It is a massive crystal dire bear...

The fight turned into a brutal exchange of blows with both the bear and Astra being injured. Valery healed the Paladins wounds, while crystals grew to cover the bears gashes. After almost ten minutes of this, Valery was the most exhausted of the three despite not taking a single hit. She was sweaty, breathing heavily and the light got dimmer. “I can’t heal anymore.”, she panted. “Curses!”, Astra replied as she blocked another massive blow from the bear, “We have to retreat. Just keep the light on!”. Just when she said that the bear managed to bite her sword-arm. It threw her off balance and flung her around by it, then he threw her up in the air and swiped at her as she was falling. Astra was sent crashing into the wall and seemed too dazed to fight back.

Flinch felt a wave of relief, the bear had won, his life was safe for now. Then he thought, ‘Maybe I can make more out of this situation than just save my life.’. He pulled out his blowgun and loaded a dart which he dipped in the paralysing poison beforehand. He shot it from his hiding spot and… hit the exhausted Cleric right in the neck. She made a surprised noise and looked over to Flinch, then fell to the ground unable to move.

The light was not quickly fading, and the bear was ready to pounce Astra and finish her off. Then Flinch noticed something. The Paladins lips were moving quickly, uttering a silent but lengthy prayer. She was way too focused to notice what had happened to Valery.

The bear lunged and she raised her sword, now coated in a vaguely yellow holy aura. It pierced the bears skin, flesh, bones and crystals ad roared in pain. It backed away from her and furiously threw itself against the walls and pillars of the cave. The whole cave started shaking and the tunnel the women had entered from collapsed. Flinch could hear more tunnels collapsing in the distance and made sure the one he was hiding in held, which it did. Just when the last of the Clerics light vanished, the bear fell over dead.