A vibrating sound akin to a gong, even louder than the roar, sounded out across the valley. Hyde opened his eyes just a crack. In front of him stood the most beautiful thing he had ever, and would ever, lay his eyes on. It was his wife, clad in full orange armor of flame. The plates of the armor shimmered and flickered almost hypnotically.

“Good thing your mages got to me in time.” Gwynneth smiled as she leaned her shoulder on her summoned foxfire shield. “Anything I should know about this… thing?”

“She has some kind of ward that dispels aether.”

“This thing’s a she?”

“Well it was before it turned into… that.”

“Wow, she really let herself go.”

While the beast momentarily recoiled, it launched itself forward attempting to grab Gwynneth. She nimbly sidestepped the monster’s arm and summoned her double ended spear-sword. She drew it across the general’s sinewy muscle.

It bounded backwards and attempted a backhanded swing towards the two, slashing with its tooth it pried from its mouth. Gwynneth used the tooth as a stepping stone and flipped herself into the air. With a downward swing, she buried the head of her spear into the general’s warped skull.

The beast groaned and shook about uncontrollably. It twisted its malformed arm in an attempt to throw her off, dropping its tooth in the process. Gwynneth used the haft of the spear as a spring and launched herself off of the monstrosity. As she landed, she called her spear back to her hand, and cleanly cleaved off one of the monster’s legs.

It slipped over, and began attempting to use its arm to drag itself towards Gwynneth, shrieking as it crawled forward. It reared back its robust arm and aimed a savage punch at Gwynneth. The Atlesian mage didn’t dodge. She didn’t even try to block. She reared back her own arm and met the punch straight on. The beast’s arm exploded in a spray of blood and viscera.

It tumbled backwards, and released a shrill, incessant screech, writhing and thrashing about uncontrollably on the ground. It still attempted to bite with its gaping maw. The intent to kill had still not left this unholy shell of what was once human.

Gwynneth shouldered her spear and looked down on what was left of the beast. “You almost killed my husband you know? You can’t really blame me for being just a little bit mad, can you?”

The general continued to screech and bite at the Atlesian mages.

Gwynneth dismissed her spear and summoned a hammer. She raised her weapon and crushed its chest with a downward swing. “Let’s go, dear,” she said as she turned around. “I need to clean myself. This thing is disgusting.”