We've Got A Big Problem

 Nibbles leapt at the monster with a growl, beginning to gnaw on its leg. Amaia tried to call for her to come back inside, but not only did she not listen… Millie had taken a moment to readjust her hat before rushing forward with her scythe, swinging Final Draft at the creature’s leg.

Not wanting to see any of their companions get killed by this thing, Amaia sighed. Looked like strategy wasn’t going to happen, in that case, and it was going to be a full-on attack. They had their head float around the monster, trying to find a good potential weak spot, before their body began attacking with Vertiwhip.

Hopefully they’d get some backup soon, because this thing may have been enough of a problem that just the three of them couldn’t tackle it alone. For the time being, the plan was as simple as could be: throw as many attacks at it as possible while not allowing it to touch any of them.

Nibbles seemed to be just fine, considering how much contact she’d had with the monster through biting it so many times. That wasn’t bringing it down any faster, but she hadn’t seemed any worse for the wear herself, either.

Amaia kept up their attacks, their head coming back to them before too long. No obvious weak points just yet, unless they could get Nibbles up to its eyes. The best bet they had for that would have been Shay, given her huge leathery wings, but would she be able to lift the werewolf up that high? So for now, they would keep hitting it with the whip until it took its attention off of any of the others, thereby creating an opening for Millie to attack again.

As for Millie she was swinging Final Draft at it, her eyes glowing that bright pink color again. She screamed a few obsceneties at it, still wondering how best to take it down. It reached down to pick her up, and she stumbled back, willing a shield around herself. And much to her astonishment, it worked on the first try. It tried to grab her again, but couldn’t get through the shield, causing it to screech at her.

At that point, the occupants of the cottage began to pile out, Anton’s eyes glowing a bright blue color. In his hands was a large sword.

“Think that’s what’s been causing these things to show up?!” he called.

“I don’t truly know for sure,” said Talia, “But if we can take it down, that’d be ideal!”

Shay, wielding a large mace, took to the air and started toward its head, letting out a primal scream as she swung at its eyes. It screeched as the blow landed, stumbling back a bit...before it swiped its claws at her.

She flew backward, just managing to dodge it, before going in for another swing.

At ground level, Bria and Anita tried to find a way to attack it, before the zombie bit at its ankle. The bite didn’t really damage it at all...but what it did do was cause it to decay a bit. The zombie backed away, but shockingly hadn’t become one of the soulless husks. Anita was just as shocked as anyone at that development, and would have to try and piece that together later, if they all survived this. Well...as far as a ghost and a zombie could “survive” anything.

Valentina stared up at the creature, unsure how she could possibly contribute to the fight. As if reading her mind, Amaia glanced at her.

“Keep an eye on stuff with your head!” they called. “Even if you can’t fight, we can always use as many eyes as possible. If you see an opening, let us know!”

The dullahan lady gave a thumbs-up, stepping back as her head floated around for recon purposes.

Sara had started shooting some webs at the thing’s legs, wondering if she could bring it down, at least. Not kill it, necessarily, but if she could bring it to the ground, maybe everyone could attack the face together. Of course, firing enough webs was likely to be exhausting in so many ways. But she had to try.

Talia could only really stab at its foot for the moment...before Shay swooped down and picked her up to give her better access to the face. She sliced at a cheek with Shade’s Fang, drawing a bit of its yellowish blood.

The group continued their attacks on the creature, as Sara started to fire the webs she was planning on at its legs. They came very close to hitting Anton, but he dodged, swinging his sword at the creature. Nibbles had continued gnawing on it, and it became evident that one thing was happening when she chewed on it.

The spots that her saliva were touching? Those were starting to break down. Valentina was the first to notice this.

“Hey..LIA! Chew on its leg!” she called.

The darker werewolf looked up at the floating head of her co-wife. “Was planning to, anyway!”

“Good, good, but it looks like werewolf drool can damage it!”

At this, Millie, Amaia, Anton, and Shay (and by extension Talia, still in the gargoyle’s arms) hit on the same idea at the same time: get the werewolves to lick their weapons a bit. If those were all well-coated in werewolf saliva, then they all had an even better chance at taking the thing down.

“HEY, Nibbles!” Millie called. “Need you for a sec!”

The werewolf glanced at her, as she held up Final Draft. “Think you can lick this for me?” she asked.

Amaia held up Vertiwhip, shoulders sinking a bit as if pleading. Shay set Talia down, as she held up the knife. Anton and Shay held up their weapons as well, figuring one of the werewolves should continue to bite.

Nibbles nodded, making sure to go around and lick as much of each one’s weapons as possible (and giving everyone a kiss in the process), before she returned her focus to the creature and trying to bite it.

Around then, Lia scrambled away from the monster, as more and more webbing wrapped around its legs. Millie and Anton both began to focus on it, visualizing it falling to the ground. It wouldn’t take much for it to lose its balance, just the little nudge the pair were looking to provide.

As planned, the monster fell, with the combatants scrambling to get out of the way. Unfortunately, there were two casualties of its rapid descent to the ground. First and foremost, Anton’s cottage broke into pieces, splinters of wood flying everywhere. But also, Valentina’s body couldn’t get out of the way in time, being crushed beneath the behemoth’s form.

Her head was not enthused about this turn of events at all, as she let out an anguished howl. Amaia grimaced in sympathy; they’d sometimes wondered what would happen if one of their kind lost their body and not their head, but this wasn’t how they wanted to find out.

But grief counceling could come along later. Those with physical weapons all rushed at the monster with their werewolf-saliva-coated weapons, each throwing in whatever attacks they could. It took several attempts, and everyone was getting exhausted, but eventually, the beast ceased to fight back.

As it began to fade from existence, Valentina’s head settled itself in Anton’s arms, and he wiped away her tears.

“Hopefully your body’s okay,” he said, tone as reassuring as possible.

When the beast faded, Anton and Millie went to truly assess the damage. It was already obvious that that cottage was history and the polycule would have to find a new home somewhere. As for Valentina’s body, they had some level of hope for it a few moments before.

But looking at it, it was clear that her body had been utterly crushed. The limbs were bent at unnatural angles, and she’d looked like she got a visit from a steamroller (and it did not go well).

She grieved the loss of her body, as Anton held onto her head, gently stroking her hair and telling her that he still loved her, and apologized for bringing the beast down on her and their home.

Millie was glancing down at her boots, wondering if this was partially her fault. The two of them could have kept pushing it away from the cottage, but instead...straight down onto it. She looked at the disembodied head next.

“I...I’m sorry about…” She gestured toward the ruined home and shattered body. “I may have panicked…”

In truth, she hadn’t considered which direction it was going in. Neither, apparently, had Anton. They’d all hoped that this could be resolved without casualties, but it seemed that their luck wasn’t that great.

“Would you like us all to get the hell out?” Amaia asked, rubbing their arm.

Anton shook his head. “Please, don’t blame yourselves. I’m pretty sure I wasn’t thinking, either. But if you could get back to the hunt for whatever sent that thing, we’d all appreciate it.”