Elise and Ghost’s training regime did not entail dashing wildly into and out of the nest as I half-feared it would. Instead, at the edge of the foothills, the pair drew to a halt.

“This is it,” Elise said.

“This is what?” I asked, inspecting our surroundings. We were in a shallow dip surrounded by tall peaks on all sides. Tellingly, it stank of stygian.

“This is our killing ground,” Elise said, voicing my suspicion before I could do so myself.

I glanced eastward at the single mound of earth separating us from the nest. “How do you lure them over?”

“That’s the easy part,” Ghost said. “When the stygians catch hold of the scent, they can’t help themselves. Just watch!” She turned to the werefox. “Go ahead, Elise. Show him.”

The druid looked at me questioningly, and I bobbed my head, curious to see how Elise and Ghost had managed what I myself had failed to do.

Stretching out flat against the ground, the werefox closed her eyes and began casting.

Elise has cast fountain of life.

Elise has cast nurturing light.

Elise has cast rejuvenated earth.

Over the space of a few minutes, water began to bubble out of the ground, the barren soil grew fertile, and most amazingly of all, warm sunlight somehow managed to penetrate the thick mist to stream down on us.

“That’s impressive,” I murmured, lifting my muzzle to the sky and enjoying the play of the light on my face.

“The sunlight won’t last long,” Elise hastened to add. She was still casting, I realized. “But it will last long enough.”

Long enough for what? I wondered, but didn’t bother asking. I was sure I was about to find out.

Ghost has cast mist-thin, reducing the nether toxicity to tier 4 in a 30 yard radius.

Elise has cast arboreal guard.

Six pine trees burst out of the ground around Elise, and while they shrank away from the mist’s touch, they drew strength from the warm sunlight, pooling water, and loamy soil, and second by second grew taller, filling the air with the crisp, invigorating aroma of pine.

“Get ready, Prime,” Ghost said. “It won’t be long now.”

Turning away from the wholesome sight of the tree grove, I faced outward. “The stygians can smell the pine?” I guessed.

“Yes,” Ghost replied, “And they hate it.”

“It’s not just the pines, though,” Elise added, her voice dripping with weariness. “The void seems to resent anything green and growing.” She paused, then conceded, “Although, admittedly, they seem to hold an especial hatred for anything tree-like.”

“Good to know,” I murmured, and drew the shadows close.

You are hidden.

I didn’t intend on staying concealed—that would only needlessly draw the spores—but using stealth for my opening attack couldn’t hurt.

“What should I expect?” I asked, my gaze fixed on the crest ahead.

“Lesser stygians to begin with,” Ghost replied, coiling back on her haunches. “The nagas and flying serpents will only arrive towards the end.”

“I see,” I remarked, doubly impressed. It seemed Elise and Ghost were the real reason some of the stygian elites had crossed back to this side of the rift. And if the two were killing nagas on their own… it accounted for my familiar’s relatively quick leveling.

At a persistent tickle between the pads of my paws, I glanced down—then blinked. “Is that… grass?”

Elise chuckled. “Yes, Lord Wolf, it is. These hills are not quite as dead as they appear. With only a little encouragement, they can be reseeded with life.”

“Now that is—” I broke off as a snaking shape crested the eastern hilltop.

The lesser stygians had arrived.

A hydra followed in the wake of the first serpent. Then another and another, until eventually, the hilltop was swarming with stygians.

In silence, Ghost, Elise, and I watched them descend. All told, there were fifty-three stygians in the first wave. But despite the enemy’s number, I didn’t cast charm. While I was all but certain the stygian pack ahead was outside the void tree’s protective aura—and thus mentally vulnerable—I didn’t want to risk doing anything that would cause the Power to recall its minions.

And besides, it wasn’t my telepathy that needed training.

As the stygians drew closer, the branches of the pine trees above rustled in warning. Ignoring the trees’ ominous shaking, I kept my gaze fixed on my foes. Waiting.

Twenty yards.

Ten.

Five.

Now. Empowering my body, I rushed forward, unleashing the bevy of spells I held in readiness.

You have cast charge. You have knocked down 2 stygians (2 resisted).

The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

You have cast stomp, staggering 3 stygians for 1 second (12 resisted).

You have activated fearsome aura. Range: 23 yards.

50 of 53 foes have failed a mental resistance check!

50 lesser stygians have been petrified (frozen in fear and unable to act).

I crashed headlong into the onrushing stygian wall, shattering it in one fell swoop and robbing it of all momentum.

You are no longer hidden.

Multiple hostile entities have failed to pierce your disguise.

I was only just getting started, though. Drawing yet more stamina, I flooded my limbs with energy.

You have cast wind daemon, multiplying your speed by 2x for 1 minute.

The world slowed—from my perspective, anyway. To Ghost, Elise, and the stygians, it no doubt seemed as if I was moving too fast to track.

Which indeed I was.

Leaping forward from a standing start, I pounced onto the closest of the three still-moving stygians—a serpent—and bit deeply into its neck.

You have killed a stygian serpent with a fatal blow.

Whirling around, I took a swipe at the hydra on my left.

You have cast stunning paw, stunning a stygian hydra for 5 seconds.

Then, I began killing in earnest.

✵ ✵ ✵

The skirmish was over almost before it began.

I did the bulk of the killing, affording Elise and Ghost barely any chances to contribute. “Well,” the werefox mused ruefully when the last stygian fell, “that certainly went differently.”

“Sorry,” I replied contritely. “I’ll hang back a bit next time.”

She laughed. “Don’t. This way, we’ll kill more stygians.”

Ghost nodded. “They won’t stop coming, Prime—not until the trees are destroyed or dispelled.”

My gaze flickered to the tall pines looming over us. “How long until that happens?”

“One hour,” Elise replied.

I turned back around. “Well then, I guess that leaves us a lot more work to do.”

✵ ✵ ✵

The nagas didn’t appear before the hour was up and the pine trees receded back into the earth. But that was alright, we killed plenty of lesser stygian packs in the intervening period.

Why the void tree allowed the creatures to be slayed in dribs and drabs like that was beyond me, but I knew the Power cared little about its minions—those it deemed expendable, anyway.

At the end of the first hour, Elise summoned another pine grove, using the identical combination of spells she had initially, and we resumed our slaughter.

She did the same again at the end of the second hour. Then, the third. After the fourth though, we were forced to call a temporary halt to the proceedings as a message arrived from the cave.

“Michael?”

“Saf, what is it?” I asked, recognizing her voice at once.

“Nyra’s back.”

“Thank Wolf,” I murmured. “How is she?”

“Drained. Exhausted. She was mumbling incoherently when she emerged, but she subsided quickly thereafter. She’s asleep now.”

I nodded, recalling my own experience in the Trials. “She’ll sleep the rest of the day away,” I predicted.

“Sulan thinks so, too. How are things going on your end?”

“Better than expected. I might just make supper, after all.”

I sensed her smile across the link. “See that you do. Later, Wolf.”

“Bye, Saf.”

The rest of the afternoon passed slowly and uninterrupted as we resumed the cycle of killings. After each hour, the verdant growth of grass grew lusher and spread farther, because, while the trees’ appearance was only temporary, the grass’ was not.

And in the end, it was likely the hills’ new carpet of greenery that drew the elites out.

“Nagas!” Elise shouted. “On the hilltop!”

The were-druid’s warning was unnecessary, though. I’d already spotted the threat.

The nagas had not come alone. A pack of snakes winged aloft above them. “You and Ghost deal with the flying serpents,” I instructed. “Leave the nagas to me.”

“You’re sure?” Elise asked, uncertainty marring her voice for the first time.

You have cast wind daemon.

“He is,” Ghost answered before I could. “The Prime can handle those two.”

“Alright, Wolf, they’re yours,” Elise said as she peeled off to the left. “Let’s go get those snakes, Ghost.”

My eyes fixed on the nagas, I didn’t bother answering. The pair had descended partway down the slope, but didn’t seem keen on advancing further. Their shields were up, too, and they were already launching their first salvo of voidballs.

It was not me they targeted, though, but the pine grove. Padding forward, I launched my own offensive.

You have cast disrupting ray.

You have hit a level 244 stygian naga’s shield for 5x more damage.

Two hostile entities have failed to pierce your disguise.

Hissing angrily, both nagas’ gazes jerked in my direction. They had recognized the spell, if not my form, and I fancied I could see new hesitancy in their eyes.

Continuing my advance, I cast again.

You have hit a level 244 stygian naga’s shield for 5x more damage.

My foe looked back over its shoulder—in the direction of the nest—and I knew it was contemplating retreat. Not about to countenance that, I leaped through the aether.

You have teleported behind a level 244 stygian naga.

You have cast overpowering blow and will deal 1.5x more damage on the next attack.

A nearly unseen blur, my paw rose and fell, shattering the remnants of my target’s shield. Barely pausing for breath, I attacked again.

You have cast stunning paw, stunning a level 244 stygian naga for 5 seconds.

With a forlorn sigh, the naga collapsed in on itself and rolled bonelessly down the slope. Spinning away, I closed in on its companion, which was staring at me with something akin to shock.

This time, there was no mistaking the fear in my foe’s gaze, and I knew with certainty, it was going to flee—or try to. Slipping into the shadows, I drew psi and cast.

You are hidden.

You have cast windborne.

Laying down the ramp of air in a spiral pattern around the naga, I rushed along the edges of its shield bubble—at six times my normal movement speed—and raked at the creature with one massive paw.

You have cast overpowering blow.

You have backstabbed a stygian hydra for 7.5x more damage.

A level 240 naga’s shield has blocked your attacks.

You are no longer hidden.

You have critically hit a level 240 stygian naga.

You have critically hit a level 240 stygian naga.

…

Your target’s shield has been destroyed!

My spiraling assault was not even halfway complete when the naga’s shield collapsed. Growling in satisfaction, I released the psi weave I held in abeyance.

You have activated fearsome aura, petrifying 2 stygian nagas.

Ah, ha. Perfect!

Leaping off the windslide, I took a moment to check on my companions. The duo had retreated to the pine grove, and from beneath the tree’s sheltering embrace, were fending off the swooping serpents.

The trees were not passive participants either. They actively assisted the pair by grabbing onto and holding any flying snake that made the mistake of approaching too closely.

Ghost and Elise have things under control, I concluded.

That left me free to finish things off with the nagas properly. Drawing on long dormant memories, I reawakened my blood.

You have cast enslave.

It was time to bind a stygian to our cause.

Or perhaps, two.