Soul of a Human

The fight entered the final phase, and the antlered monstrosity hurt and exhausted. It did conduct itself admirably, wounding every combatant at least once, and with its escape route closed off, it was driven into a frenzy for its survival. However, fighting with more aggression made its attacks more sloppy, giving the two guardians more leeway in using their shields. In a last desperate move, the monstrosity let out a roar full of despair and anger. This ability is known to the local veterans, and asking them would have revealed its effect. However, it wasn't in the spirit of the first hunt to tell.

Mor and his human counterpart were watching the fight, dropping some quiet comments between each other, but when the roar bellowed through the forest, a shudder ran down Mor's spine.

°What's wrong?° The human asked.

°Hopefully nothing bad. That roar was no simple cry. It was a big emission of magic energy.° Mor stated.

°You mean like casting a big spell?° The human asked.

°Indeed, and they have no scout watching the area, while we didn't think to do it, as we stayed hidden.° Mor said.

°So, a monstrosity could come looking and get into the fight.° The human said.

"They almost have it. That roar was loud and full of pain." Jorgen stated appreciatively.

"Too bad, then there is nothing left for us." Titania pouted.

As the other three squabbled quietly, Mor interrupted them with an urgent whisper.

"Elly, get surveying the surroundings. That was no simple roar but a ton of released magic."

Elly grew serious and nodded, vanishing quickly. Jorgen and Titania also gripped their weapons tighter and got ready to act at a moment's notice. Mor thought for a second to call out to Thor but reasoned that distracting the fighting Ice-kin would do more harm than good. However, Jorgen had no such reservations or insights and did just that.

"Thor, finish it up! It might have called for help!" The Ice-kin shouted.

"Shut up, Jorgen! You're just jealous that we almost killed it!" Thor shouted back.

"Am not! That yell was magic!" Jorgen argued.

"And how would you know?" Came the annoyed retort.

"Mor said so," Jorgen stated, and Thor stopped fighting for the shortest moment to throw Jorgen a flat look.

However, in this frenzied stage of the fight, this was time enough, and the antler-whip of the raging monstrosity found its mark on Thor's leg. The thorns ripped a gruesome wound on the thigh, forcing Thor to one knee, howling in pain.

"You idiot! Now get going and help them." Mor chided Jorgen as he charged.

"No," Thor said, fighting through the pain and continuing the fight.

Jorgen had a mixture of a sour and embarrassed face but held his position while also holding Mor back. Helping another hunter team might be a good thing to do at normal times, but in this test and with all that was between the two boys, their honor and pride would not allow it.

"Don't. He made his decision." Jorgen said quietly to an incredulous-looking Mor.

Mor wanted to protest, but a scared Elly returned to them and informed them of what she had seen.

"Thor!" Mor shouted. "We need to get away! Something worse is coming!"

However, instead of acknowledging Thor, Mor and his team decided to finish their fight and ignore the Soul-kin, who had no reason to be there at all. Mor looked at his team, and they faltered as they couldn't decide whether to run or intervene. In the end, the decision was made for them, as something big broke through the brush.

It had a muscular body, with a quadrupedal gate, its shoulder height at four meters, the head of a canine, and two horns poking out from the head. The giant new threat charged in on the fight, piercing the other monstrosity with its horns, inflicting grievous wounds, and ending the weekend deer-elk. As it charged, one of its oversized paws crushed down on one of the guardians, pressing him into the ground between shield and ground, popping the young hunter like an overripe fruit in a press.

Everyone stared in shock as the monstrosity stood proudly, howling loudly into the forest, shaking the surroundings in turn. Elly was the first to regain her composure and let out a panicked scream.

"Run!" She instantly did just that, but to her dismay, only Mor followed her for a few steps.

Jorgen looked, fear and excitement fighting as he licked his dry lips, contemplating whether he should fight or run. On one hand, it was what he wanted to hunt. On the other hand, it was so much more. Still, with Titania standing next to him, giving him a grim nod, he needed to try, no, he wanted to try.

"Jorgen!" Elly shouted. "Run, we can't fight this!"

"We're killing it!" Thor answered instead. "It killed Jared." The other two of his remaining team of three nodded in grim determination.

"You stubborn!" Elly started. "It's clearly an alpha! Look at it. It's much bigger!"

Mor put his hand on Elly's shoulder. "You're right. But it's too late. We can't outrun it anymore. The moment has passed."

"You too?" Elly said, her voice trembling with fear.

"No. I agree we need to fight, but only long enough to get away." Mor said, then sighed.

"However, the others might see it differently."

Just as his words had left his mouth, the five Ice-kin started their simultaneous attack, all of them hitting, as the monstrosity had dismissed them as threats. However, their attacks changed this, the alpha howler invoking the ability that gave its species its name. It howled, loud and strong, one paw standing on the carcass of the other monstrosity as if claiming it as its prize.

The loud howl stunned everyone close by. Thor's attacker buddy, they knew as Doron fell to his knees and clutched his ears. His two-handed ax cluttered to the ground as the monstrosity turned around faster than it should have for its size. With a sickening crunch, Doron's head vanished into the maw of the alpha, leaving a headless corpse. Still, this attack had opened its back to a retaliatory strike from Jorgen and Thor, inflicting shallow wounds on the monstrosity's back legs. Titania steadied herself and pushed as much power into her shield as she could, drawing the attention of the other guardian, Stren, doing the same. The two guardians placed themselves on opposite sides of the monstrosity, trying to confuse it and simultaneously pull the attention to two points.

With the formation in place, the fight is finally able to start for real, much to Elly's despair.