With the death of the guardian and the announcement of the quest completion a silence falls over the battlefield.
This is interrupted by the sound of a crack.
Looking around wearily the assembled beast tense, prepared for whatever else this place might throw at them.
Yet to their relief the discover that the crack simply came from the dome that surrounds them. A second crack soon joins the first, cascading into ever expanding fissures in the neigh unbreakable barrier that locked them inside the domain of the tree and its now dead guardian.
As the barrier comes undone the eerie crimson glow that suffused some of the star fruits up hight in the branches dims. Then the fruits that held this glow wither and rot at a visable rate.
The remaining fruits similarly loose some of their luster. Yet that is only the start. For soon not just the fruits but the branches themselves begin to weaken. Leaves transition from lushous green to a sickly yellow, before crumpling in on themselves and falling to the ground in a wave.
The sight is both majestic and worrying. For it signals the death of the mighty tree.
And sure enough the giant of a tree slowly but inexorably withers and dies before their eyes. Seemingly having had a shared fate to the mighty guardian, now that said guardian is dead the tree can no longer support itself. And having expended a vast amount of energy during the fight the exhausted tree can no longer support its own weight.
And so it crumbles.
Dead branches of towering height begin to crash to the ground in a wooden hail. The beast below are forced to dash away, else they be buried under the falling limbs.
Once at a safe distance and by the tree line they observe the towering tree shrivel up and die.
As the last of the barrier surrounding them shatters into a sparkle of mana the trunk of the tree finally gives up and buckles, before snapping. Then the tree begins to fall to the ground.
A dust cloud is kicked up upon its collaps, yet it doesn’t take too long for the detritus to settle and visibility to return.
What they all see is the corpse of a mighty tree and its guardian laying down in a mess of broken bodies, spilt blood and shattered ambitions. None present mourn the loss of the tree, for it had grown insidious in its age. With its infecting madness it was a terror that had to be stopped. So it is good that it now has.
They also need not worry about the promised reward as the system itself has promised to reward them. This is a major boon as none would have dared to eat one of the cursed fruits growing in that tree, even if it had survived the defeat of its guardian.
Their musings are interrupted by a new notification that is given to all remaining beasts.
[Achievement unlocked - For defeating the Fallen Star Tree and preventing the spread of its madness all who participated shall receive.
+10 to lowest 3 stars
+1 skill upgrade token]
The flood of new stats is a truly welcome boon and all present feel their strength increase by a significant amount. And that’s not even considering the ability to upgrade a skill! That feat alone would be worth doing this entire quest for some.
All all assembled beast present adjust to this and take in their current state a wave of exhaustion seems to spread. Every beast present is battered, injured and exhausted, both mentally, magically and physically. And so soon some drop to the ground, intending to take a well deserved rest.
Luna standing by Violet’s side similes at her companion and leans into her side with an arm wrapped around her shoulder. Not at all caring about how filthy both of them are at that moment. For right now all either of them cares about is that they both pulled through that brutal battle and came out the other side stronger.
Together the two companions sit themselves down and rest their weary bodies.
Yet they are not left alone for long.
Soon a battered Alpha wolf and his two remaining pack mates settle down nearby after a nod is sent in Violet’s direction.
Then a lone cat beast joins them, shortly followed by a bird that is missing several of its blue feathers. Lastly a giant beast with a torn up trunk also joins their section of the clearing and settles down on the ground with a muted thump.
When their group first formed they numbered at 17, now less than half a day later the numbers have dropped significantly down to only 8. And whilst Violet interacted with them in a fairly limited way, they all shared a sense of camaraderie. Violet guessed that continual life and death battles together will do that.
And whilst it is understood that once this event is over they will part ways, in the wake of the climactic battle they welcome each others presence.
After a few minutes of peace two new figures approach their spread out group. Looking up Violet and Luna lay eyes on who it is that is approaching them. And they behold the form of a dragon and a dogkin walking side by side. The dogkin is leaning heavily on the dragon for support, she looks particularly exhausted and her attire is in a truly pathetic state. What little remains of her outfit is torn, bloody and dirty. It is a notice that it even coveres anything at this point.
Yet at this curent moment none seem to care. Or if they do they are unwilling to point it out to the woman walking side by side with a dragon.
The duo head straight for Violet and Luna, ignoring the rest of the assembled beasts, they get some curious looks yet no one gets in their way. The duo eventually stop a short distance from our companions, a complicated expression on both of their faces.
An awkward silence hangs between them before Violet opts to initiate the conversation. She links up at 4 people, the two dragons and the two beastkin into a group call of sorts and asks her first question. "Who are you? How is a dragon out here? I though I was the only wild dragon left?"
The azure dragon seems surprised at hearing Violet’s voice, yet she quickly centres herself and replies to the void dragon. "My name is Rhyana, and this is my friend Susan. You are the only Wild Dragon alive currently, at least as far as I know. And as for how exactly I got here... well that is a long story. The short answer however, is that I was looking for you."
Hearing that a dragon was actively looking for Violet was not too reassuring for the young dragon and she tenses slightly, Luna too hardens her gaze as she observes the dragon. "What do you mean when you say you were looking for Violet? What are your intentions with my companion." Luna’s voice came out surprisingly harsh, yet she does not care at that moment. For if this dragon is aiming to harm her companion... well she guesses that she will have to add dragon slayer to her portfolio.
Apparently sensing the implied threat of Luna the blue dragon, Rhyana quickly speaks up to clarify what she meant. "Let me explain, I was a slave. I was born in captivity in the kingdom far to the east. They raised me behind bars and intended to sell me off to the highest bidder. But when you were born the system granted me a boon, thanks to that I was able to escape my captivity and brought Susan out with me."
She pauses for a moment before continuing with her explanation. "Together we fled from the kingdom and its hunters. We were granted a quest to locate you, that is how we found you in the end. As for why we searched for you. Well I hoped that you might aid me."
Violet was curious to say the least, this was the first dragon she had properly met after all, well at least the first alive dragon she had met. And she had to admit the dragon before her was quite powerful. Additionally she felt a connection to her fellow dragon, it was a feeling that she couldn’t quite understand. Yet was not opposed to it, so she decided to at the least hear out her request.
"Okay so what is it that you want my aid with exactly?"
With a grim smile Rhyana replied with a short sentence. Yet the magnitude of its meaning was not lost on the young dragon. For its implications were staggering to say the least.
"I want your help to destroy the Kingdom of Eldor and free all of the captured dragons within."