Charlie dodged between two close trees, but Fantome managed to tear right through them. The Alchemist turned and loose three arrows before ducking to the side, avoiding the Alpha's large claws.
A torrent of black flame caught Fantome off guard. Candy twisted the scepter they held and hit the big bad wolf in the snout with it, causing him to snarl.
"What fun! It'll be a pleasure watching you die," the Necromancer said with a giggle.
Fantome lunged, raking the caster across the chest. It ripped Candy's shirt a bit, but didn't make good enough contact to break skin.
"Oh Alchemist, you mind helping a poor Necromancer out? Won't be hard to kill him if we work together," Candy called as they dodged Fantome's slashes and bites.
"Fuck off!" Charlie called out. Still, he had to agree with Candy, albeit begrudgingly. He jumped out from behind his tree and landed in a roll as he shot off two more arrows. Candy slammed the scepter against the ground and caused a small tremor that opened up the ground beneath Fantome.
Fantome lost his footing as the two arrows pierced his hide. He let out a howl of pain as he attempted to claw his way back onto solid ground. Candy smacked him in the face with the end of the scepter, but that gave him the chance to grab onto the scepter, pull himself up and slam Candy onto the ground, hard.
He raised his claw, poised to finish off the Necromancer, but he was hit with four more arrows to the snout, chest, shoulder, and paw. He stumbled backwards and growled, but it sounded more like a gurgle as blood seeped from his muzzle.
"That's it," he grumbled in his coarse, beastly voice. "I guess it's time for the contingency plan."
He ran into the nearby trees as fast as he could, coating his claws in blood as he moved. Charlie pursued, hoping to finish the dog off before it could do anything dangerous.
He followed Fantome into a clearing, but as he raised his bow one last time he felt a sharp pain surge through him. His hand opened and the bow fell to the ground as he dropped to his knees.
"Not now," he muttered. "Not now gods damn it!"
He watched as Fantome used his own blood to draw a pattern in the ground. It looked like some sort of pentagram. It looked like . . .
"No!" Charlie screamed, somehow finding the strength to get to his feet. The effort almost made him vomit. "You idiot! What are you thinking?"
Fantome turned to him, his wolf eyes glowing. "I'm thinking that I'm going to slaughter you all!"
He completed the sigil and slammed his claw into the ground. Flames sprouted and red lights filled the area.
"You can't—" Charlie collapsed, barely able to maintain consciousness. He heard a familiar voice yelling orders off to the side. Someone picked him up off the ground before he passed out completely.
"Fantome, Weiss Schnee, whatever the fuck you go by now," arachnidsGrip spat, "it's my pleasure to kill you." She plunged the dagger through the Alpha's heart, draining the light from his eyes.
She stood back up, wiping the blood onto her shirt. "Now, destroy that sigil! Get the Alchemist and the Necromancer back to town! It's time that we finish this mess!"
A psychotic laughter resounded through the air. "I'm afraid you're a bit late for that, my dear."
A dark entity crawled forth from the sigil. A huge gate opened up, spewing forth flames and darkness, sending the pits of Hell crawling into the open air. The entity moved swiftly towards Fantome's body, entering it and reanimating it.
"Miss me?" Lilith asked, a huge grin crossing her wolfish face.
♚♛☠♛♚
Back in Haven, things were going south. Charlie awoke to a needle in his arm. He looked around, seeing many unfamiliar faces, as well as the Necromancer and the body of Ice laying next to him.
"What is this?" he asked.
"The Ambassador has orders from the capital. We managed to create a cure for the disease that ails you from her blood," responded one of the nurses.
"Why is Ice here? He's dead."
"Lady arachnidsGrip said something about 'not allowing MorallyInDeath to happen here again.' I've no idea what it means, but we've managed to revive him. We've managed to do a lot of things. Though," the nurse continued, looking out the window. "It looks like we're going to have to manage to do a lot more."
Charlie saw the souls of daemons flying through the skies, swooping down and entering the bodies of frightened individuals. The sky was turning a deep crimson. It looked as if Hell was merging with the world around Haven. It looked like the end.
Fantome is dead. He was a Werebeast.
Candy is defeated. She was a Havenite.
Charlie Brown is in critical condition. He was a Havenite.
Haven has endured, barely.
Lilith has risen, and she's not alone.
