The plan was simple: the wizard would go north, the paladin to the west and the hero to the east. They should be back on the camping spot until the moon was fully risen, at the center of the sky, to her rightful throne. The hero was of course, worried about his friends. 'They are strong on their own.' He said, internally of course. And he focused on the expedition.
The hero courageously but carefully walked on his way, looking for more traces of the mysterious beast, then some kind of flower distracted him. It was unlike any flower he'd seen in the Crimson Forest. Generally flowers here are pretty similar, ground-heavy roots, branching pedicels that end in two ways: either red petals and a golden pistil or an ash gray bur. It's a bit suffocating to see barely different flowers.
But this one is different because it was fully white, its sepals, pedicels, everything. And emitting white spheres from its stigma. These spheres were almost weightless, lifting into the air and getting drifted by the wind. Looks like the flower gave its seeds to the mercy of their fate. Maybe heaven is made of this stuff.
For a moment the hero felt relaxed... and the smell felt pleasant. Like the other species the wizard was talking about. That's when a dreadful screeching arose. That bastard! It planned this all along.
The hero turned to the source, but he wasn't fast enough. The beast lashed its claws, sending the hero flying to the nearest tree. The hero's eyes became dazzled, and his breath caught, but he could still make the shapes out.
The said beast was a two-meter tall owl with black, metal-like feathers and two red-white tentacles on its neck, reaching to the ground. The hero never felt shocked as he is right now, though the beast looked elegant, in a way.
He tried to get up but his muscles disobeyed. The hero's heart was filled with fear. Without mercy, the beast came rushing fast as lightning. The hero, left with no other choice, rolled sideways. A terrible metal screeching arose. The beast collided with the tree with a terrible thud. He barely dodged it. He pushed himself upon his feet and pulled off his crimson halberd, as fast as he could.
The beast turned its head, almost shocked, and threw its tentacles forward at the hero. With a structured hit, the tentacle was split in half, but it was soft anyways. But the beast didn't give any reaction to being cut. The hero felt freaked out. Even the toughest of his opponents would react to something like this.
Next second, its tentacle healed, almost like nothing had happened. And continued to attack relentlessly. The hero plunged backwards, out of the reach. He looked for a opening. Finding none, he waited for the next move. The beast waved its wings in the hero's direction. Its metal-like feathers drew near in the blink of an eye.
The hero got into a fighting stance, his back straightened, hands gripping the halberd as hard as he can. He took a deep breath, ready to parry. The hero hit each and every one of the feathers, most of them get straight to the ground, rest of them get back to the beast, distracting it. A second later the hero was out of sight, hiding behind a tree.
The hero exhaled, but he couldn't relax yet. He peeked his head out to analyze the beast, trying to find weaknesses in a calmer state. 'Now that I think about it...' the hero said. The beast had metal-like feathers that were pretty heavy, yet it was incredibly fast. 'It must be a short-burst type beast'. As if supporting his theory, the beast had not moved an inch since its first dash.
The hero jumped out of his spot, ready for the battle of endurance. The beast instantly turned its head out, charging at full velocity. Fortunately the hero was ready for this, so instead of stopping his own velocity, he took a strong step further.
This made the beast narrowly miss the hero but he lost his balance due to the last minute step. Using his halberd to brace himself. Yet this time the beast didn't wait to rest, it instantly dashed at full speed.
The hero slammed his halberd to the ground, raising the dirt beneath him. But it wasn't fast enough. As a last ditch effort, the hero jumped at the massive head of the beast. He used his halberd to anchor himself to its feathers, adrenaline filling his veins.
Just like he thought, the feathers were made of hardened keratin, just like steel. Looking forward, the beast wasn't able to stop itself, hitting a tree with all its might.
The hero hurled himself backwards, avoiding most of the impact, though some of the impact caught him. He managed to land on the ground in one piece and disoriented. The beast was in a bad state just like the hero. Unlike him, it managed to throw its tentacles to attack, even in a battered state.
Instead of dodging or cutting the tentacles, the hero did something that rebelled against every instinct of his. He ran straight for the beast, aiming at its eyes. He raised the ground with earth magic for support, then he threw himself at the beast. Lifting his halberd, he slashed the monster's iris, the blood of the monster blinding it in one eye. The beast skirled, filling the forest with its voice.
As a response the beast slammed the hero to the ground using its wings, raising its leg, trying to crush him with its weight. The hero twisted the ground beneath the support leg, throwing it off balance. And he immediately pushed himself off the ground using his weapon.
With a last attack, the hero cut the beast's other eye. A loud shriek filled the forest. At a last, desperate attempt the beast raised up, throwing the hero to the ground and rotating around itself, sending its feathers in every direction.
The hero raised the ground beneath the beasts tentacles in the shape of a claw, trapping it in its place. With the torque of the beast, the tentacles came right off with a crack. Another shriek exploded from it.
The hero came close to finish it. He stabbed it by the soft spot, where tentacles used to attach, and the glimmer of the beasts eye faded out, unable to cry for the last time.