It all happened so fast, faster than Larsa could believe. The winged creature dove downwards and locked onto its target. It was an eerily silent action, one that even advanced aircraft had long struggled to achieve.

  Larsa reached out her hand toward Ilja, whose back was turned and unaware of the danger heading straight towards him. Before she could open her mouth, disaster struck.

  The monster brought up its taloned feet and crashed into Ilja, pinning him to the ground! Already, the sharp hooks had torn through the rear of his shirt and dug into him, blood leaking out of the wounds.

  “F-FUCK!”

  Ilja struggled from underneath the monster standing on him, agony clearly etched on his face. It was to no avail; it'd be a tough ask for him to force the beast off in his peak condition, let alone after the gruelling battle they had just endured with the Sasquatch.

  The monster turned its head toward Larsa and the grounded Holly. It had a noticeable feminine appearance in its torso and face that bridged into white wings where human arms would be, and sharp, taloned legs like an eagle's.

  “It's a Harpy!” Larsa realized.

  The Harpy’s eyes sharpened into thin slits, and she opened her mouth to reveal razor-sharp teeth.

  “You humans must still be quite wet behind the ears to assume you were safe from an ambush in your weakened states.”

  Larsa tensed as she once again grasped her sword in her hands. This was the first time she was face-to-face with a monster capable of speech, and already she could feel a different atmosphere surrounding the bird-like beast than the Hydra or Sasquatch, something more measured and cerebral.

  “The commotion was so loud I just couldn't help but overhear from my temporary nesting ground. It seems I'll have to relocate sooner than I thought if humans and hairy brutes are already making their way here.”

  “Let him go!”

  The Harpy gave a bemused smirk at Larsa’s order, shaking her head mockingly.

  “Pray tell, why would I do that? Although…”

  The Harpy glanced down at Ilja, his struggles having now ceased, then back to Larsa, whose arms were already giving off a light azure glow.

  “Seeing as you are the only one of your little posse in fighting condition, I could be swayed if you tossed your blade to the side.”

  Larsa hesitated, her hands forfeiting some slack on the handle of her weapon as she considered the offer. Holly gripped her ankle, snapping her back to reality. The Ice mage breathed heavily on the ground, her broken limb causing even this action to exhaust her.

  “Don’t, Larsa, she’ll kill all of us anyway. Remember what the High Priest said? Monsters speak nothing except lies!”

  The Harpy scoffed, annoyance spreading across her face as she brought her right wing down to the side of her hip. It was such a human body expression that Larsa felt immediately unnerved.

  “Is that what the leaders of you scum say? We're all liars? Although I suppose in my case it's true.”

  A sharp-toothed grin stretched across her features, her tongue tracing the top of her canines.

  “I'll tear you all apart and feast on your bones!”

  The Harpy dislodged her left talon from the Russian man's back and prepared to stomp his skull in. Larsa began running forward, but there was too much distance for her to stop the attack.

  “COVER YOUR EYES!”

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  Ilja grasped in his hand a small metallic object, and he had inserted high-grade earplugs amidst the failed negotiation. Larsa shielded her face with the crook of her arm as an explosion of light and sound erupted into the air!

  The flashbang stunned the Harpy, sending her stumbling backwards in a daze, finally freeing Ilja from his position beneath her!

  While Larsa also felt the effects, her ears were ringing something fierce; she had enough of her bearings to continue her rush toward her avian foe and swing her sword in a downward slash, aiming to cleave the Harpy in two!

  The monster raised her wings to shield herself, having regained focus far quicker than a human would from a similar experience.

  Larsa was confident she would break through the feathered appendages with ease. They had a much more fragile appearance than the thick tree stump of a neck that the Yowie she had just slain possessed. Still, she held nothing back, pouring as much enhancement magic into her weapon as she could muster.

  They clashed, and to the human’s surprise, there was no give in the limbs! In fact, they had taken a midnight black colouration and held firm!

  The earth beneath them sank slightly, forming a shallow crater. The azure sword and black wings struggled against one another for a few seconds before the Harpy pushed Larsa back enough to create space for her to hop backwards.

  The monster flapped her now-normal wings and left the ground, hovering fifteen feet above Larsa.

  “You humans aren't the only ones that have unique abilities in each individual of their species. It was with those darkened wings that I earned the name ‘Sugra The Unbreakable.’ Even a Golem can't replicate the sturdiness that my feathers can be imbued with!”

  Larsa grimaced. A defensive force that could match her raw power, this was looking more dire by the minute.

  Ilja, meanwhile, had hobbled over to Holly, a series of nasty lacerations visibly soaking blood into his ripped shirt. He swore under his breath before turning around, preparing to manifest a weapon.

  “Ilja, get Holly and yourself to safety right now!”

  “No, I-”

  “I’m not going to argue with you! I'll handle this on my own, just get the hell out of here!”

  Ilja reluctantly picked up Holly in a fireman's carry, carefully ensuring her broken leg wasn't making contact with him or being pressured in any way. He still turned his head back and forth a few times before making hurried steps away from the ensuing battle.

  Sugra began to glide towards the retreating humans, but only managed a few feet before a slash of energy in projectile form whizzed by her, halting the Harpy in her tracks.

  “This is between you and me now. You turn your back on me in pursuit of them, and those fancy black wings won’t save you.”

  The Harpy chuckled maliciously.

  “What a shame my first taste of human flesh will be so noble, I doubt the next meals will be anywhere near as flavourful.”

  Larsa didn't hesitate. In an instant, she enhanced her legs and leaped upward towards her foe. She swung her sword, but it was blocked by Sugra’s left wing, which turned black once again.

  As the human hunter was brought down by gravity, her eyes picked up on the fact that the Harpy had also dipped slightly downward before her wing returned to its natural white.

  “She can’t fly while her feathers are hardened, good to know.”

  Larsa threw a few more slashes of energy, which Sugra weaved between gracefully. The winged beast took the next opportunity to dive bomb at her foe, although unlike the unprepared Ilja, Larsa was able to block the talons with the flat of her sword!

  The Harpy kept pushing forward, flapping her wings furiously and picking up continued momentum, propelling Larsa backward at a breakneck pace until she collided with the base of Ayers Rock!

  She winced in pain, but didn't have much time to think before Sugra leaned forward, teeth bared as she planned to take a literal bite out of the human while her weapon was pinned!

  In one of the more straightforward moves she had come up with, Larsa met the Harpy with an enhanced headbutt, and a loud cracking sound echoed!

  Sugra’s head recoiled backward, and blood leaked out of her nostrils. A few of her teeth had also been knocked free of her maw before new ones instantly grew in their place.

  The monster snarled, her semi-playful facade completely dropped as she began dragging Larsa up the side of the massive monolith, sediment flying free from the action!

  Once they were about halfway up the landmark, Sugra released her hold and let Larsa fall!

  Thinking fast to avoid the end of a thousand-foot drop, Larsa stuck her broadsword into the side of the mountain and lost speed at a rate rapidly enough that when her feet touched down on solid ground, the force exerted on her legs was only about as much as a casual jump from a trampoline.

  Sugra glowered down at the human. This was already proving more troublesome than she had foreseen when choosing to take advantage of the clearly exhausted party. She circled overhead, preparing for another dive.

  Larsa dislodged her blade from the stone and prepared to intercept the monster once more, her breathing slowly steadying despite the adrenaline racing through her, making her heart pound like a drum.

  ————————

  Ilja set Holly down gently. The two had made it out of viewing distance of Larsa and Sugra’s battle. In his hands, Ilja formed a long tarp that was the same hue and texture as the landscape around them.

  “I…thought you could only form weapons?” Holly inquired weakly.

  “So did I. This is the first time I've created anything that wasn't made to help with killing. It must be a good thing that I'm surprising myself as well.”

  He tossed the tarp over her up to her midsection; a view from above would make her appear as just a floating head.

  “Cover yourself up in that, you should be pretty much invisible.”

  He turned away from her and started to limp back the way they came.

  “What are you doing?” It was a rhetorical question by all means; it was obvious what he intended to do.

  “I'm going to help the American blow that bird bitch out of the sky, is what I'm doing. Can’t let her take all the glory.”

  Holly’s eyes narrowed to focus on the gashes from when the Harpy had tackled him to the ground, the splotches of dirt and the awkward limp he still carried after being buried alive. She sighed. There was nothing she could do to stop him; it was clear he had made up his mind from the moment he started carrying her to safety.

  “J-Just…don't die…”

  “I don't intend to.”

  Ilja began his determined march back towards Ayers Rock, with only one thing on his mind.

  “I'm not leaving anyone behind, never again.”