The Juggernaut

	With a dull clicking and clacking at the gate, the iron bars that covered the entirety of that opening in the stone wal slowly grind their way out from between each other… A certain group of people were waiting within the arena. A few hours ago, they had been given a challenge: slay the beast they chose, and get handsomely rewarded with whatever they wanted within reason. Fail, and die. It was as simple as that, really.
	An elf girl puts her hand on her weapon for a moment, her eyes narrowing as she focuses on what she sees in front of her… Unfortunately, she can’t see much within the confines of that immense cavern in front of her… She lets out a sigh before fiddling with her orange locks of hair to try and figure out what to do… She looks over towards her friends for a moment, but soon lets out a grunt of determination. There was no way that she was going to let her nerves get to her! Not now, of all times.
	A canine male with flowing green locks looks up for a moment, spotting the gate across the way grinding and opening its bars to the open air. He hefts himself to his feet after a moment by using the butt of his spear to prop himself up… He lets out a sigh before slicking back some of his fluff away from his face. Whatever this thing was, he wasn’t going down without a fight. After lifting his spear up, he quickly twirls it around, and points it towards the entrance to that cave…
	Another canine, this time a female, raises her hands at the sound of that wall of iron scraping its way open. At once, dark flames flicker to life in her hands, and her eyes widen to see everything within her range… If there was anything that wanted to hurt her friends, they’ll have to go through her first. Even if it kills her.
	Meanwhile, a Cait Sith female jumps a bit at the sound of something rumbling from the cave entrance… After brushing her hair back and adjusting her glasses to see a bit better, she swishes her hand through the air, leaving a thin trail of light from the tips of her fingers… In no time, the magic circle she created was up and running, and ready for anything to happen, whether it be for her friends, or against her enemies.
	A Caorern, that is, half-dragon and half-sheep, brandishes his mace , and raises his shield at the sound of his leader twirling his spear… Something was coming, and he certainly didn’t want to be caught off guard against it… After a bit of a tap against that metal plate on his arm, he holds his mace up a bit higher… He was ready. He had to be ready.
	Suddenly, the sound of something whistling by meets the groups ears…

KRA-KOOOOM!!!

A tail, immense in size and covered in spikes as long as someone’s arm splinters its way into the dirt between the group. Thankfully, with how the entirety of the group had seen this coming, they were able to dive out of the way of that immense appendage of spike and muscle. They look at it for a moment or two before the limb retracts itself back into the darkness of that cavern before them…

Drm… Drm… Drm…

Before long, the beast that the tail had belonged to steps its way out from the cavern… A massive oxen-like beast covered head to toe in horns, spikes, and a shock of red hair on its head lets out a huff of smoke from its nostrils before letting out a fierce bellow!

“HUEYYYYYY!!!”

The group winces a bit at the sound of that, but hold as firm as they can in their situation… Suddenly, the Caorern and the green-fluffed canine charge ahead, their weapons held high! With a twist, the Green Cu Sith ends up sticking the beast in its side, while the Caorern ends up slamming one of the horns that grew out of the side of its body! They don’t find much purchase, though, before they’re tossed back towards the rest of the group. They both land on their sides with a dull groan coming from their mouths…
The elf girl is quick to come to their side, though, and with a wave of her hand, the canine and the caorern’s bruises start to fade from that quick lashing they had gotten but a moment before. The beast lets out another fearsome sound before suddenly exhaling a hellish gout of flame from its nostrils! The elf, male canine, and the caorern roll out of the way as best they can before the flame could even get to them! They both roll to their feet before brandishing their weapons once more.
Meanwhile, the Cait Sith female was busy drawing symbols in the air… That’s the way her magic worked, really: draw the correct sequence of symbols, and an attribute of herself or her friends got better for a while. After quickly drawing a symbol like a lightning bolt, she pushes her hand towards the blond canine girl. She was busy with her own casting ritual, though, so she should be happy that she knows that she has her back…
Speaking of the canine girl, she was mad. No beast was going to char-broil her ex like that! After a quick glance to the rest of the group and a grin to herself, she kept making the various gestures that she needed to cast one of her most powerful spells… She was going to end this in one shot. The thing she needed to do was get close. She couldn’t do anything without getting closer.
Suddenly, the beast turns towards the two of them, and charges forward! The Cait Sith and the Cu Sith suddenly straighten up, and dive to the side before that beast could get to them! The beast itself charged its way towards the far wall, like a bat out of hell! It crashes against the far stone with a deep rumbling… The two of them weren’t going to be done in that easily! The beast turns around after that, and gets ready for whatever it may do after that…
The green-furred canine runs forward with spear in hand, and suddenly slams its blade into the beast’s leg! It lets out a rumbling roar before looking to the canine! He looks to the other canine a bit away from him, and gives a nod. With barely a word, the blond-haired Cu Sith looks expectantly to her friend that had cast a spell a moment prior… She needed a bit more power. The Cait Sith, though, lets out a sigh, and goes through the motions once again.
In no time, the blond- haired canine could feel the power within her surge a bit more. There, that was the zing she needed! With a smirk on her face, she runs forward, briefly noting that the Caorern had made his way around to the other side of the beast, and was holding the other leg down for a clearer strike! The female canine runs forward to the beast, and plants her hand onto its forehead.
Almost immediately, lines and lines of darkened energy trace their way around the beast’s form, looking almost like cracks and breaks in a shattered piece of glass…

	Ksssssssssh!!!

	Gouts of sickeningly blue blood splatter their way out of those cracks in the beast’s flesh, causing it to reel back and writhe in pain! It shudders and thrashes for a moment before suddenly collapsing to the ground… That sickening shade of ichor leaks out of the wounds that female canine’s spell had made, no doubt causing the demise of that thing…
The group lets out a sigh at the sight of that thing breathing its last breath… The green canine pulls his spear free, and starts to clean the tip. The Caorern rubs his hands for a moment… That thing was strong! The Cait Sith lets out a sigh before plopping onto her butt. Doing spells one after another was always so tiring for her… The female Cu Sith lets out a hiss before pulling her hand away from the corpse’s head. Doing that spell never gets any less gross, did it? The elf girl wipes away a bit of splattered blood from her face. She didn’t really mean to get within the “splash zone”, but what could she do besides clean herself up?
In no time, they group gathers their things, and take a few trophies from the beast’s corpse… After all, with a horn this big, how could anyone deny that they had to have had at least a little bit of skill? With their bags packed and their weapons cleaned, the group quickly heads away from that ramshackle arena, and away from any other sort of lurking danger that may have been hiding there.