The trees began to fall before they could even see the creature. One disappeared into the vegetation with a deafening crack, then another, and finally a third. The smaller animals changed direction to get away from whatever was advancing toward the settlement.
Lilith quickly returned to the wall alongside Claire and Evelyn. The inhabitants prepared their bows while several mages took positions around the defensive symbols. Mara shouted orders to reinforce the eastern entrance, but Evelyn shook her head as soon as she saw where the treetops were moving.
"It's not heading for the gate." She pointed toward a section farther north. "It's going to break through the wall." Lilith followed the direction and understood the problem. The creature was not trying to attack the settlement either. The village was simply standing directly in its path.
The beast finally appeared between the trees. Lilith had seen enormous creatures since arriving in that world, but this one was larger than anything she had directly faced.
It walked on four legs, and its body was covered by a combination of gray fur and black plates. It had two enormous horns curving forward and a jaw large enough to bite a person in half. It was almost as tall as the wall.
Several arrows immediately flew toward it. Most became trapped in the fur or bounced off the plates. The creature did not even slow down. Claire watched it approach. "That's going to hurt." Lilith looked at the section of wall behind them. If that monster struck it at full speed, it probably would not be the only thing getting hurt.
The defensive symbols lit up and a yellowish barrier appeared in front of the wall just as the creature charged. The impact produced a sound like an explosion. The barrier held for a second before glowing cracks spread across it. The inhabitants stepped back.
Evelyn grabbed Lilith by the arm. "Down!" The three of them jumped toward a lower platform as the creature struck again. The barrier shattered and one of its horns pierced through the outer logs.
Lilith landed and immediately reinforced her legs with blood magic. "We need to make it turn." Claire looked at the size of the beast. "Excellent idea. How?" Lilith drew her sword. "I'm still working on that part."
Evelyn was the first to act. She ran along the platform and used a rope to descend toward an exterior structure. She pulled out her bow while moving and fired toward the creature's face. The first arrow bounced off a plate. The second struck a soft area beside its snout.
The monster turned its head toward her. "Evelyn!" Claire shouted. Evelyn was already running. "You wanted it to turn!" The creature temporarily abandoned the wall and swung one of its legs toward the platform. Evelyn jumped before the impact and rolled across the ground.
Lilith immediately understood what she was trying to do. If they could keep its attention away from the settlement, they might be able to guide it south.
Claire descended behind Lilith. "We can't kill it by hitting those plates." Lilith studied the monster. There were visible gaps around the legs and neck, but they were too small for a normal sword. She smiled slightly. "Then we won't hit the plates."
She created three small blood needles.
The first struck a joint in the front leg.
The second missed when the creature moved.
The third pierced behind a plate near the neck.
The monster roared and turned toward Lilith.
"It worked," she said.
Claire grabbed her by the shoulder and pulled her aside just as a horn pierced the spot where she had been standing.
"It worked too well."
Evelyn came running back and fired another arrow. "The left leg! It's injured."
Lilith looked more carefully and then noticed something strange. Evelyn was right, but that wound had not been caused by any of them. A massive mark ran across the back of the leg. The skin around it was completely black, as if it had been burned.
She had no time to think.
Claire ran directly toward the creature and struck the injured joint. The beast lost its balance for a moment. Evelyn threw her bow to the ground, drew her sword, and attacked exactly the same spot. Lilith gathered blood around her right arm.
This time, a simple needle would not be enough. She formed a crimson blade around her hand, much shorter than the spear she had used during the attack on the Bastion, and reinforced her legs at the same time.
She ran.
The world seemed to slow down for several seconds.
She jumped onto one of the side plates, used another as a foothold, and reached the neck. The creature tried to shake her off, but Lilith drove the blood blade between two plates.
It was not enough.
She felt the resistance of muscles that were far too thick.
She needed more power.
The crimson blade grew.
The exhaustion appeared immediately.
"Just a little more."
She concentrated the blood into a single point and pushed.
The blade pierced through.
The creature released a roar so powerful that Lilith felt her own bones vibrate. She lost her balance when the monster shook itself and fell several meters. Claire ran toward her, but Lilith reinforced her body before hitting the ground and managed to land on one knee.
"I'm fine," she said before Claire could ask.
Evelyn ran past both of them. "It's not over yet."
The beast was still standing.
Lilith felt a stab of frustration.
Then Claire pointed toward the injured leg.
"Together."
They did not need to explain the plan.
Evelyn attacked first and drove her sword into the black wound. The creature lost its footing. Claire used the movement to make a deep cut behind the joint. Lilith gathered the last amount of blood she was willing to spend and fired a needle much thicker than the previous ones directly into the eye.
The beast fell.
The impact sent dust and leaves flying around them.
For several seconds, no one moved.
Lilith took a deep breath and checked her condition. She was tired, but still perfectly conscious. Much better than after her first serious fight using blood magic.
Evelyn recovered her sword and looked at the corpse.
"That definitely wasn't here a week ago."
Claire approached the injured leg. "Lilith."
There was something in her voice that erased any intention of joking.
Lilith walked toward her.
The wound was enormous.
The flesh around it was burned and completely black. It did not look like normal fire. Small dark lines spread outward from the center like roots beneath the skin.
Evelyn crouched down.
"We didn't do this."
Lilith shook her head.
Then she saw another mark on its side.
And another near the neck.
They were not fresh wounds caused during the battle.
The creature had arrived like that.
The inhabitants began inspecting the other corpses. A man called out from near the wall. Then another did the same.
Lilith, Claire, and Evelyn approached.
One of the smaller monsters had a black burn running across its back.
Another had three deep cuts along its side, far too clean to have been caused by claws.
A third had part of one plate completely melted.
Evelyn stopped looking at the corpses and turned her eyes toward the north.
"They were injured before they arrived."
Claire slowly cleaned her sword.
"Then we know why they're running."
Lilith looked toward the dark forest.
Not exactly.
They knew something was attacking them.
But they still did not know what.
Far away, well beyond the trees, a black glow appeared between the mountains for barely a second.
Lilith managed to see it.
And then it disappeared.