Chase Pov:
The weapons room has more heavy hitters than I've ever seen before in my life.
Fishhooks the size of my torso, barbed spears.. etc.
" You'll be hunting Mokole Mbembe. It's a LD- living dinosaur- but there might be something else." Boss sounds awfully calm at the prospect of sending us after a full grown dinosaur.
" Like what?" Freyr asks, hefting a battleaxe.
" Locals in the area have reported that someone's been stealing supplies. Sightings indicate that she's a young woman with a heavily pierced face and an aggressive attitude. One of my informants in that area got stabbed by her last week. He says that she's tougher than nails."
" Yikes." Ben says, sitting on the floor.
" Are we allowed to tranquilize her if we got in a pinch?"
" No. My informant already tried."
" And how did that work out?" Freyr asks.
" It didn't. That's why he got stabbed. He shot her in the thigh, tracked her five minutes through the woods, and she was waiting for him. She's scary intelligent. I was sent this video."
Boss pulls up a video, and I watch a tall, muscular woman slip out of the trees. She's moving fast, keeping her eyes on the person filming. She's beautiful.
" That is who you want to avoid." Boss says.
" Another issue is that the Mokole Mbembe is possibly Africa's largest cryptid."
Ben scoffs and fastens a wrist-mounted crossbow to his wrist.
" Great. So now we have two things to worry about."
I pick up a folding bow and hatchet. The weapons are hefty in my hands.
" Do we have to fully avoid her?" I ask, trying to stay casual. If I'm being honest with myself, I really want to meet this dangerous woman.
Freyr raises an eyebrow.
Boss chuckles.
" Well, you could certainly try to communicate with her, but I doubt she'd take kindly to you."
Ben looks up from the floor.
" Look, Boss-man, I appreciate the job offer, but there's no way that this thing will be possible."
He stands up and displays his new goodies. Two wrist mounted crossbows.
" As an Animal control officer, I know all too well that new recruits panic when something unknown pops up. The adrenaline starts pumping... all that instinct comes up. You'll lose your head if you aren't prepped properly. So, I have a suggestion."
Boss smiles. I saw a picture of a lizard once on Pinterest that had the exact facial expression.
" Go ahead Mr. Belmonte."
Ben scowls and peers at the loading mechanisms.
" I suggest you send us after something similar, but smaller. And local."
Boss raises an eyebrow, but Ben isn't done.
" If you want my support on this suicide mission, then I'm gonna need a few things. First, information."
" What kind of information?" Boss has truly mastered the art of being a smug little turd face.
Ben glances at the mounted head of a Boogeyman on the far wall.
" I want full disclosure on every single monster we're going up against. Their weak points, their strong points, everything. I also want practice."
" What do you mean by practice?" Boss asks.
" Send us up against something smaller but with a risk for it. That'll give the newbies a chance to get their feet wet."
Boss is kind of scaring me. He looks serious.
" Alright. I've got a case for you."
We all perk up, and Boss takes out a picture of a lovely woman with fire-wood skin and a heart-shaped face.
" Your first case as a team is to retrieve Allegiance Marie Edmondson. Don't kill her, don't hurt her, just bring her to me."
" Sounds too easy." Freyr growls.
" Good catch." Boss says.
" Miss Edmondson is no ordinary human. She's a shapeshifter, and a known cannibal. I keep her around to dispose of poachers I catch." He sounds so calm, looking at that picture of the lovely lady with the heart shaped face.
" What the hell." Freyr whispers.
Boss smiles.
" I'm going to give you a list of her strengths and weaknesses, because I'm feeling merciful."

Five hours later, we've finally been given the rundown on Allegiance Marie.
She's only 4'11, but she's had over 25 years worth of practice with her powers. Boss found her in the backwoods of Louisiana, hunting Grunch, and after an attempted cannibalism, he provided her with a 100 square acre estate in the Oregon wilderness where she can hunt down her food.
Freyr, Ben and I have only been given a stun gun and a baseball bat between us.
Boss is driving us to Miss Edmondson's domain, and we're all nervous.

When we get out of the car, the first thing that catches out eye is the human skins nailed to a row of trees.
" Remember!" Boss calls after us.
" Don't hurt her!"
" What about her not hurting us?" Ben mutters.
Boss drives off, leaving us at the mercy of Allegiance Marie and Mother Nature.