The first creature emerged. A Beowolf stepped onto the barren clearing, watching us. The wolf-like monster had a body covered in black fur, bony spikes erupting from its forearm and shoulders. Spines trailed down its back from the white mask obscuring its face. It was standing on four legs, but it could stand on its back two and tower over any human. Two more appeared behind the first. The entire forest was alive with the rustlings and growls of the Creatures of Grimm concealed behind the foliage. The Beowolf threw back its head and howled, its companions joining in. They charged, kicking up clouds of dirt as they ran at us. The clearing boomed with sound as the Grimm came crashing in.

I heard a whistle before an arc of water caught the first wave of Beowolves, cleaving the torsos of two and decapitating the third. Their bodies started to turn to black vapors the moment they died.

I turned to Pem, surprised at her change of targets, only to see another arc coming right at me. I ducked, hearing the water zip over my head. Pem’s gaze was locked on me. As a Beowolf approached, she spun and severed its head from its neck before training her eyes back on me.

My blades ready, I kept my focus on Pem as I tried to assess the Grimm pouring in. They seemed to be entirely Beowolves, the most common breed of Grimm. I heard the sound of large, pounding feet behind me. I turned, ready to slash at the Beowolf that had drawn near. Obsidian flew in front of me, letting loose another shriek at its fellow Grimm. The Beowolf slowed before speeding back up and running past me towards Pem. I watched as any Grimm that got close was redirected by a shriek from my friend.

“You called them here,” I realized. “The other Grimm listen to you. You called them here to save me.”

Obsidian spared a moment to look at me and say in a feminine voice, “I promised.” He returned to steering the Grimm away from me, my chest warm from my friend’s incredible gift.

A whimper broke our moment. Pem was a monster, hacking the Grimm to pieces with the smoothest of motions. She had no blindspot. Any Grimm that tried to pin her down was then reduced to vapor. As I watched, she grabbed one’s arm as it swiped at her, vaulted onto its back, and drove her claws into the flesh at the base of its neck. The Beowolf hadn’t hit the ground before she dispatched another by tearing it diagonally from shoulder to hip.

I saw two creatures charging at her from opposite sides. I took my chance, connecting the hilts of my swords and notching an arrow and pulling it back until the string drew taut. Before the beasts reached her, I let the arrow fly. Of course, Pem saw the projectile aimed at her. She knocked the arrow out of the air, the metal clashing against her braces. The Beowolves lunged. There was no time for Pem to defend herself, exposed to the fangs of the Grimm. I thought I had her. Then her eyes started to shine, followed by a flash of blinding white light that left spots in my vision. When it cleared, the Grimm had been turned to stone along with several others around Pem. In a blur, Pem sent arcs of water at each, reducing the statues to rubble.

It was unlike anything I had ever seen. How had she done that? Her Semblance… it didn’t have that kind of power. Her weapon, no weapon, had any sort of mechanism to turn Grimm to stone. Had it been that light? I had no idea what it was? It made no sense, but it seemed as if her eyes-

My thoughts ground to a stop when I saw a mass of black in the corner of my vision. I separated my blades and swung, severing a Beowolf’s arm an inch before it grabbed me. The monster howled in pain, which ended abruptly when Midnight sliced its neck. More Grimm were starting to surround me, the waves of monsters neverending. Fear rose as I realized Obsidian was no longer with me. It was short-lived when I saw him higher in the air above the trees. I spared a moment to look at Pem, the Huntress ceaselessly slaughtering Grimm, her eyes brighter than ever. Whatever she did, it killed Grimm. It’s better if Obsidian stayed away.

Another Beowolf attacked, jaws opened wide. I crouched low, letting its body sial over me. Pushing upwards, I felt the weight crash on me and then rise higher in the air. The Grimm went sprawling, landing on two others in a heap of black fur. I raised the heat of the earth below them and caused it to explode. The Grimm were blown to pieces. A third tried to sink its teeth into my head. I swatted its mouth aside with the flat of one sword and removed its head with the other. The rest seemed hesitant to attack. I took the lead and went on the offensive.

The first Grimm I went at swung at me pitifully before I dispatched it. The next lunged at me. I rolled under its legs, slicing where the tendons would be on an actual wolf. It went down and I quickly stabbed my blade through its spine. Another Beowolf ran at me on four legs. I let it near, connecting my swords back into a bow. Before it reached me, I leaped on its back. I stood quickly to shake me off. I used the motion to jump, letting me soar higher than I would have on my own. I twisted in the air, pulling three arrows from my quiver as I did. I notched the first and fired, followed by the second and third. One pierced a Beowolf’s chest, the other a knee, and the third stuck perfectly through one’s eye. I reached out, feeling the Dust with my Aura. Before, I would ignite the arrows before I fired and hope for some impact to set them off. Now, I heated them with my Semblance. The Dust was practically vibrating under my control. The Dust ignited and exploded, destroying the three Grimm I hit and any around them in clouds of fire.

I landed, bending my knees to absorb any shock. I didn’t have time to rest when another Beowolf jumped at me. I was prepared to hack it apart when a flash of silver tore off its neck. A figure jumped off its back, the sunlight gleaming off raised claws. I crossed Midnight in an ‘X’ shape in front of me. Pem landed in front of me, bringing down her claws as she fell. They slid off my blades but scraped my exposed forearms. Pem grunted as she swung her right arm upwards, the tips of her claws dragging in the soil. The polished steel had turned navy again. I swung my sword upwards and moved her shot so that it sailed over my head. She tackled me with her shoulder, knocking me off balance. My guard was down.

The next slash struck true, steel joined by blades of water, slicing my torso. My Aura took the damage as I felt a noticeable drop in my reserves. Still, the attack was so strong that I felt pain flare from where it had connected. I clenched my jaw against the gasp that rose in my throat. My arm wrapped around Pem’s wrist, preventing her from pulling away. Pem snarled, her free arm rearing back to stab at me. I brought up my other blade at the last second, the weapon slipping between the gaps of the two claws. We were locked together, pushing against one another, and trying to overpower the other.

Pem’s face was inches from mine. “You killed them,” she spat, her voice rough. “You killed my girls.”

“They got what they deserved,” I snapped back, feeling her start to push me back.

“They were innocent children!”

“They were horrible people that made my life a waking nightmare!” I screamed in her face. I felt the familiar fire rising inside me, fueling my limbs as I resisted Pem.

The Huntress pushed harder, her silver eyes filled with a fraction of that bright light. “You’ve always been a nuisance! All I wanted was to make that happy and you kept getting in the way! I wanted to see them grow up and have a better life than I had! And you took everything from them!”

“You took my life away!” I retorted. “You turned my home into a prison! I hurt every day! I hate all of you!”

“You ruined my world,” Pem, to my slight surprise, had tears in her eyes. It didn’t subtract from the expression of pure rage. “What I’m going to do to you is for Deino and Enyo.”

I don’t know how long we would have stayed stuck in that position before we separated willingly or the Beowolves did it for us. I just know that I saw Pem’s eyes widen, her head turning to the side and up. I followed her line of sight to see a fireball barreling towards us. It slammed into us, the blast throwing us apart. I rose from the dirt once more to scan the skies. A flock of another species of Grimm swarmed above the clearing. Their black bodies were those of large lions, but they had large wings sprouting from their backs. I could see long tails ending in a scorpion stinger. One descended, flying low over the ground at me. It had a mane made on bone, and a mask with horns sprouting from its forehead. Several spines of bone covered parts of its body. Manticores.

The approaching Manticore opened its maw filled with sharp teeth. Fire bloomed inside its mouth. It launched a fireball. I skirted to the side as it sailed past. I ran at the Manticore, pouring on as much speed as I could. I leaped over the Grimm, slicing its wings as I did. I rolled in the dirt and stood as the Grimm crashed. It gathered itself and ran at me, its wings reduced to vapor. A large paw tried to crush me, but I severed it at the wrist. A sudden motion caught my attention. I crossed my swords again as the stinger tried to impale my chest. It rang against the steel. It pulled back and struck again, and I deflected it again. It did this several times, the Grimm limping on its three remaining legs as it pushed me back. Finally, I caught the stinger between my swords and sliced them across the appendage, separating the sharp end from the tail. The lion-like Grimm roared in pain. I slit its throat and it crumbled to nothingness.

The sound of wings caught my attention. A trio of Manticores were staring at me from above, their mouths filled with fire. They let loose a volley of fireballs. I rushed to dodged them, feeling the warmth radiating off the flaming projectiles. They fired another volley. I tried to clear it, but one landed too close to me and the blast threw me down. I hit the ground, turning my body just in time to avoid another fireball. I got my feet back under me, forming Midnight into a bow once more. I dove under the next wave of fireballs, digging in my heels to stop my sudden motion, pulling back an arrow. I fired at the creatures, the arrow flying true. It stuck in a Manticore’s mouth as it was gathering fire, the flames activating the Dust. It exploded, obliterating the Grimm it had pierced and sent the other two downwards, bodies ablaze.

On the ground, a Beowolf was rushing me. I pulled out another arrow and fired. The Beowolf fell, stopping a foot in front of me. As its body faded, I pulled my arrow free and stored it back in the quiver. A pack was moving on me, dozens strong. Manticores joined them, following in the air. When doubts of facing that many Grimm surfaced, they were scattered by a horrible scream. The Manticores scattered as a small black body charged them. Obsidian chased the Manticores. The sight of the large monsters fleeing from the small bird was almost comical. Still, Obsidian’s ability had its limits. The Beowolves were unfazed and any Manticores that slipped away from his chase seemed to go back on the hunt.

I launched arrows at the Manticores, the aerial Grimm the larger threat. I downed as many as I could with my Dust-infused arrows as my quiver grew lighter. The Beowolves got too close, so I returned Midnight to my blades and started hacking at the Grimm. When I started to get overwhelmed, Obsidian would appear and disperse the crowd and lighten the load. Limbs and bony shards flew wild as I sliced the Grimm to pieces. When the Beowolves were almost gone, a Manticore dove at me. I jumped to the side, feeling the breeze the powerful wings kicked up. I threw out my Semblance on instinct, feeling the dirt heat up. I drew my arm up and made a throwing motion at the Grimm. A cloud of superheated dirt rose up. The heat intensified, the dirt solidifying into shards of dirty glass. The shards flew at the Manticore, shredding its body to black vapor.

I stared at my hand, the new discovery of my Semblance’s ability leaving me dumbstruck. It may have been dangerous to get distracted in a situation like that, but it may have saved my life. At that moment, I saw a movement. The gutted hill that had spilled its contents onto the forest was shifting. More dirt fell away as a mound swelled from its core and disappeared. It reappeared in the clearing, racing towards me. It was almost hypnotic watching the earth sway and shift. Obsidian screamed.

Dirt flew as my vision was filled by a gaping mouth full of fangs.