It took a step forward and…fell. It flailed around on the floor for a few seconds before getting up. A growl escaped from behind its fangs. It took another step and the ash sunk under its feet.

'Low intelligence,' Doevm thought. The creature slashed at the piles of ash. It would have been cute if it wasn't making a path right for him. He wasn't so foolish as to stay and watch. He promptly turned around and bolted.

The creature, seeing its prey run away, opened its mouth wide enough to dislocate its jaw. Its chest ballooned as it sucked in currents of air. The ash pulled it deeper into the ground. It lurched forward and expelled the air in a ma.s.sive soundwave.

Piles of ash rose in the air, creating an all-encompa.s.sing cloud of foul air. While Doevm couldn't see the creature, he could feel its soul, which lit up like a bonfire. Doevm's feet left the ground as he was blasted away along with sections of the buildings. For a second, he was flying away. The next, he bounced off the jagged stone path. Bone cracked and flesh ripped off as he slid further, stopping when he slammed into a stone wall. Pain exploded from his head. He crumpled to the ground with a groan. The air had been knocked from his lungs. He leaned himself up and kept moving away. The creature's low growls grew closer.

Heavy footsteps were followed by the crash of another building collapsing. He felt along the ground, back down the path he had taken. Every noise drew the creature closer. Its heavy breaths warmed the back of his neck. Claws reached out of the fog, just grazing Doevm's hair.

Color returned to Doevm's vision along with some of this strength. He would have screamed for joy if he wasn't screaming because of the pain he now felt. Magic circles surrounded him. Bone snapped back into place and new flesh grew. His newly restored energy dipped as the repairing process took its toll on his mana and physical strength.

He ran faster. The claws disappeared. He could hear voices now, loud and hurried. He emerged from the cloud and into the familiar busy main street. So did the creature. It rubbed its enlarged eyes and smiled at Doevm, who was pus.h.i.+ng through the crowd. The creature either ran through or scratched at anyone in its way.

Severed limbs and organs flew out of the bystanders. No matter how much Doevm led it into the ma.s.ses, the creature did not change its target. He couldn't even raise their dismembered bodies from death to defend him because they were either turned into bits or a red mist. While it didn't help much, he did gain a little distance by hiding behind the wall of flesh.

After a few minutes, however, the creature caught up and managed to swipe at him. Doevm blocked with all of his life essence covering his arms. The two met. Doevm's arm broke as he was flung into the air. The creature jumped up after him, however it sailed right past him and into the ceiling.

As it pulled itself out, Doevm covered his fall with a quick cus.h.i.+oning spell and dove into one of the nearby buildings. The room he had landed in only had a single bed, occupied by a man and a woman, who were too terrified to run away.

"Hi there," Doevm walked past them as they both covered themselves up with their sheets, as if a cloth blanket were a s.h.i.+eld that could defend against any evil. He dove under the bed just as the wall burst open.

The creature's heavy breaths filled the room. The woman's screams were cut short by a slash of its claws. It pulled its large body inside. Its head sc.r.a.ped against the ceiling. It sniffed the air like a dog and looked at the couple's corpses.

Doevm covered his mouth with his s.h.i.+rt to silence his heavy breaths and stretched his fingers out. A magic circle formed from twenty feet away. A fireball flew out of it and sailed right into the creature, which screamed and lept away.

Doevm crawled out from under the bed and looked out into the chaos. Half of the area had been demolished. There were still stalact.i.tes falling down from the ceiling onto the ruined buildings. The road was paved with visceral remains. The creature was faced away from Doevm. It swept its eyes along the crowd, searching for the source of the fireball.

Doevm crouched low and backed away from it. He didn't get far, however, as his foot got tangled in something. He fell, his head smacking against the wooden floor. His feet were wrapped in… 'Hair?' Doevm held up the long black hair, following it to its source, the creature. Its eyes were still as wide as ever as they stared at Doevm. The hair moved, wrapping his body from head to toe. It picked him off the floor and pulled him so close to the creature that he could hear its rumbling stomach.

It raised a claw.

It swiped at Doevm but nothing happened. It looked down at its arm, which was lying on the floor. The stupid beast couldn't put two and two together. In less than a second, its arm regenerated. It raised it again, swiped, but nothing happened. It growled and opened its ma.s.sive mouth, its fangs nearing Doevm's head. The fangs never arrived. Its head slid to the floor, but it raised another claw at Doevm. He couldn't fumble his way out of the hair in time.

"Go for the heart," Doevm yelped. The creature's chest was ripped open. It stiffened and fell over. Doevm found his way out of the entanglement of hair and caught his breath.

Alexander walked from behind the creature's body and prodded its back with his sword: "Is it dead?" He kept his gaze on the creature.

"Yeah," Doevm said as he pushed the last of the hair off him. "Jameson said that they flail around after being beheaded, but the heart is something they can't regenerate. Thanks by the way."

"No problem," Alexander said as he wiped the oily blood off his sword. He sheathed his weapon and sighed, "Wait, no, it was a big problem." He pointed to the trail of destruction it had left in its wake. "A big-a.s.s problem. Who are you and where did you find this thing?"

"It's me, Doevm," Doevm said. "I was in the commoner tournament. You almost beheaded me."

"I know the name," Alexander said as he circled Doevm. "But you're covered in a bunch of ash. I didn't even recognize you." Doevm looked into his reflection in the couple's pool of blood and sure enough, he was covered head to toe in black soot and ash.

"Now, I came down here because of a thunderous sound and I find this ugly son of a b.i.t.c.h. Where did it come from and why did it attack you? While the king couldn't give a d.a.m.n about this place, he wouldn't accept it if I let this go. I need an explanation."