The Nightmare Behemoth

Slowly the Regalia rolled towards the gate of the Imperial blockade to the north of Leide, the driver's side window rolled down and Ardyn stuck his arm out.

"Hello there!" he called out, waving at the Magitek soldiers. "It's me, your beloved chancellor. Would you be so kind as to open up?"

Noctis strained to get a glimpse out the back window of the Regalia without letting down his guard. A young man in high-grade military armour stepped out from between the MTs above the gate. Seemingly reluctant, he gave the order to lift the barricade and waved the chancellor through.

"Thank you very much!" Ardyn exclaimed.

Under his control, the Regalia passed through the blockade between Leide and Duscae without any resistance. Noctis nevertheless sighed with relief when they were out of sight of the Imperial forces and the hood came down again. With the ceiling over his head, he had felt a little cramped in the back seat after all.

"We can take my car from Lestallum," Ardyn said, casually steering the Regalia with one hand. "I daresay it's a little less conspicuous than your luxury vehicle."

Ignis pointed ahead. "There's a Coernix Oil station. Let's switch back."

"But of course."

They got out at the petrol station and Noctis took the opportunity to refuel the Regalia. He was just closing the fuel cap when Prompto came running up excitedly.

"Hey, Noct! Did you see the sign? Chocobo Wiz Post? Think we can make a quick detour there?"

"Luna has probably already arrived in Lestallum, and we were going to meet up with Iris," Noctis argued. In addition, they were also supposed to be on the lookout for more royal tombs on behalf of Cor. Basically, they had more than enough to do.

"Come on," Prompto begged. "Lestallum is still miles away, and Luna won't wait for us anyway. Just lemme pet 'em once. It won't take long."

Having gotten curious, Ardyn walked up to them. "What's his problem?"

"Chocobos," Noctis replied.

Prompto was all smiles. "What's not to love about 'em? They're big, and they're fluffy, and they have these huge, friendly eyes ...!"

"Do you take a stuffed animal to bed with you as well?" Ardyn teased him.

"Do not!"

"Don't listen to him, Prompto," Gladio said. "He's just messing with ya."

"Why is it always me? You nearly scared me to death back in the bunker."

Ardyn acted as if he had to think about the answer. "There's just something so ... detestable about your face."

"Cut it out, you two," Noctis intervened.

"But he started it," Prompto complained meekly.

Noctis opened the driver's door. He could just as easily drive the short distance to the Chocobo Wiz Post himself.

"I don't see why we shouldn't take a quick detour. Should help us get our minds off things before we take on the Archaean."

Prompto threw a fist in the air. "Woohoo! Chocobos, here we come!"

"What a waste of time," Ardyn said. "Is the detour truly necessary?"

"Yes, it is," Noctis said. "Get in."

Ardyn gave a drawn-out sigh. "My suffering knows no end."

The drive to the Chocobo Wiz Post took less than five minutes. When they arrived, however, they found to Prompto's great disappointment that not a single one of the big birds was out in the enclosure. Only the bistro and the souvenir shop were open. When asked, the owner of the rental service told them that they could not let the Chocobos out of the stable because of an espacially ill-tempered Behemoth. The Behemoth had made the nearby forests its new territory and was terrifying Chocobos and farmers alike. Many hunters had already taken on the problem, but all of them had returned unsuccessful and wounded so far. They had nicknamed the beast "Deadeye".

"You heard him," Ardyn said as they sat together at one of the bistro's tables. "There's nothing for us to do here. Why, at this time, we could be facing down a god."

"What's the hurry?"Noctis objected. "Don't you keep telling me to help the common folk? If we defeat the Behemoth, everyone will benefit."

"Farmers, hunters, the rental service ..." said Ignis.

"And the Chocobos, of course!" Prompto added.

"You said hunting would be a breeze with your help," Gladio mentioned. "Time to prove it."

"Very well, I yield. We'll have it your way."

Finding the Behemoth proved to be no challenge. They had hardly left the Chocobo Wiz Post when the monster announced itself in the distance with loud growls and stomping footsteps. Its trail of devastation was impossible to miss. Where it had made its way through the forest, trees lay bent like straws. Noctis and his companions followed Deadeye at a safe distance deep into the misty woods, past rocks and old ruins. In places they managed to get within sight of the monster, but the mist hung so thickly between the trees that even the monstrous Behemoth threatened to disappear into it time and again.

Ignis took Noctis aside and asked him not to take any unnecessary risks. Obviously the monster was on its way back to its lair. If they tracked it to there, they could surprise it while it slept. Noctis signalled the others to fall back so as not to attract the monster's attention.

As Noctis worked his way from rock to rock, he came closer and closer to the Behemoth. The work of previous hunters had left its face scarred. As its name had already suggested, it was blind on one eye. In addition, one half of a horn was missing. The old wounds, however, did not make the Behemoth any less frightening to look at. Even when it disappeared into the mist, its huge, muscular silhouette gave a hint of its unimaginable destructive power. Noctis felt the growl of the beast resonate within his bones. Adrenalin rushed through his veins and the tension in the air was almost palpable.

Although the Behemoth did not stop, the way to its lair seemed to take forever. Again and again Noctis lost sight of his companions, which made him all the more nervous.

Only Ardyn remained more or less constantly near him. Thanks to his shadowstep ability, he moved silently and swiftly. "What an atmosphere," he whispered, grinning excitedly after he had caught up to Noctis once again. "Let us hope the beast puts up a decent fight as well."

Behind them, the crack of a dry twig echoed through the forest. Noctis thought he heard the muffled voices of Prompto and Gladio. The Behemoth turned unexpectedly, raised its head, and from one moment to the next pounced at the source of the sound.

"Prompto, don't!" Ignis shouted.

"Too late", Ardyn said.

Somewhere in the mist sounded the rustling of dry leaves, frantic footsteps and the roar of the monster.
In fear for his friend, Noctis threw his sword.

#-#-#

Gladio may have stepped on the branch, but it was Prompto who lost his nerves. One moment there had been a wall of mist in front of them, the next a snarling Behemoth lunged at their faces. Gladio's and Ignis' words faded unheard in the mist as Prompto bolted headlong. The snorting, growling and stomping of the monster was close behind him. Mortal fear drove him to run faster.
His pistol was useless at this range. The Behemoth would tear him apart!

Just as suddenly as the monster had appeared, Prompto felt a hand on his back.
The chancellor ran alongside him. "Put your head down!" he ordered Prompto.

The sound of jaws snapping into thin air sounded above them. Prompto felt the breath of the beast on his neck just before he fell. He didn't know if he had tripped over roots or if Ardyn had pushed him, only that he suddenly found himself on the hard forest floor. With presence of mind, he rolled onto his back. Above him, the Behemoth's claws tore through Ardyn's form. He staggered, but managed to stay on his feet. Past him and the monster, Prompto made out the silhouette of Gladio, who struck the behemoth's hind leg with his greatsword.

Deadeye threw himself around with a roar, causing the monster's tail to whip past Prompto. Ardyn dodged the blow by throwing his blade and warping after it.

Breathless, Prompto struggled back to his feet. His body still trembled with agitation.

Out of the mist, Ignis came running towards him and grabbed his hand to help him up.
"You mustn't run away from a predator, Prompto," he admonished him.

"Y-yes," Prompto brought out. "I don't know what came over me. I'm sorry."

"This is not the time to be sorry. Focus."

Ignis's calmness and the reassurance that he was not alone helped Prompto regain his composure.
"All right," he replied with renewed courage and drew his pistol.

#-#-#

The fog made the fight against the Behemoth immensely difficult. It was impossible for Noctis to throw his sword accurately at a distance, and the monster was so large that his blade mostly just cut into its legs. He dodged a bite from the beast as shots hit the Behemoth in the face. Deadeye was driven back a bit, but only a moment later it swiped at them again with its claws.

Gladio intercepted the attack with his shield, but the force of the blow threw him off his feet.

With a well-aimed dagger throw, Ignis struck the monster's blind eye and stopped it from following up.
"How are we?" he called to Noctis.

"Been better."
Noctis got the impression that they had bitten off more than they could chew with this job.

Out of the corner of his eye he saw Ardyn's red sword flying. He caught his blade in mid-air and stabbed from above in between the Behemoth's shoulder blades. Deadeye threw himself around snarling and snapping, but Ardyn held on to the hilt of his sword and placed a hand on the Behemoth's body. Starting from his palm, black and purple glowing veins spread over the behemoth's muscles. In pain, the monster began to flail.

Noctis drew back further. Before his eyes, the monster transformed into a creature that could only have sprung from a nightmare.

The Behemoth was not simply afflicted by the Starscourge. Under Ardyn's influence, the monster's eyes began to glow yellow, a black liquid dripped from its open mouth, its horns and spikes grew and branched in an unnatural way. Individual miasma particles detached themselves from the monster's form. The more vehemently Deadeye struggled, however, the harder it became for Ardyn to stay on its back.
This did not stop Gladio from cutting off the freshly regrown horn with his greatsword. Deadeye reared back suddenly, causing Ardyn to ultimately lose his grip.
The monster squirmed under the burning rays of sunlight, sparse as they were through the mist. Fortunately, it fled instead of continuing the fight against Noctis and his companions in its new, daemonic form.

"What the hell was that?" Gladio shouted.

"The Behemoth has turned into a daemon," said Noctis.

Ardyn stood up from the fallen leaves and patted his clothes off. "In my defence: Had I been able to complete the daemonification, it would have dissolved into miasma."

"But it did not," Ignis said with anger in his voice. "Instead, we have an even more dangerous monster roaming about, and the sun is already setting."

"Well done," Gladio commented. "The farmers will be pleased."

"Please, spare me your sarcasm! You were the one who interrupted the process."

Admittedly, the hunt had gone wrong. Very wrong. But if Noctis had learned anything over the course of his training, then that it was no use dwelling on mistakes and accusations.

"We must go after Deadeye," Noctis said and began to move again, but Gladio stopped him.

"And how do you intend to defeat a daemon of this size?"

Ignis sighed and adjusted his glasses. "I see only one feasible tactic; By attacking it from a haven."

"Not as if it would willingly come close to one," Gladio objected.

"The Behemoth will come to us," Ardyn promised, "It holds a deep grudge against hunters. The Starscourge did not plant the seeds of hatred, it only helped them grow."

Prompto did not look eager to go after the monster. "Oh man. It's like the second phase of a boss fight."

"Only much more real," Noctis added. "Let's try it."


When you add a new team member, the team has to figure out how to work effectively again.
Don't worry, I've already written the second "phase" of this fight, I just need to improve the dialogue some more.