I roared as I leapt from Kaia’s back and dove headfirst into the horde assembled before me, axe in my right hand and plasma pistol in my left. A Gnoll spearman stumbled backwards as I landed in front of the beast plasma pistol flaring to life. The gnoll weakly attempted to thrust his spear out not realizing his heart had been burned out his back. I had already moved to sever the head of my next target while the first fell to the dirt. Working the pistol with the axe allowed me to isolate my fights as I built skill levels in Shool’ Kai Axe Fighting. I dismissed the level up notifications when they seemed to be never ending. Now I just focused on reaching the two behemoths some hundred meters distant.

Michelle Scheel fought to my right, fists glowing with inner power as she punched and kicked the gnolls to death. She was quickly becoming a master of turning their own attacks against them as she grabbed over extended spears and sword arms and pulled them in to vicious knee and elbow attacks or threw them behind her to be torn to shreds by Kaia and his pack of coyotes that kept the flanks of their advance ‘honest’.

Junipher’s song invigorated the team while her thorny roots grabbed and pushed back the horde and gave us room to fight. Her spear work cut down the ones that made it past the coyotes and her roots. The one who impressed me the most was Samantha. She floated to the front of our formation a couple inches from the ground wreathed in shimmering violet armor that covered her vitals. She held her hands out as she levitated in front of us and wherever she looked a shimmering violet blade struck out ignoring armor, piercing the vital organs beneath. When the gnolls would press her she would scream and they would shriek in terror. The ones who ran were vaporized by bolts of the same violet energy.

Courtney Valley brought up the rear with Hawkings. She would quickly heal those who had received injury and cast out some kind of debuff that slowed the enemy movement. While Stephen hampered their movement with judicial use of Mass Manipulation and Isolated Gravity Field. When he had a clear path he’d throw a Particle Wave attack across our flank and gnolls would simply melt into the ground as the bonds that held their atoms together simply dissolved. At least that is how he explained it to me when asked about it.

My team carved a path of death and destruction through the much lower leveled horde that attempted to stand in our way. Northern Arizona sand can be described as having a reddish hue on the best of days. This morning the gnolls turned the ground into a crimson clay as they failed to halt our advance towards the Behemoths. As we cut through their ranks they began to break and run maybe 30 meters shy of the monstrous beastmen.

Suddenly the path was to the two Behemoths was open and I was able to get a better look at what we faced. The one closest to us lowered itself to the ground on all fours and glared with menacing red eyes as it finished chewing on it’s latest snack that wandered too close as it marched on my settlement. Bits of flesh and drool mixed blood dripped to the ground as it eyed us. I took the momentary respite to analyze it, Gnoll Behemoth Charger, Lvl 35***. Shit! That’s the highest level monster we’ve faced yet. This Behemoth was lightly armored and had only its extraordinarily long arms that ended in savage, black, curved claws for weapons. Scars adorned its body as a testament to its experience. Doesn’t need weapons when it’s arms can reach seven or eight feet, and its claws can remove your head with a scratch.

I looked at the other Behemoth that was rearing back to scream. It let out a wail that vibrated the ground beneath our feet enough that the lighter pebbles and stone chaotically hopped about the desert beneath our feet. All around us the gathered Gnolls yipped and banged weapons against shields at the Behemoth's obvious challenge. I quickly analyzed the screamer to get a read on him, Gnoll Behemoth Rock Thrower, Lvl 35***. His arms were more normal length and more muscled, He wore more armor that looked to be improvised from stop signs and park benches. His hands were larger with shorter claws made for grasping large objects and, obviously, throwing them.

This was all the time I’d get as the Behemoths didn’t even give the plan enough time to become a twinkle in my eye. Fuckers! I thought inwardly as the Behemoth Charger, well, charged at a blistering speed into our line. Junipher and myself shot left with Kaia while the rest of the team tumbled to the right to avoid getting steamrolled by a couple of tons of angry giant Gnoll. I whipped my ballistic shield out and drew my plasma pistol and began emptying the capacitors into the Chargers briefly exposed back. Unlike the lower level gnolls my plasma blasts did little to deliver significant damage and merely pissed it off more.

Kaia side hopped as the Charger took a quick swing at him and then turned and glared at us, I heard a feminine grunt and the sound of something large hitting the ground to my left and saw Samantha knocked back in surprise as a large rock wobbled on the ground beside her. Junipher dove in on the Charger with her spear and wrapped his arms in roots attempting to even the reach advantage he held on us. With both battery charges spent on the plasma pistol I was left with the 9mm. This isn’t gonna cut it. I thought sourly.

“HAWKINGS! HIT THAT FUCKER WITH A SOLAR FLARE!!” I yelled indicating the Stone Thrower.

“ON IT!” He yelled back.

I winced as I returned my attention back to the Charger and let the others fight their own fight. Junipher and I were the only advanced classes in the settlement so had the best chance against one of these higher leveled monsters. The others were close and combined I logic'd they could probably come out on top, especially if Hawkings can hit that thing with his best spell.

“JUNIPHER! WE NEED TO KEEP THIS FUCKER BUSY TIL’ THE KIDS FINISH PLAYING WITH THEIR NEW FRIEND!” I yelled at her as she parried a long armed swipe.

“I AGREE!” She yelled back as she attempted to shorten said arm but the Charger was too fast and just barely kept the offending limb.

I drew one of my axes and activated Heart Seeking Lunge as Junipher managed to smack both the impossibly long arms apart and gave me a clear path towards the beastman’s chest. I appeared almost instantly inside its guard and swung my axe down in a heavy chop that dug deep into its chest but failed to penetrate the ribs that rang like steel when struck. Before it could sink those claws into me I rode the momentum of my attack and swung down between his wide set legs. As I slid across the ground I had a moment of instant clarity and activated Cheap Shot and lashed out with my foot and crushed his balls in one swift motion. His knees reflexively bowed inwards to protect his most private place from anymore damage and he bellowed in pain.

At the same time the area lit up blindingly with Hawkings Solar Flare. The visor on my face mask automatically dimmed and I was able to see the attack didn’t connect full on as I had hoped. Still, the damage was significant. Every gnoll in a path 200 meters distant and 20 meters wide had simply been reduced to ash. Those within a further five meters were currently rolling on the ground on fire, while the furry bastards another five meters out had received various degrees of burn damage.

As for the target of the attack, the Behemoth Stone Thrower was clipped on his right side while he was preparing to launch another boulder. All fur from his upper chest to thigh was removed and the skin exposed underneath was quickly sloughing from the muscles underneath. Where it once had a thick long coat of fine orange hair, the majority of what hair remained on its body was now smoking and burnt black. It’s right arm hung limply as the exposed muscle tissue seemed to cook while still attached to the beast. It howled piteously in excruciating pain and seemed to waver where it stood.

Kaia’s packmates smelling defeat was near lunged in from behind the other half of my team, each aiming for a leg. The behemoth didn’t react until the brownish coyote sunk its teeth in his heavily wounded leg. It screamed again in more pain and rage bubbled into the call as it reached down with its good arm and snatched the large coyote with its massive clawed hand. My eyes widened as it reached back and launched the coyote through the air in a long tumbling arc that cleared the gnoll lines and landed heavily against the city wall. Instantly a healer dropped from the wall to administer aid to the wounded and stunned coyote.

I had no more time for my focus to linger on the other groups fight as I caught the motion of the Chargers long arm lash out for my throat. I brought my shield up in time and heard the sound of metal screeching and saw sparks dance away from the surface of the ballistic shield. I was forced back hard and my feet dug into the dirt and kicked up large furrows. The Charger launched into another heavy attack and I activated Disappear and slid sideways around it’s flank as it stumbled when its attack found empty air. I lashed out in response at the monster's hamstring and activated Brutal Strike. The action broke my stealth and it tried to spin around but found its leg wasn’t functioning as intended as I swept out for its other leg.

The bastard quickly tucked and rolled away from my strike which saved it from a double hamstring. Though now it was on the ground and facing a flurry of attacks from Junipher’s spear. It was still a dangerous opponent and Junipher overextended her attack and was raked across the shin armor she had grown for the fight. Brown bits of bark flaked off onto the ground ash she grimaced, more at her mistake than the pain of the attack. She retreated by way of a graceful backflip and summoned roots to bind the Charger when she landed.

Kaia took that moment to jump in and latch onto the Behemoth’s left elbow. Seizing the advantage Junipher redoubled her efforts and used her roots to bind its good leg and managed to pin the right arm with her spear and more roots. Kaia jerked his head hard and the sound of the bones breaking in the thin joint were drowned out by the Chargers scream of rage and pain.

I ran up and attempted to bury my axe in its neck. The Charger flinched and the axe head stuck into the hard earth. The animal caught me off guard and twisted so it could clamp it’s jaws down on my forearm. I released my grip on the axe in shock and pain then wrapped my arms around it’s muzzle and used my strength to keep its mouth closed.

“STAY THE FUCK STILL!” I roared as I wrestled with the Behemoth's impossibly large head.

“HURRY KARL, I CAN’T HOLD HIS ARM AND LEG MUCH LONGER!” Junipher cried in warning at me.

I looked up from where I was wrestling the beast and saw her struggling to maintain the roots and man handle his arm. I locked my fingers under his jaw line and planted my feet in his massive shoulders then wrenched his head back. He whimpered as I discovered Gnolls also have a hypoglossal nerve and it functions the same way as in humans. I quickly snatched my 9mm from my hip and shoved the barrel into the monster’s eye.

“MAG DUMP!” I stroked the trigger of the 9mm as fast as I could. The first couple of rounds didn’t seem to penetrate brain matter but caused the asshole to flinch in pain. He may have broken free and survived but Mag Dump forced me to empty the magazine as fast as possible. As the damage mounted in his ocular cavity it wasn’t a scant second later that the first bullet fragment found its way into the creature's brain. By the time I finished emptying the magazine at least half the rounds fired penetrated brain tissue. The tension between Junipher, Kaia and I eased for barely a moment before we remembered there was another Behemoth to kill.

Samantha and Michelle worked together to keep the heavily wounded Behemoth Rock Thrower. Samantha now had seven long mental blades spinning in the air around her. Anytime the Behemoth would attempt to attack her the blades would spin faster becoming a gruesome buzzsaw. Several long furrows of blood across its body indicated it had already made the mistake of entering her space. Michelle stepped in on the distracted monster and unleashed a flurry of Brutal Blows into its knee. An audible snap echoed across the battlefield as its knee shattered from the relentless attack, the Behemoth fell forward landing on its good arm snarling and snapping at Michelle.

The beast recoiled as a Gravity Spike impacted its face and now found it almost impossible to raise its head under the momentary increase in gravity. Samantha drifted over to float gently in front of the Behemoths face. Her eyes glowed the same violet as her power as she stared at the monster in disgust. The beast was spent, and had no more fight left in him. He looked at her with strangled hate as her blades stopped spinning and formed up above her head. The lengthened as one and formed a curved cutting edge. If you blinked you would have missed it when her blades streaked down into the monster's neck one after the other. The Behemoth’s body tensed briefly then finished collapsing to the ground as his head rolled free from his shoulders.The surrounding gnolls howled in defeat and broke to flee our party.

Sounds of battle rose up from the East and South. As the Gnoll army broke at our position to the NorthWest of the settlement I was able to observe the other fights. For a moment. It appeared that Eli was locked in battle with one of the captains on the East flank. A couple dozen of his troops backed him up but were unable to do much more than keep his flank clear as he dueled with the dual sword wielding gnoll captain.

On the south flank Alyssa was locked in combat with a familiar looking Gnoll who wildly swung a massive two handed axe as she constantly dissolved into shadow after striking out. Karl took an involuntary step towards the fight and Junipher stepped up and placed a hand on his shoulder. He looked at her in confusion.

“Check your battlefield notifications, she’s currently locked in a Challenge of Destiny. This fight is for her alone, her destiny will be decided by the result.” Junipher spoke almost reverently as the rest of the team gathered around them and watched the fights in the distance. The gnolls around us scattered, recognizing they weren’t even in our league. The NorthWest horde was effectively broken and retreating back towards the High School.

We were deciding which direction to turn our slaughter to when the ground began to shake in the direction of the High School once again. What appeared to be an average looking gnoll approached riding a large six legged lizard that looked vaguely like a desert salamander with its face smashed flat. Another pair of the six legged lizards followed closely behind. They trampled through crumpled and standing houses alike and came to a stop around 60 meters from our group.

The average looking gnoll wasn’t so average looking up close. His fur, an orange-ish yellow, gave off a regal sheen. His red on black eyes stared with intensity and intelligence. While he wasn’t overly muscled, every motion of his body screamed strength and agility. A simple sword was strapped to his hip and a plain looking buckler hung across his back. He carefully analyzed us as he sucked in a deep breath. A plain brown leather breastplate stretched across his body and studded bracers wrapped his wrists. Everything about this creature was a contradiction.

I rolled my shoulders and cracked a lopsided smile when the creature’s eyes locked with mine. An’ gu’ rush Fang Ripper, Lord Commander of the Red Claw Tribe, General of the Red Horde opened a fang filled maw and barked in response.