A Hawk flew right above the clear and calm waters of Lake Aelin. It's silver wings glistened as the sun stroke them. The agile bird circled the water, observing any occurance. It casted its eyes on it, not allowing any allerting second to pass by. The water seemed to be okay but the bird had an eerie feeling about it somehow.

The Hawk halted its observation, turning towards the shore of the lake. There stood his master, Blaire Neoblade who just arrived. The young wanderer glanced at his familiar. Then, he knelt down on the ground and stared deeply at the water. Silver was the name of that hawk. It was named so because of the unique color of its wings.

Blaire frowned as he made observations about the lake. It was purely elegant, clean, quiet...too quiet. There weren't any fishes at all. In fact, there was no life in the water. This alerted him. The lake was empty. What secret does it hide?

He raised his arm for his familiar to land on. As the bird perched on it, it gave a loud screech.

"A death trap?" Blaire said, "So, its confirmed then."

The bird gave another screech, confirming him of the lake's danger. Blaire turned towards the water again, trying to spot anything. For one single second, he saw a big shadow pass by and then at a blink of an eye, it vanished. He stood up, Silver jumping off and perching on his shoulder.

"I wonder how many it has killed." he said.

Shayia had walked through most of the woods by now, she had been traveling all night, and most of the morning. Although this woman was half vampire the sun did not effect her, it only gave her a splitting headache. She was indeed in a foul mood and if she could find someone, or something to take it out on all the better. She had fed last night on a group of campers, she had enjoyed the fight they put up, it just added to the fun of it all. Shayia stood still for a moment, listening carefully she heard the water of a nearby lake lapping against it’s bank. ‘Thank god I could do with washing this blood off of me.’ she thought looking down upon her clothes, there was a gigantic stain of dried blood along her cloak.

She looked up to the sky as she heard the screech of a bird and watch as it descended. ‘That’s definitely not wild, someone else is here’ she thought to herself, pushing through the rest of the branches, and coming to a clearing. She looked around and didn’t see anyone for a moment. She walked out from the bushes and felt the sun against her skin, it made her shiver but then so did everything else about the day. She made her way over to the lake, keeping her hood up incase whoever else was there saw her.

She knelt down beside the bank of the lake, it was so clear and so empty, surely there should have been some fish, but nothing it was totally empty. Shayia cupped her hands and cleaned the blood from them, she watched the blood mix with the water and flow downstream. A few minutes later she sensed another presence from the water it wasn’t natural. She slowly got back on her feet and reached over for her katana. Thinking what ever it was it was big.

Instead of the guy that walked out, it was a girl that walked out randomly. To be honest, she wasn't scared the least bit when she saw the woman covered in blood. She was a wanderer going from one place to another, it was this trait of hers that made her so comfortable around these people. She had been to many places, and seen many things, so seeing a person covered in blood wasn't exactly a suprise to her. The reason why she just went wide into the open was because she didn't really have the word "caution" in her vocabulary.

"..hm?.." Her eyes traveled to the woman for a second, but immediatly left as she bent over the stream. She looked herself over before before bringing her face down, taking a sip of water. At least it was clean and drinkable unlike all the nasty places that she had been to. Two other auras were near her. One, the woman who obviously had recognized the second aura which was hiding somewhere.

She didn't say anything, but she sat down her limbs seeming relaxed and non-responsive at the most. However, that wasn't the case here. Her muscles were moving beneath her skin, preparing them for battle if she needed them. Her eyes traveled to the woman once more, tilting her head as she watched her get her katana ready. She herself immediatly tensed up as she lightly touched her sword with her right hand.

((sorry.. can I join?))

It had been a long time since Alba Meria had been to Lake Aelin, the last time he had been here in fact was during his battle with the puppet fool known as Willow. But today Alba had heard many stories of a beast laying and hunting within the waters of the lake, and the Phoenix was setting out to destroy this beast. The only reason Alba wanted to destroy was just for a fierce battle that he thought was almost guaranteed on that day. He had not went to the Lake along, no as usual following close to the Phoenix was his Lupine follower known as Zaraku. This Lupine was given to Alba during his training under the Chaos Goddess and it held a Katana down by its side, the beast was also able to breath fire and turn into a large Serpentine Dragon for a few minutes to aid its strength better.

Alba on the other hand had his usual full set of the Bloodshed Armour, with the shield being placed upon his back. Under the right Gauntlet of this armour Alba wore two rings, one was his Flame Dance Ring that gave Alba the power to wield fire, while the other was a golden marriage band that Alba wore as a symbol of his soon to be marriage to Aaris. The weapons the Phoenix had taken with him where his Spineslicer dagger that was strapped onto his left leg, this dagger being made from a fallen tooth of Ita, the Goddess of Chaos. He also had a Katar placed in its sheath on his right leg; this weapon was mainly used by Alba to simply gut an opponent in combat. The only other weapon Alba had taken along with him on this day was held in a death grip of his right hand. It was his scythe known as Dark Death, this mighty weapon was a reforged version of the Dark Blade and it was the main weapon used by the Phoenix in any battle. This was the weapon Alba was best known for, and the weapon he had become a skilled master with.

Slowly the Phoenix made his way through the forest covering the lake, but soon he heard the sound of a bird and looking up into the sky he seen the said bird lowering itself towards the ground as if being called on. A smirk formed along the lips of Alba as he now knew others were at the lake, the thing was were they after the same thing Alba was? Only time would answer that question in the end. He began to increase his pace getting closer and closer to where the other beings would be. Then he began to see a small clearing ahead, seeing this the Phoenix increased his pace further and readied himself for an attack just in case. It was then that the Phoenix got to the edge of the clearing.

Alba quickly stopped his running and looked out onto the clearing to see two women, both seemingly ready for a battle. The Phoenix let a sinister laugh softly escape his lips as he looked on towards the two women, but somehow Alba could still feel another near by, a male! Maybe it was that male that Alba could feel that the bird had flown to. Yes that must have been the case, but it still remained that the Phoenix was here to slay the beast that, for now, was still lying dormant under the waters of the lake. Alba motioned towards his Lupine to stay where he was and if Alba needed the help of Zaraku all he would have to do it call on him, it was as easy as that.

It was then that the chaotic being walked out into the clearing, his scythe still held within his right hand in a death grip thanks to the Bloodshed Gauntlets that Alba wore. Drawing closer to the nearest woman, who seemed to have a rather large bloodstain on her cloak and also reaching for a rather basic of Katana, Alba said, “I was not expecting others to be around this lake with the rumours going around as of late. The stories of the beast laying in wait inside the lake ready to strike any that would dare challenge it.” His eyes then shifted to the other woman who seemed to have the Shadow Blade with her, this was a weapon Alba had only heard of but as yet never seen used, all he knew for sure was that its power was not as great as one of Rakus Dark Blades. The Phoenix then continued what he was saying, “So what would both of you women be doing here? Are you also here to slay the beast within the lake?” Once saying this Alba could not help but let out a twisted laugh into the air.

All that was left to do now was to wait on the reply from these women, and with luck the man would also show up soon enough. Even though the Phoenix did not feel he would need help dealing with the beast it could always be interesting to try, and then when the beasts was slain the Phoenix could turn against the fools and rip their bodies limb from limb! It would just be a matter of time, but for now Alba wanted the chaotic beast of the water dead once and for all.

She felt it, she felt the blood and flesh of another male. She stayed silent for a moment, and sure enough the guy came out. Honestly in her opinion, he was an interesting type of person. Even despite the fact that he was interesting person, she didn't let her guard down. Her black hair stayed still as her black eyes trailed along the guy's figure. Hm.. not bad.. she thought to herself.

She was silent along this time, not really wanting to say anything, but listening at the same time. Her best trait yet so far, listening when other people talk, eavesdropping on other people's conversation to get information. Rumors? she she moved her eyes towards the lake with interest. "...rumors.. about this lake?" she asked. She looked at it for a second. She stood up from her sitting position, looking at it with a rather curious look on her face.

"I haven't heard any rumors about this lake..." she muttered half to herself and half towards the total stranger. "However, if the beast is that powerful...then..." she trailed off her sentence for a bit, wanting to continue, but didn't because frankly, she had nothing to say after that.

Why did the guy wanted to kill this beast and why was this beast so important, she didn't know, but inside her head, this was a new challenge for her. She was half thinking if she would actually join in this little adventure of killing the beast, but that would be only after she heard more about this creature. Even though cautious wasn't in her dictionary, there was also the term "rushing into danger without knowing anything." Which eventfully led to danger which led you to your own death. "You want me to tell me more about this so called beast in the water that you want to slay?" she asked, a bit of amusement in her soothe, cool voice.

It wasn't like her to ask a person about these kind of things, let alone talk as much sa she was talking right now. However, sometimes to get information you have to ask about what he or she is talking about. This type of "investigation" was her last choice if she needed to get the information and right now, she didn't have much of a choice but ask. Her fingers were moving around, twitching slightly.

It was true that she had been gone for awhile, looking at other worlds and new places to visit, and she had come back to where her journey had all started. She had missed this place a lot, and she could tell it had changed over time, even the trees seemed bigger than they usually were. Back home?...she asked herself inside her head, but shook it slightly. The one weird thing was that she had changed as well over her little journey. She was a "little" more opened to people. Also, she seemed a lot more maturer than she was back then. One huge trait, she knew when to open her mouth and when to close it. She had improved on that a lot over the time she was gone. Despite all the control she had over her mouth, there were times where she just couldn't stop herself from saying something stupid.

“I was not expecting others to be around this lake with the rumors going around as of late. The stories of the beast laying in wait inside the lake ready to strike any that would dare challenge it” She heard, the voice seemed to be male.

She broke from her trance Shayia’s eyes were so locked on the shadow in the water, she had not noticed the woman or man that had come into the opening. From the corner of her eye she saw the woman, she wasn’t too near so Shayia didn’t think of her as wanting to harm her. But the man’s voice sounded too near for her liking. Shayia turned around slowly enough, the sparkling lake water dripped from her hands. She still had a strong grip on her katana, it was indeed a beautiful weapon, the sheath was black and had gold tips around it, also a black ribbon was tied around the top of it, the katana was a work of art that took exactly two months to complete, as anyone could tell this weapon was very dear to her.

“So what would both of you women be doing here? Are you also here to slay the beast within the lake?” She heard him question.

She looked up at the man from underneath her hood, and instantly knew who he was, ‘Alba Meria’ Shayia knew all about him, she had heard stories of his evil doings, yes! He had made quite a name for himself around Arda everyone who had ever gotten in his way feared him or else were dead. A slight Smile crossed her lips and she sheathed her katana, not wanting to get on his or his little wolfies bad side. “ Alba Meria!. Your reputation precedes you. It is a great pleasure to meet you. And congratulations on your recent engagement” She said, another story she had heard from one of the traveling people she had killed. When she heard him question what they were doing there. She answered “I’m merely traveling, I didn’t know this lake was so dangerous” She said, her hood still covering her face.

The truth was she had head about the beast but thought it to be untrue, a simple myth to scare off travelers from something else. Although the beast did not interest her it was the more so to do with the people brave enough to defeat it, or who would at least turn up. And if this beast did attack she would have had no problem attacking it back. She was unafraid of most things apart from a stake through the heart that scared the hell out of her.

The sun was beginning to get hotter as the day passed. The lake was still as quiet as death and no movement has been spotted in the waters. Blaire Neoblade has yet again been pulled deeper into his thoughts. He tried to find many ways on how to destroy the monster. Yes, the creature in the lake was indeed a monster. He had figured it out earlier and in addition, he found out how it catches it's prey.

Suddenly, he was returned back to his senses when he felt a presence--3 of them. Silver gave a soft screech, reporting about the situation. He slowly turned, facing the direction at which the presence remained. There, he saw two girls, one covered up with blood and the other, standing by not a bit too close to the first girl.

"Why are they here?" he asked.

Then, another person arrived but this time it was a male one. Behind him followed a Lupine closely. Blaire observed this fella. He has heard of him before. At first glance, he knew his name--Alba Meria. He was very well known in the world of Arda. He has slained thousands of men mercilessly and is known to be a powerful and dangerous warrior. Blaire wondered what he was doing in a place like this? He doubted if Alba had something to do about the monster.

Without hesitation, the young wanderer headed towards the small group. He stood up just in front of them but not too close.

"It is quite strange to find people like you in a place like this." he said.

He then faced this known chaos warrior with great interest. He was really curious whether this man had something to do with the lake.

"You are Alba Meria, am I correct?" he said, "It is of great surprise to encounter you here."

Shiro walked through the nearby forest, heading towards Lake Aelin. He had heard rumors about the monster in the lake, and after giving it much thought, he decided to go and try to see if he could help kill it. He gave it much thought, something he didn’t usually do, because the last time he had jumped into a situation blindly, he had come out a bit worse for the wear.

Shiro paused for a moment before coming out into the open. He was sure that he could see people through the trees. They appeared to be standing around the lake, talking. The young human inched closer to the trees, peering around to get a closer look.

One of them was a woman who was covered in blood. Shiro wondered why, and how, that had happened to her. She didn’t seem to be that much trouble, though, so he shifted his gaze to the others. There was another woman there, and a half-demon. Other than those two, one other person was there, along with a Lupine.

Shiro placed a hand to his katana. He knew this person. He had encountered this person in the Misty Forest and had been lucky enough to not be killed. Alba Meria—the Chaos Phoenix. He caught pieces of the words being said, and from those pieces of information, gathered that they were also trying to kill the beast in the lake as well.

Shiro pressed himself against the tree, debating whether or not to come out into the open. A part of him considered walking away and not looking back. Shiro smiled ruefully at this, scolding himself for being such a coward.

Taking a deep breath, Shiro walked out into the open.

She looked at all the people around her. "Alba Meria?" she asked as she pointed at the guy. "...am I supposed to know who you are?" she asked looking at him with her blank black eyes. "Because.. i've never heard of you before.." She trailed off her sentence, her voice holding a little bit of coldness in them. ..I sort of feel like i'm missing something... Arda has changed a lot.. thoughts ran by her head, but they were immeidatly interrupted by the hidden presence earlier in the day. a male...

She watched as he came out of his little hiding place, showing himselves to everybody. Honestly, she didn't get the point of him hiding himself if he was going to show himself earlier on. She looked at him for a second with black dull eyes, and then turned her head over to another spot where there seemed to be another presence. She stared at it for awhile, before a guy came out. She sighed slightly out of annoyance. What was it now, two girls and three boys. She shook her head, gender didn't really matter in types of situations like this, but the thing was, why they were all gathered here in the first place.

She merely came here for peace and quiet, hoping that nobody would be around here to make her life miserable and difficult. However, hearing how there was a monster here. She smiled slightly as she looked at the woman. "Legends.. myths.. aren't they so fun to hear.. " she muttered quietly to her. "Its amazing how one story can just go on for generations and generations without changing don't you think?" she asked. She looked at the other three males giving them a serious look. "The fun part about myths and legends is that.. you get to see if they are real or not.. even though it might cost you your life.." A cold smile krept up on her face as she looked behind her, looking at water.

So much had happened in such little time, the two women had began to talk to Alba but the Phoenix was interrupted before he had even gotten the chance to reply, now two other people had arrived in the clearing. Both were male and one Alba thought was the owner of the bird he has seen not to long ago, it was this man that walked over to Alba and if Alba was in fact well, Alba. It seemed his name was well known in Arda for the most part although of course there were others that would have never heard of him and it appeared the woman with the Shadow Blade was one of those people.

The Chaos Phoenix slowly turned his face towards Blaire and then said in reply, “Yes I am Alba Meria, what of it fool? I am only here to slay the being within this lake, it seems to be stealing my kills and I’m not to happy with that you see. Get in my way during this encounter and you shall pay with your life!” After saying this Alba looked towards the woman that did not know who he was and said, “As for you. You might have never heard of me, but I can tell you one thing, after today you shall never forget the name of Alba Meria!” By the tone in his voice it was clear that Alba was getting annoyed with the constant appearance of more people. He only ever worked with members of his Brotherhood, but if these fools wanted to tag along for the battle then Alba would have to deal with it. He would have his work cut out for him if he had to face the beast and all these mortals, so help would have to do. Then right after the battle Alba would make sure these people were to battle him!

As he stood there Alba heard the shadow blade woman talk, her words seemed to pause every now and then, but what she was saying was actually true. To go searching after a legend and having your life on the line while doing it was certainly soul gripping, and it was a feeling Alba loved. The Phoenix then let out a rather small sigh and said, “Zaraku, come.” With only these two words the Lupine of Alba did as it was said and followed the armour covered Phoenix as he walked over towards the lake. Once near the lake a smirk formed along the lips of Alba and he raised his left hand up towards his helm. The Phoenix then removed his helm to and placed it into the travel pack by his side. With the Bloodshed Helm removed the medium length hair of Alba flowed down just by his neck. Albas' hair was mainly white but its tips were a deep red that actually almost matched his eyes colour perfectly. It was then that Alba said, “I have a feeling we will have a visitor any minute. If any of you fools don’t want to risk your life then I suggest you leave now before it’s far too late.” And with that Alba went silent once more and waited from movements from the lake, as well as replied from those around him.

Blaire kept silent, listening to Alba's threats. Yes, he was known for that and Blaire would kind of have expected something like that. In which case, they should be prepared right after the weeding out of this lake. If they will survive that is...

Then, the rauko turned to the new guy who just arrived. He was sure that he was a human...judging at how he looked. so many people have gathered at this very lake that the monster living in it will be very pleased. It was all up to survival...from the monster...and maybe from the Chaos Phoenix.

"There is no hope in wiating." Blaire said, not turning to Alba Meria, "It waits for you."

This time, Blaire went near the shores of the lake, looking around. They will accomplish nothing just by waiting. The monster already knows they were there...all it awaits is for any foolish person who would slip and fall into its death trap.

"Silver." Said Blaire, nodding at his familiar.

The agile bird took off and flew straight at the center of Lake Aelin. At the sound of Blaire's whistle, it flew downwards towards the water but not excatly touching it. It continued to fly in circles at the surface of the water.

A few seconds and nothing was still happening. Maybe the monster isn't true? Maybe they were fooled? Oh no...Blaire thinked not. the hawk quickly rushed, pulling itself up. A giant tentacle-like arm rose out of the water and tried to grab hold of the bird. The water splashed back and fort from the power the monster gave.

Blaire whistled again, signalling Silver to retreat. The hawk did so and perched back on his shoulders. The bird looked messed up, panting for dear breathe. The rauko stroke its feathers, calming it down.

"Now, who'd want to try that?" he asked the others.

She looked at Alba her dark eyes looking at him with interest. ...hm... he seems pretty... obnoxious?... I wonder if he has ever lost a battle... she thought to herself, keeping this thought to herself. She wouldn't have said this out loud because of the fact that she had no idea who this person was and capable of. It was certain that what the other people said, that he was known throughout Arda, and like he said, she would probably remember his name.

She watched him for a minute, looking at the phoenix that tended to his every care. "Hm?" she was snapped out of her thoughts as she listened carefully. Fools? she thought to herself. She was really starting to get irritated because of this guy. She opened her mouth to say something to counter him, but instead, she closed it, figuring that it wasn't worth her breath to argue.

Despite the fact that he said all this, she continued to stay where she was. It was about time that she had a little excitement. The greatest part about training was that you always could test them out in little adventures like this. She watched as he waited at the lake, but when the other guy with the hawk as his pet contradicted in what he was doing she held her breath slightly. How would he take it? What would he do?

She watched the man as he called upon his hawk to glide on the surface of the water. Her eyes followed it as it flew above the center. A giant tentacle reached itself out of the water. A giant squid? she asked herself. She watched the bird as it landed back on its master's shoulder. THis guy was also irritating her slightly. Using an animal to test it out before you do, wasn't something she liked. Animals and humans were basically the same, they had feelings and brains, she didn't get why they treated them like servants. The hawk looked out of breath and the feathers were ruffled all over the place. "Now, who'd want to try that?" She watched him for a second. "Nobody... " she muttered quietly. "But.. I don't think we are going to go anywhere if the monster isn't going to show itself first... he would rather have the prey come to him. " she muttered quietly. "Plus.. if it is a squid or an octopus... I think it would like to stay in the water rather than come out here.." she muttered as she fingered her sword. She brushed herself off as she stood up. "If the monster doesn't come out here in the next few minutes... we might as well have someone go down there themselves and lure the monster up.."

Shiro let out a low whistle as the hawk came back, having nearly been caught by what looked to be the tentacle of a giant squid.

“Now, who’d want to try that?” asked the half-demon.

"Nobody... " muttered one of the women. "But.. I don't think we are going to go anywhere if the monster isn't going to show itself first... he would rather have the prey come to him. Plus.. if it is a squid or an octopus... I think it would like to stay in the water rather than come out here…If the monster doesn't come out here in the next few minutes... we might as well have someone go down there themselves and lure the monster up.."

“Well, I don’t think anyone’s gonna want to try that either,” said Shiro, turning to the Rauko. “So, uh, how are we going to lure it out of there? Any ideas?”

The last question was sent towards the whole group. If no one was going to get the monster out of the lake, then how were they going to fight it? And if they weren’t going to fight it, then what was the point of coming here in the first place?

((Sorry for the shortness...))

Blaire continued stroking the feathers of his familiar. That was one rough ride but he knew if there was any familiar that could do it, it was Silver. slowly, the bird retrieved its normal breathing again and was starting to calm down.

"Sorry bout that buddy." he said, "You did a great job."

He glanced at the girl who answered his earlier question. She also said something about wanting to send someone to lure the monster to were they were. Blaire frowned, but keeping silent. He had notcied that this girl was kind of cold but what she said was way more than he had expected. Sure he wasn't an angel or a goody-goody person but he was of the rauko race...half at least and he did not like the ieda of sending someone as live bait. It would be like sending them to their doom. He turned back to the water, feeling slightly worried.

"What is it?" he muttered lowly.

His question was answered when Silver screeched out loudly. The hawk continued to screech, telling everything it knew about this monster.

"Not a squid?" asked Blaire, "Nothing you've ever seen before? It can---"

The rauko nodded, turning to the group once again.

"Apparently, its not a squid." he said, "As of now, we are not really sure what it is and it is better to get to know it more....in a way that nobody has to die, if possible."

He paused for a moment then added.

"And...it can smell blood."

He did not eye anybody but just took his dagger out, preparing.

Alba smirked coldly as the fools Hawk was almost slaughtered by the beast within the water. It seemed everyone had his or her own comments on what to do and Alba only let out a small sigh. Soon one of the women within this strange group began to speak, "I don't think we are going to go anywhere if the monster isn't going to show itself first... he would rather have the prey come to him. Plus.. If it is a squid or an octopus... I think it would like to stay in the water rather than come out here…If the monster doesn't come out here in the next few minutes... we might as well have someone go down there themselves and lure the monster up.." After this the other two men began to speak but Alba did not hear exactly what they were saying, all the Phoenix knew for sure from their words was that the beast below the lake was not exactly what it seemed. The man with the Hawk then withdrew a dagger getting ready for battle.

It was at that moment that Alba slowly reached into his cloak to pull out two silver bangles, the Phoenix then placed one of these bangles on each of his wrists and they began to increase his power. Yes these bangles were the Silver Bangles of Strength and they would increase the power of Alba without the use of a spell. It was then than Alba turned to face the others once more and said, “Well then if this pathetic beast wont show itself then allow me to do it for him!” Saying this Alba could not help but let out a small twisted laugh. He took his scythe into his right hand again and began to walk closer to the waters edge. It the Phoenix had brought along his Adult Plasma Dragon then the water would not have been much of problem since Alba could have had his dragon fill the lake with magma. As he walked over to the lakes edge the Phoenix looked over to the woman wielding the Shadow Blade.

She seemed to have a look of hate although Alba did not really care about, he loved when people hated and feared him. After all the Phoenix did have a lot of power within him along with a vast Knowledge of the Arcane Arts, with his most powerful spells being his fire spells thanks to the training the Phoenix had received from the Goddess of Chaos. Alba then said, “Well here goes, since none of you fools have managed to think of an idea as of yet. Let me show total control over the very waters!” With these words slipping past the lips of Alba he raised his free left hand up towards the lake. The sun made the silver bangle on his arm glimmer lightly and without any words spoken Alba began to use his power to control waters.

The waters of the lake began to part over to the sides, the form of the beast would soon be shown and with luck it would then attack so that Alba could use his scythe to gut the beast and taste its blood. Yes Alba was rather psychotic but he loved it, he wanted to kill all those in his way other than the Brotherhood of Chaos members. Alba Meria was one who would kill all within the name of the Goddess of Chaos. But for now it was time to see the beast that lay beneath this lake!

She looked at Alba for a second as she took out her blade, putting the tip to the ground so that she was leaning on the hilt. It was really an interesting sight of how this man could pull of such a great show, and yet at the same time, being psychotic in some strange way. She stared for a second, but then let her eyes wander to the waters instead.

Indeeed, there was a creature there, but she couldn't really imagine a creature that had tentacles that wouldn't be a squid. She had tried to imagine something more deeper than that, but all that she could come up with was this bizzare image that frankly just looked ridiculous.

She watched as everybody started to get ready for battle. She merely sighed as she just stared, there was no use in lifting her blade, she would have to use that energy for fighting. Plus, she wasn't going to fight right away, she was going to observe it of course, then fight. That was the best tactic to use in this kind of situation, especially a creature that were passed down from legends.

"Does anybody know anything else about this so called creature, weaknesses, strengths... anything?" she asked as she looked around. "Anything at all that can be useful, from legends, myths...while...that guy" she said pointing towards Alba, her mind had temporarily became blank. "Lures the monster out... any information is fine..."

Shiro watched as Alba began controlling the waters. Soon, the beast would have to come out of his hiding place. The wanderer placed a hand on the hilt of his katana, ready to draw it should the beast appear or should Alba decide to attack them, whichever came first.

He turned to the Rauko as she began talking.

"Does anybody know anything else about this so called creature, weaknesses, strengths... anything?" she asked. "Anything at all that can be useful, from legends, myths...while...that guy lures the monster out... any information is fine..."

“I don’t really know much,” said Shiro, “All that I’ve heard about this thing is that it drags people down into the lake and drowns them.”

Shiro frowned. He didn’t know much about the beast, and the little that he knew had come from rumors, so she wasn’t sure exactly how correct they might be. He turned to the half-demon with the hawk.

“You seem to know a bit about this thing,” said Shiro, “Know anything that might help us out?”

Blaire frowned hearing that the chaos Pheonix would lure the monster out. sure, it sounded really logical and actually, a great idea than just waiting but the half-demon had a strange eerie feeling about it.

He glanced at Silver who was perched on his shoulder. For the first time in many years, the bird was very alarmed. It seemed to not notice everything or everyone surrounding the whole area. Silver just kept his eyes on the water.

"What is it, Silver?" Asked Blaire.

The hawk did not reply. In fact, he did not even turn to his master. Seeing that, Blaire knew there was something wrong. He watched as Alba used his power to part the waters of the lake. Soon enough, they were going to see this monster.

“You seem to know a bit about this thing,” said a voice, “Know anything that might help us out?”

Blaire turned to the human who had asked him this question.

"Be fast." he answered.

With that said, the half-rauko returned to the view of Alba parting the waters. He had said that to the human because he knew that this monster was faster. Seeing at how Silver barely made it back, he realized that this monster can kill in mere seconds.

Now, the water has completely been parted, revealing the horrific sight of the monster. Blaire's eyes widened in utmost shock to see this beast.
It was gigantic, taking up half of the lake's size. It's skin was as thick as a dragon's, and it's color was of greyish-brown. It had 4 huge eyes, one in front, one at the left, one at the right and the other, behind his head. It had two arms with sharp clawses but it had no legs at all. Instead, it had fins and a tail. The tentacles that they saw were merely attachments to it's beastly body.

"This is trouble." said Blaire.

The beast eyed the one by one, preparing itself. Within a blink of an eye, it sent its tentacles towards the group. Blaire managed to get out in time when Silver screeched, signalling him to move.

Alba’s eyes were fixed onto the surface of the water as the others talked among themselves. In truth the Phoenix was already growing bored of there voices and if the beast was not within this lake then he would turn on these fools faster than they could say help. But for now the Phoenix had to concentrate on shifting the water that made up the lake. He soon began to hear more and more of what the others were saying. It seemed as if they were talking about any weakness this thing in the lake might have. Yes it would be helpful to know a weakness but Alba did not care much, it was always far more fun to battle and not know everything about the one you are about to battle against.

Soon the waters parted and Alba seen a strange looking beast before him, yet he did not seem to be in fear, no Alba Meria just smirked towards this beast and said, “Its finally time! I found you beast, now its time you die once and for all!” It was after the Phoenix had said this that the beast attacked by sending its tentacles out to attack everyone that had turned up to battle with it. As one of the tentacles headed straight for the Phoenix Alba kept his smirk spread along his twisted lips. As the attack drew closer and closer to him Alba placed a spell onto his body, the Draconic Might spell, with this in effect Alba’s physical power was now increased to that of a mighty dragon.

It was when the attack was only moments away from crashing into Alba that the Phoenix raised his scythe and cut through the beasts’ giant tentacle. As the large tentacle fell limp onto the ground below all Alba could do was let out a sick laugh. So far this being that had killed so many had not shown Alba that it was anything he should worry about. But that was when a second tentacle came at Alba from the side, seeing this the Phoenix kicked off the ground casting his fly spell and taking to the air. It seemed the beast was indeed fast, but not fast enough in the eyes of the Phoenix.

When fully in the air Alba looked down, first towards the others that were there to slay the beast and then towards the beasts itself once more. It was clear the Phoenix was now mad, a cheap shot had almost hit him and that was one thing Alba hated. He pointed his mighty scythe down towards the beast as a magical blast of dark matter shot out of the blade heading right for the beast. It would indeed be rather interesting to see what the attack, if anything of course!

Shayia had stayed silent all of this time, in fact she didn’t really care about the beast killing anyone around her, she sighed softly thinking about what she would do. Would she help?, Or would she walk away and let them fight?. She watched as they all fought it off, all helping in their own way. Shayia hardly ever really helped anyone, she kept a close watch on Alba. She knew he was fighting for his own cause, and laughed silently at thought of him trying to help someone, she had heard a lot about him and knew he could not be trusted.

Hearing one of them say the beast was attracted to blood made Shayia quickly look down at her cloak, and at the giant blood stain running down along it. ‘It’s probably best if I take this off’ she thought, untying the belt and laying it over to the side. Underneath her cloak she wore a leather pants, a small black sleeveless top and black leather boots. Shayia glanced up at the beast and watched as two tentacles shot straight for her. Grasping a tighter hold of her katana, she swiped forward and cut through the first one.

The second one wrapped around her neck tightly, it’s grip seemed to get tighter and tighter she felt the bones in her neck almost snap with the pressure. Veins started to appear on her face, which was quite rare, they only ever appeared when she was extremely angry or hadn’t fed for a few days. Shayia swung her katana forward and slashed off the other tentacle. This katana didn’t look too basic anymore, and it wasn’t it was quite unique there was more to it then what people thought.

Shayia watched as it ripped through the rubbery flesh of the beast, and watched as the blood flooded from the wound. There was a satisfied smile across her lips as she heard the beast let out an eerie piercing squeal, Shayia could do nothing but block her ears as her hearing was more acute than a mortals and less then a full vampires would be. Shayia put her free hand around her neck and pulled off the amputated tentacle, then rubbed around the part of her neck where the suckers had drawn blood.

Shiro drew his katana as the beast shot tentacles at each of them. The human jumped to the side as the tentacle shot out at him. He frowned. It was fast….really fast. He had very nearly been hit by it.

Shiro thrust his katana into the tentacle with one fluid motion. The beast roared, whipping the tentacle from side-to-side in an attempt to dislodge the offending piece of metal. Shiro found himself being thrown from side-to-side as he attempted to hold on to the katana.

The beast made one quick movement, and the katana came free. Both katana and wielder hit the ground and slid back, hitting a nearby tree. Shiro got up, holding his katana in his hands.

Okay…bad idea, he thought, as the beast shot its tentacle at him again. The tentacle grabbed him around the waist, pulling him up into the air. Shiro raised his sword, slicing through the tentacle. The beast let out a scream as part of the tentacle flew away. Both Shiro and the tentacle fell to the ground, and Shiro let out a short cry as he hit the ground hard.

The human pushed the tentacle off himself, standing up and preparing to meet the beast’s next attack.

She watched as the beast appeared out of the lake. At first, she was stunned, but then a second later, she relaxed herself seeing as this wasn't s suprise at all. Danger was the only thing that she needed in her life to keep her satisfied. "... doesn't look that hard to beat.." she muttered to herself as she got her sword ready at the side of her.

One tentacle shot out at her and immediatly she slammed her shadow blade into the ground, causing it to stand upright on its own. Then flipping herself up so that she was standing on the hilt of the sword. She immediatly bounced of that, her hand replacing her feet as she grabbed the sword, landing on the tentacle and cutting it off in one stroke.

She smirked as the blood came rushing out of the tentacle. She immediatly jumped back, not letting the blood touch her. No matter how much she loved the stench of blood, now wasn't the time for her to trigger herself. "..not bad.. i guess..." she muttered to herself as another tentacle shot foward. She immediatly dodged it, going to the left. Then there was that claw arm that slammed itself in front of her.

She immediatly pulled her sword in front of her guarding herself between the claw and her flesh. yea.. not really willing to damage my body... especially today.. she thought to herself as her sword came intact with the claw. Her eyes widened as the sword wouldn't cut through. She backed off, two steps. She had to admit, the beast was okay for its huge body.

Her eyes for a second, scanned the battle field. The monster was keeping up well with even four people attacking at the same time. She glanced at the eyes. Maybe the only way to defeat is was to blind one of its eyes. She jumped back as another tentacle shot foward. She watched as all the others were having sort of a hard time as well. She watched as two tentacles shot towards her, she immediatly brought her sword in front of her, parrying the first tentacle, cutting through it. The second tentacle grabbed her by the ankle, but before it could pull her, she slammed it against the ground where the tentacle lay. There, it was amputated. She sighed slightly as she grabbed the cut off tentacle, taking it off of her ankle. "... and i didn't want to dirty myself..." she muttered quietly. She wasn'a princess, but it was quite annoying having to wash your clothes and then having it ruined by having blood sprayed on it.

Blaire had managed to escape from creature's deadly tentacles through the help of his familiar. But he wasn't saved from the rest of it yet. The creature sent more of its tentacles, trying to grab hold of anyone it can feast on.

The others weren't doing very well either. They had all been caught in surprise by this beast's speed. Luckily, they were able to evade or fight back. Alba Meria was now up in the air just as he was able to evade the second tentacle. The male human was thrown off onto the air and to the ground after doing such a stunt as to plunge his katana at the beast's tentacle thus bringing him along when the tantacle shook off the blade. Blaire grinned, seeing this. The two girls meanwhile also battled hard. The rauko was able to cut through the first tentacle sent towards her but the send one happened to grab hold of her ankle...good thing she managed to amputate it before it could pull her in.

The girl with blood on her clothes wasn't so lucky though. True, she was able to cut the first tentacle but the second one caught her by the neck. The beast could really smell the sweet aroma of blood on her clothes and it attracted it more and more. The girl however, also amputated the other tentacle.

Blaire turned to Alba Meria as he casted a dark bolt of energy towards the beast. that attack might probably end the creature's life but how come he did not think so. In anyway, the beast let out a loud roar as it's tentacles were destroyed. This time, it pulled back the cut-off tentacles. As the black bolt of energy headed straight at it, it did not bother to move. It just waited which is quite odd. It should defend itself somehow.

Blaire quickly casted his spell, summon lightning. Dark clouds began to form, covering up the sky. Finally, the black energy from Alba hit the monster directly together with a huge amount of lightning.

"Did it work?" muttered Blaire.

The monster remained still for a few seconds. The hawk, Silver, flew just above it, checking if it was still alive. And, it was. Suddenly, the cut-off tentacles on the ground glowed red and floated towards the beast. Slowly, the beast began to regenerate it's loss. Silver screcched, reporting to his master.

"What!" said Blaire, a frown appearing on his face, "This thing uses magic to regenerate itself?"

But...that was not all. Blaire had planned to inform the others but out of the corner, lightning bolts were sent towards Alba, the male human, the two girls, the hawk, and to himself. This sudden attack caused him to fall back on the ground.

"It can copy my spell?"

The truth was, the beast did in fact use magic to regenerate itself but, when it is not going to, it would use that very magic as an assault to it's enemies.

This beast had sent attacks towards all the people that had gathered to slay it, although Alba had hoped some of those “helping” him would have been killed by the beasts’ attack they were not. Everyone had managed to live through the first wave of attacks from the lake beast. It was clear this thing had both power and speed, and Alba was rather happy at this, as it seemed that there was finally something worth killing in Arda, something with enough power to pose even a slight challenge! It seemed that the human male and the two women what all taken damage from the beasts attack, it was at that point that Alba knew if these people were going to be any help to him he would have to in turn also help them.

The blast of darkness magic that Alba had sent out towards the beast drew ever closer to it form while at the same time the man with the hawk used the summon lightning spell to crash into the beasts body at the same time as the blast of darkness. At least of these fools were doing something to help out, although the battle would flow much better when the others began to also help as it was clear this beast had many more tricks up held within it. Soon both the dark blast and the bolts of powerful lightning made contact with the beast, who in turn had done nothing to even try and move.

It was after the blasts connected that Alba looked down towards the ground only to see the fallen parts of the beasts heading back towards it while covered in a red light. Somehow it was starting to regenerate, which of course was not a good thing at all. Alba gritted his teeth as he seen this and was about to yell out towards the others about the beasts sudden regeneration but before he had a chance to speak a large bolt of lightning smashed into the armour of the Phoenix. With the lightning flowing through his body Alba fell down towards the ground smashing deep into the earth below.

As the dust and earth particles flew into the air and slowly began to clear all that could be seen was the body of Alba lying lifeless on the ground in the small crater that was made on the impact of the fall. It looked as though Alba was dead, but of course that was not the case. The left hand of the Phoenix shot up from the crater and hit the ground for Alba to help himself to his feet. The eyes of the Phoenix, even from below his Bloodshed Helm, seemed to spark with raging flames. It was clear to even the most simply minds that Alba was enraged now, more than ever before! This beast had attacked him with a cheap shot and the Phoenix was going to make it pay!

Alba locked his eyes onto the form of the beast while his grip grew tighter around the pole section of his scythe. The Phoenix now knew this beast would copy any magic used against it, or heal itself with the magic cast upon it. Luckily for Alba he was a master with Pole arm weapons, and with his scythe being a reforged Dark Blade Alba wanted to rip this foolish beast apart! His lips began to slowly part and the Phoenix then said, “Damn beast!” His gaze shifting to the form of the man and his hawk, “We need to get rid of this thing and fast. It pains me to say this, but I shall aid you in any way that I can.” His head then turned back to face the beast before he finished by saying, “Just don’t let it get to your head. This is a one off offer!” With this said the Phoenix shifted himself into a battle ready stance with his scythe ready to attack the beast, although a group assault would prove best in this case.

Shiro watched as both Alba’s blast of dark matter, and the half-demon’s lightning spell hit the beast. He relaxed slightly, watching as the two blasts hit the beast dead on. It was unlikely that the beast would be able to survive such an attack. It looked like the battle was over sooner than they had expected.

And then, a red light shone, engulfing the severed tentacles. Shiro’s eyes widened, watching at the tentacles flew up, reattaching themselves to the beast. A blast of lightning shot out from the beast.

Shiro saw the bolt of electricity coming towards him, too fast for him to dodge. The next thing he knew, he was lying sprawled on the ground, his katana a few inches away from his hand. Shiro coughed, fighting for breath. For a moment, he didn’t want to move. His whole body hurt from the force of the blast, and hitting the ground had knocked the wind out of him.

Shiro stared at the sky for a moment, affirming that he was still alive. He took a few tentative breaths, getting over the shock from the sudden attack. The human reached for his katana, his fingers closing around the hilt. Shiro dropped the sword, wincing slightly. The sword was still hot from the lightning. Shiro gingerly picked up the katana, getting to his feet. His whole body tingled from the blast of electricity, and several burn marks had appeared on his flesh.

He looked around, eyes widening slightly as he heard Alba’s words. He hadn’t been expecting that, especially not from the Chaos Phoenix. He held his sword at the ready, preparing for the beast’s next attack.

She watched as two magical attacks, aimed at the beast. She stared, having a flicker of hope inside of her that it would work and the battle would soon be over. HOwever, that wasn't the case this time. Her eyes wandered around, feeling that something was going to go wrong. Turning around, she saw the tentacles being surrounded by a red glow. She watched silnetly with narrowed eyes as they reattatched themselves to the beast. "...if it can regenerate themselves... we could always blow it up in one attack..." she muttered to herself.

Her eyes scanned the field, thinking silently to herself. However, she had no time to think, the two magical spells had absolutely no affect on the beast. She lifted her head as lightning bolts were shotting out of nowhere. It can copy magic? she thought to herself as she heard what blaire said. She cursed silently to herself as one of the lightning bolts hit her. She kneeled down on the ground, determined to keep her ground.

The blast of the electricity had made her weak, and now she was just being pathetic. What was the point of a battle if she wasn't going to go fully out. ... okay.. if we can't blast it into tiny pieces in one shot.. why not just continue to rip it apart until it stops regenerating? Her rauko side and began to talk inside of her head. Sora sighed slightly to herself.

She turned her head towards Alba. A smirk appeared on her lips. So this man did work together in times of needs. "fine.. come out.." she muttered quietly to herself. She slammed her shadow blade into the ground, tip facing down. PUtting her hand on her hilt, she started glowing a black color. The tips of her hair became a blood red color and black wings sprout from her back. Her eyes flickered from black to red until finally, they were fully red. Her nails had extended so they were sharp.

She opened ehr eyes looking around. This was her rauko side. "...ah.. its finally good to be out in the open again.." she muttered to herself, stretching herself out and her wings. She took the blade out of the ground, resting the blade on her shoulder, careful not to cut herself. She immediatly spread her wings, flying up into the air, letting herself hang in front of the beast. She didn't say anything, but hold the hilt of the sword tighter in her hands. "The real battle begins now..." was the words that came out of her mouth.

Blaire Neoblade forcefully pulled himself up after that devastating hit by a lightning bolt. He did not much care about the spell hitting him though...he had many experience of getting hit by spells but NEVER has he been hit by his own spell. This was kind of a slap for him. He swore kill this beast no matter what.

As he was able to stand up again, smoke coming from his burnt skin, determination filled him. He was still ready to take this beast down but how? It used magic to regenerate itself or cast it back to its enemies. Suddenly, he turned in surprise after hearing the Chaos Pheonix say something about being willing to aid them. He also said not to let it get to his head. The half-demon closed his eyes, smirking. Of course, he knew that if this monster was already dead, Alba wuld turn on them. It would be only this time that they HAD to work together to destroy this lake monster or else, die. Surely, they would not choose death.

Blaire glanced at the others, the male human first. good, it looked like he was ready to help out. Also, the other rauko who let out her true form. Now, the battle was heating up. Let us see what they could do against a huge monster like that.

"Alright then." he said, "Avoid magic, you'll only be feeding it."

Right after that, Silver screeched, telling his master that the beast has already began moving again. Blaire positioned his shurikens while reading the monster's next move. Since Alba controlled the water of the lake to reveal the monster, it was cleary visible but now...it was doing something. Its front eyes glowed red and the ground began shaking. The water started to come back, covering the monster again. This was going to be more difficult. In addition to that, the water sprang up just like a dreadful wave and crashed down from the sky and onto the ground. In this way, the water would pull anyone into the depths of the lake and get killed by the beast.

This beast was really starting to get on the nerves of the Phoenix all Alba wanted to do was rip it apart limb from limb and make sure it was never able to regenerate ever again. Looking to his sides he saw the human male looking towards him while at the same time the female with the shadow blade had changed her form and taken to the air. So much was going on but all Alba cared about right then was killing the beast in the lake. He knew in order to do that however he would need the help of the others, as much as it pained him to admit this.

Alba then looked over towards where Blade was as he spoke to that pesky little bird of his. It seemed this beast had even more tricks than Alba first though, now only could it regenerate but it would also copy the magic that was cast upon it. This was not a good as Alba had many spells that would have killed this beast within an instant if it would not copy the spell of course.

But something was happening, Alba lost control of the waters and the beast once again became hidden within it depths. Things seemed to be getting worse by the second now! Yet things did not end there, oh no, the beasts had caused the waters of the lake to spew forth at everyone in an attempt to drag them into the lake below. Well that’s when it happened, that’s when Alba seen his opening for an attack!

His eyes flared up in a mass of red as the waters drew ever closer towards him, his dark smirk once again taking over his lips. The Phoenix then said, “Well. See you guys soon! I got work to do!” And with that said Alba started off at a run towards the lake, he was going to dive in and rip the beast apart with his scythe. Well.. that was if everything went according to plan of course! His pace began to increase towards the waters edge and his scythe was positioned ready for a powerful strike on the beast it was just a matter of time now!

Shiro watched as Blaire began to speak. The young human studied the situation. It seemed that magic only made this particular beast stronger. He grabbed onto his katana tightly. That meant that the only way to defeat this creature was by using physical attacks. Shiro frowned slightly.

“Not that it ever mattered to me, anyway,” he muttered, remembering that he didn’t know any magic. That sort of stuff was more Nadine’s thing. He watched in slight alarm as the waters began to return to their original state. The beast even affected spells such as Control Waters? As Shiro watched, water began to spew forth from the lake, heading towards them.

Shiro veered sharply to the right, barely getting out of the way of a jet of water headed his way. He watched as Alba ran towards the beast, prepared to dive into the water. Shiro frowned at this, noting that he was in full armor. He wondered what would happen if the waters closed in over the Chaos Phoenix while he attacked the beast. He was sure that that armor wasn’t exactly light.

Shiro dodged another stream of water, running at the beast as well. Now wasn’t the time to think such things. Now was the time to attack. As the wanderer neared the water, he jumped into the air, intending to thrust his katana into the beast. It was a foolish move, and Shiro knew it, but it was better than standing on the bank and waiting to get killed. At least, by doing this, he would actually be doing something.

Blaire's eyes widened as the lake monster controlled the water to hide itself once again and to pull all of them into the lake for a brutal and cruel death. This monster was starting to bug him as it showed them its capabilites one by one. was there more that it could do? To be honest, he hoped not. The half-demon focused his mind, preparing for the deadly wave to engulf him. He had a way out but it was risky.

As the water neared him, he quickly moved back and hid behind a tree. As the water hit him, he grabbed hold of the tree, not allowing himself to be pulled. Deep marks appeared on the tree as a sign of his tight hold. He also held his breathe while under the water. The water soon went back to its real bed. Blaire, now dripping wet walked out again, shurikens on hand.

"Damn beast!" he cursed, his eyes flaring with deep anger.

He was wet and he did not like it at all. he was just burnt awhile ago by the very spell he casted on the beast and now, he was wet. This was just perfect! He was surely going to get his revenge. And that was when he saw Alba Meria and the human male charge at the monster. Blaire slapped his forehead, thinking of how stupid that was. Charging straight at the enemy. Right! In any way, he needed to aid them. He took out most of his shurikens and released it not at the beast's body but at it's eyes.

Meanwhile, the beast spotted the Chaos Pheonix and the human male heading straight for it. This was perfect for the creature...its food coming closer but it still needed to be careful. These people were still a threat for it especially their spells but good thing that he was immune t them and in fact, it helped him regenerate. Now, the beast was gonna move. It used one of it tentacles to strike the Chaos Pheonix, planning to throw him to the side while it first took care of the human. The male swordsman held his Katana tight, aiming to get a hit on it. the beast used another of its tentacles, striking the human down and after, grabbed hold of him.

The water that had been crashing down on her, didn't make her budge the slightest bit. Plus, she was stubborn and she didn't want to give in that easily. She watched in silence as she watched the people struggle with their own problems. She sighed slightly. This was getting them nowhere just hitting the beast wasn't going to work, so there had to be a weak place somewhere.

Her eyes refocused on the monster, but when she looked she saw a jet of water aimed towards her. Quickly moving out of the way, she rushed foward, her wings spread out as she glided towards the monster's eyes. "I wonder what will happen if you take out all four eyes?" she asked.

She continued to dodge the jets of water as she approached the head. Her eyes narrowed as she floated in one spot, in front of one of the eyes which was looking at Blaire. She thought she saw it glare at her, but it might have just been her imagination because a second later, it closed its eye.

Raising an eyebrow, she turned to the other one that was on the other side, flying in front of it. As she did this, the previous eye opened, continuing its look on the people below. She smirked slightly. "..okay. fine.." she muttered to herself as she stuck her blade into the eye. She wondered if it would work and bring all the attention on her, so at least she could distract those squirming, disgusting tentacles of it.

OOC: sucky post.. sorry.. i'm sick >< BIC:

It looked as though the others were following Alba in his strike onto the beast before him. The Phoenix was drawing in closer and closer to the beast and Albas lust for blood was rising to a level the Phoenix had never experience before in his entire life. The male human had also run at the beast with his sword in hand ready to attack while the transformed woman made a strike upon one of the beasts many eyes. Everything was working out rather well so far, well that was of course until both Alba and the human male were attacked by the beast once more.

Alba was not sure about the human but the Phoenix had been able to get past the attack using his latent Teleport spell. By using this Alba appear above the beast ready to strike. Everything was flowing nicely and the beasts’ eyes had been hit by the woman that was attacking. Now was his time, now was the perfect time for Alba to set his attack in motion. He grabbed his scythe half way down its pole section with a smirk curling along his lips. Alba then pushed his hand forward with great power sending the scythe towards the back of the beast. Soon the entire blade of the scythe ripped into the beasts back causing it a lot of pain, but Alba was not one hundred percent sure if it would kill him.

The Phoenix then smirked as he used his Telekinesis to pull the powerful scythe back out of the beast and into his hand. The blade was dripping with blood and Alba was happy with his attack, he would now just have to wait to see what damage had infact been caused to the great beast of the lake.

Shiro held his katana at the ready as he neared the water, ready to strike at the beast. The young human's eyes widened as a wall of water rose up from the lake, heading towards them. He had about a second to process the thought before the wall of water crashed down on him. Shiro gasped for breath, coughing as his mouth filled with water.

Shiro closed his mouth shut, fighting to hold his breath as he was dashed to the ground yet again. The water receded, and Shiro gasped, trying to catch his breath. He coughed, coughing up water onto the ground.

The impact of the fall had sufficiently bruised Shiro. The young human lay on the ground. At least it had been the lightning that hit him first and the water second. If it had been the other way around, he would have been dead by now.

Shiro struggled into a sitting position as he continued to cough. He had inhaled a lot of water, and hitting the ground for the second time today didn't help him much. Black spots appeared in front of his eyes as he coughed, his lungs screaming for air.

Shiro Skye coughed up the last amount of his water, taking deep breaths. As air filled his lungs, his vision cleared. He watched as Alba struck at the beast, creating a large wound down his back. Shiro looked around for his katana. He knew that the beast wouldn't be very happy after that attack, and he wanted to be prepared.

The young human made a dash for his katana, hoping to snatch it up before the beast attacked again...

Blaire Neoblade shook his head as he watched how the others battles the monster. Seriously, he though that they were planning to get theirselves killed because first of all, they charged at the monster just as the water started going back to its bed. Lucky were the ones who could fly though...they were spared.

Apparently, the Chaos Pheonix and the human did charge at the monster, striking ti with their weapons. As the monster cried out in pain, Blaire smirked realzing now that they may have a shot at this after all. The half-demon turned to see if his shurikens have hit one of the monter's eye. It was a success! The shurikens hit one of its eye but he saw that the rauko girl from earlier had joined in targetting the monster's eye. Her blade together with his shurikens were able to destroy the eye.

"Direct Hit!" he said.

The monster cried out in pain as blood began to gush out from its injured eye. It also recieved damaged from Alba and the male human. The cause of the success hits were probably because the monster was distracted...and it underestimated all of them. Now, it knew its mistake.

The monster would not just allow itself to be defeated by the small group. It has killed thousands of men and has absorbved some fo their magic as well. It was time to use it. Slowly, the beast began to fade away, turning invisible. It did not make any sound but Blaire knew that it was going to take them out one by one. His familiar flew above the sky, trying to figure where the beast really was. At this time, the only best solution was to stay low and alert all of their senses. A huge beast like that would surely be spotted if they were focused enough.

Just then, Silver was thrown away into the nearest tree. The young hawk fell on the ground, unconscious. The beast cad made its first attack and it had the god idea of disposing the bird first. It could see all of them clearly and as it silently moved, it targetted the rauko girl.

She had watched how Alba had made a direct hit onto the beast. It had underestimated the group of fairly well trained warriors. "...Thats what you get for underestimating us..." she muttered quietly to hit under her breath. Her sword had pierced the eye and blood covered her sword and by the ripping sound of flesh underneath her, she presumed that Alba had managed to stick his sword into the beast as well.

Her Rauko side was satisfied now, with all the bloodthirst that was going around and the blood being shed. Sora had to agree that she hadn't had this much excitement for awhile. Despite the fact that all of them had attacked at once, the monster obviously still hadn't used half of its powers. "Damn.." she muttered quietly as she saw the monster before her disappear.

She didn't disappear but she did lowered herself towards the ground, tucking her wings back so she didn't make any sound so she could hear what was going on. Her red eyes gleamed slightly as she moved from one side and then to the other, trying to catch any signs of movement. However, something was on her mind, there had to be something that showed where it was. Immediatly, her eyes darted to the spot where the bird had been knocked down. SHe then turned her eyes towards one spot to the other, trying to decide where the beast might attack.

This was really becoming an annoyance of her time, her Rauko side had no patience whatsoever with hide and seek. She immmediatly put her sword to the ground, and then swinging her whole body around, her sword started picking up dirt and small pieces of rebels. After awhile, she stopped, but she still hadn't had any idea where the beast was. She sighed slightly as she stopped. Immediatly, she felt something wrap itself around her ankle, then pull. She immediatly landed on her back as the monster pulled it towards her.

Why was it so damn light outside when they were being attacked by a monster. "Light?" she asked herself, as she repeated her own thoughts in her head. "Light.. sunlight..?" she asked herself. She was being pulled quickly as she felt more tentacles wrap itself around her. "Where.. where...?" she asked herself. "Where is its damn shadow! Find its shadow!! There should be a shadow where there is sunlight!" she shouted at the group as her wings tried to set itself free. She didn't like the feeling of tentacles wrapping itself around her and she could feel it sucking the blood from her arms. At this rate, she was going to have at least a few minutes before she would become just a lifeless doll to the monster.

The half-demon's guess was correct! The monster targetted those near it. Just now, he went for the Rauko girl and wrapped its tentacles on her body. The girl fought hard to break free and every second she did, the monster only tried to suck her blood. It was obvious because the girl was turning paler and paler.

"Where is its damn shadow! Find its shadow!! There should be a shadow where there is sunlight!"

The girl was right. They could locate the monster if they find its shadow. Blaire glanced above the sky, seeing a couple of clouds huddled together. It must have been from the lightning he summoned. He calmed himself down in order for the clouds to depart...he did not need his spells anyway. It would only aid the beast.

"Hey, you two!" he called to Alba and the human, "We need to find its Shadow!"

With that said, he turned to the girl who was still being sucked dry by the beast. He signalled his bird to go towards the Rauko and perch inches away at the very tentacle of the beast that was wrapped around the Rauko. As the bird did, Blaire took out two of his throwing knives and aimed a little bit lower on Silver. He was going to cut the tentacle and even if he knew that it would just regenerate again, he still had to cut it. As quick as he could, he threw the daggers towards Silver. The hawk flew off just in time as the daggers hit the tentacle. If it was cut, then the girl would be free.

As he watched, it was unkown to him that there was a tentacle heading straight at him. He sensed it too late and he was quickly thrown off into the forest area. He hit a large, thick tree and immediately stumbled down on the ground. The young half-demon fought hard to remain conscious...his eyes were blurry and all he could see were shapes. At one single second, he thought he saw a glimpse of the monster's shadow near the rocky area...