A deep growl filled the air, one that sounded more like the rumble of distant thunder than anything that could have come from a living creature.

Fenrir slowly came towards us, giving me the impression that he was taking his time with whatever he was doing. In spite of the fact that Fenrir looked like a giant smoke wolf, I had the impression that it was behaving more like a cat who was playing with its prey.

“I can feel its attention on me,” Giles said with a grim expression. “I think that I might be its target.”

“Sucks to be you,” Jag said.

At this point, we’d all stopped fighting and were just staring at the approaching Fenrir. My heart raced in my chest and I clenched my staff even more tightly. I couldn’t help but remember the fact that it hadn’t been able to save its previous owner.

I felt a knot of dread in my stomach as I remembered Pham and what this thing had done to him. Then, a spark of rage grew within the fear. This thing had killed Pham.

“I’ve never seen a monster that big leave the Labyrinth,” Riel said in surprise.

“Not a monster, Agent Riel,” Giles absently corrected him. “It’s a primal of some sort.”

“I’ve never seen any primal leave the Labyrinth,” Riel corrected.

“That is the primal I told you about,” Giles continued. “The one that killed Agent Pham.”

Maestro scowled and turned to Frank. “What do you recommend?”

Frank considered for a moment, then let out a sigh. “We escaped that thing before, and I suspect that it won’t allow us to do so again.” Her eyes narrowed. “No, I’m sure it won’t. It’s a hunter and no hunter likes to let prey escape.”

“How much damage can it to?” Riel asked.

The local Warden looked around, probably trying to see how many people were around and in danger. A minute ago, several people had been hanging around to watch our fight, but as soon as Fenrir had appeared, they all disappeared.

“We don’t need this complication,” Michaelangelo said with a look of annoyance.

“No,” Frank agreed. “But we have it nonetheless.” Then she turned to Giles. “I suggest a truce until after this creature has been dealt with.”

“Agreed, Miss Frank,” Giles responded with a sharp nod.

Fenrir seemed to decide that it was done taking its time, because it suddenly charged forward. It’s jaws snapped down where Giles had just been, but Grayson had pulled him back at the last moment.

“Take it,” Giles ordered.

Grayson rushed in and sliced at the wolf’s front leg, though it didn’t seem to do much damage. However, Frank and Stine seemed to think that was a great idea because they each chose a leg to attack as well.

Fenrir’s jaws snapped down again, this time coming down on one of Maestro’s wooden puppets. There was a loud crunch and chunks of shattered wood fell from its massive jaws.

Black tendrils of smoke began to spread out from the large wolf, reaching out along the ground like tentacles. I remembered the bubblegum monster and the way it had attacked us with tentacles, and realized that this could be an opportunity.

I blasted Fenrir with ‘Hex’, then I used my staff to smack one of the smoke tentacles. A dose of ‘Cursed Object’ transferred to the smoke wolf, adding to the stack that I’d already started with ‘Hex’.

Fenrir snarled and turned to glare at me with a look of pure hatred. At that moment, I was sure that it remembered me from before and that it hadn’t forgiven me in the least.

“Shit,” I snarled.

A moment later, the primal lunged at me. Suddenly, Stine was there, punching the wolf on the side of its face while Giles swung his halberd down into the other side of its snout. I scrambled back, horrified at how close I’d just come to being dog chow.

Maestro stepped back, but he sent his last remaining wooden puppet at Fenrir, as well as the last couple origami birds. It completely ignored the paper birds, though it sent a tentacle of smoke out to surround the puppet. A moment later, it lifted the puppet up off the ground, then spiked it right into the ground.

“I hate having to replace those,” Maestro grumbled with a look of annoyance.

“Well, boo hoo,” Lenore said as she took aim and shot at Fenrir.

Lenore fired one of her more powerful arrows at Fenrir, hitting it in the shoulder. She muttered a few profanities, then took aim and fired again.

“Useful ability,” Riel commented as he watched the conjurer.

Then Riel took aim with his crossbow and fired a bolt. His aim was off and he missed entirely, probably because of the injury he’d previously taken. Still, that didn’t discourage him from loading another bolt and trying again.

I stood back and watched carefully, noting that half these attacks had no effect at all. Some of them actually seemed to pass right through Fenrir as though he was nothing more than smoke. However, my banes were definitely working.

“I just need more of them on him,” I thought aloud. “A LOT more.”

More of the smoke tendrils spread out from the primal and reached for the people nearby. One of them grabbed Frank, who immediately chopped at the tentacle with her axe. To my surprise, she actually cut the tentacle off and was freed.

When another tentacle reached for me, I seized the opportunity to hit it with my staff. Fenrir was hit with another random bane, as well as another copy of ‘Hex’.

Fenrir raised its head and let out a howl, though it sounded like wind blowing in a storm. A moment later, it turned its attention back to me.

“I think you pissed it off,” Grayson told me.

“You’re pretty good at that,” Lenore added with a smirk.

When Fenrir lunged at me again, Michaelangelo suddenly opened fire with a scepter and fired a blast of purple energy right into primal’s face. He followed that up by switching to a second scepter and firing a ball of golden energy at the creature as well. The ball exploded on impact.

“I need her alive,” Michaelangelo told the primal. “So, I can’t let you kill her just yet.”

“Thanks,” I responded with an uneasy feeling. “I think.”

“This isn’t working,” Giles said. “It’s too tough.”

“Death by a thousand cuts,” Grayson responded with a slash of his sword. “It seems to be our best bet.”

“I agree,” Frank said with a grimace.

“Even paper can kill,” Maestro agreed. “If you give enough paper cuts.”

With that, Maestro reached into a bag on his side and pulled out a stack of paper. It looked like the pages had already been folded before and then straightened back out. He threw the stack into the air and then each and every page folded itself along the existing folds, turning into a new flock of origami birds.

The paper birds flew around Fenrir’s head, trying to distract it for as long as they could. Maestro nodded to Frank, who merely nodded back, then charged at the creature.

Frank leapt up and landed right into Fenrir’s shoulders, them immediately brought down her axe and hit it as hard as she could. The primal seemed to feel it because it immediately began to leap around like some kind of rodeo horse, until it knocked Frank off.

“One paper cut down,” Frank commented as she got back to her feet. “Nine hundred and ninety-nine to go.”

“So far,” Grayson said, gesturing to me. “Donna’s banes seem to be doing the most damage.”

“Then, it seems like we have a strategy,” Giles said.

“Hit that bastard with as many enchantments as we can,” Lenore agreed. “Red fucks it up as much as possible while the rest of us finish it off.”

“That works for me,” Stine said, flashing me a grin and a thumbs up.

“Hey,” Lenore abruptly asked. “Where’s Jag?”

I looked around but didn’t see any sign of the illusionist. In fact, I hadn’t even noticed her since shortly after Fenrir had arrived.

“She’s probably around here somewhere,” Frank said, not looking concerned about it.

“She isn’t the type to run from a fight,” Stine agreed with a nod. “She’s probably just waiting for the right opportunity.”

I just grunted at that, not sure if I would have preferred it if Jag had run off or was just hiding. After all, it hadn’t been long at all since she and her friends had kidnapped me.

Then Giles abruptly looked towards the Labyrinth entrance again. “We have more company.”

A new figure emerged from the Labyrinth entrance, one that immediately made me tense up. He almost looked like a human man, except for the fact that he was covered with green scales. He even wore clothes, or at least, the torn and tattered remains of pants and a cloak.

“Great,” Grayson grimaced. “Another monster.”

“I’m no monster,” the lizard man called out, apparently having great hearing or high perception since he was a good distance away. “I’m a player…”

“Invoker?” Giles asked. “I feel the primal energy. A LOT of it.”

“Yeah,” the lizard man responded, gesturing down at himself. “The scales are a side effect of an ability.” Then he abruptly froze, his eyes locking on Michaelangelo. “Mad Mike,” he spat out with a deep and menacing growl.

Michaelangelo looked surprised as well as a little confused. Then his eyes widened in recognition. “Wolf?”

“Well, I’ll be,” the lizard man snarled, his eyes darting between Michaelangelo and Fenrir, who was still being distracted by the origami flock. “Two of my enemies in one place. This must be my lucky day.”