The Batrachia towers over the three fighters at an impressive three meters. Its round, stout body was layered with debris and a thick, viscous coating. Its mouth was a large portion of its body; the other portions were thick, short legs and small arms. 

The beast stared at its targets, emitting bestial snorts and snarls, smoke blowing out of its nostrils with each breath. Cyrene, Gideon, and Zafir clutched their weapons, their bodies tensing as the beast scraped its big feet across the red dirt; the space between its toes quickly gathering heaps of dirt. 

It began with a brutish, lopsided charge towards its fighters, an attack that was easily dodged when the three split off in different directions; Zafir broke into a sprint in another direction, Gideon jumped atop a pile of rubble, and Cyrene veered into the nearest abandoned building. The Batrachia sloppily breaks its momentum, stomping multiple times against the ground. 

DOOSH-DOOSH DOOSH-DOOSH DOOSH-DOOSH

It darts toward its weakest target, Zafir. 

Zafir checks behind him and sees that the Batrachia has turned its attention to him, and that the creature ended up slipping, rolling into a ball, and fastly approaching. Before the Batrachia could get any closer, a net of tendrils encases its body, and Gideon pulls against it to slow its moment. Zafir notices Gideon’s aid and turns to face the Batrachia. With its slowed momentum, Zafir lunges its sword into the ball.

EERGH

The beast groans, reverting from its ball form. It stands on its feet and wildly blasts fire around it, forcing Gideon to retract his tendrils and making Zafir go on the defensive. Zafir holds his sword up to cover himself from the flames, but the pyres strike him, burning him across his body.

“AARGHK!” 

Zafir is sent flying backwards, and the monster continues his pursuit of him. Cyrene follows swiftly, leaping from adjacent buildings to the next, catching up to the target. While the huntress is sprinting, she takes her sword and launches it toward the beast.

SWOOSH

It propels through the air and lands against the beast's ankle, tripping it and causing it to stumble and fall. It rolls against the floor but quickly gets up and spots the huntress atop.  

GRRRAUGH-THOOP

It sneezes a gust of flames towards her, the fire burning through Gideon’s tendrils, but she evades it by jumping to the next building. The Batrachia continues; it sneezes repeated flames, projectiles that the huntress had no issue dodging. She jumped from debris and buildings that inched her closer to her target, until eventually she reached one final platform. The Batrachia shoots another gust of flame, but Cyrene leaps over it. She spins her sword in her hand once more and dives toward the beast. 

“HAAAAAURGH!” 

SCHWING

She strikes down at the monster, but the beast catches her blade with its teeth. She stands on the Batrachia’s massive pointy teeth, her sword etched between its gums. She glares wide-eyed at the beast, who is vibrating, a torrent of smoke charging in its mouth. The Batrachia turns its body in one direction, then whips it in another. 

WHOOSH

The force of the whiplash sends the huntress flying diagonally towards a building, her body flailing about as she is violently rocketed toward the structure.  

“AAAAUGH!”

Her body cuts through the air. Before she impacts the building, tendrils shoot through the air once more, and Gideon swoops in, catching her by her hand. Cyrene, her eyes shut, notices her momentum has ceased. She opens her eyes and looks up to see  Gideon, his tendrils attached to a taller building in the distance. 

“I’ve got you!”  

Cyrene looks down from her elevated position. She spots The Batrachia's mouth welded into the ground. 

“What the…?” 

Gideon turns to her. 

“What is the matter?” 

The Batrachia aims its body upward with a mouthful of red dirt, its throat growing ever hotter. 

GRRRAUGH-THOOP

It shoots a fireball skyward, aiming to snipe the two from the air. The first fireball nearly connects with its target. 

“WOAH!” Cyrene gasped. 

The Batrachia quickly scoops up more dirt and spits it back. 

GRRRRAUGH- THOOP! GRRRRAUGH- THOOP! GRRRRAUGH- THOOP!

The Batrachia launches an onslaught of fireballs, each one getting closer to them. 

GRRRRAUGH-THOOP!

Another fireball’s trajectory aims to connect with the huntress. Although panicked, she quickly summons her sword.

“RRRAUGH!” 

She slashes the ball of fire vertically. While the blunt force of the attack is negated, the lingering wisps of the pyro slightly burn her and Gideon. 

“Urk…!”

The blaze partially burns and blinds the two, forcing them to shield themselves. 

GRRRRAUGH- THOOP!

The Batrachia shoots another fireball, its projectiles colliding with Gideon’s tendril.

“AURGH!”

Gideon is burned, forcing him to retract his tendrils, now sending the two falling from on high. The Batrachia welds its mouth into the dirt once more, looking to catch them in mid-air. It stuffs red dirt into its jowls.

GRRRAUGH-

From beneath the monster’s vision, Zafir appears, his sword piercing through the bottom of the beast's mouth.

GAAAAUGH

The fireball misses its target completely, shooting off into the distance, leaving the two to crash on the remnants of a tall highway. This allows them an, albeit uncomfortable, less lethal fall. They crash onto the structure’s roof, their bodies tumbling and sliding against the concrete; Cyrene lands face down, and Gideon lands face up. 

Gideon struggles on the ground. He is the first to arise. Lying down, he pushes himself up slightly with his hands and leans on his elbow.

“This is looking more like the Bulimik again,” he sighs. “Possibly worse… and truth be told, I am not happy about that…” 

He turns his attention to Cyrene, who is also getting off the floor. 

“Are you alright?” Gideon asks, swiftly approaching her. 

Cyrene pushes herself off the ground, but she is panting. She was sweating, and she could feel her heart attempting to rip out of her chest. Her gaze was empty, blurred, and filled with dread, a dizzying headache plaguing her. Gideon bends to his knee and places his hand on her shoulder. 

“Cyrene, are you hurt? What ails you?” 

She aims her head toward him; Gideon wears a look of concern. Cyrene catches her breath and swallows her saliva. 

“I’m…” 

Her eyes stray away from his own before coming back to them once more. 

“I’m okay…!” Cyrene nods reluctantly. 

By Gideon’s expression, he did not seem to be convinced. 

“Truly…?” 

Cyrene nods somewhat. 

“Y-yeah… I don’t wanna repeat of last time we fought one of these crazy things. I-if you wanna bow out, I’m ready and willing to listen this time…” 

Gideon shakes his head. 

“As much as I welcome the idea, I must decline. I cannot allow Zafir to fend for himself. Though if you do not feel fit for the task, you should depart and check on your brother.” 

“N-no!” 

Cyrene shakes her head and gradually stands on her two feet. 

“You’re right… he needs our help.”

Cyrene walks to the edge of the highway, and she sees Zafir fighting and dodging the clunky attacks of the Batrachia. She turns her attention back to Gideon, who walks to her side. 

“Let’s get back down there!” 

Gideon smiles and nods. 

Gideon crafts a net of tendrils as a path that leads back to the fight. 

“Come. Back to the fray!” 

As Gideon is the first to speedily descend the ensemble of his own tendrils, Cyrene follows a ways behind, a great trepidation in her heart.