The clamor of combat encompassed the clearing underneath the glittering canopy. The various champions that had braved the depths of the valley waged fire war against each other in their own pursuit of power. Some had been consumed by the madness that was inherent to this goal, whilst others still simply stood in their way to protect their own path.
As the timer inexorably closed down towards the final moments of this quest the influx of beasts dwindled, and before the counter could reach its last moments no more beasts arrived to do battle.
In fact when the timer struck 5 minutes a shimmer passed through the world, originating from the mighty tree standing in the centre of this blood soaked clearing.
At first it nearly seemed like the tree was shifting through the visual spectrum. Ethereal one moment only to snap back to normalcy the next.
This strange shift only continued for moments, yet all who witnessed it felt the power hidden behind that benign beauty of the shift. Then with a pulse of power the shimmer expanded.
It washed through the clearing faster than any could react. It passed harmlessly over the combatants embroiled in their fights, yet the most magically sensitive of the assembled beast couldn’t help but shiver. The magnitude of mana released from that pulse dwarfed anything any one of them could hope to emit by themselves.
The pulse itself eventually came to a halt at the edge of the clearing and shimmered once more. Only then did its purpose become evident, a dome of ethereal light now contained the clearing. Its crystalline structure both beautiful and unyielding.
The entire central clearing was now contained within its dome, along with ever beast that dared to challenge the quest and managed to reach this far.
Some of the more skittish beasts present chose this moment to try and flee, clearly unsettled by the idea of being trapped in the same location as the true monsters that were dominating the battle before them. Yet, when they reached the dome containing them the only thing to meet them was an impenetrable barrier that allowed for no egress.
Claws and horns were futilely cast against the barrier, but to no avail. No nics, cuts or scratches were left on the barriers immutable surface.
Faced with the realisation that their would be no escape from the slaughter that was taking place before them, a light of madness slowly sparkled within the eyes of some of the beasts that had failed to escape. The newly maddened beasts waisted no time adjusting to their new state of being and charged forward with reckless abandon.
The finale of this bloody conquest through the vast central valley was soon approaching its final act.
Violet was covered in gore, most of it was not her own, yet some of it still was. It was hard to not receive some injuries in a battle as relentless as this. Especially when one considered that nearly every beast present here is considered to be truly powerful. Well at least when considering this small part of the Endless Forest.
Yet for our dragon all she knew was that she just needed to keep on fighting, keep on killing and keep on surviving. And so she did... beasts of all type fell before her and her allies. From the abdominal monkeys to strange elementals, the conflict only seemed to grow in intensity as the conflict progressed.
Shortly after the barrier that now surrounded them was raised a sense of urgency seemed to grow within all present. They knew that something else was comming, they just didn’t quite know what it was just yet.
Something else happened, not a discusses decision so to say but more of a tacit understanding about the priority targets to eliminate. A shift underwent the battlefield, a shift towards eliminating the mad.
Their number had been the greatest to grow as the timer counted down so by now of the 3 loose factions present they poised the greatest threat. So it was that both the defending beasts local to this domain, and the still sane invaders shifted their focus to diminishing their numbers.
The mad were a problem, a problem that needed to be resolved. For their reckless abandon upon which they charged into every engagement was a harrowing thing to face.
A fresh wave of such infected beings was now charging towards Violet, she had only just eliminated the last batch of them yet she had no time to delay. So she turned and faced her foes once more.
Before her a group numbering in the dozens was charging them, attacks were haphazardly launched towards the quickly reorganising ranks of the dragons party. The beasts in question were a strange thing, they had the lower body of a snake which propelled them forward at startling speeds. However their upper half was a bastardised mix beasts.
Some of the creatures had pincers erupting from their sides, whilst others had wings sprouting from their back. They all however had gaping maws that glittered with razor sharp teeth.
The foes initial barrage of magics was haphazard and uncoordinated. Some of the attacks even struck their own allies, truly showing the madness that infected them. Yet even when struck from behind by their allies, their forwards slither never stopped.
At least until they were forced to stop.
A return barrage of magical attacks flew towards them, some tearing chunks of flesh from the bodies, yet others simply eradicated entire sections of the beasts bodies.
As a result this by now practiced first strike, the leading edge of the beasts charge was blunte. The second line crashed into the formerly leading beasts and a tangle of bezar limbs and tails ensued creating the perfect opportunity for violets small arm to pounce.
A giant wolf shrouded in lightning crashed into the thickest group of the creatures. Powerful jolts of electricity erupted from the impact point, its neon blue bolts crackled out bouncing between the nearby foes. Blackened spots rapidly appeared wherever they were stuck whilst muscles spasmed, freezing the foes and providing the perfect opening for 4 feline beast to tear into their ranks from the side.
This was swiftly followed by a powerful boar, who’s skin resembled stone blowing into them from the front. The stunned beasts stood no chance as the assembled beasts under Violets leadership went to work.