Salem hadn't exactly taken a charge when the other creatures came at them, but did hold his ground long enough to fight one head on. He swung his club at the beast's head, then across it the other way, and finally, down on top of its skull. Each hit accomplished little else than making it flinch slightly, and after he quit swinging, the beast kicked Salem in the chest. It was a hell of a lot stronger than he was, so he was sent stumbling and landed on his ass a few feet away. It hurt, and he made some noises of discontent, but quickly shut himself up when the beast began running for him.<br/><br/>From above, the gargoyle began a dive, but didn't just tackle the beast as one might expect. Its body instead began to shift, surrounded by a dark smoke as it twisted around into what looked like a sword. After it had taken this new form, the beast's entire body swiftly hardened into a dark stone. The added weight brought it falling down faster, and just as the beast attacking Salem leaped, its back was pierced by the weighty-looking weapon. Judging by the sound of the impact, as well as the fact that the sword fully pierced the beast's torso and then the road below it, the thing was heavy as hell.<br/><br/>Beneath the sword, the creature writhed momentarily before going still. Its corpse remained present for a few moments, but just as the other one did, it began to disintegrate. When the body was gone, the sword angled itself slightly more towards Salem. He stood up, and after a moment of hesitation, grabbed the handle and pulled. It accomplished exactly nothing, because it was a pretty fuckin' big blade stuck in the road and he was a skinny nerd. As if realizing Salem was too much of a wimp to pull it out, the sword angled away from him, towards the cloud of shadows that was floating around.