Cries for help filled the air as Mari ran from the small mountain village faster than a mortal's legs could carry her. Tears streaming from her eyes were blown free from the wind hitting her stinging face. The wind, the pain behind the tears, the rocks along the ground, and the foliage scraping against her skin all stung to her soul. Her body was weary. She gave everything to the fight. She saved many of the villagers' lives from the wolf-like beast attacking them tonight, but in the end she turned away from them. In the end she ran. She left her family behind as she sprinted away with no care for her heading. How long had it been since they arrived in the village. How long since she saw the other hunters near death or worse from fighting that beast? Her thoughts were so different when this night began. She was excited to be on a hunt alone with her father. Her brothers were away on a mission of their own, and this late night request could only be answered by them. She was ready to live up to her nickname, prodigy. She was ready to save lives. The two of them were in perfect sink as the fighting began. Her father using his magical spear, and her using her umbrella kept the beast at bay. That was the job. To keep the villagers safe, and the beast contained until help arrived. Everything was going to plan, until the second Fren arrived. This wolf-like beast, considerably larger than the first, carried three men from its mouth. Slowly it strolled in taking its place along its smaller companion. Slowly the men came into view. Mari recognized Kai, Micah, and Roman immediately once the Fren grew close enough for her keen eyes. The rest was a blur of panic and pain. Dropping her guard to break formation nearly got her father killed. She abandoned her training at that moment as she rushed the larger beast holding her brothers. This entire night was a set up. This was a trap meant for her family. The famed monster hunters of the Ember Mountains were now the hunted. Mari shuttered to think of how long her strong brave brothers had been carried in that things filthy mouth. Rage consumed her. She could only imagine the wounds they suffered to be so helpless in its maw. With swiftness she had never known she rushed the larger beast. Leaving her father to fight the smaller Fren on his own. Her father made the family proud that day. He remained calm as he landed blow after blow with the magical spear. Keeping the monster at bay long enough for her to squeeze through and reach her siblings was all he could do for her. Somewhere deep in the back of her mind she wondered why he didn't try and stop her. Perhaps he couldn't stop her.
As Mari approached the beast she watched as it viciously flung her brothers from its maw. No, Roman remained in its mouth as it squared up with its newest threat. She had no doubt this was an alpha. This was an old monster. To have grown so large required lifetimes of blood and death she knew from her studies. She didn't care what her chances were. She would die to save her family. She had long since made peace with this fact. Her umbrella, a unique weapon full of lethal edges, extended itself twenty feet in its direction. The spiked tip nearly striking the beast hide before a razor sharp claw deflected it away. Retracting back to her she spun through the air towards the monster. Her umbrella unfolded with each edge, sharpened to deadly precision, aimed at the thing before her. This attack struck true. The pendant on her neck pulsing with a cool mist seemed to power her thrust and swings like a battery. She could feel herself growing stronger second by second. Her legs now faster than before gave her footing for each acrobatic stab at the Fren. Careful only to avoid her brother with each swipe of the unorthodox weapon. With unnatural speed Mari rounded on the monster. Leaping into the air avoiding a slash of its deadly claws she lands straddling the wolf's neck. Instinct takes over. Her muscles bulge. Her enlarged legs wrap around the beast's neck and squeeze. Squeezing with every ounce of strength she possesses in her legs nearly drains her. The necklace pulses with cooling mist again fortifying her somehow. Her arms and hands hook under the beast head, and she pulls back with every muscle fiber in her arms. She could feel her body tear from the strain but she kept pulling. In that moment she squeezed with every bit of pain she had ever felt. She squeezed until she lost herself. For a moment there was no village. Her father wasn't in the fight of his life. At that moment her brothers weren't in danger. All she had to do was squeeze. When she looked down the beast's neck had been torn off, and she had fallen to the ground below. Her two brothers lay a few feet away, but Roman remained in the beast's mouth. Covered in blood she went to her dearest sibling to save him, but recoiled when she saw the wounds. The smell of his rotting body sickened her. Maggots squirmed around his face and open mouth. Puke came out instantly. Tears followed uncontrollably from her eyes. Roman had been dead before the fight even began. Her body convulsed from the fight, shock, or pain she couldn't tell. Perhaps all of them forced her to shake this way. The vomit flowing onto her body and Roman alike. Her father, fending off the smaller monster waiting on help to arrive, nearly faltered as her scream filled the village air. She could do nothing else. She forced herself to stand, and her legs began running. Faster and faster they carried her into the woods surrounding the village. With each step her cries shrieked intensely, echoing in the dark. Roman was dead, and she would never be the same.