Maybe?

Cori waited patiently while the shower of leaves drifted on by, obscuring her in the canopy with a curtain of crimson and gold. The Autumnal breeze listed the trees lazily as it filtered through the branches. Birds twittering around her, paying her no mind in her statuesque stillness. Her chest barely even moved while she controlled her breath.

She had been hunting this thing for days now. Some monstrosity that had dragged itself out of a cave, having raided one of their storage caverns. The Chief deemed the thing to be a threat to the security of the village, ordering Cori to chase it down, end it. A pair of short swords at her waist, though she had little intention of using them.

The Chief had even handed her one of the few firearms the Clan possessed, a heavy revolver. Eight shots of heavy slugs etched with runes of fire and pain. A back up if needed, the knowledge that she'd burn the forest down if she used it had curtailed much thought of the weapon however. Kari had dreamt of this thing sometimes, calling it a demon.

She had this notion that the beast was a demented tortured soul. Cori's ears stiffened, folding them flat against her skull. Hoped to hell that the thing couldn't hear her heartbeat, smell the adrenaline on her skin. It ambled out of the cavern, long black legs dripped in an unfamiliar ichor. Its body deformed and malnourished, ribs poking through its thin skin. Far too many eyes in its tangled mat of hair, she could see at least nine.

It didn't appear to notice her as it crawled along under her tree. The leaf she held in her fingers slipped away, a rune of inattention burned into it. Kari had wanted something for Cori to place on it, to make it easier to hunt down. The sticky resin she coated the leaf in drifted perfectly down to the target, the air calming at just the right moment. The leaf stuck to its hair, glowing softly as its magic began to work.

The thing had changed course, shuffling toward the coast. Cori hopped silently from branch to branch following it, she wanted it out of the forest before she dropped down on it. The birds had gone silent, flying out of its way trying to stay away from the horror. Keeping the sun behind the branches, she kept her shadow hidden behind the trunks of the trees.

The ichor left a trail behind it, sizzling softly. Some kind of acid, boiling away anything it touched. A lone Giant Elk had pranced away from the vile thing, the apex predator wanting nothing to do with it. It had taken a turn, making it's toward the village. Using a trick Illy had taught her, focusing on her voice she poured a small amount of power into it.

The small noise, enough to break a branch in the opposite direction, making the noise a fawn would make if injured. A single soft bleet, further out, it worked. The thing whipped its head around, making a beeline toward the noise. Its shambling form crashing through the thick underbrush chasing down some imagined treat. Cori followed, making the noise over and over leading it away from the village.

The days she spent watching it, knowing that it was always hungry. Always after an easy mark, snatching birds out of nests. Eating whatever carrion it could find, it didn't matter to it. Her days spent as a hunter and raider to the clan serving her well, it never once noticed itself being followed by her. Never noticed the blockades she set up to funnel it away from the village, all the snaps of twigs and branches diverting its attention.

The tree line fast approaching, she fingered the heavy gun on her waist. Hesitating, finger left the trigger thinking about the amount of damage a single missed shot would cause. She spoke softly to the open air. A small amount of power used, almost unnoticeable as that thing left the safety of the trees. "Wait" Was all she said, throwing her voice straight into its ear. It halted immediately, looking about wildly.

She fell from the canopy, both swords plunging deep into its body. Enough to poke through to the other side of its chest, it thrashed, throwing it's back and her into a tree. She held though, the sword hilts more than enough of a hand hold to keep her there. Unholstering the revolver, she loosed two quick shots. A gout of fire as if a dragon had screamed its searing inferno illuminated the clearing with a second sun in the noonday light.

One to the back of it's head, one in between it's shoulder blades where her swords had been. She was thrown as it fell in a heap, landing hard on her back. Knocking the wind out of her briefly, her long coat billowing out around her in a bizzare mimicry of wings. Tilting her head back, she saw the thing wasn't moving, dead finally, she thought.

Closing her eyes, resting, waiting for the air to return to her lungs. Ear twitching unconsciously at the snapping branch just inside the treeline...