The slow ride through town proved enlightening. Burned out buildings, broken windows, and rubble were visible everywhere. There was a quiet emptiness to the town. Not even birds flew in the sky.

Every now and then, Scott caught someone peaking at them through their curtains but there were no other signs of life. “It’s like the tomb,” he said softly.

The driver did not recognize his words as a reference to anything and inferred something else. “Yeah, it’ll be busier tonight. Looters are bound to try their luck even with monsters running around.”

Scott nodded, but said nothing. The current state of the city spoke far more eloquently about the situation than he might.

A few minutes into the drive, the car swerved skidded tires and swerved hard to try to avoid a collision with a horned bear that had suddenly leapt from the alley between two buildings. It was not enough. The occupants of the patrol car cried out in surprise as the giant bear barreled into the side of the vehicle. It dented the driver’s side door and crushed the car against a metal pole.

“Shit! Call it in!” screamed the driver.

Powerful claws ripped into the roof of the vehicle and began to tear it away. The officers could do nothing. They were both trapped in the car.

The other officer radioed headquarters with shaky words and trembling hands. Thirty-two! It was a level thirty-two Horned Bear!

The driver drew back from the window in an effort to get away from the slavering jaws of the oversized beast. The bear tried to worm his head into the car, much like Winnie the Pooh might try to get the last drop of honey from a jar. Silly old bear.

The car was rocked by the massive creature as it tried repeatedly to get inside. However, just as suddenly as it had started, the attack came to an end. The bear screamed in fright then backed away as though it were terrified of something.

The blazing light in Scott’s eyes died down before the police noticed, but that did not matter. He opened his door and climbed out of the car.

“Get back inside! We need to wait for the militia!” cried the driver.

“Sorry. I can’t let that thing run loose,” he said simply. “Sonja. Look after these two, please?”

“Sure, master,” she replied.

The officers blinked stupidly then looked at each other. Exactly what was happening here?

Scott took off after the bear at high speed. The officers were stunned by the display and could say nothing.

Once he was out of sight, he shifted into his midnight shadow form then drifted into the air. He surveyed the area then streamed toward the fleeing bear. His aura sent it into a desperate frenzy of speed. He ran it through the streets and then out into a field outside of town.

He changed into his dragon form then glided down toward the fleeing beast, mouth wide. Black mist interspersed with red lightning formed inside his open maw. As he swooped over the beast, he strafed its back with dragon fire.

Scott angled his wings in an effort to try and catch the wind, but he was simply too heavy. He would not be able to make another pass at the moment. However, he landed sooner than he had wanted due to a sudden wracking pain that overtook him. In his zeal, he’d forgotten his lack of life force. Using his dragon breath had cost him.

The bear, now on fire, roared and rolled around desperately in an attempt to put out its burning fur. It was a powerful monster to be certain, but it had the unfortunate experience of meeting something far more formidable.

He wanted to keep his distance, not wanting to test his physical strength against the massive beast while hampered by his wounds. It wasn’t possible. So, he rushed in and leapt atop the monster. He bit down on his neck and tore at it with his claws in a way reminiscent of a hunting cat.

The bear’s pelt was thick. Its muscles were like iron. Even for a dragon it was hard to break through such defenses. It made sense that the police wanted to wait for the militia to gather. This thing was basically a boss monster level threat for the town.

Whenever the bear began to recover, his blasted it with his aura. He kept it terrified and confused throughout the lengthy and brutal fight. Whenever it desperately tried to roll over and crush him with its bulk, he would turn into his shadow form and terrify it even more by suddenly reappearing only to rip into it once more.

The creature’s monstrously large pool of life force took a while to tear through, several minutes in fact. Eventually, however, the creature succumbed to the inevitable.

Scott savored the tangy flavor of victory then sank his teeth into the corpse of his prey. While he snacked, he gathered the loot that dropped. The corpse itself would possibly prove useful, but he was not sure if he would be able to take it with him. The horns broke off of their own accord and would prove useful he was certain. He also gained hell bear claws, fat, a few pounds of meat, and a one square yard of material labeled as a pelt.

He had just managed to gather his loot when the sound of sirens, many sirens, approached. He peeked up at the incoming squad cars then growled. A reptilian thought entered his brain. ‘My meat!’

A more sensible portion of his mind understood that he would be seen as a monster and hunted. He did not want to have to fight the militia, or explain himself, so he started to shift into his shadow form. He planned to dive into the ground. However, something ridiculous happened. The ground began to shake. Several police officers and men dressed like hunters fell on their ass as a massive worm ripped up from the ground.

He heard one of them shout, “Holy shit!” even as another man cried out, “Where’s Burt Gummer when you need him?”

The worm dove forward and ripped back into the ground. It rushed through the dirt in search of the bear corpse.

Scott unleashed his aura. The worm ripped up through the ground again then flailed its feelers around like tentacles. It turned and dove back into the ground then headed for the men.

“Back to the street! Find high ground!” shouted a familiar voice.

Scott squinted then stared in shock. It was the sheriff. Originally, he had intended to let the militia handle the worm if possible. He could have driven it from the area, and they would have chased it down. His secret would have been kept safe for a little while longer and the monster would have been dealt with by the posse.

“Screw it,” he whispered.

Scott shifted into his human form and ran out from behind the monster corpse. Bruised and bloody, he rushed up to the worm.

“No! There’s someone out there!” cried one of the militia men from the top of his truck. “Run you idjit!”

Without his aura active the worm could not determine what Scott was, so it turned on him. It ripped out of the ground at high speed and bore down on him. The thing’s open maw was easily large enough to swallow a truck. Thinking quickly, if absurdly, he allowed the creature to swallow him whole as it dived into the ground.

Scott instantly turned into his shadow form and unleashed his aura from inside the beast. Naturally, it went crazy. It did not know where to turn. It wriggled and rolled through the ground while the shadow tormented it to the point of insanity.

It burst out of the ground once more then collapsed on the dirt. Stunned to the point of incomprehension, it could do nothing to prevent what came next. The shadow flowed out of it and reformed into a dragon. Scott, hidden from the sight of the onlookers by the sheer bulk of the beast, clawed into its rocky flesh. It was tough and leathery, but not as strong as the bear, and he was able to make short work of it. The gigas worm was only level four for its species. A serious threat for the unwary, maybe even for something like the hell bear if it were caught out in open country, but its tough flesh parted like butter before his claws.

By the time that the men began to take the initiative to go check the beast, it was dead. Before they arrived, he tested a theory then made certain to cover himself in worm gore and collected a few bits and pieces of loot. He leapt up then climbed atop the worm with a blood-drenched bear horn in hand.

“You hold it right there!” called one of the militiamen.

Scott glanced at him; one eyebrow quirked. In a flat tone, and with an even flatter expression, he asked, “Really?”

“Yes! Don’t move!” said the man. We waved his rifle around shakily, but he did not point it at anyone. He still maintained that level of sense.

“No…” said the sheriff. “Scott? Is that you son?”

“Sheriff Payne,” said Scott. He inclined his head then sighed. This was going to take a bit of explaining. Though, he hoped that he managed to keep anyone from discovering too much about him. The secret was out in the dream world, but he was not ready to out himself in the waking world if it was at all possible.