Battle for Survival

Ashwin and Trisha took their stances ignoring the priest's words completely and started chanting. A fire could be seen forming in their palms as they stood surrounding the priests ready to burn them into the very ground.

The beasts leapt at the witches and the battle for survival began. The trio was mentally prepared to fight till death. Trisha let out lightening strikes at the Shunis like handling whips from both hands. She swung the lightning as she cleared a wide path for herself. And the sheer force of those strikes was able to throw the beasts several feet away. Ashwin was using air blows like giant boxing gloves to keep them all away. He wasn't holding back as he landed punches one after another hitting several at a time. The strikes had broken their bones. The sound of snapping bones could be heard by the priests as they constantly yelled to not harm the creatures. They were the sacred beings that the priesthood was established to serve and protect. They were the true lords of this forest, while priesthood was just the servant's quarter. Priest Dharma had taken a vow to protect these creatures when he had first entered the Hall of Priests. This scene was worse than death to him.

Shaurya continued to ignore the wailing priests, as he struck the creatures snapping their bones and kicking them away. He had enhanced his physical abilities by three times with magic and was covering the most ground. Soon, the entire pack was on the ground with several injuries. The witches finally had the chance to catch their breaths after an intense two hour battle. Shaurya looked around and his lips curved upwards in a smile. They hadn't gotten out unharmed but it was finally over! He had never thought to get out of this alive but they did. He broke into a chuckle as he turned to see the smiling faces of Trisha and Ashwin. The fact that they were still breathing gave them immense joy. The happiness of being alive was just overwhelming and a bit shortlived. The sounds of snaps could be heard everywhere around them. Shaurya's face went pale as he saw the beasts getting back up. Their once broken bones were snapping back into place and their injuries were healing by itself. The joy that had filled them a moment ago was nowhere to be found. The horror struck the team as the beasts started to get back up on their feet.

"They will keep getting back up, stronger than before, more vicious than before. We have no way out." yelled Priest Dharma from behind.

"Then how do we get rid of them?" Shaurya asked as he once again had to push away the same beasts.

"We are Priests not some hunters!" He answered.

"Then do what you were doing till now and sit right there." Shaurya said and stepped into the battle again. He had been the most exhausted since he had taken care of the most of them before. He could hardly catch his breath as he struggled to keep going. He turned around to see Ashwin and Trisha in the same state as him. Trisha's lightning whips were either loosing their magnificent effect from before or maybe it was because the Shunis were stronger this time. Ashwin was no different than her as he punched the beasts and barely managed to keep his limbs from being teared apart. They can't carry this on forever Shaurya thought. This might be the end of this elite team. He took a deep breath and yelled, "Let's go down fighting!"

The three let out a battlecry in unison as the raged head on among the beasts. Since, they were gonna die anyway, the least they could do was to make these beasts work for it.

This battle went on for three more hours before all the beasts went down again. The trio sat down to catch their breaths.They all looked haggard with scratches and wounds all over their bodies. They were so tired that even moving a finger would be an impossible task now. Shaurya and Ashwin looked around as they heard similar snapping of bones and regeneration of flesh. The beasts had stood up once again, this time faster than before. So once again, the trio pushed their bodies up as they stood up staggering. Their limbs were ready to give in at any moment. Even standing straight was taking so much effort, just how would they fight? All three of them could see their end in the pack that had been viciously growling at them. The five-hour long battle had drained every bit of energy in them as they struggled to even keep standing. Everytime the Shunis had woken up, they were twice more powerful than before. And now they were four times their original strength. As Shaurya and others glanced at the beasts, they couldn't help but regret coming here. These beasts had resurrected twice already. On the inside they knew, there won't be a third time. This will be the end.