bone-thin hands and feet. Another look at the bear more than confirmed Malkala's observations. This thing is far worse than anything he's faced in a damn long time.

With the bear's growls in the near distance, Zrak opens up the Soothing Topic and downs the liquid. It went down his throat like blood, mixed with the bitter medical taste. He nearly gags and hacks it up before the contents hit his gut. "Ugh, awful," he mutters, keeping the elixirs handy.

He begins a slow, quiet crawl up to the bear, intending to take it by surprise and slay it in an instant.

Zrak's movements are careful and silent, experience from Numeria fueling him. To all of his allies, he is completely silent and the beast should be unable to notice him.

However, as soon as his feet hit the platform proper, the bear freezes as if it noticed something suddenly. Its head turns to look at the tiny ratfolk, and Zrak's hackles raise as it shows its sharp teeth in anticipation. There is an instant of confusion from the beast as it then turns back to the prone man, as if trying to decide who to attack first.

It makes its decision.

With a roar, it raises its paw and slams it down upon the man. Blood flows upon the platform as the claws slice deep into the man's chest. As the man lets out a cry of pain, the bear seems to be stunned for a moment, its eyes moving to the blood. But it then charges for Zrak and raises its paw for another attack.

Yet, Zrak is ready. With his small frame, the nimble ratfolk is able to slide to the side easily, avoiding the attack that a second later leaves a tiny crater in the stone where he once stood.

Damn, what a monster.

Zrak's predatory eyes glance at the tiny crater, at once impressed and aware that he barely avoided a grisly death. He was supposed to distract THIS thing? He probably can't do so for more than a few seconds.

"Hide, you idiot!" Zrak screams at the wounded man, who so scarcely prayed for a small statue to protect him. Zrak cares less if this person dies, but it'd be a waste of life if he did.

Rather than worry about him, the hasty ratfolk skitters around the beast as well as he can, curling his bone-thin hands in and swinging with fast, mighty punches! In truth, he doesn't expect to just swing and find success, but surely even a monstrous bear has its pressure points...

Sounds of cracking and splintering wood shoot out as the ratfolk's fist crashes into the body of the bear. The beast lets out a mighty roar of pain, letting Zrak know that he dealt a fair amount of damage to it. However, that bit of exaltation fades fast as the bear turns to face him, undead glassy eyes narrowing in annoyance.

That's when a glow of orange-red pulses from behind the bear. It looks back behind it as a ball of fire shoots forward like from a gun, entering its knarled skull through its left eye socket then bursting from within, the orange-red light flaring out from every hole. Another roar echoes from the platform, loud enough to hurt the ears of everyone around. As it does, Octavia's arm flashes as the runic shield pulses, the fading energies from it restoring themselves.

From Octavia's side, Regongar lets out a massive roar of challenge to match the bear's and rushes forward. His blade crackles with lightning, but he also starts carving runes in the air as he moves. With each rune, air coalesces and sharpens, until his blade is covered in the blades of air familiar from the bandit fight. Once in range, he makes a tiny leap before slamming his blade down in an overhead chop. He mistimes his leap, though, and the blade crashes against the stone of the platform, the energy of his spellstrike bursting upward harmlessly.

As the fight engages, the young man blinks up in confusion. There is a split second of stillness, his brain trying to connect back together after the slash he took. He then shakes his head to clear it and grasps his idol tightly. His mouth moves, and while Zrak can hear the words, and they are words he understands, his brain cannot seem to wrap around their meaning. But, he can understand the power that starts swirling around the man as he speaks. The holy power then races across the platform to Zrak. As the power then swirls around him, the ratfolk can feel the protective energy surrounding him. With a nod of thanks to the sky, the young man stands to his feet, but with the wound, it takes too long for him to start actually moving.

After preparing the group and watching the battle progress, Malkala's eyes shine with determination. She seems to understand the young man's action and agree with it as she calls to Zrak, "Take a step back, Zrak! Make it move to you!"

At her words, Zrak can feel his feet move on their own. By seemingly instinct, he steps backward, the ruined pillars now in front of him. Malkala then rushes forward to stand with Regongar. Blade in hand, she lets out a silent plea to Sarenrae for guidance as she slashes twice at the beast's hind-quarters.

She has no idea what happens next. By her calculations, the attacks should have missed. But Malkala feels something guiding her hand, a woman's hand gently pushing her own to strike true. The dueling sword cuts into wood and bone, severing branches and bone spur alike.

Malkala blinks in joyous confusion as the beast lets out another roar. But, like she had suspected and planned around, the bear ignores her and the others behind it to move after Zrak. Malkala and Octavia managed to deal some fair damage to it, but Zrak was the one that not only dealt the most, but did it in the opening first few seconds of the fight.

It strides forward, lumbering under pain and its mixed existence. With a raised paw, it starts descending upon Zrak. But then, it pauses. Out of the corner of his eye, Zrak can see a small smile on the young man's mouth as he sees the beast hesitate. Unfortunately, it quickly fades as the beast shakes off of the hesitation and continues its attack.

Zrak is unable to avoid the two blows that come for him. Claws rake at his arms and chest, cutting deep furrows into his skin, leaving rivers of blood flowing.

Malkala calls out, "Pull back and get to me!"

Gods damned thing hurts. Zrak feels pain all over his body from the bear's eruptive attack, taking Malkala's warning for granted and barely living to tell the tale. He can see the icky red rivers flow down his body, heart and head thumping in a woeful warning.

The smaller ratfolk wants nothing better than to dive into the bear's seething anger. The odds of living told him otherwise; he'd go down fighting, when he could always live to fight another day.

Zrak merely sneers back at the creature before sidestepping away from the monster, then retreats on his boney feet back to Malkala.

With a stretch of his hand, Zrak pops out one of the healing vials, chuckly chugging it down in preparation for his next move.

As Zrak pulls back, he watches as Octavia narrows her eyes in quick thought. Her hand then starts moving though a complex pattern, purplish runic circles pulsing up and down her arm. They turn to three magical darts which each crash into different parts of the bear's form, guided by magic unerringly. With each hit, Zrak and Malkala can see the bear weakening further and further, its roots and bones separating.

Regongar growls in a mix of annoyance and joy as he steps forward. With a shout, he slams his falchion down again, hoping to cleave the creature in twain. And as if the world succumbed to his anger, the falchion strikes true. Wood, bone, and flesh split under the blade's weight. At the same time, everyone hears an ethereal sigh in their heads. Looking up, Zrak and Malkala can see the faint outline of a man in robes rise out of the bear's corpse. As if released from bonds, it shoots up into the air to disappear.

"Everyone alright?" Malkala asks as she looks around cautiously.

Zrak stays still as the bear falls, slain by an overwhelming fury from Regongar. The creature's possessed or monstrous form was like a myth, something with history and a story that Zrak couldn't have known. Were it not for this group, he wouldn't have even dared to fight it. Though as of now, Zrak isn't sure if he's scared more of the half-orc right now.

"Well I'm standing," Zrak said with a relieved sneer, looking over at the bear before checking over his own wounds. Ugh, for one blow, it sure did a severe number on him. He takes the moment to bandage his wounds, considering that he'll likely need rest soon, before looking over at the mysterious man.

"You did a hell of a crazy thing," the ysoki says, not amused in the slightest. "What were you thinking?"

As soon as the spirit disappears, the young man collapses to the stone of the platform exhausted. But instead of going to sleep, like it looks like he wants to do, he instead grips the holy symbol in his hand tightly and starts a low prayer, nearly inaudible. With each word and breath, his wound starts to knit together. Within moments, the only sign of the injury is the rips in his clothes.

With that done, he looks up at the scowling ratfolk and gives Zrak a small smile, "If I had known what was in the cave, I assure you I would have given it more thought. I am a wandering pilgrim, spreading Sarenrae's redeeming light to those who need it. I heard of a temple in this area of the Stolen Lands and wanted to take a look at it for myself." His eyes glide down to the pool of water at the bottom of the broken stairs, "Unfortunately, it looks like nature may have taken its toll on this place."

He stands up and bows, "But where are my manners? I am Tristian, and I thank you for saving my life."

Malkala steps forward and holds out her hand, "I am Malkala, and while I am not as devoted as you seem to be, good sir, I do my best to follow Sarenrae's teachings myself." As she introduces each person, she holds out her hand to each, using it to point out who she speaks of, "We were just trying to find shelter for the night. Do you know of any other threats inside of the temple?"

Tristian shakes his head, "Unfortunately not. The cursed bear was right at the cave's threshold and quickly took all of my attention."

"And you tried... 'redeeming' this bear?" Zrak gives a ratty, quizzical eye to Tristian. The ratfolk has known a few clerics, but prayers never reached where he came from. Frankly, Zrak finds it hard to believe that prayers would even reach a monster bearing its outstretched claws.

"My name's Zrak," he says plainly to the pilgrim, continuing to look at the bear's remains. "I doubt it's nature that made this. There could be something much worse down there." Curiosity briefly surpasses his survival instinct as he walks over to the stone stairs and peers down at the pool of water. He picks up a small stone and flings it down, seeing how deep the pool may be. No sense traversing down if it's all flooded.

"Doubt we've got enough time to find somewhere else to sleep," he warns the others, looking out at the sky. "You said you're a wanderer?" he looks with a stern tone to Tristian. "Did you pass by any place to rest? Or is here the best we got?" The ratfolk oddly seemed to care more about rest than healing his own wound; but it is like the saying goes, 'I'll rest when I'm dead.'

The pool of water is calm as Zrak approaches it. The water is not deep at all, maybe ankle height, which Zrak confirms as the rock does not sink far before hitting stone. He does notice that the water is darker than he would have expected, though from the night, the color of the stone, or just being still for so long, he has no idea.

Tristian shakes his head, "There is not much else around here. We would just be camping under the stars, which would be a better proposition if it wasn't right after a fight."

Malkala nods, "If that is the case, we might have to risk the cave. I am not the most knowledgeable about the wild, but I would think the presence of a massive bear would deter any other beasts from approaching. Especially with it being so aggressive."

Zrak shakes his head at the complication. While he had hoped for a rest, dungeon crawling was quite a demanding requirement. Although, isn't this what adventurers live for?

"It'll be easier to defend ourselves when we aren't right where we fought," he adds, noting his past experience trying to rest in a middle of a battlefield. "At least there isn't a lot that can find us down there." With a squeaky huff, he takes one step down the steps, then looks over himself.

"We should just prepare first." Damn, that is a lot of blood all over his leather armor. "Anyone got any leftover healing?"

Tristian nods and steps up to you, "Please, Everlight, grant this warrior your healing light."

Zrak's skin tingles as he feels a soothing sensation wrap around him. After spiraling around him for a brief moment, the sensation focuses on the wound in his chest. As if it was nudging the wound back together from both sides, the magic slowly pulled the wound closed, pulling the blood back into the body as it did. Once it was over, Zrak can look down to see the only sign the wound being there the missing fur.

Malkala nods, "Great. Alright, same formation as before: Me and Zrak up front, Regongar and Octavia a few feet behind, then Tristian bringing up the rear. Be prepared for anything." She looks to Tristian, "Could you give us a light? Not everyone here can see in darkness."

With a brief word, Tristian's holy symbol starts glowing with a light as bright as a torch. Once she sees that, she nods, grips her blade, and gets herself into position, "Ready?"

Her command falls on Zrak's empty ears as he looks over his now-healed wounds, The missing fur was an eyesore but far less of a concern than actually bleeding out. The remnant of pain still creaks across his joints as he starts walking on his bone-thin feet, requiring a