifting that much weight with her Air affinity, along with trying to counter the Bearilla’s own frantic actions, was too much even for her – it felt like she was trying to bring down one of the moons from the sky. She reached for another super-charged Power Potion Brint had given her, but her power ran out before she could grab it.
She collapsed to her knees, the fatigue from the day and from completely draining her power pool crashing into her all at once. She grabbed the potion and started to drink it, but she knew it would be too late as the monster who had destroyed everyone else landed and was in the process of swinging at her. Her air shield had collapsed with her drainage of power, so not even that would soften the blow.
She braced for the impact when she saw a blur collide with the chest of the Bearilla, the impact so great that it flew backwards almost a dozen feet. As it landed on its back, the ground shook as the giant beast impacted the dirt floor with tremendous force.
And landing on top of the monkey-bear was Moxwell, a discarded throwing spear his salvaged weapon that he jammed straight into its chest with a running start. Nobody moved for a moment, including Rosewyn, who was in the process of draining the rest of the potion she had brought to her lips.
She could feel the power refilling her, the fatigue rapidly dissipating and only leaving the normal tiredness from the day. The Bearilla didn’t move – the spear must’ve penetrated right to its heart. Rosewyn was happy to see her husband and the worry she felt when he was hurt earlier f
aded away. She should’ve known nothing could keep him down.
She smiled at him as he turned in her direction and asked, “Are you ok, my love? Sorry it took me so long, but this bastard really busted me up go—,”
The rest of what he was going to say was literally cut off, as Rosewyn watched in horror as the Bearilla finally shook off Moxwell’s attack. It reached up to the unsuspecting love of her life and grabbed him by the head and legs, and in one swift yank, pulled his head off like it was the cork on a bottle of wine.
Time seemed to slow down, as she watched in shock as the Bearilla discarded his corpse like it was trash. His head was thrown away, bouncing along the ground and coming to a rest near her still-kneeling form.
She stared at his face, the look of surprise still plain to see; his mouth continued to move for another couple of seconds, making involuntary reactions as the brain finally caught up to its current state.
Emptiness swept into her soul, pushing away all her feelings as she waited to die. She wanted to join her love in death, so that they could spend eternity together in the Goddess’ arms. There was no point in going on in this life if she couldn’t do it with Moxwell.
As she waited for the blow to come, she realized that not all her feelings were gone. Rage – accompanied by desires for revenge – built in her chest, quickly overwhelming anything else until all she could think about was killing the monster who took away the one thing that meant anything to her.
Rosewyn looked up and could feel the fury coming out of her eyes as she saw that the Bearilla had picked itself up and was already charging in her direction. She quickly used a third of her power pool to create an exceptionally-strong burst of air, powerful enough that it flung the giant monkey-bear across the room. It slammed into the opposite wall, and she could hear a couple of dull pops as the impact broke a few bones.
That wasn’t enough for her though.
The Quizard Mountains: A Dungeon Core Epic (Station Cores Book 2) Page 28