The dark veil felt cool against Elijah’s skin as he passed through the archway. His vision went dark before lighting up in the massive chamber before him. Braziers of dim, glowing moss were placed sporadically along the walls of the curved arena. Spearlike trees of varying heights grew from the cracked ground. Some pierced the ceiling, sending fractures through the stone. Their trunks were bare, with only the occasional leafless branch extending from them at odd angles. A wide plateau-like pedestal stood in the center of the room. Three slain adventurers lay scattered throughout the area, their bodies riddled with stab wounds.
Avery and David followed Elijah through the entrance, ready for battle. The three spread out, David in the middle, assassin on either side.
A loud groan filled the room, like a tree shuddering against the winds of a hurricane. Elijah steeled himself, falling into a combat stance. The noise stopped. There was an instant of stillness, as if the room itself were holding its breath.
In an explosion of wood and rock, winding tree limbs erupted from the center of the pedestal. Dust and pebbles showered over the cavern. The limbs twisted in the air, curving around themselves into the figure of a looming, spindly man. Glowing moss oozed from the crevices within its body. The treeman had no discernable eyes, but Elijah could tell it was looking straight at them. Red glowing text blinked into existence above its head.
< Nature’s Betrayer (MiniBoss): Lvl. 15 >
The miniboss outstretched its arms towards the group and let out an ear splitting shriek. With loud creaks, the trees within the cavern began to come to life, growing, shrinking, and moving at the creature's command.
“Let's do this!” David yelled as he slammed his sword against his shield. A black sheen once again enveloped his body and he took off in a charge straight towards the pedestal.
Elijah drew his daggers, one igniting into an orange glow, and rushed to the side, circling the boss. Avery cast Hex on it. A lattice of purple energy washed over the monster, shimmering for an instant before fading. Its movements slowed slightly, but it was almost unnoticeable. Evidently, the boss resistance to debuffs extended to this creature as well. Avery’s hand swung up and she fired a shot at it from her miniature crossbow. A spike of wood erupted from on the pedestal, stopping the bolt in its tracks.
The treeman let out another shriek and threw its arms toward the ground. One of the largest trunks bent and lashed down towards David. The warrior deflected the blow with his shield, throwing himself to the side in the same motion. The heavy trunk slammed into the floor with a loud crash. Rock sprayed from the ground and the arena shook. David landed in a roll, coming up to his feet and charging at the monster.
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Areas of scattered shadow littered the room. Elijah continued around the outskirts of the room. The tree monster’s focus was solidly on David and Avery, so he was entirely uncontested as he looked for an opening. He stepped into a shadow and teleported into darkness in the center of the ceiling, directly above the boss. With his spellblade in hand, he dropped from the shadows.
He landed on top of the boss, slashing at its throat with his heated blade and twisting his body in an attempt to tackle it to the ground. The dagger hissed as it cut into the miniboss’s rough throat, burning the wood. The wound wasn’t deep, but branches twitched and recoiled from the heat, creaking in protest.
His tackle was considerably less successful. Despite all the speed Elijah had, it was like trying to take down a solid wall. The monster didn’t even budge as he threw his shoulder against it, preventing Elijah from taking it off its feet.
Wood screeched and the monster let out a roar of fury. The treeman lashed out at Elijah with a clawed limb. It raked across Elijah’s chest and sent him flying back, off of the platform. Elijah rolled as he hit the ground, coming up onto his feet as another massive limb swung towards him. He activated Shadow Step and teleported to a shadow on the opposite side of the room. The branch struck the ground, creating a small crater where he had been.
Blood dripped from Elijah’s chest as he stumbled out of the shadows, but the wound was superficial. The branches hadn’t gotten too far through his armor. The treeman turned its attention back to David as the warrior charged it again.
It swung an arm down, a thick branch initiating its strike, but David was prepared this time around.
“World Sunder!” David yelled, spinning and bringing his blade down on the wood. Blue light flashed and the weapon sheared through the monster’s arm. It crashed to the ground, but David was already running again.
“Aim for the chest!” Avery yelled.
He vaulted onto the dais, spinning the blade in his hand and driving it into the monster’s chest just as a ghostly fire erupted around it. The shimmering white flames surged as David’s blade pierced the wood. Elijah dropped into the shadows once more, rising up behind the tree monster and driving his dagger into its back.
A pained screech tore form the monster’s mouth. Leaves withered and curled up around the wound, burnt by the white fire that was rapidly spreading across the monster’s body. The ground started to shake and fractures split the already damaged floor.
“Get back!” Elijah yelled, dropping into a shadow. David threw himself away, rolling to avoid a piercing tree and leaping to his feet. He batted another branch away with his shield.
“Obsidian Fortress!” David yelled, pounding his chest. A branch whacked him in the face, sending the warrior skidding back, but he didn’t fall.
An instant later, the treeman erupted. An explosion of wooden spines bloomed from the treeman, arcing high into the air and stabbing everything in the immediate vicinity around it. Instead of fading back, the monster’s body seemed to absorb the extra wood, making it easily three times larger and covering it with an extra layer of heavy protection.
Two burning green motes of energy flared as if eyes and it turned toward them, mouth opening to reveal several rows of jagged, wooden spines as it let out a furious roar.