The Verdant Grove, a Bastion for the nature-worshipping druids, has been tainted by the corruption of a fel spawned demon. Elara, a young moon elf of the Grove has been tasked with finding the demon and revealing it for the druids to deal with. The young, yet powerful, druid takes on the form of a common cat to stealthily stalk her prey.

Elara quietly treads away from the giant tree fortress where her mentor, Elder Skyhaven, gave her the task. She'd never in her life stalked a living being. And now, she was to hunt an incredibly dangerous demon.

She took solace in knowing that she only needed to find the demon and release the flare so that the druids of the grove could descend on the fiend. But still, the task was daunting.

As Elara moved through the idyllic scenery she sensed a corrupting presence. Cautiously, she moved towards the perverse essence and found a pair of young men of the Grove exchanging bitter words.

"Eriks, you bastard. You took my shovel again. You neved ask. You just take."

"Shut up," Eriks nearly yells. "You always take water from my well to water your garden. You never ask for permission. All I did was use a stupid shovel. Get over it."

The other man raises a fist intent on smashing his neighbor in the face.

Sensing the urgency of the matter, Elara casts a Serenity spell on the pair.

For a moment, the men stare blankly at each other before smiling placidly.

"I'm sorry," Eriks says. "I should have asked. I'll be sure to get your permission in the future."

The other man shakes his head, "No. I don't know why I got so worked up. You always have permission if you need it."

The pair continue smiling as they go back to their work.

Elara feels her heart pounding as she realizes that such discord is not common among citizens of Verdant Grove. The demon must have stirred up enmity in the men's hearts somehow.

If the demon can influence the hearts and minds of the druids, then the situation is far worse than she had thought.

Elara, in her cat form, continues to search the Grove for signs of the ominous fel creature.

As she patrols, she feels another corrupting presence, this time coming from a shrine that the druids commonly worship at.

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The shrine is enclosed by hedges with a white-barked tree with silver leaves at its center. The tree is an ancient ent that has made its home in the Grove. When the druids commune with the creature, it shares its vast wisdom with whoever seeks it.

As Elara approaches, she sees tendrils of blood-red corruption spreading out over the ents trunk. A cancer has struck the benign being.

The young moon elf's heart seizes with concern. Many a time, she's learned from this great tree and now, it suffers under the demon's torment.

Elara rushes over and releases her cat form.

She stands under the tree and places her hand on the once-beautiful trunk. The corruption is hot to the touch. Elara grits her teeth and begins casting a Purification spell.

When her spell completes, little has changed and her scowl deepens.

Again she casts Purify. And again. And again.

Her mana is nearly spent. But, the corruption has faded entirely from the ent's bark. Only faint grey lines show where the spiderweb of cancer had been.

Elara breathes heavily, feeling somewhat dizzy from her efforts. But, a smile claims her face as she looks up at the towering giant.

"Thank you for your teachings until now," she says with reverence.

With a final look at the tree, Elara returns to her cat form and exits the shrine.

Though relieved from saving the ancient wonder, a growing anxiety has claimed her heart. She wasn't so sure how she'd manage against the demon at full strength and now, she's significantly weaker than when she began.

Still, her mission is unchanged. Elara hunts the demon across the Bastion.

Many a time, she stumbles on conflicts that would never occur under normal circumstances. But, today the druids of the Verdant Grove just can't stop themselves from fighting.

If she doesn't find the demon soon, she fears that the Grove might tear itself apart.

As despair begins to grow in her heart, Elara catches the sound of malevolent cackling.

"Hahahahehe."

The laughter sounds somehow goat-like to Elara's ears.

As she comes around a small building, she sees the demon.

Tall, with reddish brown fur, an angular face with a wispy beard, a pair of horns curving upward from its brow, and lanky legs ending in hooves. There can be no doubt as to the creature's identity. It's a satyr.

The beastly demon is busily sewing a sigil into the side of the building. The emblem looks perverse and demented to Elara's eyes and a sense of urgency strikes the young woman.

Out of sight of the demon, Elara shifts her form to her natural elven state and pulls the magical flare she received from Elder Skyhaven from her clothes.

As she is preoccupied with releasing the device, she fails to notice the satyr having stopped its work and turning to her.

"Hahaha, elf thinks itself sneaky. Mrak sneakier."

Elara looks up to see the satyr before her. Her breath catches as fear washes over her.

"What elf got. Tell Mrak."

The satyr seems unconcerned about any danger Elara may present. Its eyes are covetous seeing the shiny tool in her hands.

Elara swallows with some difficulty and begins to offer the flare to the demon.

As the satyr reaches out to grasp the item, Elara activates the flare.

A luminescent ball of shifting colors ascends into the sky, a signal that any druid within miles would be drawn to.

"Trick!" the satyr cries and begins to run.

Finding her courage, Elara uses the little mana left in her to cast an Entanglement spell on the fleeing demon.

In a moment, the satyr's legs are tied up in green vines springing up from the ground.

"No!" the satyr cries. "Tricksy elf! Will burn you! Mrak will burn tricksy elf!"

Elara's heart pounds as she feeds mana into the Entangle spell. She can only hope that help will come before she runs out of mana.