The forest’s animals screamed and fled as the rakshasi slammed Jayaka through the cabin wall. The cacophonous crash of shattering hardwood forced Lucia to flinch. When she regained her focus, she ran to the gaping hole in the wall and looked outside to see Jayaka land on his back, with his legs being the only thing keeping the monster off of him. With a mighty kick, he pushed the rakshasi off of him and sent her flying into a nearby bush.

“Told ya so!” shouted Lucia, cupping her hands in front of her mouth.

“You only told me after we had entered her abode!” Jayaka shouted back as he rose to his feet.

“Oh come on, it was obvious! I didn’t actually have to say a thing! But more importantly, how the hell are you still standing after that?”

“There is more to prana than empowering only your attacks.”

Before the two could continue their conversation, Jayaka heard a squeal come from the shrubbery behind him. A large boar with a thick layer of prickly brown fur and elongated ivory-white tusks charged out of the underbrush, right towards the man at a breakneck pace. Jayaka jumped out of its way several times at an equally supernatural speed by the time Lucia exited from the cabin’s front door. When he realized that the animal wasn’t slowing its assault he tried a different approach.

“Please, resident of this forest. We mean no offense, we merely seek to rid you of the true menace!”

The boar simply screamed in response with the same shrill voice of the rakshasi.

This time, Jayaka didn’t need Lucia to see past her illusion, and deftly grabbed the creature by its tusks on its next charge. A thunderclap echoed out from the two as Jayaka was pushed several feet back. However, his grip proved true and he held tight to the boar’s overgrown teeth.

“Is this how you treat a princess amongst peasants?!” she let out between breaths. The screaming continued right after however, and even began to morph into a higher pitch as the animal’s fur began to turn into a soft gray. Its entire form began to shift as its hind legs shortened and its hooves morphed into elongated feet. Soon, the creature was no longer a boar, but had transformed into an oversized rabbit.

Without any tusks, Jayaka’s hands only found air. The dire hare turned around and kicked him away as it dashed to another bush.

“So she can shapeshift into different animals?” Lucia asked out loud.

“It appears so,” replied Jayaka, drawing the bow from his back. Before he could pluck an arrow from his quiver, the rakshasi charged at him once more in her long-eared form, propelled by her elongated legs.

Jayaka quickly gave up on reaching for a missile and instead chose to grasp his bow with both hands at one end. He closed his eyes and took a breath that looked like a long and calming one played on fast forward. None of the speed and urgency of his situation showed in the frantic pace of his breathing however, and Lucia felt a strange wave of calmness hit her as she watched the archer.

The rakshasi was only a yard away, and Jayaka acted. With all his might, he swung his bow straight down into the demon’s head, and brought forth the roar of wood upon the point of impact.

Lucia stared at what would’ve been the carnage with an open mouth that quickly morphed from surprise into disappointment. The rabbit had transformed into a tortoise at the last second. Its shell was perfectly intact, but more surprisingly, so was Jayaka’s bow.

Seeing an opportunity to strike, Jayaka nocked an arrow and began to chant. As its metal tip began to glow red, the rakshasi decided not to risk her defenses against this new threat by transforming back into a hare and running away.

“Oi, how’s your bow not broken after a smack like that?!” shouted Lucia, stepping out of the hut but keeping her distance from the combatant.

“Water Prana,” replied Jayaka. “Fire is great for offense and Earth for defense, but Water can be used to improve flexibility while maintaining strength.”

“But she took that hit and was still moving, is she really that strong?”

“Erm, well… I suppose she is.”

Lucia stared at the man for several seconds. Sure, he was busy in a fight to the death against a shapeshifting demon, but she could tell he was also hiding something.

Eventually, her glare bore through his skin and Jayaka replied. “…I am not an expert at harnessing Water prana. Using my bow as a club was simply an emergency maneuver.”

“You know, I figured.” Lucia let out a sigh.

“And now the rakshasi knows this.”

“B-but you’ve got your arrow nocked now so it’s not like she can take advantage of that!” She shouted loudly while cupping her hands around her mouth wider than before. Behind them were reddened cheeks. “So, uh… yeah. What do you think she’s going to turn into next?”

The man stood in place, eyes locked on where he last saw the rakshasi, ready to let his arrow loose the moment she showed herself once more.

Jayaka’s patience proved greater than Lucia’s, whose eyes soon began to wander around the clearing. Within a few seconds, she froze her gaze and shouted at the archer. “Hey, you might want to consider looking behind you.”

He did just that, turning his head to find a jackal attempting to sneak up on him. The animal froze in place and stared into his eyes, not quite sure how to react.

Jayaka did the same, though Lucia saw his mouth continue to move, as if uttering a prayer under his breath. Soon however, his eyes lit up like a tiger about to pounce and he turned his bow to point at the jackal, his arrow primed with deadly magic.

The animal let out a yip and quickly charged away in a zig-zag. A glowing missile soon followed, leaving a trail of incandescent embers, but only managed to char the creature’s fur with its exhaust. Before Jayaka could nock another missile, the rakshasi had already fled.

“I wonder why she hasn’t turned into an elephant yet?” mused Lucia.

“Perhaps she is not powerful enough for larger forms?” replied Jayaka. He once again stood in place, but this time made sure to keep stock of his full surroundings.

A single hoot echoed out from the treetops.

Lucia looked up suspiciously, but saw nothing moving above. She turned back to Jayaka with an inquisitive smile. “What did you say was her danger level, again?”

“If you are worried for me, you need not stress yourself. She is towards the bottom in terms of strength, and what little danger she poses comes from her trickery. A true coward at heart.”

A series of louder hoots and rustling foliage came forth from the treetops this time.

Jayaka crossed his brows. “Lucia, why are you asking me this? I thought you already knew what we are up against.”

“Oh, I do. But I figured pissing the rakshasi off would get her to reveal herself.”

“Yet she remains hidden.”

“I wouldn’t be so sure of that. You hear that owl up there? This forest has been filled with nothing but crows and ravens, and I remember watching this nature documentary that said corvids and owls hate each other! So what would an owl be doing here?”

“I do not know what this nature doc-thing is, but you pose a very good question…”

“Now that she’s failed to hit you in the back, she’s going to be coming from the air! Look up!”

Jayaka did just that, and managed to catch an angry looking owl flying straight towards him in a dive-bomb. He aimed his bow and let loose his arrow just in time for it to be unable to dodge, in part thanks to its previously unwavering attack. Seeing the missile coming at it, the owl managed to barely shift its angle and was rewarded with merely a clipped wing.

It screamed as it slammed into the ground with a nasty thud, leaving behind a cloud of dirt. The last thing Lucia saw as it landed was the rakshasi’s cold, cat-like eyes staring directly at her. But when the smokescreen finally settled, she found herself looking at an empty crater. The creature was gone.

Jayaka pinched his brow in deep thought, and soon came out of it with a grand revelation. “She has exhausted all angles of attack, except one. If she will not come from above or behind, she must be coming from below!” He nocked another arrow and aimed it at the ground beneath his feet.

“You know, that’s a great theory, and if I were trying to come at you, I’d do the same.”

“Exactly!”

“But, did you see her face right before she landed?”

“No, she was looking at you.”

“Yeah, and she was fucking pissed! If I were coming after both of us, I’d start with your source of intel. I mean, she’s probably trying to sneak up on me right now!” Lucia chuckled and pointed a thumb behind her.

Jayaka laughed along with her for a few seconds before his eyes widened.

“Ook?” came a coo behind Lucia.

“She’s right behind me, isn’t she?”

The sound turned into a howl as Lucia turned around to come face to face with a monkey. The creature began to grow several feet as its fur receded and turned into leathery humanoid skin. The howl then turned to screaming as the animal transformed back into the rakshasi, who charged at the unsuspecting woman.

“What the hell are you waiting for, shoot the bitch!”

Lucia’s pupils dilated as adrenaline began to course through her veins. The sounds of the forest went silent as the world around her seemed to almost freeze in place. Without thinking, her right hand went to the sheathe and pulled out her kitchen knife, and a desperate thought entered her mind. She didn’t want to die.

In that moment, up against an honest to goodness demon who wanted her dead, Lucia could feel her fragile mortality. And along with it, she could feel a desire to protect it. An all too familiar desire to live.

The hunger for life came forth from deep within her stomach and flowed through her arm, and was then willed into her knife. The stainless steel began to glow red as it gained a bright yellow and orange coat of flames. With a scream, the waves of color extended several feet to the length of a proper sword.

Jayaka pulled his arrow to its limit, but even he realized that it was too late. Rather than use his prayer to empower his weapon, he chose to direct it towards his friend. With no divine boon to back it up, his words were just a call upon his faith. The only thing he had for her.

Lucia also knew the rakshasi was too close to her for Jayaka to score a clean hit, or to tag her at all. By pure reflex, she swung her knife in a wide upwards arc with both arms. She closed her eyes, too fearful of what terrible sight awaited. All she saw was fire, all she heard was burning and screaming, all she felt was… pain?

Lucia opened her eyes to see the rakshasi’s body cut cleanly through at a lopsided angle. All that was left standing was half of her torso and everything below it, along with her right arm, still connected to her body by the shoulder, and connected to Lucia’s stomach by her green nails.

Not a drop of blood left the rakshasi’s cauterized half-body, while a runny red began to vigorously fall from Lucia’s. The flow especially sped up when the demon’s remains fell back onto the forest floor, pulling its nails out of the woman’s stomach.

“Lucia, you did it!” cheered Jayaka as he ran towards his friend.

“Oh… oh god,” she sputtered back.

“What’s the matter? Wait, you’re injured!”

“I… I- I just killed someone.” Her eyes were wide and adrenaline continued to flood her system, but now brought forth by a different sort of fear. “I’m a murderer! I-I’m a fucking murderer! Oh god!”

“Lucia? Lucia?! I think her nails were poisoned, the blood around your wound is turning green!”

“I forgot this was still real life. Oh god, what have I done?”

Lucia’s stomach began to constrict, and with a heave, the remains of her meal from earlier flew out of her mouth. Jayaka’s words began to muffle as the light around Lucia began to fade. The waking world left her as she fell unconscious and tumbled down to the ground.