Knights don't scamper. They retreat from imminent danger, make a stand, and find a new friggin' weapon.
Two out of three ain't bad.

Maya looked up at Cerberotaur and watched the blonde girl struggle, hoping Cal...Guingalet was not stupid enough to actually put some studen't life on the line for her training's sake.
Probably not.
The girl probably just got very good at this performance after the evening with Chtulhu.
Right.

Guingalet appeared at her side, and transformed the shield into bow and arrows. Maya looked down at her new set of weapons, and grinned.
"Boy do I love bein' a mutant."

Knights in the Arthurian world didn't use bow and arrows all that often. Fortunately Maya's mind was trained on Medieval lore, so it only took a split second for her to change tracks and go from kingt(ess) to merry (wo)man of Sherwood.
Who said one can't gain instincts from books?

"Don' go too far, Guingalet, if this doesn't work I might settle for a chainsaw." she muttered as she got to work, keeping an eye on the monster that seemed to be waiting curiously for her next move.
It's amazing how much useful stuff you can learn from Medieval ballads.
1. Quiver goes on the right hip. Only Hollywood archers wear in on the back.
2. Stringin' a longbow is a b*tch. Thank Gunigalet it was already strung.
3. Arrow rests on the left hand, is pulled by the right index and middle fingers. Further information stored under "The shorty history of 'giving the finger'".
4. Do. Not. Aim.
Maya kept grinning as she put the first arrow on the string and looked at Cerberotaur once again. Shooting for the heads was probably not a great idea just yet. They were far too close to the girl. Shooting for the legs sounded more reasonable, but Maya was not that confident about her archery skills yet.
So, she decided to shoot at the widest possible part of the beast, and hope she won't hit the lady.

The arrow left the string with a pang and a hiss, and went on its way as Lady Maya clasped a hand over her left forearm and yelled "Son of a b***!"
All those leather gloves and arm protectors in the pictures suddenly started to make sense. Painfully clear.

Madam Knight retreated boldly, with the grace of a puppy. Calley reached his nose down to touch the shield. Katrina was thinking the same thing. One mystical bow and arrow set coming right up! The lady too aim, fired, and winced as the string snapped against her arm. Oops, a little too realistic.

The arrow arched up and up, towards the great beast's chest, where it imbedded itself in the thick flesh.

Cerberotaur was not amused. That hurt. All three heads roared their outrage. Little lady knights were not supposed to be able to hurt big strong three headed monster dogs. More foot stamping and tail thrashing ensued, but Cerberotaur did not charge forward. He would remember that this foe could sting if she pleased.

Katrina thrashed her legs and whimpered convincingly. She secretly wondered how long she was supposed to keep this up. It was nearly midnight, and Calley hadn't yet given the signal.

His fair Lady Knight seemed to appreciate her new weapons. Guingalet gave a properly pleased head toss. It might ruin things slightly if Maya knew she was holding Cereberotaur's brother in her hands, but there was no need to tell the knight(ess) about such minor details.

Illusive arrow met illusive breast, and illusive bowstrings twanged against flesh.

>> "Son of a b****!"

Solid aughisky's snorted merrily, as nefarious beasts are wont to. Cereberotauro seemed far, far less pleased.

The seconds to midnight counted down. The beast's six eyes gained a suddenly sinister gleam. Two of them watched the Lady Knight, one daring her, the other mocking. The third head arced down toward's Katrina, its great jaws agape.

Your damsel, Lady Knight, was in (even more) danger.

The arrow hitting its mark surprised the lady knight more than in surprised the beast. Maya stared at the feathers for a long moment, completely forgetting the second arrow she'd already placed on the string.
How theheck did I do that?
...
Beginner's luck.

The roar brought her back to the present. Cerberotaur was not dead. But it was pissed. And had one-thirs of his fangs too close to the damsel.

Maya whistled, holding the bow ready at her side.
"Hey! No means no, *sshole!" she yelled at the beast, pulling up the second arrow and letting it fly. She remembered what she read. She didn't aim.
That was probably why she missed.
Well, damn.

If an adrenaline rush was what Guingalet had been aiming for, he did an excellent job. As she pulled the third arrow out, Maya could hear blood drumming in her ears.
Let's not hit the girl.
Apparently, Lady Knight was still beginner enough for the luck to hold out; the arrow hissed as it passed the blonde girl by a few inches, and disappeared berween the open jaws.
Yesss.

Maya stared up at the beast, one hand on the quiver. She had a mild case of déja vu.
If she falls, I'd better start running...

Cerberotaur's head arced backwards with a roar as something small bit into it from the inside. Small things were not supposed to bite big things. It did not put the small thing near its mouth again. Rather, he held it far far away from itself.

A ghostly sound cut through the fog. Clang. Somewhere a church bell was slowly ringing. Clang.

Katrina looked up at Calley. Clang. It was midnight. Clang. She hoped her rescuers were ready for this. Clang.

The three headed dog monster dropped the little blonde illusionist (or rather she jumped down from the branch). Clang. In an instant, the beast leaped forward toward the knightess. Clang. Tail blades slammed the ground in front of and behind her, cutting her off from the little damsel. Clang. Three heads with three sets of fangs descended. Clang.

Hot breath.

Clang.

Sticky saliva.

Clang.

Really. Big. Teeth.

Clang.

Clang.

Calley knew this was an illusion. The scything tails, the reaching claws, the three mouths full of glinting teeth--all quite fake.

Clang.

He just didn't know how fake they'd feel. Kat was really going out of her way to play this up, just as he'd asked. What with the lance impact, and the twanging bow string. Yes. This is what he'd asked for. The, ah, hot breath scalding from its gaping jaws was a good touch. Really.

Clang.

The stallion startled into a rear, its hooves flashing out at one of the heads in an instinctive startle tactic. Then he went to do the noble thing: flee. To the damsel's rescue.

Leaving behind his Knight, armed only with her wooden bow.

Clang.

She fell.

Maya only managed to run a few steps before the scyted tails slammed into the ground on both sides, cutting her off from the damsel. She saw Guingalet fleeing (to the rescue), and somewhere in the distance there was a sound that was somehow connected to the passage of time, but she barely noticed. Most of the outside world mattered much less than the jaws she was staring into.

"Not funny!" she yelled over the blood drumming in her ears. It was meant for the monster, but might as well have been meant for whoever was behind the game. Another arrow hissed across the short distance that divided the lady knight and the monster. It didn't hit anything vital. Tough luck.

Maya ran out of arrows in the next few (very short) minutes, and it was definitely past midnight now. Under the rush of adrenaline induced by staring down a very annoyed monstear without weapons, she could feel her skin crawl. She was not shifting yet, but her body was remindig her that she should have.
Great.

"Calley?" she called out, backing away from the monster as much as she could "It's not working..."

The aughisky came galloping towards her. Katrina deftly swung herself up onto his back. She'd practically grown up on a horse, so it was almost automatic. It was a good thing, too, because she was putting a lot of concentration into Cerberotaur at the moment.

>>>"It's not working..."
Cried the knight to his aughisky.

What wasn't working, exactly?

“Try this!” Katrina tossed the adventurer a small quartz rock she had been keeping in her pocket. In the knight's hand the little crystal facets grew brighter and brighter, until the little wood was lit almost like it was daylight. The canine monster recoiled and yelped as if it had been stabbed, then began shrinking away into the woods.

Or that's what it looked like at first. In reality, it was just shrinking. Smaller and smaller. It's back legs rejoined it's front ones to make him bipedal again. The three heads merged into one with a strange slurping sound. The twin tails remained, but they were not nearly so large, nor as sharp on the end. The white teeth shrank and shrank until the monster's evil snarl was nothing but a teenager's grin.

The grin walked toward the trio of heroes. It now was obvious that it belonged to a tall lanky boy of about seventeen; aboy with pointed black dog ears on either side of his head and two wagging tails behind him. He was a lucky shifter, this one, because he could keep his pants when he did it. Some shifters were just magic that way.

“Good show,” he drolled in a faint scottish accent as he extended his hand toward the rumple haired boy with the bow. “I'm Scott Montgomery, by the way. I've got te say, ye hold up well in a stressful situation.”

“Nice actin' m'lady,” Scott turned and complimented the little illusionist. Or rather, the little illusionist complimented herself, if anyone was keeping accurate track of reality. Katrina smiled and nodded in response.

“Oh, and Calley,” the dog-boy added with a wink at the aughisky, “Thanks fer invitin' me. I'm afraid I cannot stay long, though. It's alrea'y passed me curfew,” the boy checked his watch, “by abou' five minutes. Do ye mind if I take me leave?”

When no one protested, Scott gave them all a final nod, then disappeared into the murky woods, heading for the wall.

With a soft sigh, Katrina let him fade back into nothingness. Then she gave a long overdue glance back toward the lady knight, to see how she... he was holding up. Katrina blinked.

“You're a boy,” she pointed out. Kind of a cute one, too. “I'm Katrina.” I'm a girl. “Do you want a ride back to the mansion?” Clearly the late hour and the intense illusion spinning had addled her brains a little bit. She was even offering rides on someone else's back.

Ulterior motive number one for riding back together: the lady knight made a cute boy. Ulterior motive number two: Katrina's eyes were starting to play tricks on her because she had just finished making one really big fancy illusion. It would be nice to have someone to hang onto so she didn't fall of Calley's back.

There were far more shadows between the trees than there should have been and they had more teeth than normal. Also, her ears were still ringing from the church bells. It was now chiming a hundred o'clock.

Good show, indeed.

The aughisky stood tall and proud. His Knight had triumphed (though he’d lost his Lady status in the process). His illusionist had remembered certain advice, given long ago in a library far away. And Scott, no matter his status with reality, was cool. Calley had invited him. By extension, Calley was cool.

The stallion stamped an approving hoof, and shook his mane in parting.

He didn’t mind the offers concerning his own backside. It was just too bad that Maya hadn’t been able to stop her shift. The aughisky wouldn’t have minded prancing back to the Mansion with two ladies on board.

The game was over. Lady Knight dropped the bow and fell to her knees, her body trembling with the all too familiar sensation of 'sh*t I'm shiftin' awake again'. It was getting less and less unusual these days. There was always a lot to do at night around the Mansion.

Gawain took a few deep breaths before he stood, blinking at the Scottish guy who just waved goodnight, and the blonde - and apparently unhurt - damsel on the back of the noble steed.

>>“You're a boy,”

Sir Gawain nodded, scratching Guingalet's nose. "Yeah, for today I am."

>>“I'm Katrina.”

The young knight nodded again.

"A pleasure to meet you, M'lady."

>>“Do you want a ride back to the mansion?”

A third nod, and the knight swung himself up into the saddle, with less grace than the damsel did, but a little more easily than last time.

Practice makes perfect.