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((The Father's Day Special -- page 13 of 24))
"We could hold on our own, yes," said Salvador, "but we still have no idea how to actually kill the creature. Or even its spawn."

'It's not the first monster I've seen with the ability to regenerate unaided,' said Mevox. 'With things like that, you've just got to stay the course. The biggest obstacles is just not getting discouraged. It can feel like you're losing when it heals back all the damage you just did to it, but if you keep hammering away at it, it'll eventually stop regenerating and die.'

'I'm not so sure about that,' came the silent-yet-familiar voice of Voreese. She flew down with Roman, attached to his shoulder as he descended from the moonlit canopy over their heads and landed softly next to Hector. 'Sure, we have a lot of power and stamina on our side right now, but it's not endless. We don't know if we'll be able to outlast it in a drawn out battle.'

'Maybe, but it's far too early to be getting demoralized,' said Mevox. 'Lose heart, and all we'll accomplish is making it easier for Chort to kill us.'

'Of course,' said Voreese. 'I wasn't saying we should give up.'

'You sure? Wouldn't surprise me if you turned out to be a big ol' chicken.'

'Hah. And it wouldn't surprise ME if YOU turned out to be a big ol' dumbass. Oh, wait, that's already been confirmed. My bad.'

'Yeah, yeah, hearin' a lot of shit talk,' said Mevox, 'but haven't seen much to back it up so far.'

'Heh. Well, what can I say? Shit talk is my favorite pastime.'

"It really is," added Roman.

They kept talking, but Hector was only half-listening, because he could feel the ground shaking--though only slightly. It wasn't violent enough to alert everyone, and it could've just been some lingering tremors after the cave's collapse, but he still wanted to pay it due attention. Because unless he was mistaken, it seemed to be fluctuating.