The nightmarish clearing burned in waves of roaring fire, casting an eerie, flickering glow over the battlefield. Smoke rose thick into the cursed sky, mixing with the blackened mist of the Shadowfern. The unnatural ground trembled beneath their feet, alive with the influence of the Threshen.
The fight was chaos. Pure, blood soaked chaos.
Nyra and Tar tore into the Threshen, their brutal strikes barely keeping it at bay. The monster moved like a wraith, its twisted, emaciated limbs stretching far too long, far too fast. Nyra swung her axe in vicious arcs, her severed limb acting as an unnatural counterbalance an anchor, a tool to twist, dodge, and fling herself through the battle with inhuman agility.
Tar, a wall of muscle and fury, met the beast head on. Every swing of his massive axe sent shockwaves through the land, but the Threshen was relentless. It moved like liquid shadow, dodging, twisting, reforming its body in unnatural angles. Each time Tar landed a devastating strike, the very land healed it. Roots twisted up to mend its wounds, the blackened river surging forward to coat its injuries in dark sludge, the very trees bending to shield it.
Thal saw it. This wasn't just a Threshen. It was a Brood Mother a living heart of corruption. It wasn't just using the land it was the land, and it wasn't alone.
All around them, Fernstalkers poured from the shadows, moving in nightmarish unison. Their glowing yellow eyes flickered like dying stars, their elongated jaws snapping as they lunged toward the group.
Thal and Valen stood back to back a Fernstalker leaped at Thal he caught it midair, ripping its head clean from its shoulders and throwing the corpse into another. Another lunged, and he spun, elbowing it so hard its ribs collapsed inward before crushing its skull beneath his boot.
Valen, despite his usual arrogance, was fighting for his life. His twin blades carved through the beasts, slicing through tendons and throats, but they kept coming. He ducked, rolled, driving both swords into the gut of one of the creatures before yanking them upward, spilling black ichor onto the ground.
Luken stood in the middle of it all, his body wreathed in fire, his Kruul eye glowing as he burned the Shadowfern itself.
Flames climbed higher, forming a burning dome around them, cutting off the Brood Mother's control over the land.
But the Threshen was still alive.
It shrieked, leaping forward with terrifying speed, crashing through Tar and Nyra with sheer brute force. Its massive claws ripped through Tar's shoulder, sending the towering Minotaur stumbling back. Nyra's axe cut deep into its side, but the creature didn't flinch. It swung its elongated arm, sending her flying backward, slamming into a boulder with bone rattling force.
The Threshen broke through the fire. It lunged for Luken its massive, frostbitten claws streaking toward him. Luken barely had time to react. His fire wavered for just a moment, his breathing sharp
Thal moved. Faster than any of them could track. The Nephilim appeared behind the Threshen in an instant, his massive arms wrapping around its twisted, skeletal frame. His voice roared through the battlefield. "BURN IT!"
Luken hesitated for only a fraction of a second then he unleashed everything. The firestorm engulfed them both. The inferno swallowed Thal and the Threshen whole, flames spiralling into the sky, turning night into day for a fleeting moment. The Threshen screeched, its unholy wail cutting through the air as its rotted flesh charred and peeled away. Thal held on, even as the flames devoured him, even as the heat burned away his beard, his hair, and the thick fur across his body, he held it down. The scent of burning flesh both his and the creatures was suffocating.
The Threshen thrashed, shrieking in agony, its body splitting, twisting, trying to escape however Thal did not let go. Even as his skin blackened, even as the fire crawled up his arms, he held it in the fire. The land itself recoiled, roots pulling away, water steaming and evaporating, trees splitting open as if screaming. Even as its flesh burned away, even as its bones blackened and cracked, the Brood Mother still lived.
Thal knew that this fight wasn't over yet. The Threshen's shrieks twisted into something more a violent, unnatural pulse that rippled through the battlefield, then spikes erupted. From its own burning body, the Threshen unleashed a burst of jagged, blackened bone spears of rotted, cursed marrow shot out in every direction, impaling everything in their path.
Thal had no time to react. The spikes pierced through his flesh, puncturing his torso, his limbs jagged shards tearing through him like barbed steel. Blood sprayed into the firelit air, dark against the inferno still roaring around them.
The force of it sent him flying backward, his massive body crashing through smouldering trees, carving a path through the burning wreckage. His back slammed into a boulder with bone cracking force, but he didn't fall. He refused to fall.
Valen, Nyra, and Luken barely managed to avoid the worst of the attack, ducking and rolling as spikes tore through the ground, slicing past them.
Tar let out a deep, guttural roar as one of the spikes drove through his shoulder, but he ripped it out with his bare hand, snapping it in two with sheer brute strength the Threshen moved.
Its mangled, burning form twisted violently, its elongated limbs convulsing as it ripped itself free from Thal's grasp. Its body shrunk, folding in on itself unnaturally as it dived headfirst into the ground.
The earth split open, swallowing it whole. The cursed land shuddered and then the Threshen was gone. Silence as the fire still burned, the twisted trees still cracked and collapsed, the Shadowfern itself still bleeding under Luken's flames, but the monster, the Brood Mother had burrowed itself away.
A deep, unsettling stillness settled over them. The only sound was the crackle of fire and the heavy, ragged breathing of the wounded.
Luken's glowing Kruul eye darted across the battlefield, sweat pouring down his face. "It's not dead." His voice trembled with exhaustion. "It's…."
His words faltered as he turned, his gaze locking onto Thal. Thal was still standing…. barely.
His massive form was riddled with jagged bone spikes, protruding from his chest, his arms, his back. Blood dripped from the fresh wounds, steaming in the heat of the fire. His hair was gone his beard, his thick mane, all burned away. His skin was charred, the once tan tone now blackened and raw. Yet he did not fall, his breathing was slow, controlled. His golden eyes still burned with unwavering fury.
Valen took a hesitant step forward. "Thal…."
Thal raised a hand, stopping him without a word. His fingers curled into a fist, and his jaw clenched, blood dripping down his lips, he then spoke. "It's coming back." and beneath their feet, the earth trembled.
The land ruptured beneath them, the very foundation of the Shadowfern splitting open with a monstrous crack. Roots coiled like tendrils, thick and writhing, as the Threshen tore its way back to the surface. It emerged in a violent explosion of black earth and rotting foliage, its grotesque form stretching, reforming, its hollow, burning eyes locked onto them once more.
However, before it could fully rise Thal moved. In an instant, he was upon it. His massive hands gripped the Threshen's emaciated torso, fingers digging deep into its cursed flesh. With a roar of pure force, he ripped it from the ground, pulling it free from whatever wretched tendrils still clung to it. The Threshen let out a screech, its limbs flailing wildly as it tried to claw at him and Thal did not hesitate and threw it.
With a brutal swing, Tar hurled the creature through the air, sending it crashing through the burning trees. Its twisted body collided with the charred remnants of the forest in a sickening, bone snapping thud. It skidded across the blackened ground and lay momentarily still.
But Thal was already gone.
Before anyone could register what he had just done, he dove straight into the gaping wound in the earth the very spot where the Threshen had first emerged. The darkness swallowed him whole.
Valen barely had a second to glance toward the crater, his mouth parting to shout after him, but he didn't get the chance. The Fernstalkers were still upon him. Three of them lunged at once. He twisted, blades flashing in a blur as he parried the first, severing its extended maw in a clean, brutal swipe. The second slashed its claws toward his chest, but he dropped low, spun on instinct, and drove both swords into its ribs. The third nearly slipped past him, jaws wide, stretching for his throat
but a burst of fire erupted between them.
Luken stood at the heart of a growing inferno, his Kruul eye ablaze with otherworldly light. Flames whipped in every direction as he forced the cursed land back, holding the swarm at bay. Sweat ran down his brow, steam rising from his shoulders, but his grip on his staff held firm.
"Keep them off me!" he shouted, voice taut with focus.
Valen gritted his teeth, moving faster than he ever had. He carved through another creature, kicked its writhing body into the fire, and spun into the next without pause. The ground beneath them was littered with ash and bone, but still the beasts kept coming.
And the Threshen was not done.
It rose again snarling, trembling, a grotesque mass of regenerating limbs and exposed bone. Fire licked its flesh, but it didn't flinch. It was moving again, dragging itself toward the crater, towards Thal.
Nyra and Tar stood in its path. Nyra's severed arm lashed forward and wrapped around the creature's ribs, anchoring her like a harpoon sunk into prey. She pulled herself in, lifted her axe high, and brought it down with all her weight. The blade bit into the Threshen's skull, splitting it slightly, black ichor spraying across the scorched ground but the monster barely staggered.
Tar charged, his hooves breaking the cracked earth beneath him, his massive axe swinging in a brutal arc. It collided with the Threshen's leg, shattering bone with a sickening snap. The creature howled, jerking back, but it didn't fall.
Nyra landed beside Tar, both panting. They had to keep it from going after Thal. But Thal was already deeper than anyone realized. Beneath the Shadowfern, in the place where the Threshen had healed itself he had found it, the Threshen's Core.
A grotesque, pulsating mass of flesh, roots, and darkness, embedded deep within the earth. It was alive, its veins stretching outward, feeding the land, healing the monster above. Thal did not hesitate. He reached for it.
Thal's massive hand closed around the grotesque, pulsing mass. The Core was alive, writhing like a thing that knew it was about to die. It shuddered violently, the black veins stretching outward in a desperate attempt to pull away, to escape With a deep, guttural growl, Thal crushed it.
The moment his fingers clenched, the Core detonated.
A deafening boom tore through the underground chamber, sending a wave of raw, explosive force surging in all directions. The walls ruptured, the very ground collapsing inward, devouring itself in a violent implosion and the explosion sent Thal hurtling upward.
He shot out of the earth like a cannonball, the sheer force launching him skyward, past the twisted trees, through the rising smoke of Luken's firestorm. His body spun through the air, charred, bloodied, still covered in the jagged remnants of the Threshen's bone spikes.
He slammed into the ground, skidding across the scorched earth, carving a deep trench in the battlefield before finally coming to a stop. The impact kicked up a massive cloud of dust and ash, momentarily obscuring him from sight.
The moment the Core was destroyed the Threshen screamed. Its hollow, burning eyes went wide, its emaciated frame convulsing violently. The connection it had to the land was severed its ability to heal gone. The Shadowfern still stood, its cursed roots still twisted and dark, but the Threshen had no more power to draw from.
It reeled back, clawing at its own body, as if trying to hold itself together. Its flesh blackened, rotted away in chunks, its elongated limbs snapping like brittle twigs. The sickening wail it released carried through the ruined battlefield, filled with nothing but hatred, agony, and hunger. It then collapsed.
The monstrous form hit the ground, spasming violently, its once regenerating body crumbling into dust. The Fernstalkers that remained froze where they stood, their glowing yellow eyes flickering then going out, one by one. Their bodies turned to ash, disintegrating into the wind.
The Threshen was dead, but the Shadowfern remained. The cursed land had not been healed. The trees still loomed, dark and unnatural. The blackened river still slithered like oil across the ground. Whatever sickness plagued this place went deeper than just the Brood Mother. for now though, they had won.