Mischievous creature bearing damage (6)
I believe the answer is:
impair
'damage' is the definition.
(impairing is a kind of damaging)
'mischievous creature bearing' is the wordplay.
'mischievous creature' becomes 'imp' (I've seen this before).
'bearing' becomes 'air' (I've seen this before).
'imp'+'air'='IMPAIR'
(Other definitions for impair that I've seen before include "Cause weakening of, damage" , "Weaken, damage" , "Spoil strength, quality of" , "Make worse or less effective" , "blunt" .)