The Simulacrum ~Chapter 23~

The Chira was, frankly, pretty damn massive from up close. Not as big as it used to be when it was in its gorilla-guise, but it was still damn big. It lost so of its bulk due to the lost limb (as far as I could tell from a glance it still had about the biomass of an average human in it before it was torn off), but considering how honking huge it was before, the difference in size was only academic.

More importantly though, this was the first ti I could observe its transformation happening in real-ti. Its hind legs were growing both longer and more muscular, its torso was elongating, its shoulders moved to allow its head to take a forward-looking position and the front legs were forming into digitigrade limbs with clawed paws right in front of my eyes. In less than fifteen seconds the creature began to resemble a giant feline with a misshapen dinosaur-head and a thick lizard's tail.

I kept staring at the tamorphosis in a daze until my higher brain functions finally got a handle on the situation and asked a very simple yet profound question: ‘Why are you standing still and gawking like a slack-jawed idiot instead of running as far as your legs can carry you?!'

I... had no good coback to that, so I roused myself and followed my own advice, dashing around the corner of the building like the devil himself was on my tail. Normally this would've been the ti when I ca up with sothing snappy about how ‘it might not have been the devil, but definitely the next worst thing,' but considering my track record when it ca to taunting the narrative, I decided to think of more imdiately life-saving things instead. Not to ntion, considering the company I kept, I wasn't entirely certain there wasn't an actual devil in this world, and he might just find the irony delicious enough to show up just to spite . At this point, it would've only mildly surprised .

Now, where was I? Oh, right. Running for my life while screaming from the top of my lungs. The latter was sothing that my lower monkey-brain decided on without asking my higher functions first, so I promptly put an end to it. It was embarrassing and wholly counterproductive, as my lungs could've been put to much better use by pumping delicious, life-saving oxygen to my leg muscles.

Speaking of which, I winced as my feet slapped painfully against the pavent with every adrenaline-fueled step. I was a good thirty ters from the stairs leading up to the entrance, and while it ca from a gut-level instead of a more sophisticated logical response, I had no better idea at the ti than to get inside. It carried the threat of being cornered indoors, but I doubted it would have been any worse than trying to wrestle the Chira in the open and without a weapon.

I dashed towards the doors with all my might, only allowing myself a quick peek over my shoulder. I nearly stumbled when I realized the creature was literally behind my back, and my instincts kicked in a split-second later, forcing to dive to the side as the creature's aty paw sliced through the space my torso occupied just a mont ago. It probably wasn't used to its quadrupedal form yet, as the miss threw it off-balance. It stumbled and rolled on its back, the spear making a painful scraping noise as it hit the pavent, but a mont later the Chira was back on its feet again.

I clicked my tongue and concentrated on running again while trying to ignore how quickly the distance I gained was starting to rapidly decrease once again. I absently noted that the area of the stairs was littered with shards of safety glass. The source of said shards also beca obvious as I ca a little closer; the main doors of the building were broken into smithereens. At the ti I considered that a good thing, as it ant an easier entry. In retrospect, I concluded it was probably caused by the girls. The last ti I was in the Purple Zone, the automatic doors wouldn't open on their own, so I figured they must've taken a more direct approach.

Then I glanced back and my stomach sunk into a dark pit. The Chira was upon again, and this ti its gait told it wasn't going to comically stumble on the last leap. Ti slowed to a crawl as I was trying to figure out a way to avoid my steadily approaching and seemingly inevitable fate as monster-chowder. I glanced ahead and saw that the now busted entrance was only about ten ters away from . It may as well have been on the other side of the moon for all the good it did to though, as I wasn't going to reach it on foot either way.

And then it happened. It was another of those head-slapping, self-berating, utterly embarrassing monts when the blatantly obvious hit like a runaway tow-truck. It was the doors that did the trick. Or the lack thereof. It reminded of the first ti I ran into them and how astoundingly stupid I had to be not to rember it until now.

I swiftly recalled the feeling and it ca to with laughable ease. It started with a mont of violent nausea, my vision dissolving like an oil painting under a torrent of paint-thinner. I pictured the hall just on the other side of those broken doors that seed so far away just a few seconds ago. As matter of fact, it was still very far, and every nerve in my body violently protested against my attempt to rip through space-ti. I nearly stumbled as the backlash hit . An idle part of my brain noted that I've only done very short teleports even during my mind-battle with Brang, and it was entirely possible the hall was simply out of my range, but the rest of my grey matter silenced it as I focused on doing it anyway, because I had no choice in the matter. Since my only other choice was getting eaten, I pushed ahead, strained whatever part of my being was responsible for the ability, and all of a sudden my senses were assailed by a prickling sensation all over my skin, followed by a solid tug, like I was falling from a great height, except sideways.

Then, at last, there was a faint ‘pop' as my surroundings abruptly snapped into place and I was in the hall just like that. There was already a triumphant cry in my throat that my stupid monkey-brain authorized without my consent; one which abruptly turned into one of panic as I noticed the quickly approaching shoe-locker in my way. I had no way to stop, due to a combination of montum and a sudden spike of violent nausea no doubt caused by my reckless use of my newfound ability, so I twisted my upper body so that I would hit it with my shoulder instead of my head, and hitting it I did. So hard in fact, that the large tal cabinet lurched back from the impact, standing precariously on two legs for a mont before it ultimately tipped over and I fell right on top of it.

For a long second I lay splayed out on top of the locker and tried my best to keep my violently churning stomach under control. I failed, and before I knew it, I got my dinner sprayed all over the floor. It only made feel marginally better, but I pushed my body off the cabinet all the sa, and once I was back on my feet, I hastily wiped the corner of my mouth.

My hopes for catching my breath were promptly dashed as the Chira, alerted to my presence by the noise of falling furniture, barreled in through the blasted open entrance with a blood-curdling roar of pure, primal anger... which a mont later turned into a surprised whimper as its paws landed on the shattered glass and it just... kind of slid past like it was on an ice-skating rink. I couldn't tell if it really rolled past on the glass shards (safety glass tends to break into small fragnts one ‘could' theoretically slip on after all) or only its pained flailing created the illusion. Either way, I ducked to the side as the large creature tumbled over the other row of shoe lockers and ca to a stumbling halt, one of its massive forearms clearly embedded in the tal of the cabinet that finally stopped its tumble.

It looked around, its three pairs of eyes scanning the hall with jerky motions until it found , still sprawled on the floor where I landed after I got out of its way. It let out a low growl that sounded decidedly exasperated, a surprising emotion to detect in a half-ton shape-changing monstrosity. I was getting ready to dash up the stairs when the realization hit again and I mumbled to myself, "Teleport, you idiot."

I promptly did so, this ti aiming at the faculty office by the stairwell, and this ti I reached my destination without any more embarrassing hijinks. The nausea was still pretty severe though, so I imdiately threw my back against one of the teachers' desks and quieted my ragged breathing. In the anti, the creature on the other side of the wall let out a frustrated howl and began doing sothing, which by the sounds of it either involved scrapping the lockers, or the world's worst string quartet. Not that I cared. I was more interested in the fact that this interzzo finally allowed to breathe. Also, and arguably more importantly, to think. I wasn't doing much of that lately, was I?

All the more reason to rectify it, I concluded silently before I took a deep breath.

Okay, let's analyze my situation. I was chased by a shape-shifting beast. That was already established, I think. It was also much more resilient than I originally imagined. In retrospect I should've figured it would co with being a shape-shifter, but even so, the notion that losing one of its limbs would sohow make it more dangerous was completely outside of my calculations.

I decided to imagine the worst-case scenario and presud that the thing was functionally immune to physical harm due to high-speed regeneration. How was I supposed to deal with sothing like that?

The first idea that ca to mind was simple: ignore it and focus on catching up to the girls instead. With my teleportation ability, I had a definitive mobility advantage over it. In fact, I could probably even move to the other side of the barrier if I wanted to.

The idea had so nice sequence-breaking potential, but I discarded it as quickly as I ca up with it. Using this new ability of mine was really taxing. My range maxed out at around five ters, and anything beyond that was like trying to squeeze through the eye of a needle. Not to ntion, even if I sohow managed to evade the Chira and move to the other side of the barrier, then what? I had no weapon, I couldn't take any of the girls with , and I couldn't teleport out with Josh either. Or at least I didn't think I could, but this wasn't exactly the right mont to gamble on that.

In other words, if I tried to avoid this monster and regroup with the girls, it would just put us back to square one, with no closer to rescuing Josh and Snowy, and it would even expose them to more risk. So, what else could I do? Kill it? Can this thing even be killed?

That wasn't just a rhetorical question, by the way. I needed to co up with sothing fast, and so I reached for my vast treasure trove of tropes that I collected during my research. How did people in stories deal with creatures with high-speed regeneration? ... Fire would be a good start, I supposed. I was a little short on flathrowers, but maybe the girls could improvise sothing. The class rep, in particular, was a mage, I was sure she should've so level one firebolts or even a fireball in her spellbook. But then again, didn't they say that Chiras were resistant to magic?

"Okay, so let's relegate magical fire to the backup plan," I whispered while glancing over the desk. The creature was still busy tearing apart the shoe lockers outside. It might've thought I was hiding in one of them, which was good news for . But back to the issue at hand: What options did I have for non-magical fire?

I needed a source of fuel. My first candidate was the ho economics classroom, but then I vaguely recalled that the princess once complained about the electric ovens during a lunch break. That didn't an the classroom had no gas, but I was not going to gamble on that.

There was a place I was fairly certain had gas though, and it was the basent. The school's heating system was using gas boilers, and they were housed there. I learned this tidbit from the class rep, and I had no reason to doubt her. I could most certainly get down there, but I had no idea how I could set up a trap for the creature using the propane landline. Speaking of which, would there even be gas there? Purple Zones had definitive borders as far as I knew, with the inside being a copy of the real world and the outside being just a dark void. Would that an that the gas lines were connected to nothing? But then again, our phones were still working even when inside a pocket space, so what the hell did I know? That said, even if there was gas there, I was supposed to head for the roof as soon as possible. Going to the basent first would've been a wee bit counter-intuitive.

"Okay, let's call that plan B..." I murmured while rubbing my forehead.

The more I thought about it, the more I had to realize propane wouldn't work anyways. It would just explode, and while the shockwave would probably pulverize , it would likely only mildly inconvenience the Chira.

"Scratch that, let's make it plan D instead. Now to fill out plans A to C..."

What other flammable materials were there? I could go outside and look for cars to get gasoline, but I didn't know how big the Purple Zone was, so that was a long shot at best. Still, it should do for plan C, I concluded. What other flammable materials were out there? Oil, paint-thinner, alcohol... Alcohol?

"The burners in the science classroom!" I muttered with a smile.

Yes, that should work, I decided. The chemistry supplies were kept in a secure cabinet at the back of the room, but I was confident I could break it down with so effort, and I once saw Mrs. Applebottom refill one of the alcohol burners from a large tal flask. As far as flammable materials were concerned, I was sure that much was enough to immolate the Chira, granted I could douse it and then light it without setting myself on fire in the process.

I was ready to declare that plan A when I rembered sothing else. In roleplaying gas, the second most common way of dealing with trolls and other nasty regenerators was acid. Or rather, any corrosives, as bases could be just as caustic. Chemistry 101 aside, while I doubted I could get sothing as floor-ltingly potent as most fictional acids were, I could definitely get my hands on so rather nasty stuff nonetheless, and luckily they were kept around the sa place as the burner fuel.

Considering that sprinkling acid on sothing was easier and comparatively safer than lighting it on fire, I decided that it should be plan A, and I relegated the burner fuel to plan B. It was about ti I started moving though, as the Chira stopped making a ruckus outside and I was worried I would get discovered.

I made a ntal floor-plan of the school in my head. The science classroom was on the first floor. I needed so prep ti, so I wanted to get there unnoticed. With my newly christened teleportation ability, that should've been fairly easy. I have already discovered that it had a relatively short range and that I didn't need a line of sight to teleport; though it did help when it ca to avoiding collisions. I could teleport up to the next floor through the ceiling, at least in theory, grab the stuff from the supply closet and then return and ruin the day of the creature growling outside the door. It was a decent plan, considering the circumstances. It might have even worked. But then there was a guitar solo...

"Oh for the love of...!" I exclaid as my fingers sloppily groped at my phone. "What?!"

"Chief, we are in trouble..." my assistant began before her voice was drowned out by a deafening roar as the Chira tore off the faculty office's door.

"So am I!" I roared back while the creature leaped towards . My mind vaguely noted that its face was deford by a pair of huge, bat-like nostrils, but then I teleported right to the classroom above , so I had no ti to marvel at its weirdness... and then my vision was suddenly filled with stars as I materialized high above the floor, fell on the edge of a desk, tumbled down from said desk, hit my shoulder on the way down on the back-rest of a chair and then hit the ground head-first for good asure.

For the next couple of seconds I glared at a random point on the ceiling with all my might in order to keep myself from slipping into unconsciousness. After the first wave of sudden exhaustion abated I carefully untangled myself from the furniture and rose to a pair of shaky feet. I must've received a concussion just now; my sluggish brain concluded after the world stopped spinning. I tried to shake my head, but it only made it worse.

It was only then that I rembered the phone. I looked around in the empty classroom dimly lit by only the small violet cracks on the walls. I was vaguely aware of the ruckus coming from downstairs. The Chira was no doubt in the process of tearing apart the faculty office looking for . Good riddance. It bought so ti at the very least.

I felt around the floor near where I landed, and after so fumbling, I found my phone under a desk two rows away. It took way more effort than expected, but I managed to reach it while crawling. For a mont I was a little disoriented by the brightness of the screen, though I noted with so satisfaction that there wasn't even a scratch on the glass. Then I rembered why I picked up the phone in the first place and raised it to my ear.

"Hello?"

"Are you okay?"

"No?" I answered the obvious question. "But I'm safe for the ti being. Why did you call?"

There was a short pause in the conversation. It could've been caused by my assistant still being worried or them having a discussion on the other end of the line, which I couldn't hear over all the noise the monster was making downstairs. Either way, Judy finally spoke up in a voice that was no less worried than a few seconds ago.

"The fence posts are warded."

"What?" I asked back reflectively.

"They are warded. That's what Alia said."

"Can't you just break them down?"

"They are on the inside. We can't even touch them."

"Marvelous..."

"What should we do? Eleanor and Angeline are holding back the Faun at the door, but they cannot do that forever." There was a commotion in the background loud enough I could hear it even through the ambient office-destruction noises and the abundant static noise, and Judy added, "Eleanor asks where you are."

"I don't know... Which classroom is right above the faculty office?"

"2-C."

"Then that's where I am. Why?"

"She says you should stay there and she will get you."

"No, she won't," I stated defiantly. "Tell her to guard the entrance. I'll go up."

"But there is nothing to do up here. I told you the..."

"I've heard it the first ti. I'll figure sothing out by the ti I get there. See you soon, and please don't call again unless absolutely necessary."

Saying so I cut the line and hastily put my phone away. There was silence. That ant the Chira already got bored with trashing the room below and was likely on the prowl again. I had to move quickly. If I was indeed at 2-C, it ant the science classroom was on the diatrically opposite end of the floor. I quickly limbered up and checked myself for injuries first. Aside from the bump on my head I had a scratched thigh, a bruised shoulder, and a torn coat. I considered taking off the latter, as its flaps could restrict my movents in close-quarters, but in the end I left it on for the ti being. As flimsy an excuse as it was for armor, it could potentially still offer so protection, and the padded shoulder already proved itself useful during my tumbles.

I headed towards the door and opened it... only to jerk back as I found myself staring into three sets of glowing eyes frad by a large, fleshy snout and a pair of huge ears that made the face in front of look decidedly batlike. My mont of surprise was then shattered by a close-proximity roar that rattled the bones under my skin.

"Motherfucker!" I roared in response and swung my fist in a mixture of surprise, terror, and exasperation.

I hit the Chira right on the snout. The impact was soft and aty and made a muffled ‘plop' sound that might've been silly under other circumstances, but I wasn't in the right mindset to appreciate the comical nuances of the situation. The creature let out a surprised yelp in response and shrunk back from the strike like a dog that was hit by a rolled-up newspaper, but once the initial shock passed its eyes opened wide and its guarded stance smoothly shifted into it preparing to lunge forwards.

"Shit," I hissed with only a minor tinge of absolute, blood-curling panic as I tried to slam the door on the monster... only to realize I couldn't. "SHIT!"

Sliding doors. I knew they were going to be my death one day. I didn't foresee the circumstances, but still...

Thankfully, my legs were not fans of ironic echoes, as they propelled to the side even as the Chira barreled through the half-open door, tearing the flimsy construction off its rails like it was made of paper. It landed with a feline grace only mildly spoiled by the desks sent flying behind its back. It took a sharp, whistling sniff and imdiately turned its head towards . It was the mont I was waiting for. I raised the chair I bumped into during my dive and threw it at its ugly face. It raised one of its enormous paws and contemptuously swept the chair out of the air. Or at least I think that's what it did. I wasn't there to see.

I stood in the corridor just outside the classroom. My previous experiences with teleporting made cautious enough to refrain from moving any further than that in one go. I don't think anyone would bla for it, considering my jumps through space sohow managed to already hurt more than the giant murderous monster I was running away from. Speaking of which, the Chira let out another window-shaking roar of frustration. While I was getting a little tired of its howls, this ti I didn't really mind, as it gave a couple of seconds of a head start.

I capitalized on that by rushing down the hallways at full speed. There was no point in trying to be stealthy anymore; I've already seen how the creature modified itself to track down, so I had to make sure I was a step ahead of it. I allowed myself a short teleport to the end of the hallway, which I could actually see, and I found myself practically in front of the science classroom. Since it had a lot of sensitive (not to ntion expensive) equipnt inside, this room was always locked. It was also a proper door instead of a sliding one, though thankfully it was only secured with a single cylinder lock. I could hear the Chira overcoming its confusion and already out in the hallways, so I didn't hesitate to teleport right to the other side of the door.

Not a second later, there was a loud thud that shook the ground under my feet, followed by the sound of groaning tal. I fell forwards by surprise but managed to roll onto my feet and promptly faced the doorway, which imdiately revealed the reason behind the impact; the Chira ramd through the closed door and knocked it off its hinges, but its massive shoulders were wedged between the doorfras as its left paw fruitlessly clawed the air in a futile effort to reach .

For a mont I almost felt safe. Then I rembered that the thing could shapeshift and that it could probably reduce the width of its shoulders to squeeze through, so I ran to the rows of large glass-doored cabinets at the back of the room. As I got there, I t with an unexpected setback: Since the only light source in the Purple Zone ca from the luminescent cracks and the violet moonlight, it was too dark for to read the text on the containers. I switched tactics then, focusing on the warning labels instead of the nas of the materials.

Once I got a handful of the more dangerous-looking stuff, I turned around and found that the Chira has already squeezed most of its upper body through the doorway. I raised one of the glass bottles, the one I was fairly sure contained sulfuric acid, and lobbed it at the shrieking monstrosity with an angry growl of my own.

The Chira saw it coming and swiped at the bottle. Unfortunately (for it) the container broke on impact and sprayed the creature with a loud splash. For a mont it didn't react, but then it began howling in pain and struggling even harder against the door.

I roared as well as I threw another bottle at it. This one had thicker plastic, so even though I hit it right in the middle of its face, it didn't break. "No matter! There is more where that ca from!" I roared and continued to pelt the creature with whatever I could get my hands on, each impact accentuated by a new howl of pained rage.

Soon the air was filled with a dangerous mix of chemicals that made my eyes itch. That was supposed to be my cue to leave the area, but the Chira thought otherwise. With one last heave, it cracked the doorfra and landed inside the classroom with a thud that once again shook the floor beneath my feet. It shivered for a mont, its motions clumsy and groggy like it was drunk. Even in the weak lighting (or maybe exactly because of it), I saw that two of its glowing eyes were closed on one side and the skin on its nose was, for the lack of better words, lting. Not literally, but kind of like a wax statue that was exposed to heat, drooping and elongating as gravity pulled on it. After a short while it leveled its eyes on and lunged.

I might've gotten a little light-headed from the exposure to the fus, as I once again completely forgot that I could bloody teleport. Instead, I let out a roar as well and, in a mont of desperation, I grabbed hold of the cabinet next to and pulled with all my might. The heavy wooden furniture rose onto two of its peg-legs, wobbled for a mont, and then it toppled right on top of the charging Chira. Maybe it was the missing eyes, but it apparently didn't see it coming, as it let out a surprised squeak as its legs slipped out from under it.

Then sothing utterly ridiculous happened: the thing burst into flas. I had no idea why. Maybe it was a combination of the chemicals or the fus or the burner fuel in the cabinet catching a spark, but all of a sudden the dark classroom was filled with warm orange light. Then ca the scream. A positively heart-wrenching howl of pain that made want to cover my ears for a second.

The Chira rolled out from under the cabinet, trailing flas where it went as it struggled, wiggled, and rolled on the ground while sending the desks and chairs flying in its wake. At last, it let out a final howl and, to my utter bafflent, it bolted right through the large window and into the night outside.

For a solid five seconds I could only stare after it in a daze, but another whiff of the painful (and burning) air made rember that I was supposed to get the hell out of there. So I did just that. I jumped over the puddle of burning chemicals in front of the door and out into the hallway, then I teleported down the corridor right next to the stairwell. It was only then that I started breathing again.

My eyes still itched and I sincerely hoped I didn't just poison myself in my mad haste to hurt the Chira. Overall, I felt all right for the ti being. Well, as right as I could be under the circumstances at least. Even the previous nausea from hitting my head was mostly gone.

Now that there was a mont of peace without a monster howling in my ears, I could hear a commotion from upstairs. It must've been the others, I figured.

"Right... I was supposed to go up there..." I murmured between heaving breaths. I absently got my phone out and dialed my assistant.

After only a single ring she picked up with a surprised, "Chief?"

"I'm done with the Chira and on my way to you. What's the situation up there?"

"You are ‘done' with the Chira?"

"Yes. Why?"

There was a brief pause.

"Eleanor and Alie insisted that you had no chance. How did you do it?"

"Doused it in acid," I answered with forced silliness.

"I want to hear that story."

"Later. For now, we should et up. You still haven't told —"

At this point, several things were happening pretty much at the sa ti. First off, there was the sound of glass breaking. Then I was spinning on my heel so hard I nearly strained my neck. Then there was cursing. Lots of colorful, visceral cursing that no ink would bear, so let's just say it was impulsive and leave it at that. It ended the following way:

"... Just how bloody tough are you?!" I yelled in exasperation as a familiar lump of muscle and burnt skin squeezed its way through the window and landed on the floor with a hard thud.

The creature shook itself like a dog that just got out of the water and, predictably, roared in response to my voice. There was sothing weird about the sound, like there were two roars of different pitches being overlaid. On closer look a quickly realized the reason. The Chira's head only had two sets of eyes now. The last pair was softly glowing like a pair of dying embers on a brand new head protruding from its left shoulder. It was smaller than the first one and as far as I could tell in the twilight of the hallway it was covered in small black scales. If nothing else, it made the monster look more like its nasake.

Unfortunately, my observations were rudely interrupted at this point by the Chira leaping at with a low growl. I instinctively teleported behind it and dashed back, though the latter was fairly unnecessary and I nearly slipped on the sharp remains of the shattered window. I caught myself and whirled around just in ti to catch sothing striking at diagonally from the left. I ducked and almost rolled by reflex, but I restrained the urge. I was still standing in the middle of a glass-covered corridor after all.

"What was that?" I uttered in disconcerting detachnt from the situation. I squinted just as another lash had jumping back a mont later. I did catch a glimpse of it though, and once I added two and two together it was easy to figure out what was trying to hit .

The Chira was still in the process of turning one-eighty in the hallway. Its elongated body was getting in the way, so its front paws were climbing on the wall and raking deep furrows in the plaster in the process. More importantly though, its tail was flailing around like... well, a flail, really. It also went through a form of tamorphosis. Gone was the thick lizard-like appendage, instead it was replaced by a comparatively thin tentacle-thing with a large, fleshy bulb the size of my head at its end. I wondered why that was. Maybe it helped the Chira climb the wall to the second floor, like a monkey's tail? It looked prehensile enough. Or maybe it was a weapon?

"Chief, are you there?"

I was startled for a mont before I realized that the voice was coming from my phone. I forgot to cut the line, and I imagined my assistant was quite vexed with all the roaring coming from this end.

"Yeah, I'm fine," I told her just as the Chira finished turning around... so I teleported behind it and continued, "It seems like I haven't finished yet after all."

I ended my sentence in a tired growl and sent a glare at the creature. Just how was I supposed to get rid of this thing? Should I get down to the basent after all? But that would take ti. I've already wasted too much ti on this thing. Maybe I could lure it back into the science classroom. I could maybe barricade it inside and let the fire and the chemicals do it in, but it might just escape through the window like the first ti, and...

And once again the blindingly obvious hit in the face. The Chira escaped through the window. It ca back in through a window too. The windows were warded. That ant it ca through the barrier. I could recall Angie saying that the barrier was keyed for Abyssals. Now put all of those details together, and...

"Change of plans!" I all but shouted into my phone, no doubt startling my assistant. "I'm heading up! Make sure you get out of the way when you hear coming!"

"Chief, I might not have stressed it enough before, but the exit is swarming with angry goat-n."

"Let worry about that. Also, tell the class rep to summon her golem thingie. Make it big. I need it to throw sothing for ."

I didn't wait for affirmation, as the Chira managed to turn around way faster this ti and was already preparing to run down. I looked the creature in the eye (or at least one set of eyes) and shouted, "Co on you oversized horror-movie reject! Catch if you can!"

I had no idea if it could understand , or if it was even sentient to begin with, but the Chira let out a defiant growl in response all the sa and lunged at . Of course, by then I wasn't there anymore. In fact, I was running up the stairs with all my might, three steps at a ti. Even so, the Chira was right on my heel, so I abused the hell out of my mobility advantage and teleported away whenever it got close to filleting . It played havoc with my stomach, but it was still the lesser of two evils.

I reached the third floor in record ti, and from there I could already see the Faun ineffectually crowding in front of the door leading to the roof, seven or eight of them packed on the stairs like sardines in a box. They were big, though not as big as Brang or the Chira, and they had the sa kind of goat-ish appearance save for one of them. He looked more wolf-like than anything, and he was one of the first that noticed my charge up the stairs. He let out a barking growl that roughly translated to "[Attention!]" and a couple of the goat-heads turned towards . All their faces turned slack when they noticed the Chira charging behind .

"[Out of my way, you miserable nincompoops!]" I roared in Faunish, and the unusual sight combined with the command in their own language must've triggered sothing, as they stumbled all over themselves to comply, even forcing two of their numbers over the handrails around the stairwell. This opened a gap that was just wide enough for to slip through, and while normally I would've considered entering into the arm's reach of half a dozen angry human-animal hybrids built like brick houses a bad idea, the angry double-howl behind reminded that it was still the better alternative.

I held my head low and dashed through the opening at full speed. I could hear the Faun behind getting trampled or worse by the Chira, but by then I was through the door and facing a very surprised pair of blue eyes. The princess blinked at as I threw my arms open, embraced her, and pulled her onto the ground into a sideways roll just as the monster behind burst through the narrow doorway and leaped over us, sending the door and a couple of bricks flying as it broke through.

It landed with a screech as its claws found purchase on the concrete and it quivered briefly, disoriented after the impact.

I jumped to my feet, leaving the still shocked princess on the ground, and scanned the rooftop. Judy was standing near the fence with the phone still in her hand. Angie was a few ters to my left aiming her bow at the creature with an uncertain look in her eyes. Finally, I found the class rep as well. She was crouching by the wrecked roof access, her hat missing and in the process of rubbing sothing out of her eyes. More importantly though, there was sothing big and made of stone missing from her side.

"Where's the golem!?" I yelled at her frantically.

She only looked at blankly for a second. Then the light of understanding returned to her eyes and she said; "I... I was just summoning it when you got here. I think I hit my head when—"

"Sorry about that," I interrupted, "but we need it ASAP. I'm going to get the attention of the Chira and lure it to the edge of the roof. I want you to use your golem to break the fence with it."

"But... how?" The class rep spoke as she rose to her feet in a mild daze.

"Ram it, grab it and throw it, I don't care, just do it quickly!" In the anti, the princess also got up, so I quickly said to her, "Keep the Fauns out just a little longer if you can," and then turned around and dashed after the monster I was trying to run away from all this ti.

While we were talking, Angie kept the creature busy with so strategically placed arrows. They only seed to annoy it, but that was more than enough for now. I circled around the flailing Chira and ca to a stop by the Celestial girl's side.

"Good job," I told her with a smile she weakly returned. "We need to lure it towards the fence. Can you help?"

"Sure," she said after firing another arrow just as the Chira was about to find its footing and charge us. I'm not going to lie, her nonchalance was kind of cool. "What do you want to do?"

"I need you to keep hitting it from afar while I keep it busy. Try to pin it when it's swiping at to keep it off-balance."

"I can do that."

"Good," I nodded and turned to my assistant still standing by the fence. "Judy, get to the class rep! See if you can help with anything. If you can't, lay low!"

"Affirmative," she answered and then scampered out of the way.

With that last obstacle out of the way I turned to the Chira with a bold smile and yelled, "Hey! Over here, you oversized mutt!"

I have to stress again that I had absolutely no idea whether the creature could even understand human speech. It did seem to find my voice annoying though (or maybe it just got reminded of all the pain I caused to it) and both of its heads turned towards at once. I waved my hands just to make sure I got its full attention.

A second later it bounded at and I deftly rolled out of the way, making sure I was moving towards the fence facing the track field.

"Co on, you have to do better than that!" I yelled again as I picked up a piece of broken brick and threw it at the creature's head. It actually staggered for a mont before it roared at and got ready for another charge.

While my inexplicable dodging instincts took care of most of the fight, if you could even call it that, I had ample ti to take a better look at the Chira under the light of the violet moon in the sky. I was too busy being terrified of it before to notice, but my little jaunt at the science classroom must've hurt it more than I first thought. Its muscles were noticeably less bulky, probably due to the biomass being redirected to fix its injuries, and two of its eyes were still hidden under a flap of lted flesh. Not only that, it didn't bother to regrow its burned and lted skin, leaving large patches of its neck and arms covered in a thin layer of dark mucus with the muscles clearly outlined underneath. If this was a normal animal I would've been shocked it was still alive. Since it wasn't, I could already see it healing. I was sure that in a couple of minutes it was going to be back in shape again. We had to end it before that happened.

"Class rep!" I yelled during a slightly less frantic mont when the creature was distracted by an arrow to the knee. "We could sure use a golem right about now!"

"I'm working on it!" she yelled back. I noted in relief that her voice was no longer shaky. My relief then quickly turned to alarm as I looked back and saw Angie flying over the Chira with her bow drawn.

"Don't get so close!" I yelled frantically, but it was already too late. The Chira's long tail lashed out and the bulb at the end hit her on the hip, throwing her off-course and careening into the ground. She landed gracelessly on her butt and rolled, which probably lessened the impact a bit. Either way, it must have hurt. Not only that, but the Chira was already about to pounce at her prone form.

"Oh no, you don't!" I yelled from the top of my lungs as I sprinted at the creature and, to my own horror, jumped onto its back. After suppressing a silent ‘Why do I keep doing this?!' I grabbed hold of the spear-shaft still protruding from the thing's back and twisted it with all my might. The Chira let out an ear-piercing shriek and tried to shake off, but its front legs couldn't reach and its wriggling only made the spear in its back ss around its insides even more.

Then it stopped. For a mont I thought it realized it wouldn't get off that way and was about to roll on its back and crush . Instead, it wobbled. Then it let out a surprised whine, and as I peeked down I found a sight for sore eyes.

"Finally!" I yelled as the dark-grey stone familiar raised the creature with on its back into the air as a weightlifter would do to a calf.

"Leo! Get off!" Ammy yelled while frantically waving a staff I wasn't one hundred percent certain she even had on her just a few minutes ago.

"Don't worry about ! Just throw this thing!"

She didn't hesitate for long before she forcefully pointed her staff at the fence. The golem underneath us let out a low rumbling sound and heaved the Chira. I figured that was my cue to jump, so I let go of the spear and kicked off the back of the creature just as the golem tossed it in the opposite direction. Because of that, my footing was bad and I spun as I fell, giving a pri view of the lump of charred flesh hitting the fence.

There was a cacophony of sounds, the roar of the beast mixing with the rumbling of the golem and the screeching noise of the twisting, bending tal of the fencepost. All of that was promptly overpowered by a loud crackle reminiscent of distant thunder as the barrier's wards fell apart and the field popped like a giant, murderous soap bubble.

I was about to let out a triumphant ‘Wooo-hoo!' at the sight of the Chira crashing through and plumting to the ground below like a ragdoll... but it quickly turned into a loud "FUCK!" as I felt a powerful pull on my left leg and found myself looking at the ruined fence from the wrong side.

Ti, as it tended to do lately, slowed to a crawl as my brain tried to make sense of the situation. I concluded, with a defeatist detachnt, that I was plumting to my doom. To my own surprise, I found that sad fact unable to dampen my curiosity. Why was I falling from the roof? I glanced at my leg and it took an infinitely long mont to recognize the fleshy bulb clamped down on it. No one could've blad , as at this point it had a glowing eye and a mouth on it. A mouth that was biting down on my leg.

Right. Chiras were supposed to have a snake for a tail, I mused as my body tumbled towards the cold, hard ground. I supposed this was the ti when my life would flash before my eyes, but considering I couldn't rember anything past the last two months, it would've been a very short movie. Instead, the Chira ca into view, sprawled out and most of its limbs bent in unnatural angles, its snake-head still spitefully clamped onto my leg. It made a little pissed off, to be honest.

Here I was, trying to rescue my friends, and this bloody shape-shifting thing that had nothing to do with until now just kept getting in my way. It made angry. Angry enough to shake out of my stupor. Angry enough to turn totally irrational as I decided to teleport one more ti. Not towards the roof. Not towards the building. Not even towards the ground, but right at the Chira so that I could punch him right in its huge, smug monster-dog-crocodile-bat-gorilla face. As I said, irrational.

After the now-familiar mont of nauseous twist of space, I suddenly found myself on top of the creature again. Maybe it was the sll of charred at or the sudden return of the plumting feeling, but my higher brain functions caught hold of the rein again, and after a brief mont of ‘What the hell am I doing?!' I grabbed hold of the first thing in sight, which happened to be the spear-shaft inexplicably still sticking out of the Chira's back. I pulled myself closer to the creature and braced against the centrifugal force created by the two of us spinning through the air.

One revolution. Two revolutions. By the ti of the third revolution, I had my leg set against the Chira's back. I was sure I would throw up again by the fourth revolution. I never got around to find out, as the world montarily got dyed in black and the colors of the rainbow at the sa ti as the G-forces on impact threatened to squeeze my lungs into my abdon.

Surprisingly enough, I was still thinking at this point. That was a good sign, my recovering brain surmised. That ant that I wasn't dead. Possibly broken beyond repair, but not dead. Silver linings!

I couldn't see anything though. For a long instant, I was afraid I went blind, then I realized I just had my eyelids down. I carefully opened one eye, then the other. I was on the ground, inexplicably standing. My legs hurt like hell and my palms clasped around the spear-shaft in my hand felt sore, but otherwise, I was surprisingly un-pulverized. I glanced down and I found that the Chira was less fortunate, much to my relief. In fact, I was standing on its broken back, its body flattened like a clay figurine under my feet. Maybe it was so kind of defense chanism? Either way, it probably saved my life.

I could feel the defiant smile creep onto my face again. Finally! The Chira was out of the way, the barrier was down, the Fauns on the stairs were scattered... things seed to look up for us.

...

And then there was a blinding white light in front of . My eyes stung as I looked at it, but I strained to do so anyway. It was huge, swirling, and...

"Shit, the gate..." I muttered and got ready to step off the back of the pulverized monstrosity. My legs froze a mont later as my eyes adjusted to the light and my brain noted how large the portal was. I squinted to see better and the realization slowly dawned on . It wasn't that the portal was huge. It was an oval-shaped hole, only about four ters tall and two ters wide. How did I know that? Well, I had a couple of handy asuring sticks close to it in the form of Snowy and company. Oh, and before I forget: I was only a couple of steps away from them.

"You..." ca a low, burning hiss from the tallest of the three silhouettes I only began to properly make out as my eyes adapted. For a mont I was frozen in place, unsure what to do. Then I rembered my mantra. I closed my eyes, took a deep breath, and when I opened them I had already forced the previously withered daring smile onto my lips as the words ‘refuge in audacity' echoed in my ears.

"Hello there Crowey. It's been a while."