Ten beasts swooped down, aiming to attack Doc who had slain their brethren. Doc clapped his hands together and whispered under his breath.

"Release."

Something strange began to happen to the birds in front of them. All of their bones seemed to burst through their skin and pierce one another as they fell. All ten birds were immediately turned into a massive flesh pulp on the ground. Doc had killed them instantly. However, he seemed to have trouble staying on his feet after releasing so much energy at once. He leaned on Jacob’s shoulder, panting.

"Thanks. I haven’t gone all out in a very long time."

"It’s okay. We’ll make sure to protect you."

Five more creatures swooped down towards Maria, throwing their claws in front of them. Maria grounded her feet and dashed forward to meet the first one halfway. As she flew, Jacob noticed something strange happening with her body. It seemed like steam was coming off of it and turning a dark shade of red. He was getting chills watching the strange transformation.

When her fist collided with the first bird...

Boom!

Its stomach had turned into a distorted amalgamation of flesh and bone. Blood was dripping all over Maria’s body, but she didn’t care. Without wasting any time, she blitzed to her next opponent. Its fate was just as worse. When Maria slammed her fist into its eye, it exploded into a red cloud, covering her entire face with more blood. They creature squealed in pain. Its talons ripped through the air towards Maria, trying to dissect her where she stood. However, it was much too late.

Maria grabbed the talons with her hands and ripped them off using her strength. Then, she pierced them through the birds own throat, causing it to choke to death on its own blood. Jacob was having trouble determining if the birds or Maria were scarier in this match up.

Three more birds were still flying at Jacob. Maria managed to jump on one of them. However, the bird seemed to open its wide beak and close it around Maria’s body. Instead of simply being crushed by the jaws of the creature, Maria pushed them further back than they were designed to go. In a horrifying sight, Jacob saw the bird’s own beak wrap around its head and body, causing it to grow limp under Maria’s feet.

Small cuts stayed on Maria’s skin from the sharp teeth that were inside the mouth. She ignored the pain and left to help Jacob.

One bird dove its sharp beak at Jacob’s torso. Instead of dodging the attack, he attempted to parry it instead. Using the birds own momentum against itself, Jacob guided its head toward the ground and slammed it with resounding force. Sand was shot hundreds of feet into the air from the impact. The creature had its beak stuck under the large mound of sand, struggling to free itself using its body.

Using the opportunity, Jacob sent a fist flying into one of its teeth that were clenched together in the ground. A large piece snapped off and fell on the in front of him. He grabbed it with both hands and dug the sharp edge through the skin of the creature before running down its entire body. Dark red blood gushed out of the wounds while its body squirmed to escape.

As he was preparing to finish it off, the fifth bird rammed its claws right against his arm, severing it clean off. Jacob looked at his missing arm in horror and stifled a scream. His blood shot out of the wound at an incredible rate. The pain he felt was nothing like he had felt before. He finally understood how Veal had felt when he chopped off his hand back at the bar.

Right before the bird could cut him into dozens of pieces, Maria tackled him out of the way. However, the bird seemed to cut her ear off as she passed. Both her ear and the cloth that was stuffed inside fell on the ground next to him. Maria had no time to process the pain she was feeling. She grabbed the cloth that fell out her ear and quickly wrapped it around Jacob’s wound.

She tightened it with all her might, causing Jacob to wince slightly. The bleeding slowed down more and more thanks to Maria’s help. She quickly turned around and shot toward the last bird that attacked them and threw a kick right against its neck. The shockwave was so devastating that the sand surrounding them seemed to shoot out for miles before coming to a rest. When Jacob could finally see what had happened, the head of the bird had completely disappeared.

Maria’s kick had completely beheaded the creature. The blood that was splattered on her skin seemed to boil under the heat emanating from her body. Her breathing was heavy as she looked in the sky to see how many were left. It seemed like the last six were all grouping together against Lidia and Slimo. Maria rushed over to check his wounds.

"Are you okay? Where’s the other part of your arm?"

"I’m not sure, but the bleeding is slowing down. Thank you for the help."

Doc rushed over, holding Jacob’s severed arm and Maria’s ear.

"Eww. How did you find those so fast?!"

"I’ve been a palace doctor for years. This is actually one of the tamer experiences I’ve had, believe it or not. Now, hold your arm in place. Maria, hold your ear back up to where it should be."

Both of them obliged. Slowly, a warm sensation washed over Jacob’s wound. It felt like his body was put on healing overdrive. He could feel every tendon, every bone, and every cell connect back with the arm as if it had never separated in the first place. Slowly, he started regaining sensation back in his hand. Doc seemed to be struggling tremendously going through the procedure.

Eventually, he put his arms down and bent over on the ground, heavily panting. Jacob reached out his arm and grasped at the air in front of him.

"Amazing. Your power is truly incredible, Doc."

Maria felt around her ear as it reattached.

"This feels like I never even lost it. Thank you."

Doc took a few moments to regain his breath before responding.

"It’s no problem. Where are the other two? Do they need help?"

The group looked over at Lidia and Slimo. They both shot towards the creatures to meet them in the sky. Before they even managed to reach the elder beast, Slimo managed to slice through three of the infant birds while Maria punched through the other two. That left only one bird for all of them to fight. However, there was no doubt this elder beast would give them trouble.

"It looks like they have it handled for now, but I’ll try to interfere if it gets too close. I’m not sure how much more powerful the elder would be. We seemed to defeat these infant beasts with relative ease."

"Let’s not jinx ourselves. Are either of you injured anywhere else?"

Jacob checked over himself before responding.

"I should be good. Thank you for saving me. Both of you."

"It’s no problem. By the way, what are you staring at Maria?"

Maria seemed to be lost in a daze, staring off into the vast desert. It looked like she was frozen in time. She slowly started walking forward, away from everyone else. Jacob tried calling out to her.

"Maria? Where are you going? We may need your help to fight the last one."

She ignored him and kept walking forward. A cold fear gripped Jacob’s heart, followed by a startling realization.

"Her cloth. It’s not in her ear. You don’t think..."

Suddenly, Maria started sprinting away using her strength before Jacob had much time to process what was happening. Without wasting any time, Jacob threw Doc on his back and sprinted after her.

"Shit. We have to stop her somehow! How much longer until you can do something, Doc?"

"I just used the last bit of energy to heal you both, so just wait a little longer! Don’t let me lose sight of her!"

A dark roar seemed to echo through the sky behind them, indicating the battle between the elder beast and his comrades had officially begun.