Out of all they tried, all the arrows fired upon the beast of wretched flames, all the magick spells and incantations cast upon it vigorously and seeming without end.  It had seemed nothing the adventurers had done could crack and splinter the hard, ebony scales of the behemoth, yet what they had succeeded in was chiding the horrid monstrosity and enraging it all the more into a bloodthirsty tirade about the village, bucking, snarling and spewing forth wave after wave of searing hot fire from its wide, gaping jaws of sharp, jagged teeth, further scorching the grounds a dry, charred black, its infernal roar bellowing across the scarred lands in a cry of pain, anger, and malice towards its oncoming attackers.  As the ranger and the spellcaster kept the beast's glaring eyes upon them, the sneak-thief Raffy had slipped unnoticeable underneath the armored hellion, and what had her glinting eyes and her shimmering dagger discovered?  Why..the very soft underbelly of the beast, the only part that wasn't heavily armored with thick metal scales.   With a plunge of her blade into the meat, the creature felt the unrelenting prick of the thief, followed by the tearing of its leathery skin, globs of black, putrid smelling blood oozing from the ghastly wound.  In rage the beast wrenched and writhed, its gargantuan tail flinging about wildly and smashing the ground with a quaking thunder.  Rapidly the beast whirled around just as the rogue was making her dashing escape, gnashing its jaws at her and already charging headlong towards her.

Nariah soon saw this and hastily she turned to the healing woman and the monk shouting, [b]"Dorje-lad, I need ye to keep the woman safe!  Don't let her out o' yer sight, ye hear me?!  Lass, stay here!  I know ye can fight, but we need ye breathing!"[/b]  And with that she ran off towards the beast, sprinting fast and fighting hard against the clank and clatter of her armor against her bones.  She raised her shield in a defensive position and charged headlong with her sword out front towards the beast.  But it was as the warrior woman blindly, yet nobly pushed forward, something happened.  Cracks...they began to form in its armor, each of its thunderous feet causing more and more to perforate the scales of the giant.  It wasn't too soon...those scales were shattering away from its charred, bloody flesh and falling all over the battlefield as it chased the fleeting Nimblefingers.  It was all over now.  The beast was unarmored, and soon it'd be good as dead...that is if Nariah could catch up with the damn thing.  Just as her armor was a burden to her, so was the scales to the behemoth, and now...the bastard was galloping with a speed faster than the arrow of Veralyn.  [b]"Ye bastard!"[/b]  Nariah cursed loudly trying to keep up with the newfound gait, but it was of no use.  Then...she had an idea.  [b]"Mage!"[/b]  A shout she gave to the elven spellcaster Finn while running.  [b]"Make of that magick of yers useful!  I need an ice-path now!  You, woodsman!  Keep pelting the bastard with arrows!  Sooner or later this damn thing'll kill over!"[/b]