My fingers cramped around the aluminum bat, sweat slicking between my palm and the grip tape. I crouched behind a silvery trunk, gagging on the iron rich stench of fresh blood mixing with overturned soil. Ahead I saw there was a hollow recessed into the forest floor. Off to the right, a woman with pale skin and pointed ears, braced herself against a staff struggling to stand on the incline. The staff looked straight out of a fantasy novel, dark polished wood etched with runic markings and topped with a yellow crystal embedded into the wood that pulsed with its own heartbeat. The woman wore leather armor that caught the light in places where it hadn't been scratched or gouged, the green tunic beneath it darkened with sweat and what looked like blood. Her fiery hair was woven into a tight braid, her jaw clenched so tight the muscles jumped beneath her skin, tears staining tracks through the dirt on her face, her eyes were focused on something in the space between us that I couldn’t quite see through the undergrowth surrounding my hiding spot.

  I adjusted my position and looked down into the depression in the forest below and my stomach lurched. Another woman in full plate armor, covering her entire body other than her head, was embedded in the splintered trunk of a massive silver-barked tree. Her body was bent at an impossible angle, spine contorted like a broken doll's, her torso completely crushed in by the metal of her own armor. Her head dangled limply, dark crimson poured from her mouth, pooling beneath her at the base of the tree, soaking into moss that seemed to drink it eagerly.

  In the center of the glade, a creature straight from the darkest of nightmares loomed over a man in matching plate armor. The monstrosity stood at least twelve feet tall at its hunched shoulders, its limbs corded with muscles that rippled beneath bristling brown fur matted with blood and gore. The monster was a grotesque fusion of warthog, bear, and gorilla. It had an elongated snout crowned with yellowed curved tusks as thick as my forearm, dripping with bright red blood. Its red eyes, small and piggish, gleamed with intelligence that showed it was not just a feral animal. The stench it gave off was like a combination of wet dog and rotten meat and it hit me in waves as it lumbered forward on the knuckles of its massive clawed hands.

  The elven man scrabbled at the earth, fingernails digging furrows as he dragged his ruined legs away from the beast. Blood bubbled from his lips with each desperate gasp. "LYREN!" he screamed, the sound wet and gurgling. "RUN!"

  "Rennic!" The red headed woman's voice cracked with raw desperation. She thrust her staff forward, eyes blazing with fury as she screamed “Morior!” The power of the word tore through the hollow with a physical force that ripped at the leaves around me. The air swirled violently, creating a cyclone of wind, visible as rippling distortions, that blasted from her staff and slammed into the monster's head with the force of a freight train. The beast's skull snapped back, a howl of primal rage erupting from its throat.

  Holy shit. This isn't a movie and that was not some kind of special effect. I felt the wind gusting. Smelled the blood. What the fuck is happening?

  It sounded ridiculous in my head but the woman, no the elf I realized, had just used magic. The air itself bent to her command and smashed into the monster with enough force to knock down a building. I was frozen in place as I thought about the tiny redhead unleashing what should have been certain death upon the monstrosity. Yet the beast barely staggered. It absorbed that building leveling blast like a prizefighter shrugging off a glancing blow. Only then did I notice the creature's condition, arrow shafts bristled from its back and flanks. Deep lacerations across its limbs wept black blood. The elf and her friends had wounded the beast badly, but the monstrosity seemed far from done. Now it was taking its revenge out on them. It shook its massive head, recovering from the magical blast, bellowing a roar that shook my bones and set my fillings vibrating.

  The beast rumbled forward bleeding but unbroken, looming over the crawling man. It lifted one colossal hooved foot.

  "NO!" A scream tore from the woman’s lips, echoing through the clearing.

  The foot descended like a meteor. What followed wasn't an explosion or even the sharp crack of breaking bone but something far worse, a wet, pulpy sound that turned my insides against me. I gagged, acid burning up my throat.

  With a contemptuous snort, the monster dragged its foot across the moss, its hoof grinding against what remained of the man’s armor and leaving little more than a crimson smear. Then those hateful pig eyes, red as blood, locked onto the woman who the dead elven man had called Lyren.

  It bellowed a roar that shook the entire forest, then lowered its tusked head and charged.

  Part of me wanted to do something to help her but I couldn't move. My limbs were frozen with fear and my mind wasn’t doing much better. I was cycling through what I thought it would take to kill a monster like that. It was easily bigger than a full grown elephant and probably weighed several tons. It could probably shrug off most types of small gunfire. You’d need a fifty cal or some grenades, maybe a rocket launcher.

  None of that was realistic. I knew I wasn’t thinking clearly, but to be fair the situation I found myself in was pretty insane. All I could do was hide and feel shame as I watched the massive boar bear thing barreling towards the small elven woman. I wanted to close my eyes so I wouldn’t see her get turned into paste like her friend but some morbid part of me wouldn’t let my eyes look away.

  “Scylla!,” she screamed. FWOOSH! Hundreds of tiny shimmering blades of wind rocketed towards the charging beast. The wind blades struck the charging creature's right shoulder, sending black blood spraying into the air, but the beast’s charge didn’t even slow. Quickly shouting another incantation that I couldn’t hear in the chaos, the wind magic whisked Lyren sideways just as the freight train of muscle and fur barreled past, its horned head smashing into the incline of the hollow sending dirt and plant matter flying in every direction.

  Lyren’s shoulders sagged with pain and exhaustion but she planted her feet and again screamed, "Scylla!" The staff flared, unleashing another cloud of wind razors that shredded the monster's back. But on something that size, the wounds might as well have been papercuts. The beast shook itself like a dog shedding water, spraying black droplets in a wide arc, and slowly turned to face her again.

  I felt no shame in saying I'd spent my life cheering for the old movie monsters to win from the safety of my couch. But this thing, this horror of muscle, fur, and tusks dripping with the black blood of the earth, sent electric jolts of terror down my spine that locked my knees in place. My hands trembled so badly I nearly dropped my bat. I looked down, the Louisville Slugger youth model that suddenly felt about as useful as a toothpick.

  The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

  Every instinct screamed at me to run back to my van, to lock the doors and pretend I hadn't seen anything. But then what? Sit there and hide while that woman's death throes echoed through the trees?

  All the times I'd ever tried to stick my neck out for others, I'd ended up getting fucked over. This time the consequences wouldn’t just be just getting my wallet stolen or getting stuck on the bad side of town. That monstrosity could kill me in exactly zero seconds flat. I shook my head, sweat from my forehead dripping onto the purple leaves of a small bush I was crouched over.

  This isn't my fight. I don’t even think this is my world. You can’t help her. You can’t even help yourself.

  The monster charged at the beautiful elven woman again swinging its thick gorilla-like arms out to grab her as she barely evaded them again with her movement spell. The furious beast whirled as soon as it stopped its momentum and stood on its back legs raising its massive clawed fists into the sky before slamming them down at Lyren who’s spell hadn’t moved her quite far enough away to escape its reach.

  Lyren saw her mistake and with a panicked look on her face ducked and rolled underneath the creature just as the fists smashed to the ground with such force that dirt exploded out in every direction, leaving a deep crater. The explosion of debris struck Lyren, dirt and detritus smashing into her with enough force to leave a dozen new scratches in her expensive looking armor and push her single roll into several less controlled ones.

  She landed hard on her side but I watched amazed at her ability to remain focused in such an insane situation. She was obviously experienced and one hell of a warrior to be able to fight this thing on her own even if it was inevitable that she was fighting a slowly losing battle.

  Not only had she managed to hold onto her staff through that explosion but as soon as she stopped she rolled to her side and released another wind blade blast into the monster's back legs from the ground. Its knees started to buckle but it was able to keep its balance. Unfortunately, before she could move the beast’s tail, which looked small compared to its hulking frame but probably weighed a couple hundred pounds, swept across the ground slamming into the still prone woman.

  I could hear the bones in her arm snap as she was sent tumbling end over end until she came to a stop near an absolutely massive tree. Its silver barked trunk was wider than my one bedroom apartment back in Omaha.

  I didn’t see any way the elf could have survived that brutal attack but to my surprise her limp body glowed with some kind of green aura for such a short flicker of time that I wasn’t sure I hadn’t just imagined it. Then her chest heaved, revealing that she must have stopped breathing after the attack.

  Was that green glow some kind of healing magic or something? I wondered as, with quite some difficulty, Lyren tried to push herself to her feet.The monster was already slowly turning around on its injured legs, snorting in anticipation of finishing off its prey.

  What the hell are you doing, Garber? I asked myself. If she dies you are the only other living thing around. Even if that monster is pretty badly hurt it's still probably faster than you. Run away as fast as you can, you idiot.

  But I couldn’t make myself move or even breathe. I just watched the battered woman laying on the ground beneath the huge tree. She wasn’t trying to get up again but I noticed that somehow, even after getting pummeled by the beast’s tail, she was still holding on to her staff.

  Lyren somehow got herself to her feet, a wet, hacking cough erupting from her throat. Crimson droplets sprayed across her moss green tunic, darkening the fabric in splotchy constellations. From my hiding spot, I watched the beast moving toward her, its massive hooves churning the forest floor into mulch. The monster wasn’t doing so well either, black ichor oozed from hundreds of wounds all over its body, matting its bristly fur into wet sticky clumps.

  It stumbled over a small boulder, its huge frame lurching sideways before one of its colossal clawed arms slammed down to prevent it from falling. Its eyes, once burning like hot coals, had clouded to the color of congealing blood, unfocused yet somehow still fixed on Lyren.

  Despite its failing body, the creature dragged itself forward with single minded determination, as if its sole remaining purpose was to ensure they both crossed into death together.

  Lyren jammed her staff into the earth, hauling herself upright while her broken arm dangled uselessly. My pulse hammered so hard I swore the beast's ears twitched in my direction. She wobbled, face contorting as pain lanced through her, but steadied herself against the wooden shaft.

  This woman was fucking incredible. She was completely spent. Whatever she had done with that green glow to keep herself alive seemed to have used up the last of her magic. No more wind blasts, no more invisible razors. Yet she planted her feet wide, chin lifted and eyes burning with defiance at her executioner. The boar thing snorted, swirling the floating spores with a spray of blood and mucus that mixed in the filtered sunlight. It stomped slowly, painfully, in no rush to cross the short distance. It knew its prey was done running. When it stopped in front of Lyren it raised its massive arm, thick as my torso, Lyren didn't cower or flee. She leaned forward on her staff and screamed. The sound wasn't magic, just a primal howl of hatred that carried the raw anguish of her fallen companions and defiance in the face of her own death.

  Something deep inside me burned at the sight. My body launched forward from where I was hiding before my brain caught up, a primal override of every survival instinct in my body. My legs pumped beneath me as I ran towards the nightmare creature. Each footfall hammering the alien soil. This was so stupid. Suicidal even. But the violent burning in my chest at the courage of this woman would not be contained.

  "GODDAMMIT!" I snarled, my heart a jackhammer against my ribs. I snatched up a jagged rock the size of a baseball, covered in moss.

  "HEY MOTHERFUCKER!" The scream did not sound as intimidating as I intended. It squeaked out of me like I had just hit puberty. I coughed, trying to pull my cracking voice back together. "OVER HERE YOU UGLY LITTLE BITCH! COME AND GET SOME!"

  I hurled the rock with every cell of desperate strength in my body, hoping it would get there before the monster struck. I had always been pretty fit, having grown up living a very outdoorsy life with my parents. We camped, hiked, climbed, kayaked, but I was never what you would call a true athlete. That being said, hurling the stone with all of my strength meant it barely crossed the distance before thudding against the beast's mangled shoulder.

  Nice throw, Garber, I thought, my face turning red. You really showed him.

  But despite the embarrassing lack of force behind my throw, the stone smacked into pulped flesh with a sound like a butcher's cleaver hitting wet meat. The monster's roar shook the ground beneath my feet, vibrating through my bones as it whipped toward me, tusks gleaming with black ichor. Its arm which was about to pulverize Lyren dropped to the ground to support its unsteady body as it turned. Those eyes, those fucking hellfire eyes, filled with renewed vigor, swiveled from the woman and locked onto me with such concentrated hatred I felt it like physical heat on my skin. The beast's muscles bunched, preparing to charge.

  "Oh shit, I'm dead," I mumbled, the words barely audible even to myself as my blood turned to ice water. "This was a mistake. A huge fucking mistake."

  Then my world narrowed to a single, primal imperative: run.