The sky held an angry rumble in its depths, and above, great storm clouds still massed like a brooding armada ready for war. Sheets of rain cascaded down upon the Eldergrove, battering foliage and soaking the earth beneath.

Serrandyl and Thorsten led the way, their figures barely visible amid the torrential downpour. They were closely followed by Lira and a small group of determined Beastkin warriors, each of them hardened by the trials of survival and the strains of nature’s wrath.

Thorsten's axe was strapped across his back, the blade gleaming wetly in the sporadic lightning flashes that split the darkened heavens. His disheveled rust-colored beard was darkened further by the rain, dripping water onto the dark wood of the Ebon armor that covered his broad chest. His dark eyes were focused ahead, scanning the landscape for any sign of danger.

Beside him, Serrandyl moved with feline grace, her Beastkin agility making the slippery terrain seem like a walk in the park. Her lion-like traits were more visible now, her ruby eyes reflecting the gloomy light with a spectral glow, and her crimson hair plastered onto her muscular back, appearing like a drenched mane. Tribal tattoos on her skin seemed to come alive, their intricate patterns animated by each lightning flash.

Following close behind, Lira moved with equal determination. The honey-hued strands of her hair were plastered onto her forehead, her robes soaked through and clinging to her form.

With nature's fury lashing all around them, they navigated through the dense underbrush, their footsteps muted by the ceaseless rainfall. The winds howled, tearing at the treetops, and the roar of thunder echoed through the vast expanse of the forest.

The first anomaly was near a river, where the foliage gave way to an open expanse of grass that stretched from one side of the riverbank to another. A large serpent of water roared and frothed, writhing along the river like an enraged beast as its frothing waves struck the sides of the river and soaked the ground beneath with muddy water.

Yet, it wasn't the serpent's rage that stilled their hearts but the erratic dance of flames on its surface. The flames, sapphire blue and indigo, twirled and cavorted like miniature hurricanes on the serpent's back. But, unlike normal fires, these flames didn't consume the watery serpent; instead, they remained perfectly contained on its surface.

"What is that?" Serrandyl asked, her tone wary as she stared at the serpentine beast with her ruby-red eyes.

Lira was quick to respond as she stepped forward, her eyes shimmering as she observed the flames. "It's an elemental," she said, her voice soft and calm despite the violent tumult around them. "It's rare to come across one, and a water elemental usually resides in lakes or rivers. But, I've not encountered here in the Eldergrove...until now."

As they watched, the serpent opened its mouth and spewed forth a stream of water from its throat. Instead of dissolving into droplets in the air, however, the water became incandescent as it collided with the swirling flames on its back.

"But this..." Lira paused for a moment as she narrowed her eyes at the strange spectacle before continuing. "Elemental fire and water...It's a confluence," she answered, her voice somber as she gazed at the flames on the water's surface. "There's an elemental confluence here."

Thorsten grunted in response, glancing at the raging waters beside him before turning back to face Lira. "An elemental confluence?" he asked, his tone hesitant. "What does that mean?"

Lira hesitated for a moment before answering. "That's not a normal water elemental. There are traces of a fire elemental mixed along with it," she said, her voice growing distant as she continued to stare at the flames on the water's surface. "It's as if the elemental energies are entwined together."

Serrandyl took a step back and gazed around at the surroundings, her tail swishing irritably behind her. "Are there any others?" she asked, keeping her voice low. "Can you sense any other ones nearby?"

Lira closed her eyes and went quiet, focusing on the magical currents flowing through the area. After a moment, she opened her eyes again, her brow furrowing as she scanned the vicinity. "A few," she said with a shake of her head. "Somewhere far off."

Thorsten stepped forward with a scowl and rested his hand on his axe. "Do you have a way to stop it?" he asked. "Because that thing will be a challenge for any of us."

Lira didn't respond at first; she only gave Thorsten a solemn nod and continued to study the hybrid elemental, her face etched with a contemplative frown as she reached out with her senses. "As long as we do not approach it too closely, we should be alright," she said finally, a slight tremor in her voice. "But we need to be careful. From what Hilda has taught me, elementals are usually docile unless attacked. But I sense that these ones... they are different."

Serrandyl peered at Lira with a questioning gaze before turning back to face the hybrid elemental again. It rumbled and hissed from its place by the river, its movements agitated and volatile. "You mean they might attack us?" she asked. "Like a wild beast?"

Lira nodded in response. "That might be an understatement," she answered with a grimace. "It feels like they are being compelled by something else. As if there is something greater influencing their actions."

"So let's just smash it then," Serrandyl said, cracking her knuckles with a smirk as she stepped forward, but Thorsten reached out to hold her back with his large hand.

"We're here to look for the source, remember? I don't think this one is it," he said, his voice stern as he shot her a glare. "Let's move on."

Serrandyl scowled at him, crossing her arms over her chest in a huff, as she watched Thorsten begin to march upriver. "I'm supposed to be the leader here."

Lira chuckled at her comment and gave her a pat on the shoulder. "Don't worry," she said with a wink. "We'll get this done."

They pushed forward, leaving the riverside spectacle behind. The forest seemed to change as they ventured deeper, the familiar trees and pathways contorting under the storm's lingering spell. It wasn't long before they came across the next anomaly – rocks, massive boulders that seemed to have sprouted legs. They skittered around the clearing, clashing and breaking into smaller pieces, only to reform and continue their chaotic dance.

Thorsten let out a low whistle. "I know these ones. I've met one or two, many years ago in the North. Stone elementals. But I've never seen 'em so stirred."

Lira nodded in agreement as she continued to stare at the stone elementals in front of her with a furrowed brow. "They're usually dormant," she said. "This elemental confluence must have disrupted them, as it did to the one by the river."

A gust of wind whirled, spiraling leaves into the air. Yet, the gust was not merely wind; it had form, an ephemeral shape of a bird crafted from pure air. The air elemental dove and swirled around them, rustling leaves and making their clothes billow. As if on cue, the stone elementals grew agitated and began to chase after the elemental bird with renewed vigor.

Thorsten grunted, his eyes narrowing as he watched the stone elementals scrabble off to the distance, their limbs skittering over the grass. "If these elementals happen upon our village," he muttered with a frown, his brow furrowing as he gripped his axe tighter. "We might need to make plans for defense."

"Good idea," Serrandyl added with a firm nod.

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The hours that followed were a journey into the heart of the unnatural, as the scouting party bore witness to more elemental phenomena, each more bizarre than the last. They saw trees shudder and quake, their roots slithering like serpents as earth elementals ran amok. They watched as spectral showers fell from cloudless skies, droplets disappearing before they ever hit the ground, only to be replaced by bolts of lightning that struck the earth. Even fire elementals danced at the edges of their vision, their red and orange forms reflecting in the puddles that had formed on the forest floor.

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Thorsten grunted and hefted his axe as he scowled at the fiery apparitions. "This is getting out of hand," he said, his tone rough with ire. "It seems every corner of Eldergrove's gone mad. Rocks on the run in the north, winds causing a ruckus in the west, and the heart of the forest ablaze in the east."

"I see something!" Serrandyl suddenly shouted from her perch atop a tall tree. She pointed southeast of their position. "Up there!"

Lira, who had been deep in thought, snapped out of her reverie and glanced up at Serrandyl before squinting into the distance. There, she saw a tear in the sky above a small clearing—a section of the heavens above was ripped open as if the sky was a shattered window letting through a glimpse into the elemental planes. With each crackle of lightning in the heavens, she could see a multihued glow emanate from within the rent, and even from her distance she could feel the overwhelming sense of elemental power surge through the air.

"A breach," she muttered, her voice shaking slightly. "That might be the source of all this."

Serrandyl jumped down and landed with a heavy thud in front of them, her tail swishing irritably. "Well?" she demanded, crossing her arms over her chest as she stared at Lira and Thorsten with a frown. "How are we supposed to fix this?"

Lira opened her mouth to answer, but before she could utter a single syllable, an ear-splitting boom tore through the heavens. The earth tremble beneath their feet and a jolt ran through their bodies.

From the breach emerged a colossal elemental. It hovered in the sky, its enormous body taking up most of their field of vision, and emitted an echoing roar that shook their bones.

Its form resembled that of a gargantuan humanoid made from blistering, burning flames and incandescent blue magma. Flames licked along its surface, shimmering and changing as they twisted and danced about while glowing blue lines crisscrossed its molten body like veins in an ancient heart. Horns protruded from the top of its head, curling inward as they sloped to a point, while an elongated snout spewed forth tongues of flame. The rain hitting its body sizzled as if it were water on a furnace, wrapping it in a misty aura.

"That's not one I've seen before," Thorsten muttered, his eyes widening as he gaped at the entity before them. "Is that an elemental as well?"

Lira shook her head. "It feels similar to that hybrid one from before," she said, her voice quiet with awe. "But this one is far more powerful. And more primal."

"I don't like it," Thorsten growled, his brow furrowed as he gave her a concerned look. "If that thing heads towards the village, the consequences will be grave."

Lira's expression turned grim as she gazed up at the colossal elemental with her shimmering green eyes. "Let's head towards the breach," she said, turning to face the others. "Avoid its attention as best you can. If we incur its wrath, we are doomed."

Thorsten gave her a nod, his brow still furrowed, before leading them into a sprint towards the breach. "You hear that, lass?" he spoke to Serrandyl. "Stay out of its way."

Serrandyl glanced at Thorsten with a scowl as she kicked off the ground and bounded after them. "I'm not reckless enough to fight something that big!"

Lira strode forward, her footsteps light against the ground. Thorsten, who followed closely behind, wore an expression of grim resolve. Serrandyl and the other beastkin warriors kept pace as they navigated through the foliage with silent haste.

It was not long before they neared the breach; Lira halted her stride and closed her eyes to gather her strength as she pushed out with her senses to sense any magical forces in the vicinity.

A piercing chill ran down her spine and she opened her eyes to stare ahead into the breach with a grimace.

Boulders of earth, uprooted from the ground, floated in the air like oversized water droplets as they spun slowly around in the air, their surfaces shaking violently. The ground trembled beneath their feet as the gargantuan elemental rumbled overhead, its massive frame blocking out most of the sky above as it let out a bone-chilling howl that shook them to their core.

Serrandyl turned to Lira with a frown. "So how do we stop this...breach thing?" she asked, glancing up at the sky above her. "Is it even possible?"

Lira turned to face them, her eyes shimmering as she gave them a firm nod. "That breach is an opening between planes—the elemental planes and our realm. An opening like this must be closed to prevent further chaos," she replied, her expression solemn as she glanced up at the colossal elemental. "Unfortunately, I do not know the means to close it...but the elder Ent that Ebonheim is meeting with might know how... I hope."

Thorsten furrowed his brow as he watched the elemental move across the sky above him with its burning form. "Then the rest falls on what Ebonheim can gather from the Ent," he said with a scowl. "Let's hope she's got good news."

Serrandyl glanced at Lira and gave her a nudge on her shoulder. "Can we go back to the village now?" she asked, her voice exasperated. "I don't like this storm."

Lira nodded at Serrandyl's request, turning on her heels and following behind Thorsten, Serrandyl, and the others. "We're bound to run into more elementals on our way back," she said, glancing up at the sky above them as she strode through the forest. "We'll need to avoid them in case it might delay us or cause the elementals to follow us back to the village."

"You hear that, lass?" Thorsten called out to Serrandyl from ahead of them. "Try and do your best to avoid any trouble."

Serrandyl made a face in response, but her features settled into a grim expression as they marched back to the village.

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Ebonheim arrived at the base of a large waterfall after using Arboreal Stride to traverse the forest. Water crashed against rock at the base, churning into a frothing cauldron before spilling into the river below. The air was filled with a fine mist that clung to her skin, dampening her clothes and hair with droplets.

Ebonheim cast a glance at the waterfall above her before walking closer to the water's edge and perching on a flat rock jutting out over the river. "Alright," she said to herself, staring at the waterfall and listening to the river churn below. "Elmsworth said that the sanctum should be behind this waterfall."

After a brief moment, Ebonheim walked to the base of the waterfall, her bare feet making imprints in the wet dirt beneath her as she approached the cascading river. The sound of the waterfall grew louder, drowning out all other sound as water thundered into the river below, creating a vortex of spray and foam that washed over her skin.

Ebonheim approached the wall of water, and tried to peer through it. Yet, even when she squinted, all she could see was a solid sheet of white, veiling her sight from anything beyond. She let out an irritated huff before turning away from the wall and running her hand through her damp hair with a sigh. "Okay," she muttered to herself as she began to pace along the edge of the river. "I just have to walk through and hope there's a cavern on the other side. Believe in the tree, who believes in you."

Without waiting any longer, Ebonheim took off in a sprint, closing her eyes as she rushed through the cascade of water, bracing for the impact as she moved. She barreled through, her body nearly toppling forward from the force of the water's resistance. As she emerged on the other side of the waterfall, her eyes snapped open and she glanced around herself with a start.

To her surprise, a great cavern lay beyond, covered in moss and lichen, and encrusted with stalagmites and stalactites. Huge stones lay piled into a semi-circular wall in front of the waterfall, forming a large archway leading into a cave within.

Ebonheim let out a relieved sigh as she crossed the cavern floor, the cool stone beneath her feet sending a shiver down her spine.

As she ventured further into the cave, she found that the tunnel opened up into a larger space—a chamber large enough to accommodate dozens of people standing shoulder-to-shoulder. Stalactites and stalagmites in the form of great columns protruded from the ground and roof of the cavern, supporting each other with an almost religious reverence.

A large, multihued crystal shimmering at the center of the chamber caught Ebonheim's attention, and she approached it slowly. The crystal glowed with a faint light, its silvery surface reflecting in Ebonheim's eyes as she stepped closer. The crystal floated atop a still pool of water at the bottom of a small pit—the shallow basin extending about five meters from one end to the other.

Ebonheim looked around the cavern before her gaze returned to the pond at her feet. "Is this it?" she muttered to herself as she kneeled by the pool of water. "The Elemental Keystone?"

The water rippled with a slight tremor, a vague reflection of Ebonheim's face wavering on its surface. The pool seemed shallow enough for Ebonheim to wade through without issue, so she rolled up her dress to her knees before stepping into the basin.

With a sigh, she waded across the water to the floating crystal, the surface of the water sloshing around her, and stood by its side as she gazed into the crystal's glittering surface. Ebonheim felt the immense power within the crystal—it emanated waves of magical energy that were difficult to discern, and they rippled through her senses.

She cast a brief glance around the chamber before leaning closer to the crystal, staring into its surface with a furrowed brow and an intense gaze. "Elmsworth said the Elemental Keystone has the ability to realign the elemental planes," she said as she stared at the crystal, its silvery surface reflecting her face back at her. "How do I use it? How does one align planes?"

The crystal shifted slightly at her touch, its surface rippling like an agitated pond. A crackling sound filled the air—the sound of a burning flame—and several ghastly figures, garbed in hooded robes, manifested around the basin.

Ebonheim took a step back in surprise, staring at the apparitions with wide eyes as they appeared one by one out around her and the crystal in a semi-circle. They did not speak nor move—their obscure gazes cast on the crystal and Ebonheim as they stood motionless in the silence.

She managed a meek smile and gave them a small wave. "Um...hello?"