The crashing soon came ricocheting through the trees. An impeding doom stampeding straight toward them, there was no doubt it was targeting the group. The trees could be seen toppling their beautiful swirling of colors interrupted by the chaos. Nothing more than mere weeds being plucked and tossed from the ground, nothing compared to the towering passages of time they represented to humans. A dust cloud formed from the ripped up roots. There was nothing they could do. It was moving too fast.

"Well damn." Sin whistled. "Long time since we've gone up against anything that big. What are you thinking maybe a minotaur?"

His muscles gleamed in the sun as he stretched, unconcerned about their potential death barreling at them.

"No I'd recognize that stench. Never forget that terrible cocktail of cow, dung, and a hint of human." Bryn scratched at his nose, thoughtful. He directed his attention to Cy. "I could try getting higher, get a better scent."

"Go."

Bryn sprung halfway up a tree without hesitation and steadily climbed higher. His strong fingers having no issue clinging to the bark, even tearing portions away, in his ascent. It didn't take him long to reach the top. They all traded glances when he didn't shout back down a report. It couldn't be good.

Black metal glinted in the air as Lily drew a scythe from within the depth of her cloak. Cy gave her a look, which she ignored. Stubborn girl was going to get herself killed.

"Sin." Cy's voice fell in the silence, a dead calm weighed with order.

Sin smirked. "Just this once, I'll let you order me about big brother alpha." Each word filled with sarcasm and a hint of thrill. "But just this once and that's cause..."

Muscles ripped and bones cracked apart reforming into a hulking beast covered in blood color fur and shards of bone everywhere. The hell hound had come out to play. Standing about the height of an elephant and large teeth bigger than the size of a man's forearm snapped at the air. The bones clacked together with a shake of his huge body, accompanying the unearthly howl let loose from someone deep and dark within Sin.

"I want to have some fun." He finished before barreling into the woods.

"Idiot."

The tree bowling stopped and a new ruckus blasted, like a switch of the dial. His tail flicked, catching some leaves and whipping them up to fall again. Lily snickered beside him. He froze his tail with a frown. She was teasing him again. He wasn't sure if it was a good or bad thing, how easily she got under his skin.

A loud yelp snapped out. A second later Sin flung through the sky and crashed into a tree. His body nothing more than a ragdoll by the huge creature. He didn't bounce back up.

Trees groaned and bent away from the monster pushing its way through. Three heads popped through with a terrifying screech causing Lily to grab her ears in pain. Why did it have to be a hydra? The last hydra they went up against tore out a chunk of stomach. It didn't help the whole three headed thing was such a rip off. They had done it first, but when the hydra showed up on the scene suddenly all the heroes were saying three heads like a hydra. Perhaps he should rectify that by permanently removing a couple.

A war cry echoed through the trees as Bryn jumped down from his vantage point. The head he landed on bucked and shook, trying to dislodge its new rider. He extended his nails though and bit down hard with predator fangs. He looked like an tick trying to parasite a prey way out of his league. The hydra screeched again, wrapping one of its other heads to try and snap at him.

The hydra was easily the size of a two story building and rose above many of the trees. It had scales a deep purple that reminded one of venom and death. An unnatural color to warn anyone else to be wary. Despite his annoyance, the fact it only had three heads was good for them. It was likely the extras had died off over the years without heroes chopping them away to grow more, that and lack of food. The hydra was similar to grass in that way, it did best under disturbance. The days of heroes though had long since passed and with it the hydra had withered. Though unfortunately for them, it didn't seem to have been completely.

"Bryn look out!" Lily shrieked, dodging to avoid one of the heads.

The other had twined back around to make another try to remove its pest. Bryn's fissures ripped out exposing muscle, blood, and a sickly green yellow liquid. It seeped through them, rolling off in giant drops. It hissed with each splatter that fell from his body onto the monster below him. The liquid made quick work eating through the scales, causing the hydra to withdraw its attack in shock and pain. Bryn rolled off and away from harm. He couldn't keep the secretion going forever, but it had given him an escape.

Bryn pulled back besides them, his gaze falling on Sin. "Perhaps we should've eaten the human last night. We would've been stronger for this fight then. The human world is already taking its toll."

"We just need to regroup." Cy growled. "It's nothing but a setback. We've swallowed the hopes of gods, humans, and beasts alike. We will not die here."

"Whatever you say brother."

Bryn charged back in, making quick darts to leave trails of his acidic poison on different portions of the legs. His speed and senses gave him a meager margin ahead of the multiple angle attacks from the large monster. Lily and Cy attempted to distract some of the heads, but they knew the true threat at the moment. All their focus was directed at the Bryn and eventually, his luck ran out.

The sound of his body smacking the tree was sickening. It also didn't stop him. The tree snapped and crunched, nothing but a mere twig to the power behind the hit. Bryn's limp form flew off out of sight. The sound of destruction following him as he acted as a living wrecking ball. That was going to hurt.

Two of the three triplets had fallen. Now it was just him and Lily. This wouldn't end well. He needed them both. An alpha was nothing without his pack and more importantly he was only a part of a whole.

"Lily, get them outta here!" Cy raced forward, his skin shedding to become a black monstrosity.

Lily screamed at his back for him to return. He wouldn't though...he couldn't. He had promised her his life. It was time to pay that.

He pounced onto the hydra, digging into the back with jaws capable of crushing a boulder. He first ripped off the head weakened by Bryn. Two may grow back from the now gapping raw mass of flesh, but at least it gave him a minute of just two on one. A strategy risk he hoped would pay off, because two on one he could handle. Less angles to come at him from, less chances of mistake. All he had to do was distract the heads while Lily ran. She could escape with his brothers. She wasn't strong enough to carry even one of them let alone both, but if she could wake one up.

In his concern, he missed the teeth. They raked across his body leaving scribbled lines of blood. Pain ripped through his throat and out in a hollow. He couldn't remember the last time he had felt pain like this. It had been so long since he had fought. Perhaps Bryn was right...they were getting soft. It was not just from the human world. They were forgotten relics much like the monster he fought.

Another head sprouted and then another. One grabbed his tail and the other a leg. His body screamed as he was being torn apart. His tail crunched and ripped from his back, leaving nothing but a bloody stump. A small bit of his own bone could be seen quivering in the wind like a new born pup scared of the dark. His body soon followed the fate of his brothers, greeting the tree with a slap of skin and blood. How pathetic, he was gonna die a de-tailed mutt.

A darkness pressed at his vision as he forced himself to a stand. His one leg had been pulled from the socket and broken. Nothing more than a limp limb that got in his way. He'd rip it off himself if he'd have the strength as it was he could barely remain conscious. Lily, he had to think of Lily.

Black enveloped him. No he had failed. Lily forgive him. The black though wasn't cold. Instead it was warm and he felt a body press against his, petting his rough prickled fur. A soft fall of tear landed on his cheek and he licked out to taste the salt, to taste her.

He wasn't worth crying over, but that did not mean he wouldn't value it.

"It's okay. It's going to be okay Cy."

Despite his wishes, her words lullabied the beast to sleep.